Make a Commitment

Now, why would so many leave a business that’s on the rise? It would be like UPS getting out of the courier business just as FedEx created the demand (or vice versa). It’s like believing the argument that nobody will pay 10-100 times the amount to ship something by courier when the postal service can do it just as well? Right? WRONG! Otherwise, an annual $40-billion-plus industry wouldn’t even exist!

I hear the same arguments day-in and day-out: Why would someone pay me more per-square-foot than someone else to polish their marble?

Point #1 – In case you’ve missed this in the last five to six years that I’ve been writing this column, we do not price on a per-square-foot basis. It’s a fool’s errand.

Point #2 – We offer commitment. When you send a package to someone by courier, you can track it, insure it, and have a relative guarantee that it will be delivered when you need it there (based on how much you’re willing to pay, of course).

A quick lesson on commitment for those who do not appreciate the value of it: If you had your bacon and eggs this morning, the chicken was acquainted with your breakfast, but the pig was committed (although he’s not going to get any repeat business).

When our customers pay us to do a job, they know we’re committed to getting the job done right. We’re not jacks- (or jills-) of-all-trades; we support the industry and commit to it by supporting the MIA (Marble Institute of America).

From how we dress to how we go about our work onsite, we look professional. And, we have a reputation of securing customer assets by protecting surrounding areas when we work in their homes and/or businesses.

Our customers see us as knowledgeable. We don’t subscribe to the “BS Baffles Brains” concept by trying to bluff our way through a job, or provide a technical-sounding excuse as to why we can’t achieve what the customer desires.

Much like the courier companies, we lay it out for cleints about what they’ll get for how much of the ever-desired gold they’ll trade us for our services. Rather than just say, “We will make it look good for $X,” we tell them, “It will look great for $XX.XX. In a comparative bid, we can make it look equally as acceptable as the other company for $X.”

But, we always add: “Is that what you really want? Acceptable?”

That’s not a subtle difference, and it’s easily noticed by customers. We have a commitment to their best interests, a reputation for living up to it, and the ability to do a job better than anyone else.

So, where do you sit? Are you acquainted with the restoration business, or committed? Are you looking for equipment and supplies that are good-enough, or do you demand the best? And, in doing so, are you able to tell the difference between what’s the best equipment and also understand why it’s the best for the task?

Do your customers (past and present – because they’ll all likely speak to your future customers) see you as using the exact same equipment and supplies as the janitorial company at their place of business? Or, do they see that you’re using stone-specific equipment made for the task at hand? It takes commitment to lay your hind end out on the line (kind of like the pig for your breakfast) for the proper tools to restore stone.

It also takes commitment to get the proper education to know how to restore stone properly. Million-dollar customers in the 21st century are savvy. They know whether you’re giving them an egg or Canadian bacon (or back bacon or just plain bacon north of the border). They can tell if you’re confident and know the answers, or whether you are going to run to your laptop and see what so-called “experts” on the vastness of the Internet might say. And if these financially secure customers built their own empires, they’re also aware that nothing worthwhile online is going to be free.

If you don’t believe me on that point, I have a number of “friends” that I could introduce you to that would like your help to expatriate several millions of dollars from several countries in West Africa, South America or even the good ol’ United Kingdom. All you need do is send them all of your banking information.

I extracted myself from online sites a number of years ago for two very good reasons. For one thing, I got busy and realized that I wasn’t making money by wasting away my days on a keyboard. And, second, trying to help nearly always evolved into arguments, inevitably with people having an agenda (selling something), no real experience (hence time to pontificate daily to endless debates) or an online image that’s much-more-flattering than reality.

If you’re getting your stone-restoration education online by lurking online for free, you’re merely “acquainted” with the business – at best. Being committed means getting your hands and mind into it, and speaking with confidence.

On that note, I think I might just commit myself to a golden Canadian rye product and suggest that you commit to keeping your stick on the ice.

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 offers corporate and private consultations, serves as a trainer for the Marble Institute of America, and is also on the organization’s board of directors. McNall can be reached at stone_rx@earthlink.net.

©2010 Western Business Media Inc.