The Floor Shield Dealer Experience: Talking to Real Dealers

Every year, we at Floor Shield add new dealers to our nationwide team, and we often get asked by prospective dealers, “What can I expect my onboarding experience to look like?” and “Are there any examples of dealers who didn’t have much experience in the industry before Floor Shield succeed?”

We interviewed two different Floor Shield dealerships to answer both questions. They answered honestly about the preparation, support, and struggles they’ve encountered since becoming Floor Shield dealers.

Floor Shield’s Dealer Onboarding Process

We first talked to Art and Nicole of Floor Shield of Michigan about their experience with Floor Shield. For the onboarding process, Nicole and Art recount how seamless the transition was getting into the concrete coatings business with Floor Shield. They received all the necessary information, received their exclusive territory, and were explained the product and its advantages. They also attended Floor Shield classes on:

• Sales/marketing
• The installation process
• The pros and cons of all three different types of concrete coatings

Nicole and Art were able to watch an installation of Floor Shield for the entire process. In about 4 to 5 weeks, they had their installer class set up and were ready to train a crew. “It’s a whole lot of information in those weeks, but it’s information spread out over enough days that it’s easy to retain,” Art mentioned. “We never once felt overwhelmed during the process.”

Nicole and Art had been doing concrete installations for 6 years before coming on board. Their previous knowledge helped them get a phenomenal head-start in the learning process. However, in their communication with other dealers, they talked to multiple people who had never been in the concrete coatings business, yet their experience was the same. They didn’t have much issue catching up on knowledge to run their business with our comprehensive guide.

Floor Shield’s Exclusive Territories

Art and Nicole talked about hitting the threshold to get a Floor Shield product discount, and they use that extra money left over to put back into their business for marketing. They know from our training, and we’ve stressed before in previous pieces, how much you put into marketing is the key factor that will lead to growth for your Floor Shield dealership.

Additionally, they talked about the privilege of exclusivity. We provide our dealers with exclusive territory that is not shared with another Floor Shield dealership. This means you don’t have to compete with a business using the same product. “We have other competitors in our area, about 4 or 5 of them, that use the exact same product, and they all have different pricing. If we had even one other Floor Shield dealer in the area, it’d probably hurt business and be difficult to go up against them.”

Marketing Floor Shield as A Dealer

Nicole then recounted Floor Shield’s marketing materials we provided to get them started, and how they were pivotal in getting them initial business. We made them everything from:

• Pop-up banners for home shows
• Flyers
• Color charts
• Trailer wraps

She says she was so relieved to find out that our marketing plan was step-by-step and provided everything their business needed to get their feet on the ground. They didn’t have to worry about coming up with strategies and materials, as we have a proven system in place that all our dealers follow to grow.

Art added to that by stressing how important the Floor Shield product itself is for marketing. How advertising it as a test-proven superior product is what truly gets attention. “Like we mentioned earlier, we had done this before with another product. We had nothing but issues. The services and the callbacks were out of control. With Floor Shield, it’s rare if a job isn’t a one-and-done thing. We rarely get a warranty or service call. There’s a lot of time and money we’ve saved just on that alone.”

How Smooth Was the First Install?

They talked about their first installation being a breeze with all the preparation they had before conducting it. By that point, all their employees had undergone extensive classes and training. Nicole mentioned the first installation was where they truly understood they were working with a far better product than they ever had before. “I remember thinking ‘Wow, there’s no bubbles forming after application. This is curing so much faster.’”

Art then added, “The transition from one stage to the next was easy. It wasn’t like the old product where we had to do a lot of preparation to ensure something bad wouldn’t happen with it.” An example of this they gave was the mixing of Floor Shield, and how the formula is an equal 1 to 1 ratio, so It’s far harder to get the mix wrong. The previous product they used did not have an equivocal mix of substances, so it was much easier to get it wrong and have an improper mixture.

Floor Shield Is a Nationally Recognized Brand

We then talked to Martin, our Floor Shield dealer in West Palm Beach. Martin has been a painting contractor for 27 years. He had done floors in the last few years before transitioning to Floor Shield. He scoured the market for a more branded business model with a national presence, and he found just that when he stumbled upon our product and dealer system.

Martin also sought to elevate his expertise on floor coatings, as before Floor Shield’s training, he prepped concrete floors with acid wash instead of thoroughly grinding down the concrete. He then coated the floor using basic epoxy coatings found at home-improvement retail stores.

Floor Shield’s Community Support

‘The hardest part about the process for me was some of the learning curve with Floor Shield’s particular process,” Martin conveyed. “But the great thing about Floor Shield is the level of support and the community of other contractors in the same business that are always willing to help.”

Martin then recounted that there were many times he called Mike Moore, our director of product and application technology, who walked him through a problem he had. He also stayed in contact with many of the Floor Shield dealers he trained with, exchanging help and advice frequently.

Martin recounted, “There were several dealers that I met in training that didn’t even have painting contract experience, and they ended up doing great after being trained and getting started. Really anyone can learn it, even someone with no baseline, by going through Floor Shield’s comprehensive program. And I went through it three years ago, so it’s probably even better now.”

Martin went on to praise the community aspect of Floor Shield, and talked about how the Facebook group with other dealers consistently gives him ideas and fuels his enthusiasm.

Floor Shield Provides Marketing Materials

Martin then talked about the surprising ease of starting up his Floor Shield business, recalling that the first year of marketing support made his experience relatively stress-free. “I got access to a plethora of files on marketing materials that they (Floor Shield) created. The brochures and hand-outs they let us use really sold people on the premium product we utilize that goes beyond epoxies and polyureas, which really helped me lock in jobs, especially early on.”

Martin elaborated further on the Floor Shield product, conveying that he would spend a lot of time thoroughly explaining to customers all the key benefits of Floor Shield over the alternatives. He would talk to them mostly about Floor Shield’s:

• UV stability
• One-day install
• Our 15-year non-prorated warranty

Martin then emphasized the advantage of being backed by a brand with a national presence, saying that it gave his customers confidence to know he wasn’t just a “Chuck in a truck” selling cheap epoxy work.

Floor Shield’s One-on-One Support

Lastly, Martin shared with us his experience on his first job. “I was on the phone with Mike pretty much the whole day (laughs). Floor Shield really held my hand for the first few jobs and made sure I was doing everything right. You know, it only takes a few jobs and you get the hang of it. You’ll make some mistakes here and there early on, but Floor Shield is always there to support you through any problem.” He then went on to say he was surprised that his first job went as smoothly as it did because of the support, confirming that he hasn’t gotten a call from those first customers about a problem.

The experiences of Floor Shield dealers Art, Nicole, and Martin showcase a thriving community supported by:

• A comprehensive onboarding process
• Exclusive territories
• Marketing materials
• A high-quality product

We at Floor Shield are committed to our dealers, and we’ll continue to improve our ongoing support system. We hope that you see us as a promising venture if you’re looking to establish your presence in the concrete coatings industry.

Here’s a great article if you want to learn more about starting a concrete coatings business.

If you’re interested in becoming a Floor Shield dealer, contact us below.