as Fabricators we will have to take the time to educate our customers about the pits in Baltic Brown.
Many Fabricators are using multiple means of getting this job done. My good friend John Cogswell of Cogswell Stone in Palmyra, Virgina, uses a running looped video that plays over and over again in his showroom that tells customers how to take care of their countertops after his crew has completed the project.
This has been a great tool for John, and I'm sure that there are many other guys that use this same technique with great success. I think the way you can tell if what you're doing is working, is to look at the number of call backs and inquiries that you get related to care and maintenance issues. If you are not getting many of these calls, you are probably doing something right!
Remember that customers do not always read the disclaimers that we attach to our contract paperwork, nor do they always listen to you when you are telling them why they should always clean up right after they spill olive oil on the granite countertops.
But they will look at your web site's care and maintenance page and watch the video that you have posted on your page too, and the real beauty of this is that your customers can access this information on the internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, when you are busy in the shop, out on the jobsite, at your kid's wrestling meets on Saturdays, at Church on Sundays, and even while you are asleep!
If you aren't doing anything now in regards to customer education and care and maintenance, you're "planting landmines" for yourself to step on in the near future. If this is you, I'd tell you to "get with the 21st century, dude" and start some kind of customer education program for your clients. You can start with a handout that you print up and give to each new customer, regardless of whether they've had stone before or not. If you have a web site, add a "Care and Maintenance" page.
Those talks about what to and not to do when it comes to living with the countertops that your customer has paid good money for, in the long run, will be payed back to you in spades! Remember that if your customer does not know any better, they will find a way to screw up their countertops, and certainly lay the blame at your feet. Don't be the guy that assumes his customer knows better than to pour lemon juice on Absolute Black, or spill olive oil on their Juparana Fantastico. If you take the time to "educate before the sale," you'll sleep way better at night, and so will your customers.
Until next month...
Best Regards & Happy Fabricating!
Customer Education VS Sleep Deprivation is a subject taught every month by AZ School of Rock. For more information, contact Kevin M. Padden at www.azschoolofrock.com, by phone at 480-309-9422 or via e-mail at info@azschoolofrock.com
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