How would you rate the mattress industry if you were an outsider looking in? Take a look at the following categories and give our industry a little self-evaluation. Rate us a one where the industry could use major improvements and/or is doing a horrible job, and a five where we are doing an excellent job. Let’s see how we score:

1. If consumers are rating their experience with our products in general terms, how do we perform?
2. If consumers rate their experience while shopping for our products, how do we perform?
3. During the pre-purchase process, is the consumer easily able to find helpful information about the benefits of owning a great mattress?
4. Does the industry do a good job of developing strategic partnerships with third parties to promote the idea that a good mattress equals a better life? (These third parties could include the health care industry, nutrition industry, or fitness industry, to name a few.)
5. Do we promote integrity and transparency within our industry for the consumer?
6. Do we recruit top talent to be a part of the mattress industry, so that we can ensure a bright future?
7. Are our advertising efforts effectively communicating the benefits of our products?
8. What does your company do to help improve the industry?

Who cares? I do, because I would like to see this very stale business grow at a rate of more than 2% annually! I say that getting better is always a good thing, but you can’t do that unless you are honest with yourself and measure success in ways that will ultimately make a difference.

Here is my little guide for your scoring – let’s see how we did:

• 8-15: We really suck.
• 16-23: Getting better, but have a lot of work to do.
• 24-31: More respectable, but will probably not make it the “Top industries to work in” list.
• 32-39: We are doing a good job, building some momentum, and are going to see the industry numbers perform better compared to other categories.
• 40: Kicking some serious butt.

There is obviously nothing scientific about this, but there is some thought provoking stuff here. Ultimately, the question is, if we were in the 40+ category, where would we be today? What would your top line look like?

I am sure I missed some critical questions here…what are they? What are you thinking?

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are mine and mine alone. They do not represent the thinking of the company I work for, or anyone else with whom I am affiliated. Except my wife of course, who is good at telling me what not to say.