Recently, Luke Miller of Tile Money, a podcast by and for tile contractors, interviewed Crossville’s director of technical services Noah Chitty. The pair discussed the value of building business partnerships and the latest updates on gauged porcelain tile panels.
Listen to the full discussion here.
Tile Contractors & Manufacturers: Building Partnerships
On the topic of building business partnerships, Miller and Chitty touched on key ideas that can make a big impact for members of the tile installation community.
— Get to know the sales rep – Know who that person is at any company you’re dealing with. If you know who the sales reps are, then you can reach out to them and develop a mutually beneficial relationship. Anytime things come up, you’ll know, who to go to and vice versa. I
— Get involved through NTCA and CTEF – Be active by attending meetings, such as the NTCA technical committee. By showing up, you will meet your tile contractor colleagues and form relationships with them and other leaders in the industry
— Keep links of communication open and direct – This is foundational to our approach at Crossville. We are committed to partnering with and supporting the tile installation community. We are always ready to answer the phone or respond to the emails, so that contractors know that they matter to us—that the are a priority. We know this approach can make all the difference.
— Remember we’re people helping people – The more you can build good relationships and make the industry connections, you will find out that, no matter how big the company is, at the end of the day, there’s just a bunch of people trying to get the job done and trying to do what’s right for their customers.
Latest in Gauged Porcelain Tile Panels: What Tile Contractors Need to Know
In addition to business partnerships, Miller and Chitty discussed the latest in gauged porcelain tile panels. Here are a few key points from that part of the discussion.
— Gauged porcelain tile panels are a product segment with a lot of growth, 20 to 30% every year for the last seven years. 2019 showed that growth, and yet, there continues to be huge potential with the product category. This growth equals lots of new opportunities for tile installers.
— Are you a tile contractor that thinks gauged porcelain tile panels aren’t in your area? Think again! Millions of square feet are being sold—everywhere, for commercial and residential applications. The Crossville distribution network is selling phenomenal amounts of gauged porcelain tile likely within a 50-mile footprint of wherever a tile contractor is working. It’s beyond time to join in the mix.
— We’re still focused on training for gauged porcelain tile panel installation. The category is still young enough that we must remain vigilant in training and supporting installers. Today, we’re seeing many professionals in the residential market who require training. That’s why we continue to facilitate that training through NTCA.
Are you a tile installer in need of resources and ideas? Rely on Crossville’s technical support and documentation, and reach out anytime you need direct assistance. Also, tune in to Tile Money podcast for insights about growing your business.
Podcast Transcript
Tile Money Podcast episode featuring an interview with Crossville’s Noah Chitty
Luke Miller:
Crossville is my newest sponsor. They are America’s leading manufacturer and provider of porcelain tile. Um, they are offering a variety of glass tile, natural stone. They import some, and this is great, uh, for, of course, exterior, interior, whatever your application, a lot of their products, what I love are made right here in the United States. Their innovative tile products are sustainable, expertly designed to last a lifetime. They are leading the way in both the manufacturing of gauged porcelain tile panels as well as donating time and energy to helping write some of these installation standards. And in today’s episode, I actually interviewed Noah Chitty, who is taking charge of a lot of this. So, look forward to that interview here. So, if you’re looking for a tile manufacturer who you feel you want to partner with, want to consistently buy good materials, I highly recommend you check out Crossville’s products if you’re not familiar with them already.
So, today’s episode, today’s episode is all about relationships. How important are building relationships in your business? Well, let me ask you, how important is it that you continue to build and nurture these relationships in your personal life? You know, relationships are everything. And this is true in personal life as well as business. And just like personal life, we have to not only, you know, make acquaintances, but also nurture these relationships and, and you know, keep in contact. And today we’re going to shine the light on this, and see why these relationships are so important.
Business is very personable, is it not? You know, people make decisions vastly, you know, because of how they’re feeling, their emotions. We’re emotional creatures and that’s how we make decisions. So, if somebody trusts a person, a business to take their money and deliver on the agreement that’s made, this is so important for all businesses to understand business owners.
So, it’s important to understand the value of these relationships, the value of trust, the value of partnerships. You know, business deals are largely made on relationships. The largest business deals that you can think of, you know, and it’s true of the smallest as well. So, it’s easy to understand this concept when we just think about the deal that we’re making with our clients to install their tile. But how about the relationships with our vendors? How about the people we are buying materials from? Tools? You know, how about even the tile? How important is it that the people that supply those materials and tools, you know, know you on a first name basis or are, you know, have a history with you? Do you know your reps? Do you know why you should? Is it important for your business to develop and nurture this relationship with them? What can it help for your business?
So that’s kind of the discussion I’ve had with Noah Chitty today, uh, from Crossville. And I really like getting to see his perspective, you know, kinda from the other side of the equation on how important these relationships are. And hopefully this conversation will help you to think about this in a new way. Hopefully this will encourage you to get out there and get to know your reps.
