StoneTalk – the podcast for countertop fabricators

May 30, 2014 | StoneTalk

stonetalk110Do you listen to podcasts? Now there’s one just for you – StoneTalk, the podcast for countertop fabricators.

We’ve noticed that our most successful customers tend to talk to each other and learn from one another. This exchange of knowledge and ideas is so important to our industry that conferences and magazines have emerged to support it. We wanted to create another way for fabricators to learn from each other, so they can improve and grow their businesses. The motivation is simple – our business depends on fabricators being successful.

Many people have told us that they read our fabricator profiles and find them useful … a podcast is similar, but it allows us to have longer, more in-depth conversations with industry experts – and share those conversations with a wide audience. We think you’ll find these conversations informative.

We’ve also noticed that many of our customers spend a fair amount of time in the car or work truck. Our hope is that a podcast will give you something useful to listen to during that time.

Our first episode features an interview with Aaron Crowley, founder of Crowley’s Granite Concepts in Oregon and Fabricator’s Friend, and the author of Less Chaos, More Cash.

Listen to this episode to learn:

  • How adopting a fixed production time between template and install can help guide scheduling and increase shop utilization
  • Why scheduling your confirmation calls for 3 days before template can  reduce the impact of customer schedule changes
  • That it’s possible to use quote volume as a leading indicator to plan for production volume
  • Why it’s sometimes better to say no to a customer because of a scheduling conflict, even after you spent money to turn a lead into a sale

Future episodes will include interviews with people in a variety of fabricator roles from big and small shops, interspersed with an occasional vendor. For example, in our next show, industry veteran Liz Tambasco will share some of her secrets for increasing sales.

If you’re not much of a podcast listener, you can read the transcripts. Those will typically be available a week or so after an episode is published. (the transcript for episode 1 is available now.)

One of the fun things about a podcast is that you can talk back – so please do! You can leave comments for a specific show at stonetalk.org, on the StoneTalk Facebook page, via Twitter, or on this blog. And of course, you can always email patrick@moraware.com, too. If you have stories or insights that you’d like to share with other fabricators, please reach out to Patrick.

Thanks for listening!