We’ve talked before about the three things that make Boston Granite Exchange stand out: our customers, our suppliers and our team. That team is the biggest part of what makes us special. To quote John Byrne, VP of Sales, “We don’t call them employees, we consider them family.”
One member of the BGE family, Trish Rousseau, is the Senior Account Manager at Boston Granite Exchange’s West Bridgewater location. Trish joined Boston Granite Exchange in 2003, just months after John Byrne and General Manager Bill Thomas.
Nearly 25 years later, Trish remains an instrumental member of the BGE team as she applies her deep understanding of the kitchen renovation process to help homeowners visiting the West Bridgewater showroom.
Today, Trish shares her approach to the showroom experience and the unique way our two showrooms work together.
“I believe it is our job to help our customers, the fabricators, succeed. Fabricators entrust Boston Granite Exchange with their customers – homeowners – when they send them to us,” Trish states, “and we want to make sure that every homeowner has a superior experience. When they leave our showroom, we want them to feel their time has been well spent and their project has moved forward. Fabricators want homeowners to find what they need in our showroom so they can complete their home project.”
When homeowners walk into the West Bridgewater showroom they often have questions. Most people only embark on a kitchen renovation once or twice in their lifetime, so they are looking for help, clarity around the process and sometimes guidance regarding stone options.
“My guiding principle,” says Trish, “is that when a homeowner walks in they are looking for assistance. It is my job to treat them the way I would want someone to treat a member of my family if they were looking for help.”
That assistance to homeowners comes in several forms. It can be directing them to materials they haven’t thought of, or answering questions about the different materials and how they will stand up in their homes. “At Boston Granite Exchange,” Trish explains, “we do our best to answer these questions and also to know when certain questions are best answered by their fabricator.”
“Homeowners are investing time and money into their projects, and they want to feel that their time and money is well spent,” Trish continued. “They want to feel heard. They want to have a sense of control; control meaning feeling informed, having their questions answered and feeling like their project is proceeding. Not every stone supplier is geared to offering a superior experience to the showroom visitor. At Boston Granite Exchange, we are focused on delivering a superior experience at both of our showrooms in West Bridgewater and Haverhill.”
Why didn’t I come here first?
In Trish’s experience, homeowners often finish their search for stone at BGE, concluding their pursuit by wondering aloud, “Why didn’t we come here first?” or “We had no idea you were here until our fabricator told us about you.” Trish explains that BGE has focused on relationship building to grow its business over the years with a focus on building long-term relationships with fabricators and kitchen and bath dealers. They are the primary source of referrals to Boston Granite Exchange.
Word of mouth is also instrumental, with friends and family sharing where they found their natural stone or quartz slabs for their kitchen renovations. Social media also plays an important role in driving awareness. The West Bridgewater showroom regularly welcomes visitors from Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, the Cape and Islands and throughout the South Shore communities.
When asked what her best advice is for a homeowner looking to pick out stone for kitchen countertops, an outdoor kitchen or a bathroom renovation, Trish explains, “We encourage homeowners to plan for their visit by starting with our website. We offer a wealth of information about stone types to help homeowners understand what stone may best fit their lifestyle. This will help when visiting our showrooms to then see the stones in person.”
“Bringing samples of cabinets, flooring, paint and any images that have served as inspiration for their project is also encouraged. Understanding their vision enables us to help them.” adds Trish.
Coordination between showrooms
Delivering a superior showroom experience to every visitor includes transporting stone slabs between showroom locations so a homeowner can appreciate the slabs in person. Seeing is believing, and Trish and all showroom team members know the importance of seeing in-person the stones which caught your eye online. With one phone call, Trish can request slabs to be transported from Haverhill to the West Bridgewater showroom as slabs are moved between locations multiple times each week.
Trish refers to West Bridgewater as a satellite showroom location that offers all of the same stone options (e.g., granite, marble, quartzite, soapstone and The BGE Quartz Collection), including the newest arrivals.
Trish sums up the BGE experience nicely, “The Boston Granite Exchange team: the sales and customer representatives, the warehouse staff, the whole team, is here to make sure the company’s overall success is reflected in the day-to-day experience of homeowners whom our fabricators send to us. Homeowners’ success is our fabricators’ success and our fabricators’ success is our success.”
If you are planning a kitchen renovation or other project for your home, we invite you to visit one of our showrooms. If you are north of Boston, including New Hampshire and Maine, we encourage you to visit our Haverhill location and, if you are south of the city, we look forward to having you visit our West Bridgewater location. As visitors comment regularly to Trish, “I wish I had come here first!”
At both of our showrooms, you will find a large inventory of natural stone and quartz along with a knowledgeable team to answer your questions and to help you find the right stone for your home project.
We’d love to see you.