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	Curt Mansfield Flagstaff, AZ curt.mansfield@gmail.com 928.699.5477 Mission Building better bridges, establishing new relationships and reconstructing weak customer contacts through basic education, creative training, product awareness and understanding. Dealers/Distributors Displays: Should be eye catching and aesthetically pleasing with good color arrangement. Stone style arrangement, cross mixing colors in stone styles while keeping in mind simplicity for ease of purchase is essential. Displays should be consistently changed and reworked to lend newness to the product. Literature: Should be made available at displays and tie directly into the product being displayed. Offer installation guidance at displays. Training: A crucial link begins with educating dealers/distributors with product understanding and product presentation. The continuation of product knowledge on a monthly basis is imperative for dealers/distributors in becoming best of class while building the brand. Estimating Process: Working in conjunction with dealers and distributors, assist customer with on-site visits to consult in the design process to create a good project. Call in an order at this point to the dealer or distributor. Bottom line, get involved with the process, help bridge the gap. Do-It-Yourself: With a slow economy on the rise, this can be an ever-increasing market. Consider the rise in fuel costs. Customers will be less likely to travel or take vacations during this time, and more likely to stay at home and work on home improvement projects. The Do-It-Yourself market will see tremendous growth. An estimating program tailored specifically to accommodate this will increase sales for dealers, distributors and manufacturers. It's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Paver & Landscape Installers Education, again, is key. There needs to be more 'product presentation' training. Start with how to use the literature. Good marketing material is a key factor in assisting in this area. When used properly, it will help simplify both questions and answers and comfortably lead your customers into the contract process without hesitation. Coaching on clear, concise contracts, coupled with great salesmanship will increase their business and the manufacturers. Remember, your success is only as good as theirs. Concrete Contractors While they are a different class from the paver contractor, they are perfectly suited for paver sales and installs, which leads to another avenue for growth. It's important to show them what their potential is in this area and how they can gain additional sales for their business. They can get creative and mix their media, so to speak. They can offer their customers flexibility, texture, innovation, and tradition. The sky is the limit. Builders Establish and develop the mindset. If a builder takes the time and effort to construct a home, paying close attention to every detail and nuance on the inside, they can easily be educated to the importance of being detail oriented on the outside of the home. Curb appeal, an amazingly simple idea, can turn an average home into a showplace. Pavers allow them to put a signature on their artwork. Concrete takes a backseat. Products such as 6x6, 4x8, and 6x9 become the standard on their projects. Tumbled products become the upgrade. Changing the mindset is possible and the manufacturers can set the stage by enlightening and educating the builder. Architects It is crucial to engage on a higher level with this class. Specs and technical information coupled with creative design concepts is what will spark their interest. Technical information such as binders should be made available, answering any specific question they may have. The goal here is to make their plans paver-ready, for example, have brand and company name spec'd on plans. City, State, and Government Commercial Projects At a time when the housing market is fluctuating, this area will become more important. Efforts to seek out plans, investigate new construction, encourage new ideas and commence with building relationships should be 'stepped-up'. Government, both City and State, are looking to go GREEN. Explain the benefits of permeable products. Present how 'natural' the system works. Encourage projects with mixed-use materials such as permeable pavements and standard paver applications. Any project can be designed to satisfy budget restrictions. Inventory Awareness Know what's available in your inventory. Off-color product and overrun product are perfect examples of instances where you can offer builders, installers and customers tremendous savings. Another avenue to get pavers into their hands is by building relationships, building bridges and gaining their confidence. Representatives/Salespeople It's important for reps to not only understand the product, but also to have an understanding of the economics of everyone they serve, be it builders, installers or customers. Having knowledge of their capabilities and their potential can be helpful in preventing situations/projects that can't be fulfilled. A rep should be capable of adapting and anticipating a companies' or clients' growth. It's about understanding the customer base by focusing on the needs of a client. A rep can then work on getting creative. That's when the fun starts. All the thoughts and ideas I present above may not be in line with your company or corporate direction. Please know that regardless, there are different ways of attacking the market and achieving increased sales and product awareness. All ideas can be reworked and applied to fit company structures.

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