SP&A is DBE supplier of precast concrete insulated wall panels (which includes erection).
Precast Company: Slaw Precast in Lehighton, PA
Contractor: Panzitta Enterprises in Wilkes Barre, PA
This project is still in progress but the precast has recently been erected, as of October 2022. More pics to come once the structure is closed in.
Hey everybody, here is one of my recently completed projects in St. Clair, PA.
The Scope: Architectural/Insulated Precast Panels & Installation
Contractor: Miller Brothers Construction
Precast Manufacturer: Slaw Precast
SP&A: DBE Supplier of the precast panels (which included erection). As a DBE Supplier, I also do my own level of project management (coordination with drawings, submittals, site visits, and handle problems as they arise). If your DBE supplier isn’t offering that level of service, then you’re not getting your money’s worth.
If you have questions about this project, or what Sandra Palone & Associates can do for you, email me at: slp@sandrapalone.net
I’ve got to be honest with you, I didn’t know if my little company would make it through this “once in a century” pandemic. The other piece of honesty is that I would rarely let myself have that fear. I think it’s how I’m wired (don’t think too much about it, but keep moving forward somehow). So, I did that, along with millions of small companies out there in the world. It was hard to move forward though, I felt like I was going in circles…in my cave…looking out the front opening wondering when I could get out there again.
My business, where I am a supplier of specialty manufactured products, is highly dependent on having a client on one end and a manufacturer on the other. What holds us all together are contracts, and a desire to work together. So, if something happened to any link in the chain (me, being in the middle), could have meant financial jeopardy for all of us. Writing this now, the weight of that situation feels heavy. I’m not a big believer in “doom and gloom” when it comes to my work, however. There are always little places in the process to infuse optimism. Such as, posting pics of projects nearing completion (even if they were from before the “shut down”) and thanking my customers and manufacturers for work well done.
Like many companies out there, my project pipeline was constrained. I had some large projects that went “on hold”, but found some opportunities for smaller work that kept the lights on. Manufacturers really felt the squeeze since their labor force was precarious. One day, manufacturing is operating at full speed and the next, there was a breakout of “CoVid” in the plant and everything would be shut down. On jobsites, new safety parameters were engaged for the safety of everyone in and out of work sites.
I didn’t step on a jobsite for months, and that felt weird and wrong. I always show up when product is delivered for many reasons: to see if it’s correct, if the customer is satisfied and for risk aversion (it’s an opportunity to address any misunderstandings or problems in the project process), and lastly, I feel it’s the right thing to do. It shows my commitment to this project and my customer. So, not showing up on a few sites was it’s own risk, but one I felt I had to take because I work for myself. If I got sick, my part of the process could not be done. As soon as it was reasonably safe (with all safety protocols in mind), I got back out there.
Fast forward to getting a vaccination: As soon as the vaccine was in my arm, I began to feel the anxiety I have been denying surface and leave my body. I had been holding my breath for over a year, but now I could take that breath and settle into what happened over the last year. 2020 is gone and we are nearly half way through 2021 already. Some things I’ve learned: I feel this past year unveiled some good along with the bad. The world was upside down with how we were separated from one another and we were trying to not get sick. People were on opposite sides of issues. I kept my head down through some of it and then lifted it up for issues that were close to my heart. The Universe took care of me through this time. I didn’t need to reach for PPP, but was happy it was there if I did. I started supporting small businesses where I could and was also grateful I could order most anything I needed. I really missed people (friends, family and customers). I missed the relational aspect of what I do.
Coming out of the CoVid cave, I will work smarter, be more embodied in what I do and let others see me for who I am. What’s the point of putting your name on your company if you don’t let others truly see you? So, this year I aspire to stand more in the light so you can get to know me. I also work harder for people I care about, so I’m looking forward to getting to know YOU better. I feel blessed that I can look forward to seeing you someday very soon. I am mindful that I have this opportunity to live and work when others don’t. We will deal with the other problems that come from a time of shut down and restart. Once you come out of the cave, keep walking.
We continue to supply structural and architectural precast concrete. Concentrating on this product in order to give you the best service for your project.
Our email is slp@sandrapalone.net and our phone number is 412-965-0069.
Contact SP&A for:
Precast concrete lag wall panels for your next soldier beam pile wall.
Precast concrete stairs and landing systems.
Precast concrete platforms, ramps, pier caps and foundations on train stations.
Precast bridge beam components.
Architectural precast concrete panels or trim work.
Service Put Ahead of Everything Else.
I am grateful to a masonry contractor out of Hollidaysburg, PA for this work. Joe Smith of Smith Masonry gave me an opportunity to work on this project. Together with Nelson Precast out of Baltimore, SP&A supplied the cast stone for this project. The Owner selected an off white tone with an acid etch (stone-like) finish for the caps that gave a nice refresher to this courtyard.
A special shout out to Nelson Precast’s owner, Ari Lichtman and Joe Feldman (Senior Project Manager) for your responsiveness and your “can do” attitude. Nelson Precast is an APA certified producer of wet cast and dry vibrant tamp.
Concrete solutions that go beyond the surface. Release Agents / Form Treatments / Cures & Seals
For over 65 years, Cresset® Chemical Company has been an innovative leader in developing, distributing, and servicing site cast and precast Release Agents, Curing Compounds, Sealers, and other products for the concrete construction industry. At the core of our competency are superior-looking surfaces − but we go beyond the surface to meet the complexity in today’s environmental landscape. Cresset is driven to continually evolve its New Chemistry “Green” array of products to responsibly and safely meet your production, environmental, and OSHA requirements.
