He can predict sleep problems and he wears a mattress superhero costume–do you have someone who can top that?
On this episode we get to know Andrew “Mattman” Schlesser, the world’s most super human retail manager. We discuss retail education, sleep spindles, the Mattman podcast and the Doorcounts dance we’re challenging everyone to do.
Doorcounts Dance
Show Notes:
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Full Transcription:
Mark Kinsley [0:09]
Ladies and gentlemen you are about to meet if you have not yet the world’s most superhuman retail manager friend of the show a star on fam dot news, Andrew Mattman Schlesser on the show today.
Mark Kinsley [1:14]
Riding bikes coming down a hill, me and to my buddies. And there she is. This Angus heifer staring us in the face blocking the road. It’s a gauntlet. So it’s a standoff face-off. And then I look over to my left and caught in the barbed wire fence. Another Black Angus heifer and her little calf is inside the pasture. She’s freaking out, pulling her leg in the barbed wire. She’s caught, she’s tangled, the other cow looks at us tries to climb up and the embankment slides back down. Think she’s gonna break her leg. The owner of the cattle emerges from the road. She’s desperate, she needs help. And she comes up the road she says I don’t know what to do. I said, don’t worry, we’re gonna help you. Somehow at that moment.I spook the cow that was caught it jumps over the fence into the pasture where it was supposed to be. We take off on our bikes. We corral the other calf back into the fence. Just less than a quarter-mile down the way jump off my bike, pull the gate shut, save the day. Speaking of saving the day. We have a superhero on our show today. Andrew, Matt, man Schlesser now that’s a true story. Now, Are you really an asleep superhero?
Mattman [2:30]
Bonafide baby on the Bruce Wayne beds.
Mark Quinn [2:36]
Do you guys have an annual meeting? Matt man, do you like is there a place you’d like superheroes to go kind of like in the Santa Claus movie. They had the tooth fairy and you know the Sandman and all these guys had a collective meeting where everyone goes superheroes code. Do they have something?
Mattman [2:52]
Yeah, it comes with the wristband. Believe once you get one of these puppies on, you have unfettered access to HQ. And you get to hang out with all the others you know, superheroes and stuff like that. We’re all like trading stories.
Mark Kinsley [3:08]
I knew that was the thing. And that’s why during that moment, whenever we saved the cattle I felt like a superhero for a moment. I’m like, this must be how Matt man feels every day. Because he is an asleep superhero.
Mattman [3:20]
Do you ever think about calling Batman? Did you ever think about calling man Kinsey like in the middle of the moment? You’re like oh my god, I gotta say these gals did a crush your man like what would that Mattman.
Mark Kinsley [3:31]
Look pretty rested? So I didn’t feel like it was a territory where I needed to bother him because he spends most of his time helping people get the sleep they deserve it what is your tagline? It’s or your tag phrase.
Mattman [3:43]
Oh, a madman. I fight the things that keep you up at night by the power of the pillow the might of the mattress and the surety of the sheets. We have your game plan for better sleep so you can stay asleep. fall asleep faster, stay sleep longer and get the good night’s rest you deserve. And who’s your sidekick? Pillow pupper
Mark Kinsley [4:00]
Come on. Let’s see Philip if you’re watching on video number one.
Mattman [4:03]
He’s in the process of actually being a pillow. Just laying out a blanket. So Hey, buddy, see how are you doing this? Like oh my god, you just woke me up, dude.
Mark Kinsley [4:15]
But now if you’re watching a video, a madman is in full madman regalia. He has his sleep superhero suit on and pillow popper. Do you know what I noticed? We’re gonna talk about pillow cover because I saw him do a little bit of a photo bomb. Whenever you are doing the door counts dance. But I want to I want you to talk first about your partnership with nationwide because we have the last time we got to hang out I think was on the Primetime floor the last time that nationwide had primetime in person. And I know you guys have a really great relationship with the folks at nationwide and they are trendsetters. They’re identifying what’s happening in the marketplace and helping independent retailers survive and thrive and be ahead of the curve, and one of those ways was through the outdoor furniture category. What tell us that story?
Mattman [5:09]
Yeah, I mean, like, we got to like July of last year. And you know, everyone had been through the shutdown, and everyone was going through game plans. And if you just kind of like took a second to reflect back at primetime in February, nationwide was literally saying, Hey, guys, outdoor stuff, it’s coming. Like this is gonna be the experience. Everyone wants to hang out with friends and family, you know, you can do grills, you can do furniture, all sorts of accessories. So, you know, they even had a giant barbecue. Like literally it was like a giant barbecue fest at the last primetime. So I mean, they call it like they call it they in even if, without the pandemic, they still call it because the experience of hanging out with everybody. That’s what we miss. So now that we’re kind of getting back to that, I mean, if you’ve invested in what they said, hey, this is where it’s going. You’re going to be at the forefront of growth as things kind of party in the USA.
Mark Kinsley [6:08]
So you’re with sweet dreams mattress and furniture in your in the Lake Norman, North Carolina area. So back when nationwide made that proclamation essentially that you got to get into the outdoor furniture category. Sweet dreams went in on it?
Mattman [6:23]
Well, we did for furniture, yeah, from one of our partners and vendors, because we when the shutdown happened, especially like, you know, we’re just trying to figure out where people are going to need this stuff. So yeah, we didn’t get into grills like that, but we do have outdoor furniture now. And we’d always hesitated on it. And now it’s like, hey, here’s some vendors that we know that you can get some hot deals on. And here’s the stuff. Why don’t you try it? Because you know that it wasn’t just, we weren’t just at primetime. It was a showroom. It primetime is not a C room or a hotel room, it’s a showroom, you actually get to try this stuff out and see it and in the show to get the full experience. So you know, we’re all in.