Noah is the director of the technical services at Crossville. Noah has been working hard on the standards for both the manufacturing as well as the installation of GPTP. So, he’s a great guy to know. You can meet him at all the trade shows and, this conversation we had touched on both building these and partnerships as well as we did get into discussing some of this gauged porcelain tile panels. So, I know you’re going to enjoy this conversation. Check it out right now.
So, Noah, we’ve been talking about, you know, partnerships, the contractor partnering with, you know, manufacturers, whether that be materials or tile like Crossville, you know, what’s the, what’s the first steps for our contractor to start that relationship?
Noah Chitty (09:24):
I think probably the first step, sort of getting to get to know your local rep, you know, because whether it’s the tools that you buy or the setting material that you buy or the tile that you’re purchasing, if it’s being sold in your area, then there’s a rep behind it. So I think the first step would be, you know, get to know who that person is. It doesn’t mean that you have to have this intimate relationship with them. But if you knew who they are, you know, then you can reach out to them. Maybe, you know, you can have a mutually beneficial relationship when things come up that you know, each one of you needs.
And then I would say the other, the other thing is just going to involved. You know, I think I see a lot of folks that think things are going to be industry is going to come to them. But the reality is, you know, we gotta go to the industry. So, you know, via NTCA and CTEF and coming to the meetings, you know like the NTCA technical committee. I mean, that’s for sure how, I meet the majority of the tile contractors that we formed relationships with, now long term friends, are through the industry events and the participation in the technical committee meetings on the standards development stuff. So that’s for sure. I think the best way.
Luke Miller (10:30):
Yeah, I think you’re right. I mean, if, you know from time to time, you know, God forbid there’s a mistake, or a problem, a problematic job, you know, how much better would it be if you just are calling a friend that you’ve already developed a relationship with? Even if that’s, you know, you might talk twice, two or three times a year, you know, and then this time you’ve got, you know, a situation that you need help with.
Noah Chitty (10:53):
Yeah.
Luke Miller (10:54):
So, what I’m hearing is, you know, that’s, that’s the way to go. I mean, that’s, that’s the partnership right there, right?
Noah Chitty (10:59):
Yeah. I think it is. I mean, we always encourage, obviously through a distributor that you go to the distributor first, you know, but I mean, I’ve got friends that, you know, I’ve known for 20 years now from meeting at industry events and you know, yeah, they’ll follow the procedure but my cell phone rings and they’re like, “Hey, I got a problem.”
And another reality is we want to be able to deal with it. You know, there’s nothing worse than I think then when we hear, you know, “Hey, we had a problem with Crossville tile, you know, multiple times.” I’m like, did you tell us? And they were like, “No, we didn’t say anything.” It’s like, okay, well here we are. We can’t, we can’t be better if we don’t know if we make mistakes. So, you know, and even though there’s not a lot of people in this technical services department at Crossville, we answer the phone when somebody calls, you know, we want to be there help.
So we know the difference. There’s a lot of tile out there for people to choose from. So we know the differences, partnerships and relationships, you know, we want to be those people that answer the phone and a contractor can feel like, hey, they, you know, they’re different than, they’re different than somebody else who, you know, won’t give me the time of the day. We know it can make a difference. We try to be those.
Luke Miller:
That’s really good to hear. You know, speaking from the contractor perspective, a lot of times we feel so small, we’re just like this little tiny ant. And we look at Crossville and we think, you know, it’s almost like we just label it as, as a large corporation. But from what I’m hearing here, you know, you’re a family run operation. Um, and you really need us just as much as what we need you. Right? Is that what I’m hearing?
Noah Chitty (12:24):
Absolutely I mean there’s no reason to make tiles if it can be put in. So, yeah. And I think that’s, that’s why, you know, most of the, the largest dollars that we spend are with NTCA and the CTEF. Cause we do realize, you know, without contractors, you know, there’s no reason to make tiles. So yeah, we absolutely feel like that.
But you know, it’s, it’s an interesting one. When I worked at the tile council, people felt the same way. Like there was this kind of Taj Mahal in the desert of what tile council was. You know, the reality people would come there and they’d meet the people that work there and there’s just people, you know, trying to get a job done and trying to do good things for the industry. I think the more you can make those kinds of relationships and make the connections, you will find out that, you know, no matter how big the company is, at the end of the day, there’s just a bunch of people you know, trying to get the job done and trying to do good for themselves, for their company.
Luke Miller:
Yeah, right on. Well, I appreciate that. Thanks for sharing your viewpoints on that. We’ve been talking a lot in the industry about gauged porcelain tile panels. I know Crossville has been producing a lot of these large panels. What’s the future look like from your perspective?
