PERSPECTIVES
Making Hay While the Sun Shines when we were growing, and we decided to move from physical templates to digital. I’ll tell you it wasn’t Anyone tired yet? If you are in the countertop easy. But, if we hadn’t made the transition, it would industry right now, chances are you are running at have been tough to grow. We wouldn’t be anywhere capacity, facing challenges around finding and near where we are now without this technology that retaining staff, and feeling like you need five extra enabled us to do more in less time. (More hay!) hours a day just to keep up. And maybe your revenue Create a defined process for the entire life cycle of has dramatically increased, but perhaps your an order and then document it. Make sure it’s written profitability isn’t where it should be. You aren’t alone. clearly, and it’s easy for new people to understand. As we are trying to put out fires and get countertops It’ll make it easier for new hires to get up to speed. out the door in a reasonable timeframe, sometimes Record some simple videos of your processes. We use money is slipping away in areas we don’t know about a software called Snagit. It’s affordable (a one-time or have the bandwidth to fix. purchase of $49,) and it lets you record your screen My grandfather was a fifth-generation farmer in so you can create tutorials of your digital processes. the Sacramento Valley. He always said, “Make hay We post the videos where everyone can access them, while the sun shines.” (He was a tomato and wheat and they can refer to them whenever they need to. farmer, but the saying still goes.) The point is, he Even without a solution like Snagit, your cellphone knew how to take advantage of opportunities when will take great videos so you can record people doing they presented themselves. We find ourselves in this phenomenal market, so how can we make hay when various tasks around the shop. Another way to increase profitability is to sell we feel like our tanks are running on empty? more to the same customer. Adding a little more to You probably have as much work as you can the sale is much easier than getting a whole new sale. uncomfortably handle. It doesn’t seem like that long ago when the recession was upon us, and we were all Just like us, our customers are extremely busy. Sometimes they don’t know all the options, or they waiting for the phone to ring. In this current boom, we mustn’t waste any of the profits during the chaos. don’t know they want the thing until you explain the benefits. Offer profitable add-ons like tear-out It’s hard to make improvements or changes, services, plumbing reconnects, or even tile especially when we are busy just keeping our heads above water. Pick just one area of improvement each backsplashes. You already have a relationship with the customer, now just offer them more solutions to month and commit to focusing on it. By focusing their problems. It builds trust, and you’ll see that on just one thing at a time, customer come back or refer you to other customers because you went the extra mile. (More hay!) not only will you and the The good news is all of the investments we make team be able to accomplish the goal, over now will serve us well for the long term. Like all successful farmers, my grandfather knew to take time, you will see significant improvements. advantage of the sun’s bounty so he could invest in his operations to bolster him through the darker For some shops, this means going from manual times. Make hay while the sun shines. Words to live to digital. I remember by, to be sure. By Steve Mast, ISFA President
50 • Vol. 14 / Issue 3 • International Surface Fabricators Association
