It’s something we all appreciate, underlay goes hand-in-hand with carpet fitting but there are two questions we get asked regularly by our customers, why do we actually need it? and why is it an add-on and not included in the price?
If we deal with the second question first in relation to the underlay being an addon. The simple answer is that one underlay product doesn’t fit all carpet products and certainly not all customer’s preferences. If you add in the price of underlay to the carpet then you are assuming a standard price for a standard product. There are over 50 different choices of underlay and therefore the cost of underlay can vary immensely. Another reason for not including the price of underlay is that in a world where people compare price, not everyone will know immediately that our price of carpet includes underlay and including it can make the carpet appear expensive when compared against our competitors.
It is a sales person’s job to find out from the customer what they want or need and match that to the product range of flooring and the best suited options for underlay giving the customer the choice of best value for them.
 |
It is important that our customers see the value of underlay to their investment in their home and just because it is unseen and has no aesthetic benefit it has a massive impact on performance and comfort.
This leads me on nicely to the first question, why do we actually need it?
Well, carpet is simply a barrier between the customer and their sub-floor which can be stone, concrete or wood. This barrier, in modern times, should be comfortable, hard-wearing and attractive. The more robust the barrier the greater comfort and longevity of the carpet.
Modern carpets made of wool, polypropylene, Nylon and polyester can provide comfort and a wonderful appearance without underlay – if that is what the customer chooses. However, there is absolutely no doubt that the same carpet fitted on top of underlay provides a huge difference in comfort not to mention the benefits of thermal insulation, the blocking out of dust coming up through floorboards, sound reduction and performance over the long term.
Therefore, it all comes down to the customer making an informed choice about which products best suit their environment, lifestyle and expectations.
False-economy – one final thought on your choice of underlay. Some customers need something cheap and quick to solve an immediate problem that they hope to replace within a short period of time, therefore the customer may compromise quality and make a decision based on price alone. However, if you are customer purchasing flooring for the longer-term always ensure that any underlay product choice has the ability to perform for the longer-term too. It would be false-economy to compromise on your underlay quality when investing in high quality flooring in your home.
 |
