Thank you, I sincerely appreciate your business!

By Dan Hittenberger | Published: April 11, 2012

Thank you for the business, your referrals and your trust in Acry-Tech! I sincerely appreciate your business!

In order to have any “repeat” business, I know I first must have a customer that can “repeat”. Then the only way to get referral business is to have a customer that was satisfied and told someone else about his or her experience.  This way, business builds on itself and if it’s appreciated I suspect it will keep going and growing.

Repeat business means that customers find the product to be exactly as it was presented, and it meets or exceeds their expectations. It’s not rocket science, a good product is required and appreciation for the customers’ trust is imperative.

I love talking to you, my colorful customers. You call with such great questions – some of which I can easily answer, some that really stump me. I love the interaction and I appreciate your perspective on my products and how they help you in your business.

On the website http://voices.yahoo.com/customer-service-key-repeat-business-900.html I was reading… “Say “thank you.” Since the client is the one asking you to do something for them, it seems that they should be thanking you. Just remember that without your clients, you would not have a business. Make sure that you treat them that way. Be sure to thank them for their payment and for their business. Thank them for choosing you. Everyone wants to feel appreciated.”

I also appreciate your feedback – your suggestions on what I could do to make the experience even better for you. Not long ago a customer in Australia emailed asking where he could buy one of our products “Down Under”. I told him I could ship it to him but the postage was costly. I asked him if he knew of a company that might be a good fit as a distributor for us in Australia… he said he did. Now we have a specialty distributor in Australia for our Speaker Cabinet Coatings and you can reach them at http://cannonsound.com.au!

I owe this potential customer a deep and heartfelt “Thank You” for referring his friends and I hope that having the product inAustralia will build a new level of international loyalty.

Sometimes I get a little embarrassed when someone gives me a big “thank you” as I feel a little conspicuous. But it really warms my heart and makes my step a little lighter to be appreciated. You’re probably the same as me, aren’t you?

What’s the most memorable thank you that you’ve ever received?

Drop me a line and let me know… and THANK YOU!

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Relationship, can it be better?

By Dan Hittenberger | Published: April 3, 2012

 I have relationship with a lot of businesses; vendors, shippers, advertising providers, web designers, mechanics, and sales people in every store I visit. Some of the experiences I have with the businesses I patronize are delightful, some easily forgettable and some just, well… rotten.

 Of course, I believe that every one of my customers has a great relationship with me, but is that really true? Do you always get my best attention? Do you always hang up the phone with me and have a warm feeling? Are you completely willing and anxious to refer your friends and associates to me? It would be nice if I could find the answers to these questions, wouldn’t it?  

 I think it would be great to find a venue to discuss how my customers view me and my company and the changes that I could make to create a better relationship between us. I could hire a big PR company to do a study of the relationships with my customers. They could personally interview all my customers to find where I might be missing the boat. OR… I could simply ask my customers…

“What would make this relationship better for you?” 

 In my experience, people are generally quite willing to tell me what they think. There are tons of opinions about everything and my customers have an opinion of the relationship we share. It’s just a matter of engaging them in a discussion.

 Often I lose track of the bigger picture. I’m busy trying to give everyone the attention they deserve and meet their pricing demands or their shipping schedules or their special packaging requirements and while being attentive to all the small details, I sometimes fail to see the biggest picture. The biggest picture is whether or not the relationship is productive for my customers and me.

 So today I ask you, my customers…

“What would make this relationship better for you?”

 I’d love to hear from you, I’d love to fine tune the relationship to be sure you’re completely happy with my products, my service, and our relationship.

 Would you be willing to take a couple minutes and drop me a line to let me know?

 Thanks so much!

 

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Jared Ashley Band Refinishes Speaker Cabinets with DuraTex

By Dan Hittenberger | Published: February 15, 2012

Jared Ashley of the Jared Ashley Band in Nashville Tennessee made a call to Acry-Tech, inquiring about DuraTex Speaker Cabinet Texture Coating. Jared has a touring group that is very actively roaming around the south east area of the USA. He’s got a great CD and huge plans to be a big Country Star.

When Dan Hittenberger from Acry-Tech heard from Jared, Dan offered to come to Nashville and help Jared with the refinish project. Dan wanted to create a video to show how easy it is to make speaker cabinets look as good as they sound! This video is the result of a fun day in Nashville rehabilitating some very worn speaker cabinets.

For additional information click on Speaker Cabinet Coatings

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Safe Footing for School Children!

By Dan Hittenberger | Published: January 4, 2012

Safe Footing was needed by the Howard County Schools in Maryland because they had a real problem. The aluminum ramps leading up to their portable classrooms were very slippery when wet and they had a few kids and teachers fall and hurt themselves. Slip and fall accidents are dangerous and the results often include missed work, lawsuits and long term disabilities so a safe footing is essential, especially for our schools.