Mark Kinsley [7:08]
Well, that’s great. I mean, and that’s just one of the many things that we talked about nationwide. You know, as an independent retailer, you got to tap into a network that can help you see things you may not see and have a sense of community where you may feel isolated. And I know you guys are some of the best at Nationwide about bringing people together. And this is definitely one of my favorite stories that have ever happened in the industry. You wrote a song and the next thing we know we’re at primetime on the floor. I’m playing guitar, you’re singing we’ve got a whole group of people Quinn is singing we’re all singing we got a crowd attracted and Nationwide’s. Yeah, we’re gonna make a video out of this. And go home a couple of hours for us from that song. Do you remember it?
Mattman [7:49]
I’m gonna take my mattress down the road. Five Star delivery to your home. Yeah.
Mark Kinsley 7:57
Boom. And it was a playoff of Old Town road.
Mattman [8:00]
Yeah, they’re just gone. Yeah, I wrote that the night before even at dinner. It’s like one of those divined moments. Not that I got that from a good night’s sleep. I don’t think he’s sleeping very well primetime.
Mark Quinn [8:13]
That Kinsley, to your credit you man told you about it. And you found a guitar, right? I mean, excuse me. Yeah, time and all. Chris Yeah, Chris like hooked us up with a guitar. Kinsley, like figured out how to pick the song and before you know it we’re doing the stage direction and coordinating the crowd and the great guys at primetime media, brought some cameras to film it and inside of like an hour we were doing the music video so that was pretty funny. Great job there. Matt man.
Mark Kinsley [8:43]
Excellent work. Hey, you know what, we’ll put that video. We’ll link to that video in the show on fam dot news. So if you go over to fam news and you go to the desk Marco show, we’ll put that video up there. And you’re cracking me up also, we’re gonna talk about by the way on the show today how energy attracts traffic and we’re gonna talk about the principles and the power of serving people. And Matt man’s award from the Chamber of Commerce, how he uses the hatch method, sleep tips, foot traffic drivers, all packaged up. The vehicle being Matt man, he’s dressed as a superhero. He is a sleep superhero, but you’re cracking me up because you do something called the door counts dance. And we love door counts. We love Jerry and Amber and Brad and the whole crew and jack all of them. They’re amazing people and you at Sweet dreams use door counts. And you don’t just use it like normal people. So number one, tell us about the door counts, dad’s, and then how you use it.
Mattman [9:40]
Well, I sent you pictures just so you could show these people but basically ladies to work for us. Her name is Susan. And she and I were hard after it. And she’s played the game where we’d say hey, let’s be there a little early on Saturday. And the first person in gets the first customer through the door and then we plan for nine o’clock. She’d come in at 8:50. And so then I’d always lose because I’m coming from 45 minutes away, she’s coming from five. And so then I kept trying to come in earlier than her and she just was a few minutes earlier every time. So then I sort of come in super early, like 8 am. Like, we’d say, nine and come in at eight. Take that, right. And that helped form a great habit. And now that we have door counts, it’s on Saturdays, like me, and the guy that I work with his name is also His name’s Andrew Lancaster, we get that picture in the morning. And we make it good. Because man beats you, like, you know, like, it’s, that’s the fire. But then we’re there early, so we can open up early, then we’re there, we get all our stuff done early, in. So every time I come through the door, I try to perfect that door counts dancy that moment, it snaps the picture so that you’re doing something intentional because then I got other people who are looking in to see the door counts because multiple stores that people can see if their customers have been in at any of our locations. And occasionally, you just see the first picture of the day, and it’s this guy going, whoo. Or you know, say everyone kind of sees that picture. Everyone has a little bit of fun when they’re checking these regular things, but the customer’s man, like think of, you know, you get one shot for a mattress every decade and they happen to come into your store that day. You got there early to, you know, have some fun on door counts, you got your store ready, that customer experience is now elevated. So, you know what, what good is driving traffic to your store if you’re not going to be ready for it. Right? So that puts us in the full mode of Yo, bring it on.
Mark Quinn [11:40]
But Andrew, on that note, though, when you do that stuff, I mean, you do it for fun, right? But I mean to Kingsley’s point at the top of this show, we talked about energy and how to how it attracts store traffic, but I mean, it’s also just kind of getting yourself prepared, right? So mentally, and if you’re up and if you’re smiling, if you’re having fun if you’re, you know, preparing for your day, that’s mental prep. Right? I mean, isn’t that a big part of kind of, you know, the whole ceremony like right before you get into it for the day?
Mattman [12:09]
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, any, any team, you know, they come together for their huddle. And we don’t necessarily have a team to huddle, but you’ve got to have that routine. And you’ve got to have that way to psych yourself up. Because when it comes to sales and retail, you’re only going to get as much energy as you bring. Like you don’t, you don’t, people don’t, aren’t super excited to come shop for a mattress or any of that. So, when you’re excited about sleep, and you’re excited about the products you carry, you bring that excitement you give it to them, so you got to psych yourself up, and you got to be ready. You got to really be ready in today’s world.
Mark Kinsley [12:46]
You know what I want to do right here right now I’m calling it even though I’ve never seen anybody call it the door counts dance. And you sent me those photos and we’ll put them up in the post associated with this podcast. So if you go to fam dot news, slash podcasts or go to the dis Marcos show on fam dot news, we’re going to post madman’s door count, door counts dance photos, one of which includes pillow pupper. Here’s what I want to do that send us your door counts dance. And I love this because the moment you walk in if you do some sort of pose, go get inspiration for Batman, thumbs up high five, something energetic. Send us your door counts, dance photos, any time before the end of May. So we got plenty of time here. And we’re going to send you a copy of come back to bed. Our book our number one Amazon bestseller, Forbes must-read Entrepreneur Magazine must-read books at 2021. And it’s inspired by Matt man because I love this because if you walk in and the moment you step foot in your story, your energy and enthusiasm are on display. Even the note nobody’s there, you’re setting the tone for that environment. You put in that good vibes out into your little universe. And so I want to see you do your door counts dance, just tag us on social email to us, you can go to our contact form, you inspired a madman I love it. And you know that it goes back to an old thing that some other retailers use to say a sale is the transfer of enthusiasm. So I like having the enthusiasm present even before people get there.
