Hardwood Floors August/September 2019

Create a Healthy Balance (Continued)

Define Your Brand It boils down to accountability, communication, and craftsmanship.Many construction contractors say their focus is quality, which is fine.We just took the time to consider what qualitymeans to the remodeling homeowners we serve. One of the greatest skills a salesperson has is the ability to listen. Aestheticsmatter, but what we discovered frommore than a decade of client conversations is that beauty is not our customers’ greatest concern. Our customers are concernedwith: • a clear, detailed scope of work that includes a specific price and quick response when they need to ask questions or get clarification on some aspect of the project; • cleanliness and accountability in their home environment; and • getting the work done right the first time, on time. While most homeowners consider the quality of craftsmanship, many of them are not aware of the standards set by our trade association, and they’re not familiar with the NWFA. Here’s the thing: our company feeds our family, and I take my work very seriously. You may consider it a ridiculous waste of time to educate homeowners about the NWFA, but I disagree. If our aim is to elevate this industry and maintain our value in an indifferent marketplace, we must do our part to share the relevance of the trade association to which we belong, as well as how we differentiate our offer in the marketplace. The two are not mutually exclusive. This year’s Expo theme was “Make Your Mark,” and brand fits right into that. Your personal and professional identity, or brand, is not who you think you are, but rather, who your customers consider you to be. How do you make your mark so others remember you, appreciate you, and become a referral source for you? A valuable brand foundation is not a logo or a tagline, but it usually includes those elements. Branding begins with accurate thinking about the big picture: what are your resources (human, tangible, and intangible) and how can you employ those resources to be of value to your customer? It helps to get outside of your head and consider the minds of your customers, your vendors, and your employees. We use words like "value" without careful consideration of what that intangible concept means, and it is incredibly important to the well-being of our personal and professional offers. This might sound overdramatic, but more often than not, small businesses fail. What if their owners and employees knew how their offer was different from other offers in the marketplace and how to articulate and demonstrate that

to their specific customers? Identity matters. If you are not offering a clear demonstration of your brand’s value, it’s probably a good time to start to prepare for a bidding war in a race to the bottom. Find the Right Resources Joe and I do not do this work on our own, and I strongly recommend getting help. Business is not our genius, so we began taking courses through Influence Ecology, the leading business education teaching transactional competence. According to Influence Ecology, the most fundamental behavior in which human beings engage is exchange. Think about it: howmany of us live an enriching life all on our own, with no one else’s help? “I go out to the forest on foot, chop down the tree, drag thewood away, mill it into flooring, sell it to a client, and install, sand, and finish it all onmy ownwithmachines and products I created,” said no one ever.Themost-common tool we use in ourmodern exchanges ismoney, which is a heck of a lot more convenient than half a cowor a dozen chickens.There are some other tools we can employ in exchange as well, but they’re not as common as currency. Value is one of those. According to Influence Ecology, value ismade up of two specific, fundamental elements: utility (howuseful a thing is) and scarcity (how difficult it is to obtain a thing). An important aspect of value is the judgment itself of relativeworth: howmuch is someonewilling to sacrifice to hire you or your business? A homeowner or builder might ask: Is the product/service worth this sacrifice? Howmuch should I give up to hire this contractor? A contractor might ask: Howmuch should I give up to purchase this finish or these materials?Maybe they’re manufactured better, but does my customer understand that? Does the manufacturer helpme articulate this product’s value? And everyone should be asking: How do I help my customer understand the value of the product and service I offer over others?This isn’t just a question for a contractor; this is a question for everyone in the supply chain. Know the Facts for a Strong Foundation TomReber, the host of the Contractor Fight podcast, is an advocate for construction contractors, and he consistently recommends ways to leverage marketing and sales by taking control of your business, particularly regarding your pricing. One of his favorite things to say is that the key to pricing is knowing your numbers.

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