The aluminum ramps had small ribs built into the ramps as a way to increase traction when wet, but it wasn’t enough to prevent slips and falls. Students don’t always walk slowly and carefully, they’re kids and prone to moving quickly. Even the teachers were falling victim to the slippery ramps and decks.  

The conscientious maintenance personnel searched the web for a solution to their slippery ramps and they found Safe Tread Non Slip Coating. Safe Tread Non Slip Coating saved the day for the good people in Howard County.

The maintenance crew was very pleased with the ease of installation and they could work quickly because the Safe Tread simply rolled on using the special texture rollers from Acry-Tech. A two coat installation resulted in an aggressive texture and the School Board found that the traction coefficient increased dramatically.

One surprising result developed during the application process. Someone sprayed some graffiti onto the dry Safe Tread! The maintenance crew used their pressure washer and found that the graffiti quickly came off the Safe Tread with NO DAMAGE to the Safe Tread!

Now the ramps and decks offer safe footing even when it rains. Children are safer, teachers are safer and the School Board is pleased with the great results. After a few years, the Safe Tread can be touched up easily by simply rolling another light coat over the existing Safe Tread for a fresh, new finish at minimal expense.

Click here to take a look at the great letter and pictures they sent!

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How to fix a slippery boat dock.

By Dan Hittenberger | Published: December 19, 2011
Slippery Boat Docks are unsafe

Slippery Boat Docks can hurt your guests.

Learning how to fix a slippery boat dock isn’t a difficult project. A slippery wood boat dock is a dangerous place, but it can be made safe and friendly to even bare feet by cleaning and applying Soft Tread non skid coating.

Most boat docks are made of 1” or 2” thick pressure treated lumber. Most pressure treated lumber is dense and when the dock is new and wet, it gets very slippery. Older pressure treated lumber can be porous and prone to the buildup of mold and mildew. When older docks get wet they can be very slippery too.  A slippery boat dock is a dangerous boat dock!

 This project is also a good chance to inspect your dock and replace any rotten deck boards or stringers, or to replace or add any cleats. Once any repairs are complete, you’re ready to start the coating process.

 The first step in making your slippery boat dock safe is to get it spotlessly clean. A pressure washer is the best means of doing this as it doesn’t require any detergent, chemicals or bleach to do a good job. Use the largest possible pressure washer you can get as the little ones may not do the job and will take a long time to get even mediocre results. The object of pressure washing is not just to make the surface clean, it’s to remove ALL dead wood fiber and rough up the surface to insure the best adhesion possible. Take your time to really blow all the crud out of the wood and remove all the loose wood fiber. If it looks a little shaggy when you’re done… perfect!

 Once the dock is clean, it needs to dry out well. Pressure treated lumber tends to hold a lot of water so several days in the sun is needed to dry the wood completely. While the wood is drying out, you can check all the fasteners and secure the dock boards if they need another nail or screw to make them hold fast to the underlying structure. 

 When the dock is dry, apply a coat of Soft Tread Wood & Concrete Primer using a fluffy nap paint roller. The object is to thoroughly saturate the dock boards without leaving any puddles on the surface of the boards. If the dock boards are widely spaced rather than snug to each other, you may want to put some plastic sheeting under the dock to catch any spills to keep from contaminating the water.  A piece of plastic sheet about 6’ wide and 10’ long is perfect as long as you tie a piece of rope to each corner. Then you can move the plastic along with you as you work from the end of the dock toward shore.

 When the Primer is dry, the Soft Tread can be applied using either the 9” Texture roller or the 4” Roller. Be sure to use the Texture Roller as a typical paint roller will not give the right type of texture to the finished job. Mask off around any cleats or pilings. Apply the Soft Tread in two moderate coats to achieve a spread rate of about 50 to 60 square feet per gallon for the total of both coats.

 Allow at least 12 hours dry time before light foot traffic and 48 hours before heavy traffic for best results. (Dry times are extended due to the fact that your dock is in a high humidity area and will cure a little slower than in a very dry environment.)

Now you’ve changed a slippery boat dock into a safe boat dock for your friends and guests.

 If you have any questions about Soft Tread, please contact us at 954-565-6001 during business hours Monday – Thursday.

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Cool Roof reflects summer heat

By Dan Hittenberger | Published: December 7, 2011

A Cool Roof that reflects summer heat is really important to the Bimini Biological Field Station (BBFS) on the small tropical island of Bimini in the Western Bahamas. This beautiful little island is a 55 mile boat or plane ride from Ft. Lauderdale and South Florida. The BBFS  is also affectionately referred to as the “Shark Lab” due to their study of sharks in the Bahamas.Cool Roof Lemon Shark

The BBFS called Acry-Tech  with a big problem, they were HOT! The roof over their structure was dark and the summer heat in prior years was making the interior of the building so hot that they routinely got above 98 degrees INDOORS!  They needed a Cool Roof solution that would reflect the summer heat and intense tropical sun.

