Hi there, everyone. It's been quite a while for me on the blog and mostly I was scrambling in preparing seminars for convention and then managing our floor projects (spring break week) prior to convention. I'm going to resume post No. 3 of the marketing section by Friday. Prior to that, I wanted to give you a contractor's feedback on my time at the Expo. It is the Contractor Blog, after all, and I love the readers, whether you made it to Expo or not!
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Hi there, everyone. It's been quite a while for me on the blog and mostly I was scrambling in preparing seminars for convention and then managing our floor projects (spring break week) prior to convention. I'm going to resume post No. 3 of the marketing section by Friday. Prior to that, I wanted to give you a contractor's feedback on my time at the Expo. It is the Contractor Blog, after all, and I love the readers, whether you made it to Expo or not!
This year I traveled to our convention as well as having my employee Andrew go, too. I wanted Andrew to experience that the world of wood flooring goes beyond an edger and a gallon of finish. It seems like the Expo harbors the greatest opportunity to really go "wow" after hearing someone rattle off a really genius observation from their field experience or seeing a new innovative product. To me that is the essence of why you go meet other people in your industry that live outside of your region. It takes you from assuming that you're an expert to seeing that expertise is a journey, as cheesy as it sounds.
I will be very candid to the readers about costs and Expo… It is not cheap to attend a resort-based convention, but there are ways to deal with the costs if you are staying on site. Here are a few:
- Plan to consume less alcohol if you don't want a lighter wallet. I put that first because conventions are synonymous with good times.
- Avoid the fancy steak restaurants and eat salads or sandwiches from the small cafes. That alone will save you close to half the nightly cost of a room.
- Drink the FREE coffee from your room. Sounds simple, but it is not bad tasting if it comes from a fancy resort. I switched to Yerba mate, so I brought a bag of the tea and a French press.
- Relax and take advantage of the gym or the pool. I'm not Dr. Oz, but I often journal my diet and exercise and study on Google. Good health makes your mind sharp and your mood upbeat. Sharper minds and decreased appetites are better for your wallet. I went for a 6:30 a.m. run in the rain prior to my seminars because I cared about my seminar attendees (see the pic below, courtesy of show photographer David Stluka) and wanted to focus on mental clarity more than packing away omelets. Eat less and save!
I skipped the keynote due to speaking preparations, so I am unable to comment on Howard Putnam, but I heard it was a good time. The "Cousins on Call" were certainly WAY better than Carter Oosterhouse from the 2012 convention, which was comedic at best. I don't intend to make a mockery of previous speakers, because if you put me on stage with an HGTV primetime travel schedule, I'd likely sound bewildered, too. This year's luncheon was much more "real" feeling because the guys on camera actually have touched a hammer prior to being on camera. That's just my take.
Beyond our celebrity speakers, the seminars were a tough decision in attendance because the topics were all so relevant to running a contracting business. I attended the seminar by Chris Zizza and have to tell you, I really admire that guy. He is a case study in how to be a positive employee manager of a business and yet authoritative in what matters, serving your customer. Couple that with a deep understanding of estimating and sales psychology, and I'll just say that I'm glad he's not my competitor. ?
Now, I have a small bone to pick if you're still reading at this point. Manufacturers of products: Please allow your sales representatives to engage the contractors and take them to dinner, even if you specify a spending limit. Either I'm the least cool person at convention or budgets have really tightened, because at 6 p.m. the dinner invites were like finding a needle in a haystack. Contractors buy from distributors, who buy from manufacturers, so let's please consider that the big money is in the small money, so to speak. It's a small point in a way, but the DIRECT EYES IN THE FIELD are the contractors who are the end users. If you want to know about your sales numbers, then you need to know directly about the quality of your products from the guys who still have your stain or finish on their fingernails. What your chemist and your CEO are pitching needs to be in line with what the contractors are delivering to the homeowner, or you are in for a lot of headaches or sleepless nights from a guilty conscience.
Now that I'm off that little rant, let me tell you about more good news. Next year at our Expo in Nashville, Tenn., we will be more able to choose in spending because NWFA is free from our contract to Gaylord Resorts. I hope I'm not spilling proprietary information here, but it simply means that costs will be a little more manageable for smaller contractor outfits that want to stay on-site and eat food across the street at a local restaurant without the resort markup. I really want to see more of my contractor buddies there next year, so I will very much continue to do all I can to keep you at the forefront for of this business. Remember that the single most important thing for a contractor is to plan prior to harvest season for the next planting season.
