Article Number : 2381 |
|
Article Detail |
|
 | |
| Date | 9/3/2007 9:55:06 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=2381 |
| Abstract | By Matthew Spieler KANSAS CITY, MO.—Being the best is one thing; staying the best is another. To remain on top one has to constantly keep up- to-date with new products, tools and services while also choosing to change in order to better meet any challenges that come your way... |
| Article | By Matthew Spieler KANSAS CITY, MO.—Being the best is one thing; staying the best is another. To remain on top one has to constantly keep up- to-date with new products, tools and services while also choosing to change in order to better meet any challenges that come your way. This holds true for individuals, companies and organizations. To that end, at the 14th annual convention of the International Certified Floorcovering Installers Association (CFI), the organization challenged members to copy its lead by changing with the times so they can continue to be the best in their individual markets. The theme of this year’s three-day event was “Change! Challenge! Choice!” and with some of the industry’s best installers in attendance, the convention was more than an opportunity to see the newest tools of the trade and learn the latest techniques to install today’s flooring materials. CFI presented a number of educational sessions designed to help members be better leaders in their communities as well as better businesspeople. “You can’t just be a good installer anymore,” said Bernie Madden of Madden-McFarland Interiors in Leawood, Kan. “It will not make you successful. You have to use your brain; you need a plan or else next year you will be doing the same thing. You have to make money on everything you do—build it in somewhere, you don’t have to line item it. If price is the only thing people look for, then all of us would be driving jalopies. You don’t have to be cheap, you have to be good.” Madden is one of the few retailers who regularly attends CFI conventions because he not only believes in quality installation, he understands these events afford him the opportunity to network with the best of the best. “I don’t think or even talk about bad installers, just the good ones—like CFI people.” Jon Namba, CFI’s executive director, told members, “You have ‘chosen’ to be at the convention to make the ‘changes’ to better yourself. You will face ‘challenges’ every day as an installer but will be better prepared to meet them with the knowledge and skills you receive.” Kicking off the Business Skills seminar, Jane Walker, CFI’s director of planning, noted, “Communication is one of your greatest skills. Excuses don’t work in our world—people don’t want to hear it. You are in a unique business where every job you go on is a custom job.” She said when people hear the word custom, they immediately think/hear money, but for some reason installers do not look at it this way and end up cutting themselves short. “If you do the best you can every year but when tax time comes you say, ‘Oh my,’ make a change,” Walker added. “All we want is for you to be successful— in family, in business and in life. One of the purposes of CFI was to identify people who had special talents. By doing what was right, we could achieve the ultimate goal of customer satisfaction. One of the things that go along with that is being successful in business, and that means making money by working hard and working smart.” Terry Dollinger, a Master installer and founding member of CFI, said he comes to convention every year “for knowledge, but also for networking as there are people here from throughout the industry. The opportunity is here, but it’s up to you to take advantage of it.” Jim Walker, CFI’s CEO, added, “Nothing works unless you apply it. We can give you all the necessary information and tools, but unless you go back and at least try it, it won’t make a bit of difference. “It’s up to you to use what is given to you,” he continued, “and if you don’t, then shame on you. Forget about square yards, feet, inches—most customers don’t understand it, nor do most people in this business because they rely on you to get it right. So you need to be good businesspeople— sell a job, not square feet. And never apologize for making money—there’s no law against it. It doesn’t come overnight; you have to work hard at it.” Fred Chastain, a Master II installer from Douglasville, Ga., implored members, especially the younger ones, that it is “important to get involved. If you want to get a high-paying job, you have to be active.” During the Business Skills seminar more than a half dozen members spoke on how CFI was able to help them become more than just a better installer because “if you are going to succeed,” said Ray Knapp, a Master installer from Rapid City, S.D., and the No. 1 salesperson for Talyor Tools, “you have to step outside your comfort zone, and that is something CFI forces you to do. CFI will help you grow, but you’ve got to keep working— Rome wasn’t built in a day; it takes persistence.” The point being made was summed up best by Bobby Schurman of Schurman Enterprises in Igancio, Colo., who has been an installer his entire career: “I had the skills, but I needed to set myself apart, and I didn’t want it to be a rubber stamp. That’s when I found CFI.” Beyond all the training, networking and resources the organization provides, Schurman said one of the biggest lessons he has learned by being involved is he needs to be a businessman whose business is installation. “As a professional installer I must treat my occupation as a business. Before [CFI] no thought was given to the fact I must charge for operating a business. If I’m not aware of the actual cost of performing the work, how can the job be installed correctly? How will I not lose money? Many costs continue to increase which means the bottom line looks worse. Installation, for some reason, is not considered in the same manner as the need for increases from the mills or suppliers. Costs increase for all…I sell my time and my talent.” He went on to say this is where being a CFI professional comes into play. “I also value the time I take to do things no other installers consider important. I sell myself to a customer. I am clean and I drive a professional vehicle…you can put me in any situation and not be worried something bad will happen. If something were to happen, I’d fix it and always have.” New programs, initiatives CFI was not just asking the membership to change, officials pointed out how the organization as a whole has chosen to make changes to meet the new challenges presented by the industry. This includes a shift to more training—not just carpet but for all the hard surfaces as well by working even closer with organizations such as the National Wood Flooring Association and Ceramic Tile Education Foundation— a change in the certification structure to ensure installers remain up to date on the latest tools, techniques and products; a greater emphasis on making CFI the global standard (the association has already certified over 5,000 installers in South Africa, along with others in Japan, Mexico and so forth), and dedicating more to marketing both the organization and the individual members to consumers including a new labeling system to make it easy for end users to identify certified installers. “The CFI board is working hard to make the organization better,” Madden noted. Namba pointed out, “We’ve been involved in many of these objectives—hard surface training, helping in other countries and so on since the early stages of CFI. But now we are at a point where we can truly make an impact. We needed to go through a learning curve but now we have a proven track record and respect—we’ve shown this is not a one-man show but a full-fledged association of professional installers. “The ultimate goal,” he concluded, “is to have a thoroughly satisfied end user.” |