The Road to Profitability is Paved With Software By Katherine Gifford We’ve learned over the years that fabricators are some of the most creative and resourceful people, and they’re definitely no strangers to hard work and quick thinking. However, the only way to manage growth and reduce the overwhelming stress that comes with fabricating fragile materials is to work smarter, not harder. Any successful fabricator will tell you that you need trackable processes in your shop for all parts of your business. This is the only way you can truly look at your business, see where improvements can be made, and get better results. The best place to start is at the beginning of your customer’s experience with you. The way you quote a job sets the tone. A seamless and professional experience will lead to a happy customer, which in turn leads to more sales, referrals and repeat business. Plus, it will naturally reduce those expensive mistakes that can happen as a result of disorganization. It means more money in your pocket all around! Increase Your Professionalism I’m sure you’ve heard that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Before you roll your eyes, admit that it’s true! Homeowners are most likely shopping around for their new countertops. If your competitors have a professional quoting process in place, and you are sending them a text message with just an amount, it’s almost a guarantee that the customer will choose your competitor even if they cost more. At least, the type of customers that you want will make that choice. Customers who choose based on the lowest price will never bring you the profit and growth that lead to financial freedom. 32 • Vol. 14 / Issue 3 • International Surface Fabricators Association
Your first impression can be your website, social media, a phone call or your showroom. Your team should be trained in customer service, pricing, ongoing promotions and materials. If a homeowner visits your website and then calls in, would the information being provided be consistent no matter who they talk to? Buying countertops is expensive and can be nervewracking for your customers because they aren’t the experts. But you are! Educate the customer throughout every channel to help them understand what to expect during their purchase. This kind of consistency and transparent communication leads to trust, which leads to higher sales. An easy way to increase your professionalism is to update the way you deliver quotes. Whether you use a Word template or professional software, make sure it has your logo and company information at the top. You’ll want to include just enough of a breakdown of your pricing to help your customer understand the cost, but not too much that they can take it to your competitors. Including some sort of visualization of the countertop never fails to impress as well. Empower Your Sales Team Give your employees the tools they need to do a great job. In this case, making sure you provide team members a way to sell countertops independently is the key to better sales. If all the pricing is in your head, then you are the bottleneck to your own growth. Documenting a process for estimating a job might seem like more work upfront, but it will save you an incredible amount of time in the long run. Taking all the knowledge that lives in your head and making it into a repeatable process will stop everyone
