b'TECHNICAL FEATUREA call to arms: tile industry needs to join forces to protect and grow our marketBy Bart Bettiga, NTCA Executive DirectorIhavebeeninthisindustrynowfor35years.Ihavefact that PBM products are growing in popularity, and that been blessed to be part of a trade that has experiencedthey have targeted our industry as being vulnerable for a significant growth and Ive been honored to serve in a lead- variety of reasons. ership role as the Executive Director of the National Tile Contractors Association for the past 18 years.Stark discrepancies betweenWhen I first started in this industry, I worked for a tileproduct claims and realityretailerinMinneapolis,Minn.IremembertalkingwithManyglowingperformance-relatedclaimsbeingmade consumersaboutthebenefitsofceramictileandtryingby the manufacturers of these PBM products differ from to convince them to consider our products in kitchens andwhatisactuallycoveredbymanufacturerwarranties.At dining rooms. They really were only used to seeing tile inCoverings 2019, the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) bathrooms at the time. We have come a long way sincerevealedimportantinformationrelatedtoresearchthey then. Today, ceramic tile and natural stone tile comprisehaveconductedontheaccuracyofsuchclaims.(Goto about 20% of all flooring sales, and despite the many chal- https://bit.ly/32c52Og for results of this research). When lenges we continue to face from competitive products, ouryou actually read the information included in product and industry has continued to thrive. Technology has played amanufacturer warranties, you will find stark discrepancies significant role in this growth. So has the simple fact thatbetween what the marketing literature posits, myths peo-when installed correctly, our products are healthy for theple believe about these products, and what a company will environment and are proven to last and outperform theiractually stand behind with money. This is very important competitors over time.information to have in order to sell our products. Despitetheseadvantages,manyindustryleadersareI want to stress the word sell here. In my opinion, in highly concerned over recent trends by consumers to selectorder for our industry to sustain growth and to thrive in this alternative products, often in areas where ceramic tile hascompetitive landscape, we must become much better at traditionally dominated. The rapid growth of plastic-basedmarketing, selling and installing our products than we have materials (PBM), including rigid core materials such as luxu- ever been in the past. ry vinyl tile (LVT), has many manufacturers, distributors andOur industry needs to work together to accomplish this. contractors worried. The tile industry is not alone in thisSales professionals in distribution and manufacturing have concern, as the hardwood flooring and carpet industries areto be better trained on industry standards and must under-also losing sales to this category. The laminate industry hasstand the unique differences that exist between the skills now ramped up efforts to improve its manufacturing pro- required to install ceramic tile compared to its competition. cesses, so you can expect to see a strong push from theseWithout possessing this knowledge, salespeople cant pos-manufacturers to grow their market at our expense. It is asibly help consumers to make good decisions when it comes competitive world and the flooring industry is not immuneto choosing ceramic tile as compared to other products. In to this. So lets take our gloves off and start fighting from amy experience when untrained people sell our products to position of strength! designers, architects, project owners and consumers, with-Through2018,ourindustrywascontinuingtogainout a full understanding of our product or installation stan-marketshareinflooringsales,butrecentreportsoftiledards, it results in dissatisfaction and in many instances, job consumption reported a 5 % decrease in the first quarterfailures.of 2019 as compared to 2018. There can be many factorsJob failures are not always solely the fault of the instal-contributing to this decrease, but there is no denying thelationcontractor.Infact,thereareusuallymanyfactors 162019|TECH'