Spall: Name Your Place

After I looked at the results, I saved the file, rebooted my computer and went through the Ad Words search again, substituting some common misspellings (such as Ceasarstone, not Caesarstone®) to see if I’d missed some search results. I repeated the operation one more time, just to make sure I’d get consistent results.

Click image to enlargeThe numbers came up exactly the same each time. And, as the chart at left shows, the 800-lb gorilla in the countertop showroom is granite.

There are a couple of corporate offices where the first instinct will be to call my phone – or the company lawyer’s line – to complain that this isn’t a fair comparison. And if I’d spent millions for the large part of a decade to get whipped by a material where sellers can’t even agree on the names of colors and types, you bet I’d be irate.

However, we’re not talking about search-engine results in the hundreds-of-millions for pictures of singing cats or celebrities in various states of undress. These are results for clean, non-ambiguous terms for the product we fabricate most – and granite is the overwhelming winner.

The results here aren’t to gloat or sulk over, though. It’s a clear sign – although others will likely be needed – is that the cold war between quarried-stone and quartz needs to end. Working at opposite ends, especially with quartz producers, is a strategy that will only get more expensive to get customers to the bottom-line signature.

For one thing, it’s probably time to unchain most of the channel/territory model from factory to fabrication to customer. Good fabricators don’t like the idea of back-of-the-pickup operators any better than quartz manufacturers and are willing partners for quality. Accreditation from the Marble Institute of America and product manufacturers can aid in guaranteeing work that stands up to consumer respect and warranty specifications.

It’s also time to end the semi-official shunning of U.S. stone events by quartz producers, many of which show up at major shows elsewhere on the planet. The argument about going to end users and customers isn’t scoring any points with those active in the quarried-stone trade; given the results of that Google report, they’re the ones getting the massive share of customer inquiries.

Maybe it’s time to quit being standoffish, shave a couple-hundred square feet off those AIA and K/BIS extravaganzas, and meet the other folks. There’s no time to spare; a newer breed of quartz producers is already looking to forge direct relationships with fabricators.

Both sides also need to de-escalate the nasty words and attitudes, although the tough economy mellowed some attitudes in the past few years. There’s a large difference between competition and deception, and there’s no reason to resort to the latter.