4 Minute Read Time

WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER!!

Automation is something that I think about constantly, both in my own business and in my client's businesses.  

But I find most fabricators I talk to think about it in their shop, less in their processes, and even less in their sales, marketing, and customer service processes.  

But you can Actually Automate More than just Your Shop!

I find there is very little information available about the topic, and not really directed to the stone industry.  Hopefully, this article will get the wheels turning and you can start automating some steps and improve your business. 💪

WHY SHOULD I AUTOMATE?? 

Let's think about the first time you ran a program on your shiny new CNC router.  Your palms were covered in sweat, your eyes were as big as saucers, and even though you spent more on that router than most people spent on their house, you knew this would change your world forever!  🤩

OK, maybe automating a customer service process or quote follow-up will be slightly less dramatic than buying new equipment 😂, but incremental improvements add up.

While writing this article, I received the following text message from one of my clients:

I’m not making this up; it actually happened. But this is exactly what we should be thinking about!

Five Reasons Why You Should Automate Your Front End Processes:

1. Increased Efficiencies - Save you or your employees time!

2. Improve Customer Satisfaction - Maintaining and strengthening customer relationships 

3. Grow your sales - Increase the chances of closing sales

4. Competitive Advantage- Stay ahead of the competition

5. Scalability- Can easily scale with the growth of the business, accommodating increased sales volumes efficiently.

When you think about what processes to automate, let's start with something specific and simple - Your Client Journey.

The Client Journey is How Customers Find You.  It's their first interaction with you and then proceed to do business with you, or not.  There are a lot of steps along the way, so when you start, just pick one way that they find you. 

EXAMPLE:

You have a billboard on the interstate or highway somewhere with your phone number on it (call to action 😉 ).  The client phones you, you book a meeting in the showroom, proceed to pick a slab, quote the project, take a deposit, create a job in your software or paperwork, and install the job. 

When I look at this process, I currently see 9 manual steps:

1. Billboard - Generate traffic

2. Phone call - Initial client contact

3. Appointment booked or Showroom Visit

4. Showroom Meeting - More client info is gathered (bonus points if you ask how they heard about you 😀)

5. Material selection - Another form is filled out, and maybe inventory is held

6. Quote generated - Another form, including pricing

7. Deposit received - Another form for the payment and a receipt is generated

8. Job file created - More forms and information

9. The fulfillment process begins - Yes this is a lot more steps, but I’m focusing on the front end for this article, not writing a book LOL

From This Example - What Steps Can We AUTOMATE?

See the Chart Below for How We Can Automate This Example:

Lets Make Your Business More Efficient, Close More Sales and Stand Out From The Rest With AUTOMATION!! 🤓🚀🏆🌟

COOL TOOL ALERT!

This week we want to tell you about a Software Tool.

For example, if you are scheduling manually, on a whiteboard or in Excel, I strongly recommend you check out Speed Folder at www.speedfolder.com. 

I have no affiliation with Speed Folder, but I did a software demo this week and was blown away by the value that you can receive, for free, to help organize and systematize your shop. 

AND DID I MENTION IT’S FREE! 🤯 

Implementation of any new software and processes is challenging at the best of times, but Speed Folder is a great place to start.

EVENTS IN THE STONE INDUSTRY

Digital Stone Working Expo

Hosted by Park Industries

Education, Networking, Tours, and Demos

June 27, 2024

Washington, D.C.

To Register or for more info Click Here!

All Slab Fabbers

Hosted by The Granite Guys

June 24-26, 2024

Classes and Tours on the 25 and 26

Location - Pasco, Washington

For more info Click Here!

SATURDAY LOL TIME!

Thanks for reading!

See you next Saturday,

Steve McKenna

[email protected]