Kevin M. Padden 

AZ School of Rock & KM Padden Consulting

HOW often do you wish there was a way for return business on work you’ve already installed? In our industry, people don’t usually replace their stone work so we have to find a way to generate sales after the install.

One way that many Fabricators are generating return sales is to offer a cleaning and sealing program to their customer base. Now, I’ve long been an advocate for re-sealing after five to seven years after the initial coat of sealer gets installed, but in many cases, depending on the kind of sealer that was used, this may be way too long to wait until another coat of sealer is required.

I have said this before, and you should think about this–IF you have a company that installs hundreds or even thousands of square feet of natural stone floor tile (or slabs that are cut up and used in a flooring application) every month you are (in effect) planting “little money seeds” under every square foot of flooring you’re installing. In anywhere from one to two years from the day that you finish installing that big honed limestone floor that you may be working on right now, that floor will need to be restored in some way. Maybe re-honed, re-polished, whatever; the point here is, that if you are the one installing 1500 square feet of flooring this week, wouldn’t it be nice to know that somewhere in the next 24 months–that same floor could generate another $2,250.00* in income? (* that’s based on 1500 Sq.Ft. x $1.50/Sq.Ft. for the example–what you charge is up to you)

The best guys, in my opinion, (the ones who have figured this one out) are the ones that actively do tile work, slab fabrication and stone restoration and concrete polishing. (OK, the concrete polishing is a bonus, and counts the same as restoration.) A typical company that fits into this profile is one that will contract with a customer to do (as an example) all of the home’s countertops in various slab types, and all of the floor tile work (maybe soft goods like carpet too, if they are so inclined). This is where (in my opinion) the brilliance of this strategy comes into play.

The company who uses their ability to “track” their jobs from the past, and schedule follow up calls on one year and two year anniversary dates of the job completion–will be best positioned to keep potential restoration sales “in house”.

Example: You have a job from two years ago–like the one above. You got all of the slab work and all of the stone tile flooring. The job went great – no problems, no complaints, customer paid (happily) and you’re pretty sure they’d give you a good referral (as would all of your other customers). Once this job is in your database, reminders at established intervals will let your client know that additional work is needed and available to keep this install looking its best.

The centerpiece of this whole philosophy is “tracking.” You HAVE to establish a company or an organizational protocol to consciously “track” the jobs that you do, and categorize them into re-seal/restore candidates based on products that you originally installed.

With the various sealing products that Braxton-Bragg offers, you really have no excuse to not take advantage of this “goose that will keep laying golden eggs” for you as a business entity. All YOU have to do is keep track of the goose.

Additionally, the restoration market is one that has been overlooked by the very guys (in my opinion) that can capitalize on garnering ADDITIONAL income that would have otherwise gone into someone else’s pocket from restoring natural stone & concrete flooring that you originally installed. In my opinion – this is a no brainer.

The floor restoration equipment and supplies that Braxton-Bragg offers us in our Industry along with the related training and customer support – can put you on a fast track to reaping the benefits of “pushing the envelope” of your own company’s business model and putting you in a better position of expanding your revenue stream.

Until next month – Best Regards & Happy Fabricating!

Generating Return Dollars on Work Already Installed is a topic that is taught each month by Kevin M. Padden at the AZ School of Rock in Gilbert, Arizona. For more information on classes, contact Kevin at 480.309.9422 or online at www.azschoolofrock.com.