Mattman [14:24]
Right. A pro tip for those people taking those door cats, you might need to turn your light switch on if it’s something that you can do before you walk through there. So yeah, we had a darkroom so I turned the light switch on it takes a bright picture.
Mark Kinsley 14:41
Beautiful. I love it. I love it. Well, okay, here’s what I’d like to do. First of all, I want to talk about the origin of math man. But I think to really set the tone for that. We got to jump in and we got to do a do asleep tip. I mean, we’ve got your musician. You have coming up. I mean, it’s gonna be before long a dozen episodes of The Adventures of Matt man, a podcast on fam dot news. So you have your own show. It’s about to have its own feed. But so much of that is you having fun with the Matt man character and giving great sleep tips and I see the book behind you sleeps sleep smarter, which I know you carry as part of your suit. So here we go.
Speaker 1 [15:26]
It’s time to become a sleep superhero.
Mark Kinsley 15:32
From the horse’s mouth. Give us your top sleep tip, if somebody is going to come in once every decade to buy a mattress, it’s a huge opportunity to set them on a transformational path. What do you tell them?
Mattman [15:47]
I mean, you got to write down what time you’re going to bed tonight. Like start today, you got to write it down. I literally have my sleep schedule, like within arm’s reach. Every everywhere I go, it’s like right here at the bottom 930-939-3939 30. You write like how is any tip I give you gonna do anything for you if you don’t know what time to go into bed. So like a caffeine curfew is worthless if you’re going to bed earlier or later than the caffeine is out of your body. You know, like that you have to set that routine first. And by writing it down. And then up here, it’s a wake-up time. 530 every day, right? So 930-935-3538 weeks, eight-plus weeks into this I suddenly started realizing, am I sleeping that great? I changed like one tiny detail. Whoa, well, that was amazing. Okay. But it started with the habit of writing down my sleep schedule. Every single week like I this, this sounds like Oh man, I got time for that. Well, I want to unlock superpowers, I want to keep my superpowers unlocked. Because we’re up against 2021 like brute force, like supply chain disruption, all this stuff going on. You can’t even like if you get vaccinated, and you’re not getting good sleep the week prior, it’s 50% less effective for you. So what good is getting vaccinated, if you’re not getting a healthy night’s or healthy weeks’ sleep up until the point, you get that shot? So you got to make it count. This is where it starts plot that stuffs out and go bigger go home.
Mark Kinsley [17:30]
You know, one of them outs of all the books that I’ve read to you just captured it, all of the experts say have a bedtime if you could do one thing, you have a bedtime because it creates a set point for melatonin release. It’s actually within your first I think lead up to your REM cycle that human growth hormone gets released. So if you’re lifting weights, so yeah, I mean it. Wow. And that that sounds simple. Just have a bedtime and stick to it.
Mark Quinn [18:00]
And are you also using a tracker or using any kind of biometric?
Mattman [18:04]
Not yet, but it’s coming. I’ve actually got a Google hub to like the second-generation Google hub to that I’m going to start using and the idea is like, look, if I go on vacation and stuff I need to have, I just need to know how it works without all the technology. I’m kind of going back to the basics before I dive in with that stuff. Because, you know, I just really want to focus on the habits. Like I, my goal isn’t to sleep great at night, my goal is to have the habits of some buddy who sleeps great at night. And so they’re you know, then it’s way easier to take the actions of a wind-down like a go-to-sleep routine in a wake-up routine. Or, you know what kind of food I’m going to eat in and I can measure it but at some point here sleep trackers absolutely going under the bed or next to the bed because now I got to see, you know, when my old habits creep in. How is that? How is that changing? The bar so
Mark Quinn [19:03]
So you guys, you know we’ve talked about this before Kinsley it’s funny, because if you think about weight loss, right, if you’re really into weight loss and you want to lose weight, then you can take a diet pill. You’re right. But a diet pill is no more his solution for being overweight than a sleeping pill is a solution for getting better sleep. Right? So think about it. If you really want to lose weight, it’s a behavior change. Right? It’s not just you know, taking a diet pill, it’s what are you putting in your mouth? What kind of exercise are you getting? What kind of sleep are you getting? Because sleep can like really impact your weight as we, as we all know. And so if you think about the proliferation of pharmaceuticals in our life, and in the context of sleep, people think take an Ambien or you know, the melatonin pill or any over-the-counter solution. It’s not about that it’s about behavior change and something that we talk a lot about is transformation. Right. But a lot of people don’t know how to transform map man because they haven’t talked to people like you that are out there educating them on that part of their life, don’t you think?
Mattman [20:12]
Oh, the sleeping bandage is literally funded. He’s my arch-nemesis. He’s funded by Big Pharma, because he makes so much money just prescribing Ambien, prescribing the melatonin pills. You can do it yourself, you could keep your money, you can keep your money you can keep your time spent at doctor’s offices. All of this stuff. Have you been? Have you tried to sleep? Have you tried that sleep schedule the moment like, I want to put the sleeping bandit out of business because of that dude’s driving in an expensive car? He’s making all sorts of money and he sleeps great. But that’s what he won’t tell you he won’t let you know. You can control what you can control. He sleeps and bans is my art nemesis, man, I want to put them out of business.
