Category Archives: Archived Conferences

ROCKHEADS GROUP – APRIL MEETING 2019

1. MSI – Guest Speaker: Jared Wessel, Hogan Lovells
   1. Lawyer, specializing in Trade Law Matters
   2. Where We Are
      1. May is the big month, case will either rise or fall
      2. In order for Cambria to secure duties
         1. Establish injury at ITC
         2. If they are so injured they would need to go back 90 days and activate retroactive tariffs 
      3. ITC Hearing is set for May 9^th
         1. May 2^nd – pre-hearing brief
      4. After May 16^th commission will have everything they need, on June 11^th  they will make the decision
      5. Whoever gets 3 votes will win
      6. Crushed Glass – discussion if crushed glass will be included or excluded. Cambria is trying to get crushed glass added back into the case. May 14^th will make decision and announced May 15^th. Department of Commerce is pushing back against this.
   3. What it ITC Looking at
      1. Is Cambria suffering from the Chinese product being imported
      2. Cambria have said that Fabricators are guys with saws in garages, MSI is trying to prove this is false. Fabricators should be heard and listened to, they use the Chinese products to serve a particular market separate from Cambria.
      3. Industry is slab producers and also fabricators – commission needs to listen to them as well. Critical issue in the case.
      4. To have better chance at winning, we need fabricators full participation.
   4. Retroactive Tariffs
      1. $300 million due, goes back 90 days on imports
      2. Cambria’s attempt to run out independent fabricators and suppliers
   5. If Cambria wins here, it is highly likely they will go after other countries. Advice: this is the time to fight Cambria. If you would like to help in this case, please provide Jared with your contact information so he can get further details from you. Also, make sure you reach out to your Congressman so they can tell the ITC that they need to hear your
   6. 301 Case
      1. Ongoing trade dispute between US and Europeans on aircraft dispute 
      2. In this case, on preliminary list of products – quartz products from European Union, so quartz from Spain is subject to being hit by this. 
2. QUESTIONS:
   1. How many fabricators have agreed to reach out?
      1. Teens to high twenties
         1. People can help in confidential manner
   2. How will this effect CTS vs. Slabs?
      1. Everything is in right now. Quartz Surface Products fabricated or not fabricated. This includes CTS. Hit by the same tariffs that the slabs are hit by.
      2. All or nothing
   3. Has it been thought about that Cambria has fully automated fabrication themselves?
      1. We think that this is Cambria going to war against independent fabs and distributors. If they can choke off supply, then it directs fabricators to Cambria.
   4. If Cambria does when, when does the 90 days start?
      1. It was 90 days before preliminary determinations last summer (2018). If you pay now and Cambria loses, you will get your money back.
   5. How do they select people for retroactive tariffs?
      1. Everyone that brought in product during those 90 days, you should get hit. Custom agents could be handling different depending on what port the material was brought in.
   6. What is the 90-day window?
      1. 90 days from when preliminary tariff came out. Cambria even asked for this to go back 90 days before this preliminary hearing.
   7. Are other countries being brought in?
      1. Not yet, but there are rumors.
   8. If this is going to affect EU imports. How is the relationship between Marty Davis and Cosentino going to play?
      1. People who are politically connected could have more influence on Airbus case. Not really an issue on this case against Chinese quartz.
   9. From Developer standpoint – if Quartz gets out of line, they will switch to laminate, it’s not a big deal to them.
   10. 50% from China is CTS, 85% is Slabs
   11. How expensive is it for Cambria to go after other countries?
       1. Cambria is fully funding this case, the government is not putting money into this. It is not hard to replicate these cases, next case could be 20% less and so on.
   12. Could there be a case just on fabricated countertops?
       1. Yes, this could happen.

SALES INCENTIVES

• Customers
  • Purchase incentives / SPIFFS
    • Remnant Program, Vanity Program “Buy kitchen and get discount on vanity.”
    • Old inventory with specific price mark
    • Giving % of sale on material marked down to non-profit
    • 6 Granites/6 Quartz always at set SQFT price
    • Success using Facebook Marketplace (locally)
    • Use of stonetrash.com – can dump material and set your own price
  • Promotion
  • Special Buys
    • “Color of the Month” – Let designers pick a color and offer special buy for that product (while supplies last)
• Employees

Majority of the group has sales team member, all but two work on Salary and Commission. The others are just solely salaried.

• • Commission structures
  • Incentives

LEAD GENERATION/CULTURE INDEX

What are characteristics of your desired salesperson

Top:

• Communication
• Professional
• Detailed oriented, adaptable, and self-starter
• Concern for detail
• Time management
• Initiative
• Construction background

Top 3: Communicator, mathematical, detail oriented

Job Description: A confident self-starter with a construction background and developed communication skills

Metrics: Overall template price per sq/ft, actual cost and opportunity cost. Completed on time

Sales Person must answer customers top 3 questions:

1. What do I get?
2. How much?
3. When will I get it?

Lead Generation:

What are some of things that generate traffic or get people to move?

Tables top 3:

1. Digital marketing
2. Showroom
3. Mailers

OUTSIDE SALES

Top Objectives:

• Achieve sales goals

How will Success be Tracked:

• • Daily sales dashboards
  • Weekly sales dashboards
  • Monthly sales reports (goal / actual)

Mission Critical Skills for Success: 

*These are the top skills required for the job and what we should focus on during the interview process

• Independent / self-starter / motivated / grit
• Likable (ability to build trust) – customers want to do business with them
• Strong communication skills
  • External – set proper expectations, follow up
  • Internal – set project and team up for success
• Competitive
  • Closer that likes to win / exceed goals
  • Prospecting

Rhythm & Communication Cadence: How are they managed…

• Daily sales huddle with sales manager each morning – review prior day and current day strategy / plan
• Weekly sales training session with entire sales team to go deep into certain skills (value proposition, prospecting, product knowledge, getting referrals, closing, presenting, etc …)
• Monthly 1-2-1 standing meeting with Sales Manager on performance review and development

Visual Dashboards: How will then know if they are successful and hitting the mark …

• Daily sales report distributed each day
  • New sales sold / new sales billed
• Weekly sales report
• Monthly sales report
  • Commission paid based on monthly results

Job Specific:

• The primary job responsibility is to successfully manage the customer experience and maximize all sales opportunities in accordance with the company vision statement and in compliance with company policy and procedures including projects, customer education, establishing appropriate expectations, scheduling, answering questions, responding to issues, team player, problem solving and other details with customers.
• Successful employees are self-motivated, have great attitudes, customer service oriented, and have excellent communication, time management and organizational skills.

*We don’t have to use this specific format. However, my recommendation is to keep it simple on whatever one we use.

Installation Manager

Director of Field Operations usually covers the Installation Manager position.

Field Services Manager – reports to VP of Operations

• KPI’s
  • Call Backs/Go Backs – list a measurable goal, either by % of sales or specific amount
  • Issue Resolution
  • Employee Safety and Employee Happiness
    • How do you measure? A “walk-around” method, acknowledge everyone’s birthday, budget for lunches,  etc.
  • VOC
  • Productivity Management