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:
- If consumers are rating their experience with our products in general terms, how do we perform?
- If consumers rate their experience while shopping for our products, how do we perform?
- During the pre-purchase process, is the consumer easily able to find helpful information about the benefits of owning a great mattress?
- 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.)
- Do we promote integrity and transparency within our industry for the consumer?
- Do we recruit top talent to be a part of the mattress industry, so that we can ensure a bright future?
- Are our advertising efforts effectively communicating the benefits of our products?
- 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.