Mark Kinsley [20:55]
Man, you actually wear your uniform, in your retail store. And when people come in, it gives you a chance to really change the conversation from buying a mattress to talking about sleep and serving them. What kind of an impact did that have? Whenever you turned into Matt man? And you started really talking about the purpose behind the product? And was it immediate? Did you immediately have opportunities to talk to people in a new way? Or did it take time for you to figure out how Mattman would engage with these customers talk about that story and what kind of an impact it has in your real-life store?
Mattman [21:37]
I think first and foremost, it didn’t happen overnight. Like it, you know, even with my own sleep habits. It wasn’t the first night I was like, Oh great. It’s great it’s a long period of time to find the voice or find how to connect with people. But Mattman doesn’t just talk around the store. I don’t just like get there. Like even in my door count stance. I’m not wearing madman, you’ll see me as like a regular dude. Right? And when people come in, I’m often just a regular dude. But then they say things like, I don’t know, or like, how do I do this or you know, they’re looking for even more expert advice. And, like, you know what, let me just put your feet up. Let me get your feet elevated. You know, that’s great. For lower back, I’m going to put your head up for just this is going to help you breathe. Like you feel comfortable. But I guess I feel comfortable. Okay, hey, you have to stay like this for just one minute. I’m going to put it flat. So you know so that we’re just showcasing the bed. And I asked for one minute, I’ll be right back. Come right back at this where, you know, hey, Clark Kent, you know, like he sees somebody in trouble is his normal self. And you know, Batman, he sees some Bruce Wayne, he’s at a party he sees he sees it, there’s a problem. Like even Spider-Man is on a bus. And he’s like, looking out and he sees a problem. They all disappear and then reappear. So that’s what I do. And then now I’m coming in and just like that, you know, Hey, I know the answer to this. And here, here’s what, here’s what we’re going to talk about. They’re usually even still, like, elevated in their positions. And then we’ll lay them flat after a moment talking about sleep and, and then they feel how much they’ve been stretched out. So like, you know, that’s an engaging way to show the game-changer adjustable base we have in that is in, it’s in essence, the way to show them the power of customizing the mattress, they sleep on it, just get them to try it for a few minutes, not just like for one second or whatever. So then, you know, to talk about good sleep, I actually am shocked, like, some people will brush this off. They’re like, Oh my God, this guy’s dress like a mattress costume. And it’s like, Hey, no big deal. Some people, they, they absolutely don’t respond to it all and other people do, as other people love it, and they’re fine. So put up your flag, right? Like hoist your flag up there, and the people who find it fun, you won’t get them to just leave the showroom. We literally have to have refreshments. We got to have a bathroom, all this stuff, because these people will stay for 30 minutes like after their purchase just to hang or to talk. And that’s the effective time of really talking about the sleep talking about habits getting to learn who these people are making friendships out of it. Because now, you know, like, it’s the full experience and you can get an idea of you know if they’re even just if they’re just checking in on a price and they’re gonna be back. You’ve learned all these cool things that you can then talk about again, or maybe they might tell you something that wildly changes the type of bed you would have recommended. That wasn’t in your, was it? Do you need a firm or soft or you know, like had you started shopping before like the basic questions that you’d ask most people so it’s a lot of fun because also they just don’t actually fact that no one else walks into a store and expects a giant guide a mattress uniform? So occasionally it is quite the sight.
Mark Kinsley [25:10]
And I love when you talk about that, because some people fully connect with it, and other people don’t. But no reaction is the worst thing that you could possibly do. So a lover or a hated reaction is really great. And like you said, you’re flying your flag. And probably creating not probably I know you’re creating word of mouth with it. Because unbeknownst to you, I played a voicemail from you last week showed if you didn’t listen to last week’s show is all about creating a personal brand and how you can invest in your salespeople being their own personal brand because people connect with people. So do you have any of those like word of mouth stories where people like, yeah, her there’s a mattress superhero here and I decided to come in and check it out. Or I know that there was the podcast story, too.
Mattman [26:00]
Yeah, I mean, not too much yet only because the way that I used to get out in the community that hasn’t happened in a year due to the pandemic and everything, but pre-pandemic, you know, I was going around running a bunch of five K’s in, you go to these events, and you know, maybe two to 5000 people are at them. But you might, you know, you’re always wearing different stuff. And you’re always focused on Oh, shoot, I gotta run. He throws on the mat suit in a cape and you do the run. And by the fifth or sixth run, that’s what all of a sudden people like, I remember you can I can we take a picture really quick, like, I’ve seen you at a couple of these. But then there’s this community of people that kept going to the events that you see over and over again. So, unfortunately, that was a little bit interrupted by the pandemic. But I’m really looking forward to trying to get back at, you know, add those events, because those people will absolutely remember the guy who or a math person ran, but I haven’t seen him and you know, in to see him again and say, Hello, hey, we all made it through this, you know, pandemic, we’re still here, we’re still running. You know, those events like that, that’s a lot of fun.
Mark Quinn [27:08]
You know, what I like about it, though, it’s, you know, we talk about dare to be different, right? So you decide to do it differently. We talked about it in the book, and you’ve done that, and even the guys that aren’t engaging with you, man, they’re definitely gonna remember that. And especially if you’re in the store, and you’re out in even if the dad you got a kid in the store, and the dads like this, you know, you know, play it close to the vest kind of guy, and he’s not gonna, you know, acknowledge that he finds this fun or interesting, that kid’s gonna remember, the mom’s gonna remember, it doesn’t matter if they like, show you some kind of reaction, they’re gonna remember you. So I love that you differentiate yourself that way. But the other part of it is, you make it about sleep right from the beginning. Right? And so it’s with you, it’s not just about the mattress, right? It’s your superhero. Personification is about solving the, you know, righting the wrongs of bad sleep. It’s not about it’s not a product-centric approach. And so that’s what I love about how you represent your store in that way. I think it’s so.
