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It’s been 5 years and 3 months, 283 episodes, and countless guests. All good things must come to an end though. I am honoring the show by taking it back to my very first guests Ken Ballin and Allen Lewis to see how we all have changed over the last 5 years. What’s new, what’s different, and how our goals have changed. Change is a necessary part of life and so is reflection. Enjoy this look back on the show, the industry, and our lives.

Special thanks to all of our sponsors. I’ll star with Jason Goldberg who was the first sponsor of the show with Retail Lead Management and Tralama. Without his belief in the concept, me and and seeing the long term vision, none of the past 5 years would have been possible. I would like to thank

Ardex, Better Tools, Flooring Domain, IQ Power Tools, Johns Manville, Kronus Soft, Laticrete, Nova Tile and Stone, Russo Trading Company, Schluter Systems, SnapTech, ThermoSoft, Tile Tools .com, Traffic Digital, Virtual Estimates Now, Uzin, and The International Surfaces Event.

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How important are the words you choose to use on your website, marketing and even in your daily conversations? How does it affect the way you are viewed, your products, or even your business? I have been big on making sure to say client over customer and project over job for a long time and there are others. Kerry Lenz has also shifted the words she uses in her business to better convey what separates Rice’s More Than Floors in their market.

Kerry Lenz and her husband Brad own Rice’s More Than Floors which they acquired in 2016 from Brad’s parents. The store has a beautiful history dating back to 1968 where it started as a furniture and appliance business, later adding carpet. Kerry was a registered nurse and then joined the flooring business when Brad’s parents sold the store to them. When their general manager decided to pursue a new career, Kerry stepped up and started filling that position, as well as, taking on a mentoring role for the company to grow their culture. This involves coaching the team through not only business challenges but personal as well to develop a well rounded and proud individual.

Listen in to this week’s episode of the Floor Academy Podcast as Kerry and I discuss why your word choice matters and how it can improve not only your audiences perception of your business, but your own.

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How did you originally decide to name your company? Have you ever thought of changing your name? What kind of damage will it cause? Will people still recognize you? Will you lose clientele? What does it take to rebrand an entire company?

Shane Levinson is a serial entrepreneur and combat veteran. Shane started in the flooring business with his father Jerry Levinson nearly a decade ago, posting an average of 40% annual growth for our first 7 years. In 2021 Shane bought out his Dads stake in the company and in 2023 rebranded the company from Carpets of Arizona to Vision Flooring.

Listen in to this week’s episode of the Floor Academy Podcast as I interview Shane on what it took to rebrand his company, any negatives he encountered and how he would change them, and what the benefits were.

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Where do you find the time to write a blog, book client appointments, setup marketing campaigns, and get installs done? It’s a lot of hats to wear and we didn’t even get in to all of the other ones you wear. Technology has come a long way though and it’s here to help you in ways you never imagined. Cartoons like “The Jetsons” are soon to be reality with robots in homes and businesses, as well as, computers that complete simple tasks for you.

Jason Potts is the owner of RIC Flooring in Cedar Rapids, IA. Starting as an installer and moving into a store owner, Jason found himself in a predicament one day and he had to completely shift how his business did all of their backend management and admin tasks. This has led him down a road to learn how AI worked and then in to programming models to help his business. It hasn't been easy, but the results have changed how many people he can get in front of, how much times he spends on admin tasks, and the trajectory of his business.

Listen in to this week’s episode of the Floor Academy Podcast as Jason and I discuss how you can implement AI into your business to create more virtual content, book more appointments, and make bidding your projects faster and more profitable.

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A single crew is easy to manage especially if you are on it. Two crews is manageable. More than that and you start having a lot of moving pieces between availability, type of work possible to assign, type of work produced, etc. How can you not only manage a schedule effectively for yourself but with great communication to the clients as well?

Marcos Guerequeta is the owner of Local Flooring Group in Saskatchewan, Canada. With a focus on social media marketing, he built up the brand to have a reputation that is held in high regard. Going forward he is looking to improve the operational processes of his business further, including using a CRM to manage day to day tasks. A current challenge in the business is managing the work flow of his subcontracted installation crews to be as productive and successful as possible.

Listen in to this week’s episode of the Floor Academy Podcast as Marcos and I brainstorm some ideas to help him overcome a few challenges he faces while managing multiple crews.

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Why does one store have a product priced at X amount of dollars and another at Y? Why does the price change as I move through different regions of the country? What goes in to pricing a product for national distribution? Why is having this conversation with other installers who don’t understand the big picture a pointless exercise?

Multi-time guest, fan favorite, and friend of the show, Ron Nash returns to the Floor Academy Podcast to discuss national pricing by looking at raw material costs, manufacturing, logistics, purchasing power, and the ever so important business model. A husband, father, photographer, artist, mentor, and President of Laticrete North America, Ron will bring his expertise from working with one of the largest tile constructions companies.

Listen in this week to learn how you can take this broader picture of market dynamics to help yourself on the micro side.

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Have you ever wondered how to get the higher end projects? What does it take to accomplish them? Who do you need to know? How do you need to perform? There are plenty of things that need to change and thinking that you do the best work in town isn’t going to cut it.

Chris Resti owns Crest Tile and Mosaic near Rochester, NY. With a focus on fabricating mosaics and wall art, his journey didn’t begin there. Retail, food service, education and entertainment were some of the stops along the way before becoming a journeyman tile setter. Now running his own thing, Chris wants to reach a higher end clientele to allow him to move more of his works of art instead of the same old shower or floor time and time again.

Listen in to this week’s episode of the Floor Academy podcast as Chris and I discuss what efforts he can take to target a specific clientele to focus on his mosaics and wall art.

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The International Surfaces Event

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What happens with your missed calls or text messages? How about emails? How many times do you follow up with a prospect before considering the lead dead? How do you nurture a lead that is in its infancy? If someone isn’t ready to book now and get work done do you consider them a bad lead? All of these questions have to do with lead workflow and can have a big impact on how busy you can stay. Most of us want leads that are ready to go but we don’t have a system to nurture someone early in the buying cycle through completion.

Tony Pieroni is no stranger to the flooring world. With 12 years at Mohawk and international sales experience, he kept volunteering to take on new territories after setting up successful ones. Tony is now the CEO of The Flooring Dealer Sales Accelerator where he focuses on lead management and converts those leads into qualified appointments. Much of his system is built on his experience from the field bringing clients on with Mohawk. He was willing to do the work that most are not and built a solid process to keep himself in front of the prospect for long periods of time, as well as, to keep on educating them on his benefits as a partner.

Listen in to this week’s episode of the Floor Academy Podcast as Tony and I discuss how you can improve your lead management to build a solid system to close more projects and keep your business busy.

Check out our sponsors

The International Surfaces Event

Uzin

TileTools.com

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