Focus on what the customer needs

As with all business, focusing on what the customer needs must be the goal of your sales efforts.  It is easy to get caught in the trap of promoting your product or focusing simply on what the customer wants.  When selling flooring systems, its not about chemistry, its all about performance.  Customers may think they need a particular system from what they've heard, but if it doesn't perform for their specific application, you are doing them a disservice if you don't offer them the system that will perform.  Frequently, there will be choices for a given application, all of which will perform to a certain extent.  These are the options from which to select. 

Successful long term customer relationships are built on providing your expertise, great products and services that deliver on promises. Evaluate the application, provide systems options that will meet those needs, explain the differences, and let the customer choose what they want.

The Value of the Trade Show

World of Concrete is one of the largest trade events for the construction industry held in Las Vegas each year occupying all three halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center and the exterior demonstration area.  For flooring professionals this show has developed into the trade show to attend for all concrete finishes.  Most coating manufacturers exhibit along with companies promoting stamped concrete, stained concrete, and polished concrete.
This year the attendance appeared to be lower and a few exhibitors were notable by the absence.  This is undoubtedly due to the depressed state of the construction industry, but maybe there is another reason. As always companies use this event to introduce their new products and demonstrate new techniques and applications.  Having said that, it was hard to identify any revolutionary introductions with all of the "noise".
What is the future of trade shows?  Do participants attend exhibits to learn about new products or is this information readily available on the web?  A few vendors who did not exhibit this year, attended the show to meet with their customers without the associated cost of exhibiting and commitment to the booth.
The true value of a trade show has become the relationship.  Selling products at a show where all of your competitors show their products is not memorable or an efficient way to gain commitment from your customers.  Maybe the future of the trade show combines the information availability of the internet with a industry social function that focuses on personal interactions.  Marketing is creating awareness and differentiating your company and your product, how can you accomplish this in a sea of sameness.

When to use a seamless floor

Floors receive the most aggressive wear of any surface in a building. Selection of a flooring system is dependent upon, primarily, the conditions of use and, secondarily, aesthetics. Areas expected to experience harsh physical and/or chemical exposure will require a surface that will stand up to these conditions. The typical choice is a hard surface versus carpet, VCT or wood. Concrete alone is porous and will erode with mechanical abrasion. It is also porous and may not be the best surface for wet environments.

Tile is an excellent surface for these harsh environments, but in many cases the grout and underbed are generally weaker and provide a path for failure. Seamless systems can be designed with polymeric chemistry, such as epoxy or urethane, to meet the chemical environment and installation requirements. Addition of aggregates to these chemistries improves the physical performance of the systems.

Finally, after the conditions of use are satisfied, the aesthetic options can be considered. In some cases colored aggregates such as quartz, paint chips, or marble can be used to provide visual options or the color of the polymer can be varied. Combining color selections throughout the facility allows for patterns and designs.

Once the flooring system is selected, completing the installation correctly will depend upon the system chosen and the experience of the installation team. But that is another topic.

Floorcoating USA

Introducing a new web site dedicated to the floor coating and seamless flooring industry. Included in this site is a directory of manufacturers, suppliers and installers throughout the US. Ideally, this site will serve the industry as a forum to address issues, problems and solutions. Stop by and browse. Provide feedback. As we begin to gain awareness, our intention is to add content based upon the needs of the users.

www.floorcoatingusa.com