Mattman [28:12]
Yeah, your parents do not engage. Because my goal, so I’m a gamer, right. And like I, for years, had terrible sleep habits, because gamers love to stay up late in-game, and then just the next day survive to do it all over again. And so when kids come in, I try to explain to them about the benefits of better sleep, or how they can get an edge like they’re all using the same Xbox, they’re all using the same console. So no one’s got a faster internet connection or a faster computer, the only thing you can do is have a faster reaction speed. And you get that by going to bed early, not staying up late. And so I even smashed my own buddies, sometimes we’re just like, yeah, you guys are just tired. And you’re just, you know, so then parents love that, because, you know, I’m just trying to help them also, you know, finish their homework faster, so that they can get to gaming, like, you know, learn things quicker so that they can do their own thing. So like, it’s all about, like trying to get kids what they want more?
Mark Quinn [29:16]
So that’s fascinating, too. So wait, have you ever seen madman any kind of writing because you’re a gamer? And I know you’re also you do a lot online and research and that stuff. But have you ever seen an article even one time where someone’s talking about gaming, and they’re talking about how to be better at something, it’s a tutorial that’s whatever in someone says, Hey, man, if you’re not sleeping, well, your reaction time isn’t as great therefore you’re not going to play as well. Have you seen that before? in the gaming world like hard?
Mattman [29:45]
No.
Mark Quinn [29:46]
But it’s that that makes so much sense to me, right? If the kids want to be better at gaming, and that’s the outcome they’re after, then to tie sleep back to a better result. There seems like common sense to me was trying to talk a kid into regulating their sleep pattern a little bit so that they’re getting better sleep.
Mattman [30:06]
Oh, yeah, they’re not to be begging for their kids to do that. Because and then the narrative is more like, Hey, you want a game faster? Here’s a mouse with a faster dpi. Here’s a monitor with a faster refresh rate. Here’s a graphics card with a higher hertz in here, here’s everything and then you, you get this wonderful computer, then you use it at like, 75% of your potential because you’re exhausted, like, what’s the point? Right? You could have actually just used 100% of your potential at those on the slower machine and been a higher performer. Yeah.
Mark Kinsley [30:39]
Have you guys ever gone out and done something mechanical or something that requires movement, like swinging a golf club or bowling, or even playing a game, and you’re working at it, working at it, and then you have a couple of good nights to sleep? And you come back? And you’re like, Why could I not get this before? Like I was working so hard, but the sleep? Well, you know what that is, according to Dr. James moss, who’s been on the show, this was like, back in like the teens, you know, we’re 200 plus episodes in Dr. Moss came on. And I asked him about this principle that he outlined in the book, which was this idea of sleep spindles in his research, and his argument was, sleep spindles only occur whenever you have contiguous, uninterrupted sleep, usually between the sixth and seventh hour of sleep. And those sleep spindles are tied directly to motor movements. So if you get access to that sleep spindle moment in your sleep cycle, then you’re going to be better at performing these movements. And he had almost, and he seemed to be proving it out with the Olympic athletes that he worked with. There was a young lady, super talented, but her friends started getting better and better than she, and she was going to be an Olympic qualifier. And her parents were like, We can’t seem to get her to this next level, like doing the triple axel, and things like that. And he said, Well, let me review her schedule. And she was getting up at 430 in the morning, to go to practice and then practicing again in the evening. And he immediately pulled the plug on that. And he said, she’s going to sleep in the morning, she’s practicing once a day. And they’re like, we can’t do that. Because all of our friends are going to basically say that we’re not working as hard as them, we’re gonna face a lot of peer pressure. He said, Well, you want my advice. There it is. She’s not getting the sleep she needs and he explained sleep spindles. She actually went with Dr. mosses program qualified for the Olympics, after she was getting chipped away at by these other more talented athletes. So if you’re a gamer, and you’re trying to master motor movements be quicker, you know, I remember back in my day, like way, way back, I’m trying to get Mike Tyson’s punch out, and I get to Tyson. And I knew there was like a combination because my friend’s dad could do it, but I can never get it. So I’m sure that is on steroids today in terms of how to get past levels and all the stuff you need to be able to do.
Mattman [33:07]
Right. Sounds like that girl, not a superpower, dude.
Mark Kinsley [33:10]
She did. You know, speaking of unlocking superpowers, I want you to give advice to retail managers and retail sales associates out there that may be afraid to do something differently. Because you’ve pioneered this space in a way and in a very visible way within our industry. And there have been other sleep superheroes, maybe in the past, but you have really been so intentional about this. And you’ve differentiated yourself in your marketplace, you’ve differentiated yourself in our industry. And I know that as things begin to return to whatever new normal that may be beyond supply chain issues. And such people are going to want to connect with folks on a deeper level, they’re going to want to help them transform their lives through better sleep. I’m seeing it, I’m seeing it and we’re seeing through you that it actually works. So you’re at RSA, you’re a new store manager, your retail manager sitting there right now listening and thinking about what I can do now that will pay off later What can I build toward now? What advice would you give them How would you guide them?
