Slippery Rock Gazette

Tom McNall

Floor Restoration Consultant

Whenever I travel, I’m constantly told when teaching seminars,  that “You can charge that in Canada, but not here in Metropolis, USA,” as well as, “We just can’t compete with the low-ballers who use dubious polishing methods,” and the old classic, “You don’t understand, Tom, I am in the lowest priced market in the USA.”

I would like you to know that I understand quite well and I answer any and all who share that attitude with one big “Phooey.” Henry Ford, one of the greatest American innovators of the 20th century is famous for saying, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you are probably right.” If you are defeating yourself in your mind before you even attempt or ask to accomplish something, then you have already lost.  

Since I have priced jobs in the #1 repressed market economy in the US (Detroit), a few in “Low Ball Central” (South Florida) and several in cities of a thousand competitors (Toronto, New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, etc.), I have ample support for my theory that it matters NOT where you are located, but rather, #1) How your customer values what you can do, in their eyes; #2) That you have enough confidence to ask for what you need to do the job; And, #3) that you have sufficient experience / product knowledge to not only support the customer’s esteem of your value but also the confidence to ask for the amount of clamshells needed.

When I started out, I tried to do it all myself – big mistake!  To be honest, I wasn’t a very good salesperson when I started (back then). I made the one mistake that every self-employed individual since Og started selling crude wheels chiseled from stone back in the beginning of the automotive industry. I tried to do it all myself. Now, I am sure you know how to polish stone (or install, fabricate, insure– whatever your vocation), but what do you know about business or managing people? Mr. Ford knew a thing or two about growing a business and right up there at the top was that he knew he couldn’t build an empire if he did everything from the sales, to manufacturing, right along the line to delivery and accounts payable. He knew the value of having the right people doing the right job. This correlates to the number one reason you could (and should) be getting the type of dollar you deserve to do a quality job. Your customer will never value you as more than a laborer if you are doing everything yourself. 

If they see a happy laborer supported by a team of technical support staff and experienced management, regulating procedures, quality and costs, along with a friendly office staff delivering quality support, they will see value in what you offer. Especially if you have a track record of delivering the goods. 

Now, I know your argument. “But Tom, my customers don’t care about all that. They just want a cheap job.” I joyfully say, then, that I am glad that they are your customers and not mine. 

Have you ever heard or seen those beautiful super models who claim that they can never get a date? And when they do get a date, the guys are all jerks? Do you ever wonder if perhaps it is their personality that is attracting those types of losers and abusers? Harsh words I know, but experts have looked into it and realized that certain people attract a negative boyfriend/girlfriend, and set themselves up to be used because of the way they “market” themselves to the opposite sex.

Now, how does that relate to what I can charge and you can’t charge? Because my idea of a date is not going through a fast-food drive-through and then sitting in the park with a magnum of wine, and neither do my customers expect such a lack of respect. I market to those who want quality and who have paid for quality in the past. Stone is still a luxury. Just because a number of big box stores decide to sell third and fourth quality stone to every trailer owner in the nation does not mean that I have to give my first-rate service to them for fourth-rate prices. And even if they live in a so-called “nice” neighborhood, they have a saying where I grew up: “You can take the boy out of the trailer park, but you can’t take the trailer park out of the boy.” I have a choice of whom I sell to, and so do you! Whether you choose to give away your services for less is up to you.

The second point is about having the confidence to ask for what you need. Sticking with the dating analogy, do you remember when Billy Joel married Christie Brinkley (Christie who? ask thousands of 20-somethings)? What did everyone say about that? I believe it was along the lines of, “What is a hot woman like that doing with an ugly Pug like him?” The answer: He was a nice guy (and a great musician) who asked her. The only other guys who would ask her were losers interested in using her. She never had to say yes to the losers, but she did know when to say yes to a good guy (and unfortunately for Billy, she eventually screwed that relationship up, too). This is a lesson that all poker players know well. “It matters not what you have in your hand, it matters more what your opponent thinks of his hand and what he perceives or believes is in yours.” If you can exude enough confidence in your abilities and your customer values their investment, they will pay you what you ask for, but only if you ask! Otherwise, if you show yourself to be inexperienced (in negotiating as well as product knowledge), the customer will play his cards to HIS advantage and bluff you into thinking that you are only worth as much as the next guy.

This moves me to the third point about having the product knowledge and confidence to back up the first two points. You may win at poker by bluffing once or twice, but once they catch on to your “tells” and see that you are always bluffing, you are relegated to losing and playing in the streets for coins rather than at the big boy tables for “Benjamins.” You have to know how to play a skill game to succeed.

Now, that all being said, my table awaits alongside Erika (with a “K”) and Amber. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Tom McNall is founder and owner of Great Northern Stone, an Ontario-based stone cleaning and restoration company servicing Ontario and Chicago, IL. Tom also offers corporate and private consultations as well as speaking at conventions. He can be reached at stone_rx@earthlink.net.