Luke Miller (13:38):
All right, I’m going to jump in here real quick. That was a great start to this conversation. Before we get into the GPTP discussions, let’s talk about some industry news real quick. Today’s industry news is sponsored by the NTCA and it goes along with the porcelain panels. You know, the NTCA is providing a lot of training resources. One of the training resources they provide are their live workshops. This is a great opportunity to get to know a gauged porcelain tile panels, get to know how we should be installing them. It’s a full day of training. Attendees will learn the new tile installation standards and industry methods for installing these big bad boys. So, I encourage you to check this out. If you do choose to attend one of these things, you’re not only going to learn how to do it, you’re going to learn where these things are made, how they’re made, uh, where these panels can be used, the specialty tools you’re going to need, the setting materials, the techniques, everything basically to do with these, uh, large panels.
So if you’re interested in learning more about these large porcelain panels, this is a great, this is the place to start really. If you haven’t had any training, and even if you had, I encourage you to attend and learn more there. They’re limited to about 20 people I see on their website. So it’s going to be intimate, which is a good thing, you know, a really good, uh, opportunity for learning quickly there. And even if you’re not planning on selling or installing these large panel tiles, it’s going to be beneficial to you as the tile contractor in your area to be the expert. Know about them, know what’s coming down, because when people start asking about this stuff, you want to either have the answers or know who to call. Again, relationships, partnerships, know who to call, nowhere to find those answers. So this is a great opportunity to continue your education and build on professional relationships.
The people that are teaching these classes, they’re very knowledgeable and they’re eager to share their knowledge and help you succeed. So click on the link in the show notes to find when the nearest NTCA workshop is going to be at a location near you. Plan to attend one of these workshops. It’s going to help you grow your business. You’re going to learn, you’re going to be able to educate people in your communities. You’re going to be able to be the expert.
All right. Now let’s get back to this conversation that I had with Noah Chitty and he’s going to share some insight into the future of these large gauged porcelain panels.
Noah Chitty (16:23):
It’s interesting for us. So I mean the growth has been steady and even in a year 2019, where, you know, regular tile was flat for multiple reasons, you could, say LPT or labor shortage or you know, more capacity than is necessary. Gauged porcelain tile panels have still grown for us, you know, 20 to 30% every year for the last six, seven years and 2019 still showed that growth. So I still think there’s huge potential and now when we grow 20%, we’re talking a pretty substantial number of growth, a lot more than when we said, hey, I grew 40% when we started with nothing.
Not insignificant, but it’s pretty interesting because we came out with 12 millimeter porcelain slabs that really go straight to the fabricator cause they’re not, you know, rectified or squared or finished or whatever you want to say and they’re 400 pounds. So they’re really something that we envision as a new customer, really the countertop market fabricators. But now we’re seeing all kinds of, we’re starting to see people starting to do different things with thinner materials with three millimeter and six, whether they’re binding it to foam to build prefabricated things. We’re looking at it for furniture. So, you know, it’s almost like seven years in, people are even more people are coming and having these innovative ideas about what you can do with it, which is really great for the tile industry because it means that there’s things that we can do to take market share from things that aren’t tiled. Yeah. So I think it’s really good, but I see the growth continuing. I think that, you know, I don’t know what the next innovation is. You know, they can’t get much thicker or thinner. Um, so, you know, probably the next innovation is just look and really what people can do with it. And I think that’s where I see the innovation going is, you know, what can you dream that it could be? Can you actually fabricate, facilitate and then sell that?
Luke Miller:
That’s cool. That’s, that’s exciting. Um, you know, I hear from people, you know, we don’t, we’re not seeing it in our area. And I know I felt like that as well. But you know, it’s, it’s definitely coming. I mean, if everybody, if all the manufacturers are having the same growth, you know, or similar growth as you’re having, that’s incredible.
Noah Chitty (18:32):
Yeah. I mean, I can tell you, we, like you said, we’re a private company so we don’t release sales numbers, but you know, I know there’s eight other manufacturers out there with gauged porcelain tile and if they’re even a fraction of what you know, we are, then there’s millions of square feet being sold. So, you know, I saw some guys talking on, on one of the forums the other day and they’re like, yeah, it hasn’t really hit our area. And I’m thinking, well wait, we’ve got a distributor who’s selling a couple of million dollars worth of gauged porcelain tile within a 50 mile footprint of where you are. So you know, if it has, if you haven’t seen it in your area, you know, maybe it’s more commercially and residentially and you know, maybe that’s there, but you know, I can’t think it’s not coming. You know, and especially as the price come down is more laborers there to put it in as people are having different ideas.
