Page 14 - CMA PROfiles Winter 2016

Northeast

CMA Members Gather in

by William Sampson and chat with the CMA members, one of whom, David Buchsbaum,
lthough it was a billed as regional, the Cabinet Maker Associa- was an old student of Kirby’s.
tion’s three-day event October 14-16 in the Northeast attracted On Thursday, CMA members returned to Benetin’s shop
A members from as far away as Tennessee, Georgia, Indiana, and for an all-day intensive introduction to the Sandler System of sales
Missouri. They and more local members were all treated to a packed training. Presented by Frank Morales, the workshop delved into tools for
schedule of workshops plus visits to shops and showrooms in New qualifying customers and making sales closings easier. Morales talked
Jersey, Connecticut, and New York City. extensively about how to use questioning techniques to better understand
Hosted by former CMA president Sean Benetin at his shop, what customers want and target sales efforts more effectively.
Millwork and More, in Riverdale, New Jersey, the sessions began with Friday was devoted to a trip to New York City and visits to two
an in-depth discussion of pricing and estimating presented by Benetin. showrooms. The first was a showroom for transFORM, a manufac-
He used detailed spreadsheets to help shop owners better calculate their turer of high-end closet systems and other built-ins. Their showroom
true costs of doing business and to more accurately price their work. in the Design Center in New York City was packed with intriguing
Benetin’s presentation was followed by a talk titled “Be Profit- installations and decorated with lots of original art that was also for
able in a Rapidly Changing Market” presented by Eric Lehman, a sale. Andreas Mesis, transFORM’s co-founder, explained how the
long-time CMA shop owner from Long Island. Lehman emphasized company works with its production shop in New Rochelle, New
the value of outsourcing and how many little things can add up to big York, and its showroom in Manhattan. Donovan Malloy, the com-
costs. “Every step costs you a dollar,” he said. pany’s marketing director, gave a presentation on how the company
After Lehman’s talk, participants boarded a van to visit Hall’s uses the Internet and social media for effective marketing.
Edge, a CNC shop in Stamford, Connecticut, operated by Dave After that, the CMA members hiked over to the Hafele show-
Hall, a long-time CMA member. The shop consists of five em- room to join in an Oktoberfest event there and learn about the latest
ployees, a Thermwood CNC router, a Holz-Her edgebander, and hardware offerings from the company.
a fork lift. Hall and his crew do no assembly work, simply cutting Comments from attendees after the intensive three days were
and edgebanding parts, strapping them to pallets and shipping uniformly positive. "This was worth the time and expense plus the
them out the door. While CMA members watched, Hall finished annual membership dues many times over," said David Buchsbaum,
up a job for Benetin’s shop, cutting out giant letters out of foam who traveled from Atlanta, Georgia, to attend the event.
core panels for use as signage at a TEDx event in Morristown, The CMA’s next regional event will be in Chicago November
New Jersey. 4-6. For more information on that event or the Cabinet Makers As-
There was also a surprise visitor at Hall’s Edge. Legendary sociation in general, visit www.cabinetmakers.org.
woodworking craftsman and designer Ian Kirby dropped in to visit Reprinted with permission from FDMC
14 PROFILES • Volume 16 • Issue 1, 2016 • www.cabinetmakers.org