Turning Chaos into Harmony: The Rolling Stones’ Lessons for Stone Fabricators
OK, my stone fabricator friends, let’s start with a story about the Rolling Stones. It was the summer of 1971 in the basement of Keith Richards’ villa in France. The Stones were recording their double album, “Exile on Main Street,” and Mick Jagger was managing the sessions. The studio itself — if you could call […]
The 3 F’s Every Stone Fab Sales Rep Needs to Know
There’s one MASSIVE trend we’ve noticed with ALL Stone Fab Salespeople: when an internet lead comes in, sales reps follow up just once—then never again. And what happens to those leads? They end up buying from someone else. We’ve run the numbers, and across every fabricator we’ve worked with, only 8% of leads get a second […]
Sales Are Down 25%
Sales down 15-25%? Don’t just hire more salespeople—focus on your loyal clients. Take them to lunch, ask how you can help, and really listen. Strengthening these relationships not only builds trust but also reveals opportunities to innovate. One client doubled their monthly sales this way! Discover what your top customers need.
Troubleshooting Made Easy: 4 Steps to Improve Production Efficiency
Ever felt like everything is going wrong and you’re not sure where to start? When your production isn’t running at speed or your machinery keeps breaking down, it can quickly feel like that. It can be frustrating – and expensive. Guess what? You’re not alone. Many of the world’s top manufacturers struggle with these same […]
Sustain Your Sales: How to Make Sure Your Top Customers Stay Your Top Customers
I don’t want to be an alarmist, but the warning signs of a potential recession are all around us. While we all hope it doesn’t come to pass, you need to be proactive just in case. Building a sustainable business model before any downturn happens is the smart play. If an economic downturn does occur, […]
Stone Fabrication in the Age of the Great Retirement: Adapt or Be Left Behind
We’ve all seen Help Wanted signs popping up everywhere. For years now, we’ve had trouble finding enough people. Unfortunately, it’s likely to get harder due to the significant number of people retiring. Baby Boomers have hit retirement age, and they’re calling it a career in record numbers. Pre-pandemic, about 3 million Boomers retired annually. Post-pandemic? […]
A Two-Pronged Approach to Dealing with Staffing Shortages: Practical Advice that Works
Hiring is hard, especially when you’re looking for skilled workers. At the start of 2022, 91% of businesses said they had a difficult time finding skilled workers. A year later, more than three-quarters of companies surveyed say the skilled labor shortage has gotten even worse. As an example, one of the most challenging jobs to […]
Sales Process: 5 Ways to Improve with Fewer People
Without sales, you’re dead. It’s HARD. With the labor shortage, it’s close to impossible to find sales people, and a real challenge to keep the sales funnel full. So, how can we get more done with less? The incredible downpour of new orders during COVID is starting to come to an end. How do we […]
Profit: An Unavoidable Side Effect of Measuring Your Business
In my early 20s, I was a supervisor for ConAgra Foods. We made Snack Pack pudding. One thing I’ll never forget is the sweet smell of the chocolate and vanilla puddings. But besides learning how to make pudding, I learned a lesson that would change the way I worked: Measuring your business makes you more […]
Making Sure Your Shop Machinery Doesn’t Have You Running in Circles
Uncertainty right now is a real thing. We’re still recovering from COVID and we’ve just had the second- and third-largest bank failures in history. We have no idea what the fallout is or how the economy will perform moving forward. Regardless of what happens, you still need to run a strong shop and get the […]