Contact me and let me work out the right form release product for your application and the right price.
Get used to it, I’m a precast nerd. API provided the architectural precast cladding for this building (the Delaware Federal Credit Union in Dover). Buff tone precast and some panels with thin brick veneer). Nice stuff. Got a project that has a scope with architectural precast concrete (spec 03450)? Contact me!
It finally happened, I became a full-time Independent Sales Representative at the beginning of September 2015.
My first client is Architectural Precast Innovations, Inc. (API) and they are located in Middleburg, PA. API is a producer of excellent architectural precast concrete and you will find their beautiful product clad on multi-story buildings, such as this example: 137 Franklin Street in New York City. 
Located at the corner of Varick Street across from Finn Square in New York City’s famed Tribeca neighborhood, 137 Franklin Street is a deluxe seven-story three-family residential condominium building that embodies both the elegance of pre-war architecture and the luxuries of modern-day building systems and new construction.
Owner Brandon Miller of New York-based Real Estate Equities Corporation commissioned Markus Dochantschi, founder of Studio MDA, as architect for the high-end residential building. Because the narrow, vacant lot at 137 Franklin Street is situated in Tribeca’s West Historic District, Dochantschi’s designs required the approval of the area’s strict Landmarks Preservation Committee — including the use of precast concrete for the building’s facade.
If you care to reach me directly through API to learn more about architectural precast concrete, email me at spalone@api-precast.com. You can also visit their website at http://www.api-precast.com
More posts to come of this beautiful product by API.
Most of us in sales are familiar with following up on opportunities or proposals. I don’t know if there is a secret method that always works regarding order capture, but I do believe I won’t have any luck obtaining work for my company if I don’t have the guts or the energy to follow up.
You and I may vary on our approach. It depends on the circumstances. If you chase work in the Public Sector, there are set rules about letting work. It may be that a public entity first selects a team based on their qualifications and work history. Only after team selection is the proposal written. There is also the private sector that has it’s own rules around awarding work. Here, you may have to be invited before offering a proposal that hopefully meets and or even exceeds the client’s expectations. Sometimes awarded work is selected by being the low bidder. Sometimes it’s a “best value” formula determined by the buyer. Every once in a while, it’s schedule driven.
Are you lucky enough to have some kind of “inside track” about a project or have a very strong sales relationship with the client? If you are, then your chances of winning the work may be higher because you know what the client wants or needs. Maybe you’ve already broken the code as to how the client really buys or maybe you helped them with budgeting prior to a request for proposal (RFP) being advertised. No matter what the criteria is for awarding work, you have to follow up.
If you’re new to the client, then the old fashioned way of follow up and asking for time to review your proposal together or at least get their feedback on your offering is most essential. Regardless if you win the work or not, you need to know where you stand. This is information for the next opportunity at the very least. And I mean more than finding out if you won or lost the work. Ask specific questions about how they selected the winner and what you can do better next time if you weren’t selected. I would also want to know who my competition is on the proposal if I didn’t already know.
There are those proposals that I follow up immediately and those that I follow up at a designated time. If I don’t get the client to communicate with me about my offering in my first attempts, then I have to try back but I usually let them know when that will be so as not to be so persistent that I take the client’s voice mail or email hostage.
I must say though, that early on in my sales career I followed up too intensely. There were people that gave me feedback to not be so “intense” (I thought I was being enthusiastic), to not call so often (I thought I was just being assertive). I had to learn sensitivity with each client. However, there are those clients that if you don’t chase them down, you will never get an answer and they know it and expect you to put in the extra effort. Know Thy Customer!
Communication is key so let people know how you will be communicating with them. After all, it’s only fair to get feedback since you spent time putting together a thoughtful proposal with their needs in mind. But don’t scare them off by being a pest. They may not give you another opportunity for fear you will do the same thing next time. Ask how they want you to follow up PRIOR to giving the proposal. This is being thoughtful of their time.
Lastly, and I feel this is most important, please be gracious when you win and lose work. If you win, be grateful, thank the Client and then knock their socks off with amazing service. If you lose, thank them for the opportunity and congratulate them on their choice. If you really care about them, then be a good sport.
I would like to hear how other people perform follow up so to round out this conversation because every salesperson (or sales process) is different.
I have to say that I am not a fan of the sales “cold call” for a couple of reasons:
1. In the past, when I would show up unannounced at someone’s front desk and ask if I could speak to the President, Manager or Buyer, more often than not that person was “busy” and couldn’t see me right now. Guess what? When someone shows up at my office unannounced (and uninvited), I am also “busy”. Why? To me, the answer is obvious. It’s rude to disrupt someone’s course of business (where they are engaged in making money) without making an appointment first. At least, that is what my Mother taught me (she was also in sales). Nothing like making a first impression by being rude and thinking that the sales person’s agenda is more important than the prospect’s.
2. I feel important to plan a call, not just show up and drop a card. To me, a “cold call” shows lack of planning. Yes, you might get lucky and catch the boss walking past the receptionist’s desk en route to the bathroom. And you may be able to say to your boss that you met the “decision maker” at company X, but that “decision maker” is more likely to throw your information in the trash just as soon as you leave.
If you absolutely MUST do a “cold call”, my suggestion would be to ask the receptionist to give you the name and contact information of the “decision maker” for the company. Leave and THEN make an appointment. It’s the right thing to do. Don’t waste people’s valuable time. Besides, if you make the receptionist uncomfortable with your hanging around their area in hopes to see someone, they will remember you and the boss will be busy in perpetuity.
Just sayin…
Sandra Palone and Associates 