PRESIDENT’S LETTER Chris Walker You may have heard the expres- sion, “standing on your soap box.” The phrase goes way back to when every street corner in a city had someone barking out their opin- ion/product/position standing on a sturdy box, like a soap box. When your customer says, “My other tile guys never talk to me about this,” we usually want to wear this comment as a badge of honor. It’s often an opportunity to showcase a level of expertise we bring to the project. It can also be the moment you develop a lifelong customer, or identify a client not interested in anything but price. You want to stand up on your soap box and tell them everything about why your installation is the best, and what you bring to the project. You get the idea. We usually see this as an opportunity to establish our value and willingness to always try to do the job “better.” Your commitment speaks about you both personally and profes- sionally.You feel if you can translate your passion and commitment in a dialogue that engages your custom- er, that will be enough. It will sell the project and convince the client you are the right person for the job. But sometimes, you run into the, “It’s just tile. OK is good enough” attitude. This can be very discon- certing when you are passionate about what you’re doing. Recently I had the opportunity to make a presentation to an owner, general contractor, and architect/ design firm. I was thrilled to talk about our commitment to their proj- ect, and about correctly performing an installation that would survive a nuclear blast. This included our willingness to provide extended warranties, and our use of premium installation products – and why that mattered. I asked the investor how that translated to him and if it estab- lished us a company committed to a high-quality result. He replied, “Well, it’s great that your company stands behind their work. It’s good to hear your level of excitement and commitment. But I’m going to sell this building inside of three years. To me, it’s really just about the price.” I was stunned. I was so disap- pointed. For a second, I was speech- less (not a condition I am used to). How could the owner not feel as It’s lonely on the soap box 18 TileLetter | February 2019