Episodes
Monday Nov 27, 2023
Episode 30: The Art of Upselling
Monday Nov 27, 2023
Monday Nov 27, 2023
Behind the Surface inspires fabricators to take their business to the next level by addressing challenges, sharing strategies, and gathering insights from leading industry experts.
The Art of Upselling with Geoffrey Gran
It’s pretty obvious that we wouldn’t be in business if we didn’t know how to sell countertops. The question is: How many of us know how to maximize the profit we get from each sale? In this episode, Geoffrey Gran of The Countertop Factory talks with us about:
• Why sell upgrades?
• Upgrades are everywhere in your life
• Eliminate “Reverse Buyers Remorse”
• Increased upgrades = Increased profits
• Self-Funded raises for Employees
Listen to this episode if you want to discover ways to significantly increase your profit on every sale.
Monday Nov 13, 2023
Episode 29: The New NEO Consumer
Monday Nov 13, 2023
Monday Nov 13, 2023
Behind the Surface inspires fabricators to take their business to the next level by addressing challenges, sharing strategies, and gathering insights from leading industry experts.
When the economy gets shaky, consumers tend to spend less overall, and they look for more bargains when they do spend. If this is always true, then how do we explain that Apple generated $3B in iPad sales in 90 days during the Great Recession? If everyone is reducing their spending across the board, how does a non-essential and relatively expensive item like an iPad generate such large sales numbers during a severe recession? Is it because of the Apple logo or is something else at play?
It turns out there are 2 distinctly different types of consumers with 2 different sets of values – the NEO consumer who is driven more by authenticity, design, and uniqueness as opposed to the traditional consumer who is driven by price, features, and status.
Join us as we talk with Mike Hetherman of Willis about the impact of NEO consumers on the countertop business.
- What’s the benefit of marketing to NEOs?
- How do we identify NEOs?
- How do we market to NEOs?
- How do we use this knowledge to improve our businesses?
If you want to get out of the lowest-price-per-square-foot game, understanding the impact NEOs can have on your business is a game changer.
Monday Oct 30, 2023
Episode 28: Using Data to Find Opportunity in Your Business
Monday Oct 30, 2023
Monday Oct 30, 2023
The recession is on everyone’s minds:
- Will we have one, or won’t we?
- How long will it last?
- Will we have a soft landing or a hard one?
In uncertain times like these, it is more imperative than ever before to leverage data to run your business.
Join us as we talk with Tim Saddoris, President of Grand Onyx. At Grand Onyx, they build world-class stone fabricators using systems, software, and technology they have developed to help fabricators better manage and grow their businesses. Today we will talk about how using data can help you navigate the challenges presented by this economy. Tim has a couple of specific case studies he presents that show how using data has impacted fabricators. We will also talk through some of the challenges in tracking and using data.
If you are struggling with adapting to the challenges presented by these uncertain economic times, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!
Sponsored by: Moraware, GrandOnyx
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Episode 27: Mindful Materials and Sustainable Products
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Behind the Surface inspires fabricators to take their business to the next level by addressing challenges, sharing strategies, and gathering insights from leading industry experts.
Tune in to this episode of Behind the Surface as two experts from CaraGreen, a trusted source for healthier alternatives to conventional building materials, address mindful materials and sustainable products. This discussion will cover:
- What is being done to limit or eliminate crystalline silica in slabs for the safety of the fabricators.
- Industry best practices regarding silica safety and material innovations.
- Alternative materials and products that support a greener future.
Discover new material categories and innovations along with the resources you need to embrace sustainability in your business.
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Episode 26: How to Build a Sales Engine to Drive Business
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Behind the Surface inspires fabricators to take their business to the next level by addressing challenges, sharing strategies, and gathering insights from leading industry experts.
In today’s uncertain times, it’s more important than ever to have a strong sales pipeline that can withstand economic pressures and keep your business profitable.
Join us as we chat with Justin Shaw, founder of Stone Fabricator Elite, a business development and sales support agency that specializes in helping fabricators grow their businesses with proven systems, solutions and strategies. Justin will share his expertise and insights on how to keep your pipeline full of quality opportunities and rapidly increase sales in both trade and consumer channels.
