December 14-15, 2006
Dallas, Texas

Increase Your Share of the Residential Countertop Market for Natural Stone (classroom instruction) If you are looking for quality education for your sales associates and shop employees, this seminar is your best starting point. This seminar covers every facet of stone sales, fabrication, installation, and effectively managing a stone business. Existing and start-up companies will want to make this seminar part of their continuing education program.

Endorsed by: Eligible for NKBA Educational Hours or Continuing Education Units

Day 1 is a sales and showroom overview where you will receive the knowledge and skills needed in the showroom to boost your natural stone sales to residential customers. Anyone who interacts with the customer should attend this seminar. A networking reception caps off the first day.

Day 2 is a fabrication and installation overview designed to enhance your skills and perspective needed to produce superior products while exceeding customer expectations. This seminar addresses key fabrication and installation issues that must be addressed in the sales documents (ranging from proposal documents to installation checklists) used in a successful stone company.

Who Should Attend...
All Sales Associates (NKBA & Stone Industry) who want to boost their knowledge and skills needed to increase natural stone residential countertop sales. All Stone Fabricators & Installers looking for the perspective to produce superior products. Companies new to natural stone sales, fabrication, and/or installation. Others hungry for education about natural stone.

What You Will Learn….
How to market and sell natural stone to consumers: stone basics, selling basics, showroom basics and market basics. How to enhance your skills and perspective needed to produce superior products.

Seminar Agenda...

Thursday, December 14, 2006 (Sales & Showroom Overview)
7:30am		Registration/Coffee
8:00am		Welcome / About the MIA / Class Objectives / Attendee Introductions
8:45am		The Story of Natural Stone Video
9:00am		Stone Basics - standardize the industry's basics Vocabulary / Finishes / Geology Simplified Classics vs. Exotics / Grades Where stone comes from / How it is transformed & processed / How many people handle it
10:00am		Break
10:15am		Selling Basics: Profitable sales for your company Safety for employees and customers Spending the appropriate time with customers Inspecting the slab/tile with the customer Avoiding mistakes that lead to supervisory intervention, litigation, jobsite claims Say the right things, including "I don't know" Selection is a subjective topic Questions that come up: backsplashes, cracks, fissures, pits, holes, and other "defects", sealers (their role and function), stone durability Competing materials - plastics, ceramics, concrete, metal, resinous quartz. Consumer resources from MIA
12 Noon		Lunch *
1:30pm		Showroom Basics: Preparing your premises to make a good first impression Physical display issues Vignettes Samples and sampling, labels, dates, edges Finish and edge examples Kid friendly spaces
3:00pm		Break
3:15pm		Market Basics Recruiting and hiring sales staff for your company Architects and Design Professionals vs. Home owners Selling to Industry professionals: Big Box Sales Associates, Fabricators, Importers, Design Centers and their Sales Staff Retail vs. wholesale selling. What's the issue in various markets? Cooperative marketing, strategic alliances Coordinate all of your sales elements to emphasize your business identity, make more sales
4:45pm		Closing Remarks / Q&A
5:00pm		Networking Reception MIA Bookstore Open
Friday, December 15, 2006 (Fabrication & Installation Overview)
7:30am		Registration/Coffee
8:00am		Welcome / About the MIA / Class Objectives / Attendee Introductions
8:30am		Basics of Stone Shop Safety Video Basics of OSHA Compliance for the Natural Stone Industry Video
10:00am		Break
10:15am		Measuring
10:30am		Basics of Natural Stone Fabrication Video
11:00am		Fabrication / Shop Set-up What type of customer base? Objectives of the shop? Natural stone countertop fabrication overview Equipment/Tools/Supplies (cutting equipment, edging equipment, hand tools, fabrication supplies) Shop Photos (equipment logistics, material flow systems, material storage) Question and Answer
12 Noon		Lunch *
1:30pm		Fabrication: Techniques Slab Handling and Cutting Edge Treatments Bowl Hole Cutouts Creating for Installation Question and Answer
2:45		Break
2:30		Installation Install Video Face-to-face with customer - Meeting customer expectations Determining logistics of job (transportation, handling, man-power, location) Equipment and Supplies (transportation equipment, seam levers and pullers, small tools necessary) Installation Techniques (proper support for countertops, seam fillers)
4:30		Closing Meeting end-user expectations Is your structure profitable? What can I bring back to my company?
5:00		MIA Bookstore Open

About the Speakers...
Kevin Murphy - KJ Murphy & Company, Inc., Kentfield, CA
Duane Naquin - Stone Interiors East, Gaston, SC

Registration...
MIA Member:
1st Person - $229 (1 Day only)
Additional People - $179 (1 Day only)
1st Person - $329 (Both Days)
Additional People - $279 (Both Days)

NKBA Member: Go online to nkba.com for pricing.

Non-Member:
1st Person - $279 (1 Day only)
Additional People - $229 (1 Day only)
1st Person - $379 (Both Days)
Additional People - $329 (Both Days)

A $50 early registration discount (1 discount per company) is available for registrations received prior to November 24, 2006.

Registration includes:

• Morning coffee/refreshments
• Lunch
• Reception following December 14th seminar
• Speaker handouts/resources (a $100 value)
• $25 Coupon for the MIA Bookstore

2 Easy ways register:

• Fill out & fax the attached registration form - click here.
• Call 1-440-250-9222

Refunds...
MIA reserves the right to amend the program should circumstances warrant such action. In the event of course cancellation, MIA will notify you within 7 business days to the program date, and will refund seminar fees. Liability for course cancellation is specifically limited to the amount of registration fees and excludes any incidential or consequential damages. If you plan to register on-site, please check MIA's website www.marbleinstitute.com (click on MIA Education) the date prior to the seminar for any updates on this event. Individual seminar cancellations must be made in writing. Registration fees are non-refundable for cancellations received less than 7 business days prior to the seminar. Substitutions are welcome.

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28901 Clemens Rd, Ste 100, Cleveland, OH 44145 · T: 440-250-9222 · F: 440-250-9223
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