Mattman [34:18]
That’s a big one. But one thing I wish I would have done earlier in the networking portion in the local community. So especially with the way Facebook works in like watching say restaurants open up over the last year and you don’t normally get these big reveals and grand openings. You know like networking with those people are like Chamber of Commerce’s local networking, networking groups, like if you had to, there’s paid in-network ones too. And those are fine like all of them to be a part of something or some group external of you in for us, you know, we’ve got. Nationwide marketing group, that’s a big one, that’s our industry related. But then in our local market related its chambers, and I’m in one called Lake Norman Small Business Network. So doing all that, because like, then you’re meeting all sorts of people who will share like best business practices, and then talk about their days, and help build context. So that you know, okay, you know, like, I’m not the only person who’s got, like, you know, issues, training staff members or issues doing this, and you can kind of brainstorm your own way out of trying to try to fix problems or, you know, so you don’t feel drowned in the day to day workings of what you’re doing. Because if you just go to the store, and you’re in those four walls every single day, you will see only that, and that is not an appropriate picture of the business you’re trying to build. Like, for us, it’s in our foundation statement, we want to be more than another, just another mattress and furniture store, by positively impacting the lives of the community and the people we serve. So, you know, we think of that, and you start to get out there and meet, meet people. And that’s, you know, like, suddenly, like you have people you can refer your customers to that are, you know, share your core values, and they refer you, people, back and then your local area has the best gets the best service, whatever you need, like, whatever products you carry, but then other people carry. And by helping these other people have successful businesses, alongside you, you’re actually just raising the bar from where you live. So don’t just live in your four walls, get out there and network, you know, go to ribbon cuttings, like if your chamber is not that great look for other ways. We’re a little special with Lake Norman, we’ve got a wonderful little community surrounding this lake,, in northern Charlotte. But I mean, that’s what we love where we live. So that’s how we invest in it. And we got to we get to meet all sorts of people, if I had started that, you know, 14 years ago, when I started with sweet dreams, I would be, you know, whole different trajectory in my, the way I am today, and I love how I am today. That’s but I just wish that’s my one big regret is I didn’t start doing that a lot sooner.
Mark Quinn [37:38]
I just want to add something I think for a lot of people who may be listening to that the thought might be so what’s really going to a chamber of commerce meeting gonna do you know, what is the direct outcome from that? Am I going to sell more beds as a relates? Am I going to be in the meeting and then give cards out and then they’re going to come in and buy a bed? And I really think it’s short-sighted. Because at the end of the day, that stuff, that stuff is about building a foundation, and a connection to them. And so that when the time is kind of like brand building, right? I mean, when the time is right for them to be in the market, then you’ve already created that relationship or been in their head or said something in a meeting that made them think and that’s really the beauty of that, isn’t it? I mean, you, you serving them in the immediate need, and then later them coming back end and saying, Hey, I remember what you said, I’m here help me
Mattman [38:21]
Yeah, don’t go to these events with your card, saying, hey, call me to buy bet, call me to buy but it’s like if you want to if you hadn’t been networking, and you needed a resource for that, the go giver, or the go giver sells more. Or there’s the third one, go-giver leadership. It’s like a trio of books. Like those talk about like a meet, someone try to add value to their lives. Because then by adding value to their lives, you’ve given them something. And then if we all keep giving each other that’s the biggest circle. And I’m not gonna spoil the book, but like, those sleep resources or those networking resources are great, then you can go with stress-free like you’re not going to sell something and I can’t stand when people are trying to sell me like they don’t know anything about our payroll or our health insurance. And they’re me like here, we can solve your problem. They don’t even know anything about us they haven’t. Like you don’t know how many stores or employees we have. They’re just asking for an easy sale and that’s how it works. So in our category in the industry, I guarantee you you might be the only mattress person. If not, there are only a couple of mattress people in furniture people that even go to this stuff. Like we’ve got several other giant competitors. I’ve barely seen them in comparison. So like our industry, like you’ll see 50 bankers, tons of real estate people like tons of chiropractors, like because they all know the power of networking. They all know the power of adding value to people’s lives and being out there. You’re not in any mattress and furniture people you’ll stand out just from getting out there on its own.
Mark Kinsley [41:03]
And we’re going to link up to those books, you mentioned the go giver series. So if you go to this post on fam.news, we’ll link to those books so you can grab them. And it’s not just what I love, too, it’s not just you going out there and being present, you clearly are doing something above and beyond because the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce gave Matt man Andrew Schlesser an award. What was that all about?
Mattman [42:23]
Uh, it was citizen of the Year award in 2019 because I had run in 10, 5Ks to help raise money, and to help build energy and help those causes out. So it was that and also going to adjust a metric ton of events for all the different places. We had our own party at the end of the year that you know, we took one of the business after hours. And normally, you know, you see anywhere from 30 to 60 people in you know, Katie and Greg law, the leaders who taught me how to leave, you know, they were doing this, they’ve been doing this for 20 years now. So then I was doing it too. And we had our own chamber event. And suddenly there’s 150 people in the store. And granted, you know, we always cater free beer, you know, like we host man, we love it. Greg Loves a Good Party. Shout out to Greg. So, uh, but you know, building all that energy, that’s, you know, the the connection of the community is there. And that’s, that’s partly what the award was about, too, because we’re going out and making those connections with people. And, you know, I was never doing it to sell a bed, I was really just doing it because it was hilarious, fun. And then, you know, even today, the hardest thing you you can do in any nonprofit is raise money. Like you can, you can give people pillows to auction off, somebody still got to buy those pillows, you can, you can even donate your time, which is fairly expensive, depending on your family life and work life. But donating money is the big one. And raising money is an even bigger challenge. So to help anybody to those things. You know, you’re really just, you know, helping them achieve their dreams. And whatever their dreams are helps other people invariably, if it’s a nonprofit,
Mark Quinn [44:48]
Man, how many people when they come into your store, do you think actually understand their sleep? So they may know that they’re not sleeping? Well, right. But how many? How many people do you guys come in contact with? Do you think really understand the dynamic of sleep, why it’s important for them? And how to fix the problem? My gosh, say out of 100, what percentage out of 100? Do you think I would say it’s 30%? Some 30%. And so then it’s in a lot of what you’re doing. Like as you’re thinking about your business, how much of it is we have to educate people about that issue?
