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 116Distributors need to have the contractor’s back I just read the September President’s Letter in TileLetter maga- zine, and I couldn’t agree more. I work for a tile distributor – the only locally owned tile distributor in Fort Wayne, Ind. We also now have manufacturers that are giving Joseph Lundgren Consulting where growing your business is our purpose. Joe is a globally recognized product and marketing expert in the ceramic and stone worldwide markets. His specialty is Business Development, Product Management, and Marketing. He has developed his expertise in strategic planning, new development and marketing strategy during his 27 year career at Dal-Tile, a subsidiary of Mohawk Industries. Joe has extensive experience in multiple sales channels including distribution and Home Centers. Additionally, Joe represents the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) for its testing laboratories, which has Joe at the epicenter of the industry for all new initiatives. Please contact Joe at 214.641.7773 for a free consultation proposal. www.JosephLundgrenConsulting.com Facebook Twitter Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Facebook Google Plus Twitter Google Plus Facebook Google Plus Linked-In Linked-In LETTERS TO THE EDITOR These letters are in response to NTCA president James Woelfel’s September letter concerning distributors who quote their clients installa- tion or contractor pricing, effectively undercutting the margin needed by the contractor to run his or her business, provide quality labor and meet his or her costs. These response letters from distributors are good ice breakers for tile contractors to sit down with his or her distributor partners to discuss pric- ing, labor, referrals, etc. Undercutting can go both ways and both dis- tributors and contractors need to know they each can trust their business partners. These letters – and the September president letter that started the ball rolling on this discussion – represent an opportunity to strengthen business relationships and deepen trust, improving the business climate for all. – Lesley Goddin 18 TileLetter | November 2016