SURFACES | StonExpo Blog

Next January at the SURFACES│StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas trade show, we will recognize the best and brightest young, rising stars in the floor covering industry. I borrowed the idea for the “Future Focus Awards” from my own career experience in the ad business. In many larger markets, the 4A’s (American Association of Advertising Agencies) local chapter will also have a “Jr. Ad Club” for young professionally-minded account execs, art directors, media planners and the like, ranging from new college grads to late 20’s to mid-30’s. Advertising agency and in-house client-side mentors and bosses will give annual recognition in their respective markets to the best of those young professionals who they nominate. In that way, the ad business encourages excellence and in a public way “takes care of its own.”

Likewise, the floor covering industry is an important and fascinating business that attracts young talent. It’s part design, part engineering, part environmental, part manufacturing, part marketing and sales. It’s a relatively small industry but has enormous impact on the quality of life for all of us, wherever we live, work or play. Just as with the ad industry, the floor covering industry’s most important resource is the people who call it their career home, whether they work for retailers, manufacturers, architects and designers or distributors.

Several months ago, Kemp Harr, publisher of Floor Focus magazine, and I met and decided to launch the Future Focus Awards, along with the generous support of a leading brand in the business, 3M Scotchgard, thanks to Jim Stevens, National Sales Manager. You won’t find a stronger advocate for the industry than Kemp and his wife Anne, the art director for Floor Focus. Together, we developed the Award over the course of many meetings and long hours. The judges for the Future Focus Awards are Jim Stevens, Buddy Jones of E. Jones & Associates, a sales and leadership training company; and Frank Hurd of the Carpet and Rug Institute.

Nominees (must be under age 35 with at least 3 years experience) and their nominators can get more information about the Award and entry forms by visiting http://www.floordaily.net/futurefocusawards/

Deadline for entries is December 23 and the winners will be announced at SURFACES│StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas in Las Vegas, January 24. More information about SURFACES│StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas is at http://www.surfaces.com/attendee/show-information.aspx

At a time in this industry and country when sales and growth are in a slump, we believe it’s time to celebrate the young, talented, ambitious and dedicated individuals in sales, marketing, R&D/product design, manufacturing, employee development/human development, and sustainability, on an industry-wide platform. In spite of current economic circumstances, these individuals are the future of floor covering and the hope of all of us. Let’s look to the future, together.

Message from SURFACES│StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas Show Management:

Paul will share more of his wisdom with you when he and Brian Gracon, PhD present the following session: Making Marketing and Sales Work Together (MO15A) on January 23, 2012 at 1:00pm.  To register, visit: https://registration3.experient-inc.com/showSUR121/Default.aspx.  We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!

The beauty of natural stone – rock as old as time, harvested from some of the most delicate and unforgiving lands on our planet, trucked, floated, or flown to any imaginable destination, and customized to the most exacting specifications of your unique project – and all yours for the low price of $27.00 per square foot installed.

Where did we go wrong? When did one of the oldest, richest, and most storied crafts known to man become a commoditized industry replete with bargain pricing, blinking neon signs, free undermount sinks included with purchase, incompetent workers, and unprincipled business practices? When did we pervert the art and beauty of natural stone by categorizing these inimitable natural resources into groups and colors that we sell at prices that severely undermine the value of our product and integrity of our industry?

Ladies and Gentlemen: we have done this to ourselves. Fortunately, current economic forces are providing us the ideal opportunity to repair our broken industry.

The business of stone fabrication is expensive and labor-intensive – cumbersome at best. The downfall of our industry began when uneducated individuals dove headfirst into the business convinced that the limitless profits of fabricating natural stone would greatly outweigh the paltry cost of operating a fabrication facility. All you need is slabs, laborers to fabricate those slabs, and some overeager customers who are willing to part with their hard-earned cash for a poorly crafted countertop… right?

Wrong. An intelligent and experienced fabricator will quickly inform you that these basic costs do not begin to scratch the surface of the burdensome expense of the stone business. A truly responsible stone fabricator will have a significant overhead, which will include myriad tangible costs: facilities, machinery and equipment, product, personnel, vehicles, safety equipment, liability and workers’ compensation insurances, and federal and state taxes- just to name a few. There will also be a multitude of intangible costs: knowledge, skill, experience, and ethics.

The intelligent and experienced fabricator cannot compete with the parasite whose sole purpose is to pocket as much cash as possible before vanishing without a trace, leaving the stone industry in disrepair with street prices that are irresponsible, unsustainable, and degrading to our craft.