Mattman [46:01]
I’d say it depends on the person. You know, there’s folks that don’t engage, they want to buy bed, they want to get out, like, hey, I need a twin size bed, get me out of here. I got stuff to do in the people who do engage, like 100% of those people are ready to learn about sleep. So one of the things I learned recently too, which is going to change my own sleep habits is sugar before bed like 6 pm or eight after sugar raises our metabolism up a little bit because it’s energy. And that raises your core temperature. After a few hours in your system I learned is that I’ve been filling beds for almost 15 years in September. How many times have I taken a bed back? Because it’s slept hot because the person who’s saying it sleeps hot is like eating an ice cream sandwich. Like I like to eat right before bed. And then their core temperature goes up. And I’m just like, Oh, no. Oh, no. Like it’s happened, I’d say like one out of five. You know, I’m not, there’s no science backing that. But I know that when I mean, I would eat an ice cream sandwich at 9 pm. And then I wake up at 3:30 am to, you know, stare at the clock for five minutes or something. Like that’s even the last six to 10 weeks that I know, I seem to wake up about two to three o’clock in the morning. Funny, do I have to use the bathroom? Not every time. But sometimes it absolutely can be my ice cream sandwich. So, you know, like that. That’s a big one. I didn’t even understand that. So if I’m doing all the sleep research, and I’m still finding these, these things that I do that I don’t know, affect the way I sleep. Like the average person has probably a very small portion, just what their parents taught them about, about sleep, and that’s what they’re going on. Or maybe they you know, the fortunate few might have watched a few documentaries. The best people have sleep trackers, I will say that anybody who I’ve ever started the whole, you know, hey, I do sleep. And they have a sleep tracker. I’m suddenly talking to someone on an even playing field like they’re like no, no, actually, this, so they seemed a lot more informed than just the average person. And that’s actually up and coming in a sleep episode that I got coming out with Mattman.
Mark Kinsley [48:04]
Who I can’t wait. I can’t wait. And I highly recommend if you’re running a store or working in a store if you have anything to do with selling mattresses, go over and listen to all of the adventures of Mattman there on fam dot news. You just go to fam dot news and go to the podcast and you will see Mattman, you will see him in his pink and blue background and his sleep superhero outfit. And, man, I just love that you’re connecting the dots for people because if you do walk in, and you leave, and you start blaming the mattress for your continued bad sleep. Wow, you’re going to really hurt your business. So it’s an opportunity once every decade to talk to people about sleep, educate them and not have them blame the mattress.
Mark Quinn [50:01]
Mom’s spaghetti
Mattman [50:02]
It was an Eminem reference, like mom. Yeah. Like it’s the beginning of one of the episodes. But then my mom was just like, what about my spaghetti? I’m like, wait, I love your spaghetti.
Mark Kinsley [51:02]
That’s right. Well, clearly your efforts in the community have driven foot traffic into the store. But we got to do our official segment.
Speaker 2 (male) [51:05]
Are you ready to drive more foot traffic?
Mark Kinsley [51:16]
You bet we are. You hear that guy? thumping bass. Listen. You’ve dumped a little bass. Gotcha.
Mattman [52:01]
Yeah, yeah. Why didn’t you call me in for that one? Man, I did thump that.
Mark Kinsley [52:45]
Huge mistake. You know, we’re gonna have to plan another concert, whenever prime times back coming up in August. But in the meantime, people are trying to find ways to drive foot traffic into their stores. You do it? You work on it every time though Katie is put on a pink bunny suit. You’ve had people sleeping out in front of the stores. But what really has worked for you in terms of driving foot traffic? You talked about the connection between purpose and cause and foot traffic connects those dots?
Mattman [54:23]
Yeah, no, absolutely. So the pandemic is waning a little bit with people getting vaccinated. There’s been a few ribbon-cutting events I’ve been to. And so I’ve noticed the same thing about every business opening up in our own business model, that you’ve got to have a cause and you’ve got to support something. So hoptown Brewery is this place that just opened up and they pick you can pay it forward. And every certain beer, they have coins that they put into a jar to donate to a certain nonprofit that, you know, they that they were working with. And for us, it’s like bags of Hope is one that’s a local, you know, kids that stay at home with the whole pandemic and you know, maybe they weren’t getting the lunches that they had during the week from school. So now here, here’s like a bag, literally a bag of food, so that you can eat this weekend. And if your parents didn’t have the food, you’re not going hungry here. Here’s a bunch of food. So by partnering with them and you know, suddenly you got People tagging each other on social media. We’ve had customers sit down and we’re like man we really wish we could think of an excuse to come in here more than every three to five years you know for like another bed for a different mattress in the house like Do you have any sure just come drop off some food for this like really good cause and you know shoot give them a pillow for doing it or maybe like a small Sweet dreams cash that we we view as solid tender like us base currency is sweet dreams cash. So you know any of that stuff because then they people love working with someone who’s working towards the greater good. And all of these places that are open up my my wife and I went to a coffee shop this morning. It was before 8 am which is my caffeine curfew. And Lent is over. So I do I have had some coffee, blast. But even then you could buy a $3 cup of coffee in it go to the next first responder through the door. So and that’s like, shoot, did you just want to do that for somebody? And then you know, yeah, I love I love this place. And now that’s the story people are sharing to their friends about you not like they sell mattresses. Oh, yeah. And there’s stuff there to buy. But did you hear this?
Mark Kinsley [56:10]
Purpose and cause equal foot traffic.
Speaker 2 (male) [56:18]
Brought to you by door counts. The only known treatment for traffic blindness. Nope, the UPS guy didn’t come into your store five times today. Those were customers, and you have no idea what happened to them. Door counts is the cure for traffic blindness, increase conversions, lose sales and make customers happy. Visit door counts.com today.
