Hardwood Floors February/March 2024

“People say there’s an overnight success in business, but we all know there is no true overnight success. It’s years in the making of going through challenges, learning from them, and gaining experience. That allows you to make good decisions that help your business grow rapidly,” says Lambright. “When you have a great mentor to whom you humbly listen and ask questions, you draw from their life experience. I didn’t have to learn certain things myself because my mentors learned that, and if I listen to their good advice and try to figure out how to apply it to my situation, it’s the closest thing to a shortcut there is in business.” Networking has long been a great way of getting business done. Owen Bailey recalls his experience: “We have become friends with people from all over that we met in classes and at the NWFA conventions. In 2003, I went to the NWFA Expo in St. Louis. I was introduced to many people in the industry, including Don Conner. From there, we began distributing for Mullican, and they are still our biggest flooring supplier today.” According to Perez, it’s all about being genuine. His advice on building a network via social media is to pick whichever platform you have the most reception and interaction with and use that as the place to focus and maximize yourself. “I don’t have a crazy amount of followers on Instagram, but I have an authentic following. My followers are real people, floor guys, athletes, and trainers. It’s people that are focused on

NEIL MOSS, RETIRED INDUSTRY VETERAN: “Start with good communication skills, and that’s at every level. If you’re going to be late, call your customer and tell them you will be late. If you don’t want the job, you don’t ignore the customer; you call the

Neil Moss

customer and tell them that you are not interested in the job and give them a realistic reason. Set realistic goals for the performance and installation of the flooring you are selling.”

MIKE OSBORN, START TO FINISH

HARDWOOD FLOORS: “Number one is being a

people person. You have to be successful at being a people person and being nice. Know your products, know your craft, know how to negotiate. Put a star on this one: be on time. Customers hate it when they’re

Mike Osborn

hanging around waiting for you. My father-in-law grounded into me – return your calls. If someone goes to the trouble of calling you, return the call. It could be a good lead; it might be one you don’t want. If it’s one you don’t want to engage with, tell them so. Kindly tell them you’re too busy or it’s not the right fit. In the long run, you’ve got to know your wood science. If you don’t understand it, you’ll have some bummer jobs along the way.”

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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