Countertop Giveaway Complements Word-of-Mouth Marketing for NSMotif
Shannon Carey
Photos Courtesy NSMotif
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Karen Roe, owner of NSMotif in Sanford, Florida |
Karen Roe of NSMotif is taking a leap of faith for the Orlando-based fabricator’s 10th anniversary. She’s giving away a kitchen.
It took Roe a while to wrap her head around the concept proposed by the Marqet Group, the marketing agency for NSMotif. But in the end, it was the perfect way to celebrate 10 years of success in the stone industry.
“I said, ‘You want me to give away a whole kitchen?’” Roe said. “But it was good exposure, even if they don’t win, maybe we can still work with them. We reached out to suppliers to see if anyone wanted to partner, and United Stone teamed up to provide the surface and we provide the labor. It was a initiative to celebrate the 10-year milestone, engage the community and generate leads for the business.”
Response was so good that NSMotif is planning on another giveaway later on.
Roe said working with Marquet Group has been “a game-changer for us.” Word-of-mouth, building solid relationships and an exceptional customer service experience have always been the foundation of NSMotif’s business, and it’s still their core. But partnering with a marketing firm has helped the business grow, despite it initially feeling like a leap of faith.
“I never advertised. I didn’t think I needed to,” said Roe. “But as we grew we wanted to focus on different avenues. Rebranding, changing our collateral, getting us out there and helping us grow. Making these connections and building these relationships doesn’t happen overnight.”
And that decade’s work started with another leap of faith. Founding NSMotif was the start of a new journey in Roe’s life. Fresh from a divorce and making it as a single mom, she saw a need in the stone industry, while working for a stone fabricator.
“I realized there was a huge communication gap between fabricators and customers and setting expectations,” she said. She decided to go into business as a stone fabricator herself.
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Above: Handicap accessible vanity at the Disney World Wilderness Lodge in Orlando, Florida. NSMotif has completed large commercial projects for Disney World, including kitchens and bathrooms at the Wilderness Lodge. |
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Above: Low threshold, accessible shower at the Wilderness Lodge uses large-format tiles, Fairbourne Cambria sills and a mosaic floor. |
“Everyone told me I was crazy because it was 2008 and the construction market was falling apart,” she said.
She launched NSMotif with one job, a $10,000 kitchen for a couple who asked to be her first customers.
“The whole core value of the company was to do the right thing by the customer,” she said. “Doing the right thing over and over has gotten us to where we are today. (The customers) know what to expect, worst case scenario, from the very beginning. We’re an open book.
“I think the best part about this business is touching people’s lives. Some people have saved their whole life savings just to have their countertops. To be a part of that and make a change in someone’s life is just overwhelmingly joyful to me.”
Roe also made sure to make contacts within the industry, becoming an accredited member of the Natural Stone Institute. “Because they are people who set the standards for the industry. They offer so much education and support, especially now with the new OSHA laws,” she said.
She was also invited to become the seventh member of the exclusive Rockheads group, a network of industry-leading fabricators.
She called the invitation “a pivotal moment” for her business.
“You have to be invited to become a Rockhead. There were five founding members, and I was the seventh one to join. That was quite an honor for me to be invited to be part of that group. The members are very engaged, and every meeting is full of knowledge and learning. The group evaluates where you fall in the benchmarking and how you can improve to be the best of the best,” Roe said.
She’s a CEU instructor and certified speaker for the Natural Stone Institute, and a CEU instructor for the National Kitchen and Bath Association.
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NSMotif’s dual-table BACA Systems Robo Sawjet, which employees helped name Chew-E-Baca, provides better efficiency and accuracy for surfacing projects. |
She is also a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, and will be speaking at upcoming Voices of the Industry Conference Session at KBIS 2019 in Las Vegas.
Another industry group, Women in Stone, has reflected another passion of Roe’s.
“Along with that passion for the industry itself, there’s a passion to empower women through Women in Stone, to help them be strong entrepreneurs in a man’s industry,” she said. Roe has been elected to the WIS Leadership Team.
“I’m one of the few that has opened a business on my own and has actually done the fabrication and installation. That hands-on knowledge is also very key. We do a lot of work for Disney and Universal. When you’re in front of people like that, you have to know what you’re talking about, and when you have actually physically done the work yourself, you have so much more knowledge. You have confidence and know what to expect.”
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Above, Left: This residential bathroom highlights the true beauty of natural stone with a full slab Rain Forest brown shower, unique chiseled edge on the countertop and a one-of-a-kind stone vessel sink. |
Today, NSMotif is recognized as an industry leader. They are a certified minority/woman-owned business by the city of Orlando and the state of Florida and have completed high-profile projects like the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center; Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Coronado Springs; and Citrus Club of Orlando. They also fabricate for 33 Lowe’s stores and offer a full line of millwork, cabinets. NSMotif boasts All Surface countertop specialists, which opens the opportunities to all customers to have any surface they desire.
The company employs between 37 and 50 employees depending on workload and runs a Baca Sawjet, two Marmo Meccanica machines, a new Breton CNC, a miter machine, two bridge saws and solid-surface panel saws.
Roe also travels to stay in touch with different quarries and vendors, select materials and learn about new techniques and equipment.
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Above, left: A Marmo Meccanica LCV Magnum Edge Polisher is a workhorse for NSMotif. |
NSMotif was recently included in the Top 10 Women-Owned Businesses in Central Florida, the Top 10 Manufacturers in Central Florida, and the Fast 50 (fastest-growing privately owned companies) by Orlando Business Journal. Roe stays involved in the community and tries to give back, donating proceeds from the NSMotif remnant sale to a local shelter for abused women, among other efforts.
And soon, once the 10th anniversary giveaway is complete, NSMotif will give back to customers once again, celebrating a legacy of great service and quality.
“Every countertop is different, every layout is different, every slab is different in natural stone,” said Roe. “I could stand in our yard for hours in awe of natural stone. Seeing (customers’) faces when they see their kitchen for the first time is a joy. That’s why I continue to always better myself as a business owner and make a difference in the industry.”
For more information about NSMotif, visit www.nsmotif.com.