So you know, it’s strange for us because seven years in they’re like, I need to get training. Like where were you for the last seven years? But you know, we focused a lot of training on commercially oriented trainers. You know, we didn’t seek out, it was just people who came to us. But now I see more and more, especially in the residential market of people saying I need some training. So that’s why we’re continuing to, you know, facilitate that training through NTCA. Cause I don’t think it’s going away. Yeah. You know, I’ve told internally, I’ve said this is something we’re going to need to keep in the budget for a long time.
Luke Miller (19:44):
That’s great. That’s great. You know, you know, talking about GPTP and you know, the fact that people are looking for it in their areas and you’re saying it’s there. You know, in some cases it’s there, we’re selling it. Um, this is, you know, bringing it back to the partnership thing. I mean, you know, put a call on to your rep, you know, your Crossville rep or whoever your tile rep and said, do you know of any distributors near me? Can you make that introduction for me or at least point me in the right direction?
Noah Chitty (20:11):
Yeah. I mean cause we’ve got no matter where you are, we’ve got a distributor who’s covering something in their footprint. And if you can make that connection with a rep and you know, there’s only one of me, so I wouldn’t invite everybody to find out the information. But for sure, I mean that’s an easy connection that a tile contractor can make. As you know, Hey, this is something I want to get into. I’m going to get the training. You know, cause we still have a lot of distributors, especially in the Northeast that say they can get the jobs back but can’t find the labor to put it in. So I know there’s pockets of the country where more could be sold if there was more labor to successfully put it in. Um, so yeah, I think that’s a good partnership. Somebody easily go to that distributor and be like, Hey, I’m here if you’ve got jobs, let’s talk about how they can get done. So that opportunity for sure still exists.
Luke Miller (20:52):
A lot of opportunity in that field. Um, I met you just a few months ago for the first time inside a TCNA, a meeting, you know, at TSP there in Nashville and you know, you were taking the lead on, on writing some of these standards for not only manufacturing but also installation. Is that correct? Can you tell us about that?
Noah Chitty:
Yeah, I’m not sure how all that became something we did. I mean, I would say in the, in the beginning we had a need, we thought that standards were important, and while standards benefit everybody, you know, you got to do it, you know, somebody’s got to take the lead and kind of figure that out. So we started with, for me in the very beginning, the installation standard was the most important because if everybody’s not putting in in that same way until you start to happen, it’ll kill it.
But in order to have an installation standard, we had to have product standards. Um, so that’s really where we start. It took us five years to write a product standard for gauged porcelain time. Oh. Um, I mean it’s a three year point of that five years we started, right, the interior installation standard, um, and then ballard them both together. So I think it’s been two years now that we have those, a product and an interior installation standard. And then at the meeting that you were at, um, kind of the last two pieces of the puzzle from a standards kind of side was an exterior installation standard, um, which we’ve been working on for two years now. Um, I think we’ll have a draft pretty good. There’s 10 of us in an ad hoc subcomitte tasked with writing that exterior installation standard and we’ve been at it for about two years. So I think we’ll have a draft to submit to the committee a month before Coverings and then hopefully a good discussion and go to ballot, cross your fingers. That’s what always happens.
And then the last part would be, you know, what is gauged porcelain tile details look like from a TCNA handbook standpoint. So at the meeting where you, you were at, um, we finally got the very first detail, um, kind of approved by committee for what specifically a NTCA handbook gauged porcelain tile detail would look like. And now we’re looking at taking that as the template and creating all the other details that are necessary for all the other applications, whether it be walls or floors or wood or concrete or that kind of thing.
Seems like we’re starting to print the last pieces of the puzzle together. I’m sure there’ll been some new, you know, some new Oh, but we need a standard for this. So, cause you know, it took five years to get those other two standards done. It was literally the day we submitted them to committee that somebody who’s like, what don’t you think we need an exterior standard too? And I was like, yes. It sounds like y’all need an exterior standard, it’s an important for us. Yeah.
The better standards can be the better specifiers and you know, people are comfortable, um, spec in the material. And I think for sure the, the standards can help that growth be solid. You know, knock on wood, I think the failures have been minimal. Yeah. Especially the ones that are put in right, they don’t fail cause we did the, we did the homework to make sure that there was, you know, methods and standards in place to deal with it.
Luke Miller:
That’s great. I love it. Oh that sounds real good. Well Noah, I appreciate you taking a few minutes here and sharing this.
Noah Chitty:
Thanks for the opportunity for sure.
Luke Miller (24:06):
All right. So I hope you enjoyed that conversation and benefited from that conversation with Noah as much as I did. The more I get to know the people inside the companies that make up this industry, the more I love it. The more I understand how important these relationships that I am making and that you are making are for your business. You know, every successful company has good people inside of it, no matter how large they are. And these good people, they want to help us, they want to see you succeed. They celebrate with, with your wins and they celebrate with your successes. So I encourage you once again, get to know your reps.