The effects of industry reticence to combat and discourage these destructive practices are immeasurable. We are fractured, discouraged, and fatigued. Coincidentally, the economic forces currently threatening each of our businesses have created a unique opportunity for intelligent and experienced fabricators to finally take a stand against this industry perversion. There is no better time for candid discussion and discovery than now.  Through education, awareness, accountability, and principle, intelligent and experienced fabricators throughout our country and around the world can save our broken industry. I hope you will join me.

You can also join John Kilfoyle for the Countertop Installers Forum: Solutions to the Most Common Problems (WE23T) on Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 4:00pm – 5:30pm at StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas.  Click here to register for StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas.

Most articles about concrete countertops extol the versatility and design potential of the material. After all, when you start with raw materials the possibilities of what you can do with them are vast and seemingly limitless. However, instead of delving into design, I want to discuss something a bit more concrete (pardon the pun): the material itself.

Stone fabricators work with a variety of stone and are familiar with the differences in these materials. Hardness, porosity, brittleness, etc. are all individual characteristics that make one stone different from another (appearances notwithstanding).

Concrete too has characteristics that set it apart from other countertop materials. Some of these physical characteristics are very similar to stone while others are very different. Understanding the similarities and differences between concrete and granite can be a significant factor that results in profits vs. unforeseen costs.

Granite Composition

Let’s start with granite. Differences in mineralogy, grain, origin and other subtleties give each granite a unique personality stone fabricators have learned to recognize. Three characteristics distinguish granite from other rock types.

1. First, granite is an igneous rock.
2. Second, it has large mineral grains.
3. And third, it always has quartz and feldspar as primary mineral components.

Not all of the stone used for granite countertops is geologically classified as granite; black “granite” is really gabbro, which has no quartz in it. However the more relaxed definition of “granite” by the stone industry often includes any stone with large grains and hard minerals. Broadly speaking, most “granites” share similar physical characteristics such as hardness, durability, acid, heat and scratch-resistance.

The hard nature of the mineral grains makes granite difficult to scratch and easy to polish to a very high sheen. Granite is considered strong, but the brittle nature of stone, coupled with natural joints, fissures and veins can make it fragile and vulnerable to unexpected breakage.

Concrete Composition

The basic makeup of most concrete is simple: Hard aggregates of various sizes are mixed with a cementitious binder to create a strong, stone-like composite.

Nearly all concrete uses Portland cement as a binder, but some ultra-high performance concretes use other mineral-based binders that are superior to (and more expensive than) Portland cement.

Photo by Dave Banko, Counterpart, LLC

Concrete can use aggregates with a variety of mineralogies. Crushed granite, quartz, limestone and marble are common coarse aggregates, and silica sand is often the fine aggregate. Concrete can also use recycled materials like crushed glass bottles as aggregate.

Etching Bare Concrete

Acid vulnerability is concrete’s Achilles heel. Bare concrete will etch from acid, but high performance coatings like urethanes solve this issue.

Polishing Ability

Because it is a heterogeneous matrix of various aggregates in a cement binder, concrete polishes differently from most stone. Generally the harder aggregates polish well, which is to be expected from natural stones. Recycled glass aggregates polish well too.

Polished concrete’s sheen generally can’t compete with polished granite, but with the right combination of technique, concrete mix and aging it is possible to get a suitably high shine, if that is what the client wants. Most clients want concrete to have a matte look because the very reason they are choosing concrete is that it is different from granite.

Keep in mind that polished concrete does shed water nicely, but its bare surface is still vulnerable to acid. To prevent acid etching, high performance coatings must be applied.

Strength

Granite like most stones is strong, hard and brittle. Natural fissures, fractures and veins weaken a stone slab, often leading to unexpected breakage. But what does this really mean? When stone is described as being brittle, that means that it cannot tolerate much flexing before it breaks unexpectedly. A seemingly solid slab that’s lifted improperly can shatter in an instant without warning.

The opposite of brittle is flexible. Think of rubber. It doesn’t shatter. Rather it takes considerable stretching and elongation before it breaks. Even though it can break, there’s a clear indication that something is happening to the material long before failure occurs.

Concrete, when it’s properly reinforced and well designed, can be made flexible and strong. True, unreinforced concrete is a brittle material, but adding reinforcement makes concrete a tough, flexible composite. Rodding granite with steel or fiberglass provides a similar benefit, although without nearly the same capacity that reinforced concrete has.

