Our industry partners on the manufacturing side have allocated millions of dollars of investment to respond to regulatory action or to market-making advisors that steer end user priorities for promoting health and well-being in the built environment. Our contractor members can take advantage of that massive investment by incorporating elements of ergonomics, biophilic design and sustainable materials in their value-proposition.

Today, most of the service providers roll their eyes at these topics or fail to utilize the resources available to them. This story is not for the general contractor, it is for sustainability officers and executives who want their operations to match the visionary responsibility statements on their websites.

Our industry should enable these audiences, who traditionally ignore commercial flooring, with engagement, education and financial reporting they can use to quantify their organizational commitment to create atypical demand. This effort could grow the market for commercial flooring by increasing awareness at the user level. This approach is far more practical and realistic than the fakery of carbon offsets and public relations consultants.

The commercial flooring contractors servicing these businesses with lofty intentions can make their sustainable dreams come true by placing the correct materials in buildings and documenting the spend. The general contractor does not care, but their clients are committed at the highest levels. What would an executive pay for improved physical and mental health for associates, reducing absenteeism and increasing productivity?

Lead The Value Chain

Most of the industry desires positive results for bonus achievement but very few take a strategy point of view and rally all the functional leaders of the business to make that point of view come to life. Stakeholders outside the company are even more rarely included in this communication, despite their ability to support the execution of the strategy. It is an odd problem that holds our industry back and continues the fragmented structure commercial flooring operates in. A major gap in communication continues between the flooring contractors, distributors and manufacturers surrounding demand.

It is rare for flooring contractors to meet with their supply chain stakeholders on a regular basis to provide visibility to upcoming projects, work together to secure color selections in a timely manner, or coordinate interdependent products such as flooring, adhesives, treads and transitions. We recommend members get in a room with their key manufacturers and distributors to share the strategy (not the results), assign accountability, and then meet often throughout the year to celebrate successes! This will generate the desired bonus-worthy results.

Entrepreneurs Respond To Uncertain Times

Our members will proceed with entrepreneurial vigor and conviction to capture these opportunities and surpass competitors in challenging market conditions. Starnet business building is a mindset for our members, not something they do when they look up from their take-offs. Our industry needs to be much more intentional, creating demand to ensure market support of innovative product development and healthy financial performance.