We’ll cover tactics used by top fabricators to create a more defensible business and drive profitability, even during challenging times. Whether you’re looking to fine-tune your existing sales strategy or build a new one from scratch, this episode is for you.
Monday Sep 18, 2023
Marketing Tools That Lead To Growth
Monday Sep 18, 2023
Monday Sep 18, 2023
Behind the Surface inspires fabricators to take their business to the next level by addressing challenges, sharing strategies, and gathering insights from leading industry experts.
In this episode, we’re joined by Stephen Alberts from Countertop Marketing Co. to discuss accessible and inexpensive marketing tools fabrication shops can use to glean customer insights and increase sales.
Starting with the basics, Stephen walks listeners through his recommendations with practical advice on the benefits of each tool. He’ll cover:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
- Google Analytics.
- Tracking calls and web form submissions: customizing to get the actionable data.
- Other tools and metrics to keep an eye on.
Tune in to learn how to level up your marketing game in your fabrication shop and get results that bring in more revenue.
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Shaping Tomorrow’s Quartz Innovations and Safety Insights
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Behind the Surface inspires fabricators to take their business to the next level by addressing challenges, sharing strategies, and gathering insights from leading industry experts.
In this episode of Behind the Surface, Egon Hinss and Damiano Caon from Breton discuss advancements that mitigate risk, including the company’s newest development: Bioquartz. Learn how this material enables a safer production workflow for fabricators while furthering sustainability initiatives.
The team also discusses other material innovations, including an exclusive technology that pioneers the production of full-thickness quartz slabs, showcasing ultra-exotic color patterns and other full-body engineered quartz slabs that exhibit exceptional durability and shine over time.
Tune in and get up to speed on the latest developments from this pioneer of the surfacing industry.
Monday Aug 21, 2023
Digital Tools for Templating
Monday Aug 21, 2023
Monday Aug 21, 2023
Behind the Surface inspires fabricators to take their business to the next level by addressing challenges, sharing strategies, and gathering insights from leading industry experts.
In this episode of Behind the Surface, Kyle Welker and Dan Peter from Laser Products Industries discuss the world of modern templating. They explore different solutions, their pros and cons, and how to identify which is right for your workflow.
Discover how these digital tools can enhance accuracy and create efficiencies and learn how to track key performance indicators to gauge success and make informed decisions.
Listen in to glean practical insights into optimizing templating processes and effectively leveraging digital tools to strengthen and grow your business.
Monday Aug 07, 2023
Integrating Software in your Business
Monday Aug 07, 2023
Monday Aug 07, 2023
Behind the Surface inspires fabricators to take their business to the next level by addressing challenges, sharing strategies, and gathering insights from leading industry experts.
An organized shop is a profitable shop. Chasing paperwork and other analog processes while keeping track of what and when things need to happen in the shop can be overwhelming. The bottom line: Disorganization inhibits your success in more ways than one. It creates confusion and mistakes and often increases the work.
There are all kinds of digital tools that help fabricators streamline their processes. In this episode of Behind the Surface, Nancy Busch talks with Kallie Biggs, head of sales and marketing at Moraware, and Steve Mast, director of Precision Countertops, about software solutions that wrangle the day-to-day and other strategies that can help your shop stay organized.
Monday Jul 24, 2023
Tracking Sales
Monday Jul 24, 2023
Monday Jul 24, 2023
Behind the Surface inspires fabricators to take their business to the next level by addressing challenges, sharing strategies, and gathering insights from leading industry experts.
In this episode of Behind the Surface, Tim Saddoris, president of Grand Onyx, a firm dedicated to helping fabricators increase their revenue using proven techniques that help build more profitable and scalable businesses, joins ISFA Executive Director Nancy Busch to discuss ways in which you can set your sales team up for success. Tim will break down methods to refine your existing sales process, uncover better ways to sell, and coach your sales teams to get remarkable results.
Learn tips and tricks, including:
- Using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
- Tracking unanswered phone calls.
- Tracking sales by month and quarter.
- Reviewing average order size.
- Assessing close rates.
- Monitoring time to close.
- Harnessing missed opportunities.
Without a streamlined sales funnel, your business is going nowhere fast. Tune in to discover how you can arm your sales team with tools and strategies that bring in more jobs and keep your business running smoothly.