Sharon Koehler

Stone Industry Consultant

In the granite world there is a guy that lurks in the shadows. He tries to stay out of the limelight.     

He is difficult to pin down, first you see him, then you don’t. If you blink, he’s gone. His name is Joe Blow. He owns a pickup truck and a circular saw and he installs granite…sort of. He reels your customers in with cheap prices and big promises. He does a half-assed job with inferior materials. Then he takes their money and runs, leaving them with mediocre results at best, smaller bank accounts and that funny feeling in the pits of their stomachs that indicates they know they made a mistake.

Reputable fabricators may think that there is nothing they can do about Joe Blow with the pickup truck, but there is and it’s simple: Be exactly what you are — a reputable, knowledgeable, outstanding fabricator. But, you need to be a reputable fabricator that is at the top of his game — all the time. 

Now, before you roll your eyes and say, “Hey, I am always at the top of my game!” look around, but look around not through your eyes, but through the eyes of your customer. We, as humans, don’t see deterioration on a daily basis. Only when we go away for a while and come back do we notice it. 

Look at your showroom. The loose sink in the display is not a big issue. But, pair it up with the burned-out light bulb that never got changed and the one or two missing cabinet knobs, plus that big brown spot on the ceiling and the half inch of dust (because no one will clean it except under threat of death) and all of a sudden your showroom looks shabby and rundown. 

Most of the time, your showroom is the customer’s first look at you and it should be a great one. Clean your displays, install appropriate lighting and make sure all your displays are up to date. There is no good way to tell a customer that a sink or a faucet they have chosen is discontinued and they can’t have it. 

Look at your sales and office staff. Are they clean and appropriately dressed? Nothing raises a customer’s eyebrow more than dirty, holey jeans with a wrinkled shirt and unkempt hair. 

I recently went to visit a friend of mine at another shop and I was stunned at what happened. When I walked through the door, (during business hours) the person that came out to greet me was an absolute mess. Grungy, baggy, dirty jeans with holes in his shirt and hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in a week. When my friend appeared he introduced me to the company’s new sales person…Mr. Dirty Jeans himself. Not the way to make a good first impression.   

Talk to your employees. Are they properly trained and knowledgeable? Do they receive training on new materials and procedures? When customers come in, do they greet them right away? Can they talk to customers easily and convey the right information with confidence? Not everyone can comfortably talk to strangers. Make sure you have the right people in the right jobs. 

Do you belong to the BBB? MIA? Angie’s List? Stone and Tile Pros? NKBA? NARI? NAHB? If you answered yes to any of these, or you have others, then show it proudly. Put your BBB accreditation on your front door. Put your MIA Code of Ethics where customers can see it. Display your Angie’s List Super Service Awards. Show off your accreditations, your awards, your memberships and your local professional business affiliations. If you answered no to all of these, then join. These kind of alliances show stability and longevity. 

If customers can see your fabrication area, look at it. Yes, granite fabrication is dusty and dirty but there is a difference between dusty and trashy. 

Recently I was traveling in the mid-west and as I was driving down the road looking for lunch, I spied a granite shop. Curiosity got the best of me and I stopped in. Great showroom, a nice, personable, clean-cut gentleman came to greet me. But, we had to go through the fabrication shop to get to the slab yard.  

Their trash bin was overflowing. There were pieces of material all over the floor. (I was even told to watch my step.) There were used polishing pads, used white pens and trash everywhere. My great first impression was down the drain. If I were a regular customer, they would have had to work hard to get me back.

While you are busy looking around, take a look at your slab yard. Is your slab yard user-friendly? Is there trash everywhere? Are you tripping over your remnants? Are slabs labeled for color and size? Are sold slabs marked or moved so you don’t accidentally over sell? 

Are slabs strapped down or secured to prevent accidents? Are you showing the same old boring colors that every other fabricator stocks or are you bringing in fresh, new trendy colors for excitement and the wow factor? 

Last but not least, walk around the outside of your facility. Is the grass cut? Is the parking lot clean and well maintained?  Is the sidewalk free of debris and rubbish? Are the windows clean? Does the building need a good power washing? Are there more weeds than shrubs? 

The outside and the inside are a package deal. If you turn the customer off before they walk in the door, you have to work twice as hard once they are inside.

Now that you are done looking, there is one more thing that needs to happen between you and the customer.  The customer must be properly educated and that needs to come from you. 

They need to know why this stone is not right for their project. They need to understand why this sink is too big or why we recommend light color stone for outdoor kitchens. 

Sometimes they will come in with information they found on the internet, which must be true because, well, they found it on the internet. You need to be able to cut through all the muck and the bunk and tell it like it is. You have to be able to guide them towards correct choices that will get them fantastic results in the end, and hopefully get you some good word of mouth referrals when it’s all said and done.

Why is all this important?  Two reasons.

#1 - As you well know, you only get one chance to make a great first impression.  Blow that and the customer is out the door, looking somewhere else and walking right into the sights of Joe Blow and his pickup truck. 

#2 - Most reasonable people, when given a choice, will pick peace of mind and quality. Show them they can get that with you and they won’t even see Joe Blow lurking in the shadows.

Sharon Koehler is a 10-year veteran of the stone industry. Currently she is the head of marketing for Artistic Stone Design in Richmond, Virginia and has been a regular contributor to various trade magazines for several years. Any thoughts or comments may be sent to sharon@artisticstonerichmond.com.