Guilty By Association (June 2006)

  In a larger sense, how a professional restoration service presents itself to customers and the local public goes a long way in determining how it’s perceived and subsequently judged by their peers, their customers and the general public.
  Now wait just a minute.  Using the word judge in today’s politically-correct world may seem harsh, but let’s set the record straight.  Whether it’s PC or fair or right has nothing to do with it; it’s a fact of business life that people are going to judge you and your company by how you dress, talk and walk – and the general company you keep. 
  Remember high school?  Maybe you didn’t smoke, but you had friends who smoked, wore leather, and always smelled like tobacco. If you dressed like them and smelled like tobacco (because you hung out in the smoking area), you got labelled as a smoker.
  And, of course, there was the star football quarterback or the cheerleader who smoked, but didn’t get the smoking tag. Why?  Because they were discreet and didn’t advertise their habit like those who walked, talked and acted like the smokers.
  Fast-forward to the present.  Now you’re a business owner or a manager in a successful company, and there aren’t the schoolyard cliques anymore.  Or are there?  Not much has changed; we just need to make money now.  Customers do business with people with whom they feel comfortable.
  When you make a purchasing decision, what goes on in your head?  Do you want to buy a computer from the computer store or some guy out of the back of his truck?  Hopefully the good readers realize the value of buying from the store.  Why?  Because in our minds, we associate the guy selling out of the back of his truck as a criminal.  Today he is selling computers and tomorrow it could be refrigerators. (It may be your refrigerator). 
  Not only that, but we also realize that the guys from the store have an investment (in inventory, advertisement and location) and expect a return on such.  Therefore, they’ll be around to service you in the future.
  One thing we learned from Prohibition is that, in the absence of legal avenues, people will purchase a desired commodity (something they do not need) from a criminal if they aren’t left a viable alternative.  In simple terms, people will get what they want and buy it from someone they would rather not associate with if they don’t have preferable options.
  Give your customers (and potential customers) that choice. 
  Who’s buying stone and paying to have it refinished?  Are they the ones who pack the discount stores everyday?  No; they’re the ones driving the Escalades, Hummers, Jags, Bentleys and Maseratis.  In today’s PC world, we still do have cliques or associations.  In this case we have the “Bling Vehicle Drivers”. 
  So, where should we direct our marketing?  We need to associate with the people paying our salaries.  We need to network with the people who want to buy our services.  Are these individuals buying our products and services because we give them no alternative like the government forcing people to buy liquor from Al Capone, or because they like us, trust us, and want to do business with us?
  And here’s where the idea of association takes another turn, as in an organized body of people with an interest, activity, or purpose in common – in so many words, an industry trade associations.
  How many lawyers, doctors and other various professionals are part of some professional association?  Most – if not all – because professional associations get things done.  They work toward helping the professionals and their clients.  Just take a look at the AMA (American Medical Association) Website to see the number of doctors associated with that organization at www.ama-assn.org.
  And, there are the same options for stone professionals. You can join and pay your yearly dues, which the associations use to stay in business and organized. For me, this is the choice of the professional; remember the “Professional People Who Belong to Professional Associations” group have to pay for their association memberships.
  And you pay for … what?
  I already know the argument here: “What do I get for my dues?” Well, what do you get for that $250,000 CNC machine or $15,000 restoration machine?  You get a yearly bill for some $ 40,000-$60,000+!
  How’s that?
  Look, that $250,000 (or $15,000) tool doesn’t work by itself.  You actually have to pay an operator upwards of $20 an hour to make it make you money.  I always figured that if you spend that kind of dough, it should just be a money-making machine – but it doesn’t spit out the Jacksons and the Benjamins unless an expensive operator controls it
  Membership in an association is only a tool and a tool does not work without someone operating it.  The operator needs to be paid.  He also needs to be paid enough to be good and interested, so as not to be lured away by the competition.
  The time and effort needed to effectively manage them as a serious organization and provide the needed benefits demanded by the membership needs support. And, these professional organizations need to be viable to work with an industry that’s as dynamic as stone is today.
  At that point, the dues that you pay every year are a pretty small fee to help the industry as a whole. Stone – whether you’re fabricating, installing or restoring – is no longer a small cottage-type industry. It needs strong voices for the trade and organizations willing to help people in the trade on a number of levels. And, it’s a good investment that brings the stone industry together for its own good advancement.
  Until next time, keep your stick on the ice and get out there and make some money.
  Tom McNall is founder and owner of Great Northern Stone Care, a Huron Park, Ontario-based stone-cleaning and -restoration company servicing all of southern Ontario. Tom also offers corporate and private consultation, serves as a trainer for the MIA, and is also on the organization’s board of directors. He can be reached at tom@greatnorthernstone.com