The ability to engineer concrete to be flexible and strong, combined with the fact that slabs are made to order, allow for very long, thin slabs without breakage or even cracking.

GFRC Desk Flexing

Conclusion

Finally, the biggest difference between concrete and granite is that you can tailor concrete to suit your client’s needs and tastes. Aesthetics, durability and structural performance can all be customized to create unique pieces (often seamless and three dimensional) that are prohibitively expensive, difficult or impossible to do with stone. Knowing this, and understanding the material itself, will allow you to be more successful with adding concrete to your repertoire of offerings to satisfy any client’s taste.

In recent years, it has crossed most business owner’s minds to cut back on their advertising budget.  Traditional advertising such as magazines, newspaper and television can be expensive. And while these outlets are still important, we must admit that times have changed.  Social media is taking over the world and none more-so than Facebook. If you haven’t already created a business page… it’s time.

Setting up your page is the easy part. Getting ‘Likes’ and keeping your customers entertained is the hard part. To help you out, I’ve put together a list of 20 ways to promote your Facebook page:

Showroom Signage
-Type ‘like {page name}’ and send to FBOOK (32665)
-QR codes
-Bathroom Stall Door

Business Essentials
-Business Cards
-Outgoing Envelopes

Marketing Collateral
-Company Brochures
-Trade-show Giveaways (pens, balloons, etc.)
-Print Ads

Website
-Like Button
-Comment Box

Other
-Incoming Answering Service

Email
-Signature
-E-Newsletter

Company Property
-Vehicle Bumper Stickers
-Employee Apparel
-Store Front Marquee

Within Facebook
-Tag Your Customers In Pictures
-Ask Your Employees to LIKE You
-LIKE Other Local Businesses/Causes/Personalities/Organizations

The BEST Way
-WORD OF MOUTH!

If you need more direction in the best practices of social media for your flooring or stone business, I invite you to join us during Surfaces │StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas 2012 for the following how-to workshop.

Social Media: How To For Business
January 23, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Presented by: Sarah B Johnson, MKG Department (www.mkgdept.net) and Christine B Whittemore, Simple Marketing Now, LLC (www.simplemarketingnow.com)

For more information about the session, visit:
http://connect.surfaces.com/connect/public/SessionDetails.aspx?SessionID=7236&maxSessions=91&aeid=257,258

If I said, “Save money. Live better™.” you’d think of Walmart®. If I said “Let’s Build Something Together™” you might think of Lowe’s®. If I said “Better Living Through Chemistry™”, you might think of DuPont® even though DuPont changed its slogan almost 30 years ago. And if I said “Compromise elsewhere™”, you’d think… (Well, I don’t know what you’d think, but Boar’s Head® uses these words as part of their branding.) These short slogans, or taglines, are part of a company’s brand and are intended to be memorable, identifiable, and very brief descriptors of who they are and what they mean to customers.

Some of you may have taglines that work well for your business. But, many of you probably don’t have a tagline, because your name itself is a strong brand in your markets. I’m not suggesting that you must have a tagline – it’s got to be right for your business and add value – but I am suggesting that you and your staff think about what it could be. By doing so, you’ll develop a clearer view of who you are, why you are special in your market, and why people should buy from you.  Maybe you should hold a staff contest to develop and explain potential taglines as a way of engaging your staff and improving their ability to concisely explain your business to customers.

Mark Twain is credited as saying “If I had more time, I would have written you a shorter letter.” It’s hard to capture your business essence in a 2-4 word tagline, right? Would it be easier if you could use up to, say, 20 words? In Hollywood, loglines are used to briefly describe the essence of a movie. For example, if I said “A betrayed Roman general seeks vengeance in the arena” you might think of the movie “Gladiator”. If I said “Lovers from different social classes on an ill-fated voyage” you’d probably think of “Titanic”.

So, what would your logline be? What’s your unique story, in 20 words or less? Again, you can ask your staff to develop potential loglines for your business. Then, you can use a good logline when greeting your customers (in ads, online, or in the store) to give them a brief summary of what your business is all about, and why they should buy from you.

I’ll have more about taglines and loglines in my SURFACES│StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas 2012 Seminar “Why And How To Sharpen Your Selling Skills”: http://connect.surfaces.com/connect/public/SessionDetails.aspx?SessionID=7362&maxSessions=85&aeid=257,258

In the 1980’s, Ronald Reagan was president of the USA, the economy was strong, and you were asking yourself, “Do I need a computer?” In the 1990’s, the economy was weak, people were watching Jerry Springer, and you were asking yourself, “Do I need a cell phone?” Came the new millennium, there’s a Starbucks® on every corner, we were all concerned about security, and you were asking yourself “Do I need a Web site?” Somehow, you made it through all these changes, proving that you’re really good at handling change, even technology change.

