Competitive Shop
How does your tile business compare with those of the local competition?
Competitive or Mystery Shopping takes two forms – we can visit your business and see how your service, range, pricing, etc compares with that of your opposition, and rate your performance against that of your local market. Alternatively, we can visit your competition and provide you with an unbiased, objective market review against which you can draw your own comparisons.
We have successfully completed Competitive or Mystery shopping exercises for groups and for individual outlets, who have found the feedback useful to improve their service and upskill their organisation, ending up with greater bottom line returns.
Product Training
In our regular visits to the factories, we ensure that we capture the latest in tile technology, taking photos and undergoing training in the latest developments in our field.
We collate the information from all around the world and update our technical training modules to include new advances, changes, and developments in the way that tiles are made, classified, tested and defined.
Our training has been delivered to the industry through seminars and presentations we have conducted for the Housing Industry Association, the Master Builders Association, lager tile groups, and at the Full Frontal Tile and Stone Exhibition at Darling Harbour in Sydney.
Our product training modules include:-
- Contemporary Tile and Its Development
- Tile Terminology and Resources
- Standards and Testing
All of our modules include pictures taken at manufacturing facilities around the world so that those who undergo our training will see, virtually first hand, how tiles are made and tested. Only in this way is training truly relevant and completely understood.
Sales Training
Our sales training module is based on the highly successful OpPoRTuNiTY $elling program, which has been not only delivered for major retailers around Australia and abroad, but has been adapted, delivered and adopted by tile groups across the country.
OpPoRTuNiTY $elling is written in this unique manner for a good reason. The program covers the key stages in the structure of the sales process:-
- Opening
- Probe
- Reveal
- Translate
- Negotiate
- The Yes
We have perfected the OpPoRTuNiTY $elling program specifically for the tile industry, and tailored it to all tiers of selling – retail, commercial, and wholesale. The system is proven and has delivered outstanding and sustainable results for those who have been in the industry from a few weeks right through to many years
Franchising
Since 1985 we have been working with multi-site tile operations, and have experience with company owned, equity participants, buying groups, licensed operations and franchised chains. We are able to match the nuances and benefits with each type of business model to your desired business outcomes.
With our first involvement with multi-site retail tile operations, we played an integral part in taking the group from 5 stores (when we joined) to 34 stores when we ended our tenure with them. Since that time and with that level of knowledge and experience, we have assisted some of the biggest tile groups in Australia to grow and develop their networks.
Our company has initiated and facilitated more mergers and acquisitions in the tile industry in Australia than any other company, and are well versed in orchestrating and assisting with the implementation of growth strategies
Operational Systems
Every day, your business undertakes many activities to fulfill the needs of the business, to address those activities that have not gone to plan, and to effect the future direction and outcomes of the organisation.
As experienced business architects, we assist with operational flow, analysing each activity and how it impacts on the next in the chain. We assist you in reviewing the roles and interdependence of your staff, as well as the resources offered by suppliers and the businesses with whom you work, then arrange these to offer you the best leverage from limited resources.
We are confident that we can deliver to you greater efficiencies, and make your business flow a lot more effectively, making management easier and giving you more time to attend to growing your profitability.
Analytics
Each day, your business generates data that will indicate not just how you are performing, but some key indicators as to how your business can maximise its profit (as well as simplify your operations).
Getting this information into a simple, easy to use, and timely format is something that many businesses have not mastered, or are not in the habit of doing in a disciplined manner. We have successfully created management dashboards for business that assist business owners and mangers to have, at their finger tips, the information to make informed, timely decisions to best manage their business.
With the work we constantly do with retail commercial sales, the building industry, and with import and wholesale businesses, we are then able to assist you to benchmark your business against the industry standards,allowing you to review exactly how well and how efficiently your business is performing.
Business owners and managers often leave the power and knowledge contained in the company’s balance sheets with their accountant,not knowing the true meaning of the figures around their numbers. We can simplify the terminology and the numbers, showing you just what they mean, and how to read them to fully understand the health and position of your business.
Once the operations of the business and balance sheet are really understood, we can assist you with unlocking the cash retained in your business, and making the business much simpler and more enjoyable to operate.
Stock Modelling
In the current economic environment, stock management is critical as the link between marketing, cashflow, and overall profitability.
It is essential to have the right stock – that which the market wants and which best matches the pace and direction of the market.
Optimising stock turns and just-in-time-ordering needs to be balanced with ensuring demand for products is met, and that overall product ranges are managed from a marketing perspective and not purely an accounting position. Ranges need to incorporate the fast moving, as well as those items which differentiate and bring in the customers.
We have worked with groups and independents in the tile industry, as well as in other areas of retail, to develop procedures and strategies to best develop and manage stock models.
Marketing
Sales is defined as getting rid of what you have – and marketing is defined as having that which you can get rid of.
We have worked with some of the country’s leading marketing firms, and continue to have their resources closely accessible to our group.
Our clients have benefited from the work we do to align the key marketing drivers, removing impediments to maximising sales and profits, and making the whole sales and marketing aspects of their business run more efficiently.
Our processes are simple yet effective, as we assist you in developing strategies around:-
- Location
- Processes
- Range
- Pricing
- Staffing
- Display
- Promotion
Social Media
The power of social media grows daily.
Social media not only represents cost effective exposure for your business, but a direct line of communication to your local market. The correct alignment of your social media streams, and the implementation of a sound social media strategy is key to driving success in this area.
Through our associated entity, iPledg, we have demonstrated our understanding of social media strategies, and have achieved one of the most visited sites in the country. Once we develop successful social media strategies for you, we will show you how you can monetise the site and grow your presence in the market.
Strategic Planning
Our company has initiated and facilitated more mergers and acquisitions in the tile industry than any other company.
We work at a strategic level to clarify and define stakeholder intent, and then orchestrate implementation strategies, assisting with execution if necessary.
Our services include:
- Business Transformations
- Business Survival
- Business Evolution
- Negotiation and Agreements
- Business Divestment
- Board Services
Should you require a view from outside the fishbowl, with the benefit of broad based industry and business experience, our services are for you.