Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124John Trent Certification fighting the good fight against sub-par installations QUALIFIED LABOR Every man owes a part of his time and money to the business or industry in which he is engaged. No man has a moral right to withhold his support from an organization that is striving to improve conditions within his sphere. Theodore Roosevelt When John Trent became a territory manager for Schluter Systems in 2012 the importance of certification in the industry was solidified for him. As a territory manager a lot of my time is spent training installers. In these workshops we train on average 40 attendees on both Schluter products and industry standards Trent said. While I have encountered many cream of the crop installers within the industry I also see men and women who are just entering the trade and have little to no exposure outside what they have picked up through trial and error watching others DIY shows or spending an hour at a big box store. Almost always these paths have promoted i n s t a l l a t i o n methods that do not reflect what is accepted by the industry. Trent has been touting the benefits of certification through the Certified Tile Education Foundation CTEF for years starting when he was the owner operator of John Trent Tile Stone. Certification was so important to him as an owner that after becoming a Certified Tile Installer CTI in 2009 he helped his competition get certified. Trent helped his competitors because it helped us all justify keeping our price on par with each other he said. No one likes to lose business but it makes it easier to lose it to someone who you are comfortable with knowing the customer chose someone with the proven credentials to provide a By Terryn Rutford Social Structure Marketing 56 TileLetter June 2016