But, change hasn’t stopped. The economy’s weak again and you’re asking yourself “Do I need to do something about another round of communications technologies – social media?” What should you do, and how do you get started?

Here are a few “technology tools and techniques” you and your staff can use right now as you figure out the rest of your social media strategy:

-Ask your staff to spend time looking through your Web site. Then have them each take you on a tour of your Web site. This way you’ll be certain they know what’s on your Web site! (Your customers know what’s there, and your staff should know as much or more than your customers do.) You might even ask them to present at least part of their tour to each other in a staff meeting, including how they would use that information or that part of the Web site with customers.

-Search for your store on Google and consumer review sites (like angieslist.com, yelp.com and complaints.com). Act on the complaints you find and fix what customers are complaining about.

-Ask your measurers to make narrated videos of the planned installations. Show the videos to the installers before they go to the job. Ask installers to send pictures or videos of issues they encounter on the job to the salesman or measurer – this will increase the speed and quality of resolving the issues and increase customer satisfaction. And, your business will show customers that it’s a market leader through its use of technology.

Good luck with these technology tools and techniques. I’ll have more in the SURFACES │StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas 2012 seminar that Paul Friederichsen and I are presenting titled “Making Marketing and Sales Work Together”: http://connect.surfaces.com/connect/public/SessionDetails.aspx?SessionID=7264&maxSessions=89&aeid=257,258

It still amazes me how so many of top business executives shy away from social media. In fact, I’ve run across corporate online “social phobia”: a fear that disgruntled customers will run amuck if given the chance at a digital soap box. These otherwise shrewd and enlightened professionals still believe that things like Facebook and Twitter are just the purview of their teenaged kids – much like their grandparents thought television would never amount to anything when there’s perfectly good radio to listen to. Are they in denial or what?

Consider a few of the many unbelievably compelling growth stats since 2005:

• Facebook has gone from 6 million members to an estimated 750 million today.
• Female Boomers are the fastest growing Facebook demographic.
• Twitter began in 2005 and has 110 million users.
• YouTube’s domain name was activated in 2005 and is now 2^nd only to Google

… and owned by Google.

• Online advertising expenditures surpassed radio advertising.
• ~ 40% of US Companies use blogs for marketing purposes.
• More mobile devices are used in the US than TV’s and PC’s combined.
• 75% of the millennial demographic group has an online profile.

Whether you agree with it or not, social media is here to stay. It is the hottest communication channel in the known universe. Ignore it and scoff at it at your peril. The written word may be rapidly dying in newspapers across the country, but it is alive and well, having migrated to cyberspace thank you very much.

The definition of marketing is selling more things to more people more often. One way you do that successfully is to go where the people are. Which is why marketers are also discovering smart phones. Smart phone penetration is reaching upwards of 75%. Now combine that with how often each of us check our own smart phone each day for tweets, Facebook wall posts, LinkedIn updates, emails, texts, news, scores, etc. and you have an understanding about the rise in popularity of these devices to the marketer. Learn more at http://www.madisonavemedia.com/.

Granted, we will still continue to watch TV, listen to radio and read magazines. But any media strategy for any advertiser of any size for any product or service must build on a social foundation. If you’re one of those who still believe it’s a bunch of hype or kid’s stuff, I’ve got a buggy whip factory I’d like to sell you.

Want to get really psyched about this topic? Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SuNx0UrnEo

Every time you price a residential or commercial project, you are rolling the dice and gambling with your financial assets, reputation, and very business survival.  How you go about identifying potential risk will likely determine your probable success.

First off, it’s always helpful to have a checklist of questions like the following:

What’s the job really worth in your market area? What is the likelihood that you can make a profit at or above your average gross profit? How would you peg your chances of success?  Based upon what criteria?

Have you really thought about this bid in the context of your other business?  If you get the job, will it require all out effort that will take away from other business? Have you done this type of project before or will this be a new experience? Will I have to hire more personnel to perform the work? 

How about the publicity angle for you, either good or bad? What will this do for or to your reputation if you are successful or unsuccessful?

Does getting this job really make sense, or is it ego?

Will you run a credit check or Dun & Bradstreet report on the client prior to signing a contract, if so, at what dollar level?  What was my previous experience like with this client?  Do I have an existing credit line for the product purchases?  Will my cash flow from current operations permit timely supplier and installer payments for this job? 

