val·ue
/ˈvalyo͞o/
noun
1. regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
"your support is of great value"
2. a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life.
"they internalize their parents' rules and values"

verb
1. estimate the monetary worth of (something).
"his estate was valued at $45,000"
2. consider (someone or something) to be important or beneficial; have a high opinion of.
"she had come to value her privacy and independence"

price
/prīs/
noun

1. the amount of money expected, required, or given in payment for something.
   "land could be sold for a high price"

2. an unwelcome experience, event, or action involved as a condition of achieving a desired end.
   "the price of their success was an entire day spent in discussion"

   verb
   1. decide the amount required as payment for (something offered for sale).
   "the watches in this range are priced at $14.50"

In 20 years one of most difficult things to do in the commercial flooring industry has been to get customers to distinguish the difference between price and value.

The distinction between price and value can be seen as price is arbitrary, while value is fundamental.

Price is the cost a customer pays to obtain your product and services.

Value refers to the perception of benefits received for what someone pays. In many cases, not only will the customer look at the price of the product/installation, they have to weigh factors such as removing the old product or having to close down operations while installation takes place.

In such a saturated market, how can you get people to understand that not everyone offers the same Value when it comes to flooring installation? Do they view every flooring company as being the same?

In the commercial bid world I think it comes as a surprise to many Site superintendents the people who actually show up on their job. Bid houses are constantly working on volume, pricing the installations as low as possible and then going down the list of trade contractors finding the person/company who will do it for the pricing they have. Sometimes giving it to non qualified installers because there’s no way they would give up any of the profit they have built in. Who suffers in this situation? THE FINAL CUSTOMER. The one who is paying to get their flooring done/replaced. Sometimes the final installation looks good, but what about what’s UNDERNEATH?

Many times looking at a project you can’t tell that steps were skipped and the install isn’t up to industry standards. By hiring the lowest bidder, you sometimes lose value in what matters most to some customers, the warranty. I was out at a job recently where there was no moisture testing done. They had drain tile put in and everyone thought that was a solution to the moisture issues that were going on. The reading came back at 100% RH and the LVP was curling up on the edges. It’s skipping steps like these, that end up costing the end consumer (not necessarily in price, but definitely time) in the long run. The VALUE of a moisture test before the start of a job would have had a mitigation system in place and an install that would have lasted. Now, after many attempts to “fix” the issue, the flooring is going to have to have an entire replacement AND have a mitigation system put in place before that happens.

As a consumer you have to weigh the benefits brought by the sales and installation team against the cost of the finished product. Can you afford to close again if the installation fails? Can you afford to have half the life of the product because steps were skipped during the installation?

The higher price up front with the peace of mind knowing you’ll have residual value over the life of the product in my opinion is well worth it in my opinion. But your own opinion may differ. Some people think that the best value is something they can get for the cheapest price, and that’s why the market is the way it is and that’s why our industry has notorious low ballers who hire anyone who claims they know what they’re doing.

At Preferred Flooring MI LLC we pride ourselves in technical service and installation to the specifications of the manufacturer. The end consumer shouldn’t have to deal with the countless failures of some of the installation teams who cut corners and the stores that throw these low numbers out should think of them instead of the profitability of using these unqualified installation teams.

Feel free to comment below.

For direct questions or comments email daniel@preferredflooringmi.com