This past week I spent a couple of days at the Surfaces convention in Las Vegas. This is the one of the flooring industries largest shows of the year and attracts manufactures, distributors, retailers, and their customers from all over the world. One of the big topics this year is the economy and how businesses can survive during these times.

I spent most of my time with companies that supply the flooring industry with technology help such as websites, social media campaigns, etc. It was amazing to hear the amount of businesses in the flooring industry that believe social media is for kids, just a fad; as if we were going to go back to newspapers and the rotary dial phone at some point in the future.

Perhaps this attitude is one of the reasons so many in the flooring industry are failing or have already failed. Those in the industry that “get it” are usually the leaders in their respective area. This should tell you something right away.

While I was at one of the technology booths I heard a flooring store owner tell the exhibitor that social media was just a fad and that she would soon be out of a job. I stayed and listened while she did the best job possible to convince him to open his eyes and mind, but the old school mentality of this industry kicked in. He left the booth feeling confident that by next year social media would be a thing of the past.

I wish I was making this up, but this attitude is a clear indicator of a bigger problem that plagues not only the flooring industry but also several industries. The problem; accepting and embracing change, especially as it relates to technology and the online consumer.

I don’t have data on how many flooring sales are generated by social media, but I can tell you that just from our website, FindAnyFloor.com, we generated 100,000’s of leads last year just with social media. These leads not only came to the website, but they explored it and eventually searched their local floor store directory where we tracked them calling, visiting a store website, e–mail for more information, or contacting our live chat to ask for more help. None of these people would have come to our website and visited their local flooring store had it not been for social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Here is the reality; those who refuse to embrace change or ignore its mere existence are going to find staying relevant very difficult especially in an economy where competition for a customer is fierce. My bet is that next year there will be a lot more jobs built around social media and online customer interaction, and those in the industry who are already implementing these strategies will be among the most dominant companies in their field.