Importance Of Effective Marketing Strategies For A Wood Marketing Company
Steve Larosiliere
April 24, 2024
“We have a sign in our showroom that says, here’s how we build custom furniture. Boom, boom, boom pick your wood, pick your design, sign off on your estimate. You know, set your budget, like we’ve talked about on this show already, set your budget. And then it says, and if you’re not happy, we will take it back and give you a refund.” – Dave Puncochar
Welcome to Building a Furniture Brand with Ethan Abramson, the show that talks about the business behind the furniture business. This episode features Dave Puncochar, owner of the Nashville Tennessee-based furniture company Good Wood Nashville. With his team of 12, he runs a custom furniture company, a custom flooring company, a furniture store, and a lumber slab reclaimed wood business.
“Well, I actually kind of got into it by accident. So what happened was, I mean, I’ll give you a little backstory. I had taken woodworking back when I grew up, they made us take woodshop in middle school, I don’t think we took it in high school. When I was at college, I had the opportunity to take some classes at the Appalachian Center for Crafts, which was just a phenomenal resource linked to my university, Tennessee Tech University.
But the reason I say I got into it by accident was, about 10 years ago I bought a 110-year-old house. And I was just trying to match these old floors. And they were old-growth poplar. Well, new poplar and old poplar do not look the same. So it got me into this world of old wood. And everybody I dealt with trying to find old wood was not easy to work with. So I decided to start my own old wood company.” – Dave Puncochar
Dave explains that after starting his business people would come to him for wood, and they often would ask if he could build them a table, something that he didn’t really know how to do. Despite that, he told the customer that he would, and then reached out to a friend of his and asked him to build it for his customers. This started a process of working with local woodworkers in his area. Soon Dave’s company grew, and he was able to hire his own full-time staff, which allowed him to build everything in-house rather than through independent contractors.
Ethan asks Dave about how he manages to keep so many balls in the air with the wide variety of layers to his business. Dave explains that it’s grown over time, and over the ten years that Good Wood has been around, he’s learned to invest in really talented people. He then advises anyone listening to hire good help and really pay them for it, before adding that it’s not the Dave Puncochar show, and Good Wood Nashville has become its own entity.
“For me, the way I’m wired Ethan, is I love doing different things. I love that every day is different. One day we can be focused on making floors for a customer out of old barn wood, and the next day we’re doing a custom modern high-end reception desk for an office. It just keeps every day different and exciting.” – Dave Punchochar
Dave takes some time to explain how his staff and Good Wood operates in detail, with each disparate element being managed by people well-suited to their area. Ethan then asks how he finds his staff since Dave noted earlier that he doesn’t advise just hiring friends or family without reason.
Dave notes that there is a great deal of trial and error when it comes to hiring, but people who aren’t a good fit tend to find their way out of the business without much trouble. He goes on to say that he doesn’t hire through traditional job sites and that he tends to find most of his staff through Instagram.
He has been posting to both Facebook and Instagram for about nine of the ten years he has been in business. Dave explains that the best candidates come from networking with followers and people who are already familiar with his business and how they operate. He wants to have capable staff, but even more importantly he wants people who are excited about working at Good Wood.
Ethan notes that Dave mentioned guessing the price that his first furniture customer paid for their table, and asks how Dave’s pricing method has changed over the years.
“Yeah, I’m happy to share that. So I think it’s worth saying that one of the first customers I ever sold a table to, I guess the price I was so low that they left and they asked themselves if they can trust this guy since his tables are so cheap. I love that they told me that because it taught me that you don’t always want to be the cheapest out there because people are not going to be sure that you’re actually going to do a good job.” – Dave Puncochar
Dave explains that his current process is to take a look at three aspects. The first thing to look at is the market itself, and see how that compares to his products. Then, he considers the material and labor costs and works that in as well. Dave explains that being transparent about their billing and billable hours has been very helpful as he simply does the math to combine all the different pricing elements together to create a good estimate.
He also takes the time to advise listeners to qualify their buyers whenever possible. When asked if he can make a custom table, he says yes, and then immediately begins discussing the idea and the budget. Dave recommends getting customers to discuss the budget upfront to avoid headaches from them not understanding the actual cost of custom furniture.
After some further discussion about the intricacies of contracts and ensuring that customers understand timelines, Ethan mentions Good Wood Nashville’s 100% money-back guarantee and notes that it is very rare among furniture makers before asking how it works out for Dave.
“I know it’s a bold move. But my intention is twofold. Number one, it’s a vote of confidence in the woodshop that they’re going to put out quality material and quality work that we stand behind. Number two, one of our core values at Good Wood is actually the word over-communicate and maybe that’s two words but if someone wants to stain quartersawn wide oak a dark brown, I’m like hey, do you know that makes these flecks that catch the light making it look really different?
So the key is, you want to make samples so they can select. You can bring people in during the process, it does slow it down, especially if you’re ready to stain and they can’t get to you for a week because they’re on vacation. But we feel like if we communicate well, during the whole process, they should be 100% not only satisfied, but we want them to be like floored, like, Oh my gosh, my table just got here from Good Wood Nashville! They’re gonna post it, they’re gonna tell their friends. We want them to have that kind of experience. And if they’re not, then I want to know about it.” – Dave Puncochar
Dave’s parting advice for new furniture makers is to keep your day job for as long as possible, as the comfort of a hobby business allows you to grow without risking your family’s wellbeing on a new business. He also recommends saving money rather than buying things for appearances, and don’t be afraid to fire people if things are just too frustrating for everyone involved. Dave is a big believer in growing slowly, business is hard enough without putting unnecessary timelines on yourself as well.
Website: https://goodwoodnashville.com/
Instagram: @goodwoodnashville
This episode is brought to you by Jobber – getjobber.com/ethan