Do you really need the hassle, i.e., how difficult, challenging, and time-consuming will this project become?  Have you considered a “worse case scenario” (a real job meltdown) and how you’d handle it?

If you’ve considered these questions, here are some comments based on my experience and battle scars: 

If you don’t know what the job is really worth, don’t bid it.  You should do enough research to know the “going rates” in your area.  IF you have a lot of experience, then you can structure your bid more aggressively; with minimal experience make sure you’ve allowed profit for the unknown.

If this one job will make or break your reputation, make sure it’s worth it.  Don’t bid on a whim and then burn your bridges by non-performance.  If you wind up on the front page of the local paper, make sure it enhances rather than destroys your reputation.  Watch your ego.

Spend the money to do a credit check, no exceptions, beyond a certain dollar amount.  If you had to grit your teeth the last time you worked with that client, or had trouble getting paid, don’t go there again.  Some things don’t change, at least for the better. You build your financial strength over the years, so don’t squander it on one, ill-advised project.

Finally, when in doubt, put another “set of eyes” on the project before you turn in that bid.  If it feels right, and you have all the answers, take the risk.  If not, swallow hard and live to compete another day.

Dave Stafford is a former flooring contractor, has been in the industry for over 25 years, is a business consultant, and specializes in government contracts.  He may be contacted at dave@dsainfo.com.

In the Reagan/Clinton years when all of us were fat and healthy, more knowledge was needed only to keep us fatter and healthier. Most of us would have survived never attending a seminar or a convention. However, the ranks of retailers has been decimated because of an economy no one could have imagined. Our country has changed so radically, it is hardly recognizable and most of us need critical knowledge not to prosper, but to survive.

The retail paradigm has changed for as long as we can see into the future. The uncertainty of the economy not only keeps corporations from investing in the economy, but is keeping consumers from spending. So customers have changed, advertising and promotional venues have changed and the way we run our businesses has to change.

Understandably manufacturers, retail groups and others whom retailers rely upon for information have cut their spending on education, unfortunately just when we need it. When I call people who control the education programs in the industry to stress the importance of their dealers having to change to cope, I am assured that: “Warren, we have it under control.” I am sure other educators in the industry are hearing the same story.

It is obvious that they don’t have it under control judging from the contacts I get from retailers. An Abbey dealer recently brought me out for a day of education. Even his people wondered why when money was so tight. His answer was that now is the time you need it! Few in the industry have the courage to do this. Just when we need it we cut back on meetings, conventions and educational opportunities.

So what is going on? Customers, for one are far more defensive, shopping intensely on the internet and in the marketplace because they are scared to death to spend money. As sophisticated as consumers are nowadays, they are so desperate to save money that they listen to the incredulous claims of the national companies. “Can you compete with Lowe’s is a frequent refrain?” Buy carpet somewhere else and try to get their free install. If flooring is 70% off, what could the normal price possibly be? In these days of government intrusion, doesn’t anyone check these things? Thirty years ago, if retailers made a claim we had to prove we sold it at the regular price for a certain period.

If you try to explain the outlandish sales of the big guys and don’t know how to handle today’s customer, anything you tell customers about the ludicrousness of these sales (?) will sound like sour grapes. The truth is we can all compete very handily with these national retailers, thank you.

One study showed that fully 80% of consumers researched the products they intended to purchase on the internet, so a professional website with loads of information you produce is essential. The written word is usually stronger than the spoken word.

One piece of good news is the new paradigm of promoting our wares is virtually cheap and effective once you learn how to use it. Instead of the traditional print (few read anymore) and TV (TiVo and changers) are not nearly as effective. The new media are the social networks. One group, Carpet One, is usually on most pages. The new shoppers buy from friends as always, but today they buy from friends they don’t even know as in Facebook. Again you have to know how to use it. The gurus are usually young and cheap. There are plenty of people who can help you, to name a couple, Christine Whittemore and Lis Calandrino.

There are groups on LinkedIn: “Fabulous Floors,” TalkFloor and Floor Daily that every retailer should belong to where the top educators in the industry contribute almost daily with essential information. The other benefit is that we challenge one another if we believe something is in error, so not only informative, but entertaining as well.

There are stores who are actually having record years and these are the stores that have adapted to the economy and have intensified their efforts to network outside the store and promote to previous customers. The keyword here is constant contact. No one can afford to sit around and die a slow retail death.