Mark Kinsley [57:09]
And of course, make sure when you walk into your store, you’re doing the door counts dance people, I’m just saying that man. You are you’re a living legend. In my mind, you are in my opinion, the world’s most superhuman retail manager. Is what you call yourself?
Mattman [57:13]
Because I am not superhuman. I’m human. You cut me I bleed.
Mark Kinsley [57;14]
Now those are two separate words. Super.
Mattman [57:19]
Oh, gotchas that are super not the one word together. Alright. Hey, thanks. I appreciate it.
Mark Kinsley [57:22]
Well, it’s been fun talking like Do you have anything that we didn’t ask you that you would want as a go-giver? That you would want to give to this audience? The people who are working in Furniture and Mattress stores? What would you want to impart upon them that maybe we didn’t ask you about?
Mattman [57:35]
Shoot man. The things I’ve worked out in my own retail history is, first of all, you know, selling beds for more than a decade, you’re gonna see some people back. And the first time they were in they might have exchanged one or even two mattresses and that has been somewhat of a challenge, right? So what I would say is man, if you are in this for the long haul, it’s your family or you just love the industry. If you didn’t get it already, you’ve got to just bygones be bygones water under the bridge man and, and take some responsibility for that. Because maybe 10 years ago, you weren’t the salesperson you are today. So when that person comes through the door, and you look up their history, you just like, hey, like, Hey, I see the band that you finally got or something because I had a little bit of retail, you know, like not anxiety, but I had issues because I wasn’t letting go of that. And also, sometimes it was definitely my fault. I might not have asked the right questions, and that’s why we didn’t land on the right bed the first time around. It’s not you know, just because somebody exchanges a mattress doesn’t mean you know, they did something wrong or whatever. So really don’t focus on any of the bad customers or any of the customers is that it doesn’t go swimmingly. Just try to do your best. Stay in touch with them. Follow up and make sure Hey, is everything great? Are we squared away, you know, 10 years down the road when they’re shopping with you again, that’s what they’re gonna remember? They’re not gonna remember how many times they swapped out the bed. They’re here again to shop with you. So you if you’ve got employees that are sitting there when you walk in the door, and the first thing they do is tell you about oh my god, listen, you know, person, brother kids in Can you believe how they were just everywhere? Like, hey, like, nope. Did you have any positive customer’s experiences? Because the bad ones reclaim right, why? Why go back to that? Instead, focus on the positive ones and keep trucking forward because, man, there’s not enough time. Like you only get so much time in a day. You want to spend it on the things that actually matter. And yeah, so that’s probably the one tip that I’d say.
Mark Quinn [57:45]
Well, you know, Mattman, Kinsley said it at the beginning and the show and I want to say it again. We love the fam. And we love that you’re part of the fam because we learn from so many people inside of this industry and you’re definitely one of them. And you have such a fresh perspective in terms of how you look at stuff from a retail perspective, and just from the consumer’s perspective, really. And so you inspire us, we love the ear, engage. We love that you’re purpose-driven. Everyone we’ve ever met at Sweet dreams really is the Dream Team. You guys do it, you get it done. The spirit of abundance is clear with you guys. So thanks for what you’re doing. So glad you’re part of the fam and it’s your day off that you still decided to come on the show with Kinsley and I so I think we should do a tequila shot toast to share for your day off. Are you ready? Are you ready to engage with us? Alright, well, we’ll hook it up and I’ll count it.
Mark Kinsley [57:45]
There’s literally I got it inside my tequila shot glass. Hey.
Mattman [57:46]
Don’t worry. Kinsley.
Mark Quinn [57:47]
Good. That’s right, good. Got it.
Mark Kinsley [57:48]
We got to do the official toast for Matt man.
Mark Quinn [57:49]
Yep. No doubt, Mattman. Here’s our official tequila toast for you. Thank you for having your dis market shot class handy. Here we go. It is to great sleep, my friend and to live your best life. There’s a radix to you and for all you do.
Mark Kinsley [57:52]
Mattman, you are a rock star. Check out all of his episodes at fam dot news. He’s over there. He’s just dropping gems of wisdom. One after the other. I’ve gotten so many little tidbits, like just the idea of one chance every decade. I love that one. This is like one of my favorites because if you were gonna say one thing to a family member every decade like if you only got to see him one time, you would make that message the most meaningful it can be and that’s what’s happening. When people come in and they look for a mattress it’s like you’re one chance to interface with them every decade so you are a great teacher. A great service to our team, our fam, and we love you, man. You’re great.
Mattman [57:52]
Whoo Hey, it’s fun to be here man. Love being part of the fam.
Mark Kinsley [57:53]
Alright Quinn, what do they need to do subscribe to us?
Mark Quinn 57:54
We’ll go subscribe, definitely get to the fam dot news by the way if you’re listening to this now if you got a fam news, you can subscribe and if you do you get a free version of the audiobook so you can’t go wrong with that right Matt? Man Matt man’s got his audio version and also go look us up on Spotify, iTunes podcast wherever you get your show. And give us a rating. Five stars for Kinsley’s hair alone. If you really think I was underneath a Willie Nelson hat right now Not today but it is but I got my dream team. Sweet dreams hat on but anyway, yeah, go check it out and give us a review. It always helps. And whatever you do tell someone about the show there’s a lot of content in there on fam dot news. That is helpful and this show is no exception. Matt man you’re shining a bright light my man Thank you come back.
Mattman [57:55]
Well, yeah, we Yeah, I mean, I got to go to feed Tyrannosaurus Rex. Because allergy season is upon us and people are out there just sawing logs and you know like they’re all congested stuff. So once I get that cleaned up you know I’ll send you guys a podium message or something we’ll get back in the same room.
Mark Kinsley [57:55]
You rock my friend. Have a great rest of your day and go save some sleep.
