Several weeks ago, I asked what you would be doing to energize sales for the upcoming fall selling season. Here are just a couple of the responses I have received to the questions:

• What will you do differently this time around than you have in the past?
• Will you shift product placement?
• Will you update the showroom?
• Will your social media presence move from the bottom of your priority list to the forefront?

You still have to email your ideas and suggestions (nalbandiana@bnpmedia.com) and I’ll post the answers in the next issue of TILE Magazine. I look forward to reading your submissions!

From Eric Edelson, Fireclay Tile

• Insane focus on customer. Amazing communication. Amazing service. Ask for feedback, testimonials, etc. We measure it all and take pride and share it with our workforce.
• Focus on product and doing the right thing. Consumers are learning a lot, and if you are making products in the US and doing it sustainably, they are interested
• Focus on targeted sampling and have real conversations
• Obviously web. Great site, great content, great lead generation
• Some social media, but frankly haven't seen the return there
• Product development. Find ways to bring lead times down and pricing down
• Focus on team development and bonding. With a great team come great results
• Targeted online advertising using unique products
• We try to help our customers, our dealers, as much as possible. We do phone PKs, have monthly emails with amazing information and fun contests, use them for feedback for product development, and are always asking for feedback. We are even putting a document together to help educate them about all of the above so they can grow their business, and we in turn ours
• Technology. We have a sick technology platform and it drives a fundamental difference in customer satisfaction and follow-up.

From Kirk Grodske

I go to many classes, participate on forums, read books and attend webinars so that I can solve my customers' problems. I see a lot of problems in the jobs I am called in on, where the basic and complex issues are not well understood:

• A class on proper prep of subfloors to support tile, framing and stuff, and also on sound proofing technologies.
• More on the latest shower water proofing and warm tile installations.

The ones I listed before are the most commonly misunderstood. I think a foundation of the building science will help people choose the correct method. The change of L/360 to leaving it to the GC is good from a liability standpoint, but how many GC's know tile requirements, methods and materials? So a class covering this is a good idea, even if it only recommends bringing in a tile setter as a paid consultant at the beginning of the job.