01.09.06
The sleep number bed
I have owned a Sleep Number Bed, by Select Comfort, for about five years now. I love the bed…
Recently my wife and I decided it was time to make more room for our cats and get a king size bed. Naturally, I wanted another sleep number. Though we actually did our comparison shopping, even considering a regular mattress (Damn those things are HEAVY), we still returned to the sleep number bed as the right bed for the quality, cost, and comfort. So, being the avid researchers that we are we hit the internet for all the new model information. We compared all the features and prices of the different model sleep number beds and were trying to decide between the 3000, the 4000, and the 5000. It wasn’t all that easy to see what you got for the additional money in the 4000 and 5000.
Here’s where the marketing aspect enters 
They do an excellent job in delivering their message on-line as well as in their TV spots. Their phone customer service and sales are quite pleasant and seem knowledgeable. Where the system breaks down TERRIBLY is where I think it is most important, their in-store sales. Their in-store sales staff (at least in the 3 stores I went to) totally misses the mark in delivering the marketing message of select comfort. It’s almost as if select comfort is relying solely on the presence of the bed to deliver sales.
“Here, lye back and be sold…”
Because if that doesn’t sell the bed they certainly aren’t going to get any help from the staff. Perhaps I am just a really educated consumer, but every time I ask a question I am met with a look of total ignorance. Even questions that I ask merely to keep some kind of conversation going (and that I already know the answer to, because it’s in their brochure). I find this to be a glaring hole in their marketing system.
After repeatedly being disappointed whenever I went into a store I finally bought mine over the phone. Why? Because for some reason there was a discount on the phone that wasn’t accessible on-line… I also found their phone sales staff to be more informed than I was (a breath of fresh air). Perhaps this was merely because they had the unfair advantage of a computer terminal with all the technical specs of the beds Either way, the in-store sales staff should, in the very least, have an intimate knowledge of the sales material they hand out to customers.
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Bill said,
February 1, 2006 at 9:25 am
Hi we are looking into getting a sleep number bed (5000). How did it work for you.
Jason said,
February 1, 2006 at 10:59 am
Hey Bill… I finally decided to go with the 3000. The reason being that the model I had before, though they claimed otherwise, was very similar to the 3000 in its features. The only issue with the 3000 is the pump, but I had the high quality remote pump from my previous bed that i just swapped onto this one (the guests get the LOUD pump
). Long story short, I love the bed…
If you’re thinking of getting a 5000 over a 4000 it should be because you want a wireless remote and the quiet pump (which I recommend because, even though you NEVER use it, it is annoying to have the wired controller hanging out all the time and I believe the pump for the 4000 is just as loud as the 3000).
And I also recommend ordering over the phone for reasons I mentioned in my post…
Hope that helped
Jason
Stacia said,
January 7, 2008 at 8:04 pm
The sleep number is worth every penny. I just bought the 5000 model and it sleeps awesome. My sleep number is 45 and my fiance likes a firm bed so we no longer fight over how hard the bed is. We both can have our cake and eat it too. The wireless remote is great too.