I told them the best solution for them would be our Cool Top Heat Reflective Roof Paint and it would absolutely provide them with a really Cool Roof. Jim Barley, the manager of the BBFS arranged to have the Cool Top applied prior to the summer of 2011 and was surprised and  thrilled with the results. The Cool Top reflected so much heat that it’s now comfortable to be indoors during the day and when they kick on the air conditioners for the night, the building cools down quickly and is so much more comfortable. They’re also saving on their air conditioning costs with their new Cool Roof!

The BBFS relies on volunteers from a number of colleges that come to Bimini to work on tagging, collecting data and gaining a deeper understanding of sharks in the local waters of the Bahamas. These volunteers are a smart bunch of kids, but these young people need to refresh and cool down after a hot day of sun baked research. Because of their new Cool Roof, they can now spend the evening and night in cool comfort instead of sweating in their beds.

A cool roof shark

Big Lemon Shark

These creative kids also had another idea… Jim Barley called and told me they wanted to paint a big Lemon Shark on the roof of the building. When I asked why, he told me that the airport lies just west of the Shark Lab and airplanes pass right over the building. They wanted to make a mark and be easily identified from the air. Jim further explained that they wanted it BIG… at least 12′ high and 44′ long! I told him I was IN so he sent a color swatch for me to match up.

5 gallons of bright yellow paint and some bikini clad painters have now created a huge calling card for the Shark Lab in Bimini. I’m proud of these kids and so happy to be able to support their efforts. I’m glad they have a Cool Roof, too. Cool enough for bare feet in the summer!

You can enjoy the benefits of Cool Top too but you don’t have to paint a shark on your roof.

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BIG benefits to being Small

By Dan Hittenberger | Published: November 30, 2011

When visiting the local Dairy Queen, I want bigger – not small. But in my business, there are BIG benefits to being small.

 BIG benefits to being Small are:

  • I can be open and tell the truth on my blog.
  • I can be flexible and change to meet competition.
  • I can personally answer emails from my customers.
  • Decisions can be made quickly without a board of directors meeting.
  • I can spend important time answering my customers’ phone calls and questions.
  • Not having 100 different products, it means focusing on a few great ones that people love. 
  • I’m able to create a truly unique product and bring it to the marketplace and our customers in a short time span.

Sometimes it’s easy to be enamored of the larger companies in my industry; the big Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore paint stores. Once in a while my ego wants to double the size of the company and cast a larger shadow in the industry.

But, then I stop and reflect on what’s most important: meeting the needs of my customers in a profitable way with great coating products. Being smaller gives me the opportunity to truly interact with my customers, to really get to know them. My customers are not a number with me. When I spend time talking with them, I hear about their concerns, their needs, their lives and I find ways to help them with the products I make OR with a bit of wisdom I’ve picked up along the way. I’ve made some real good friends because the company has been small and I’ve had a little time to spend with customers.

The company size really doesn’t matter – it’s about serving our customers, making friends and making a profit along the way.

BIG benefits to being small – and I’m enjoying them.

If my thoughts here have sparked some ideas in you… let me know, drop me a line and share them with me or hit the “Like” button on the Acrytech Face Book  page.

 

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How To Fix Slippery Steps

By Dan Hittenberger | Published: November 29, 2011

Slippery steps or stairs are very dangerous. Generally speaking, a slip and fall on a stairway can result in a painful and damaging tumble down the slippery steps. And if you’re all alone, you may lay there a long time before someone finds you. The National Safety Council Study reveals the shocking fact that nine million disabling slips and falls occur each year, but what they can’t report is the pain and suffering caused by these slips and falls.

But, you don’t have to put up with the risk caused by slippery steps – there’s an easy solution. Safe Tread Clear will transform slippery steps and eliminate the slippery surface forever. Safe Tread Clear is user friendly, it doesn’t give off smelly fumes and it dries quickly.

Here’s how to transform your slippery steps or stairs:

  1. Clean the steps well using a cleaner like Spic ‘N Span or other strong cleaner to remove any dirt, oils, or foreign matter, then rinse well to remove all cleaner residue.
  2. When the steps are dry, mask off a 3/4″ to 1″ border around the sides and back of the step. Do not mask the front of the step.
  3. Lightly sand the stair tread with a coarse sand paper or sanding sponge to rough up the surface. Don’t worry if the sand paper or the sanding sponge causes the surface to lose its glossy look. That’s good. If the steps are varnished wood, sand in the direction of the grain. Sand up to but not over the masking tape.
  4. Remove any sanding residue with a wet cloth and allow the surface to dry completely.
  5. Apply a light coat of Safe Tread Clear to the horizontal step surface and the front edge of the step with our special textured 4” roller. An evenly applied light layer is sufficient.
  6. When the first coat is dry, inspect to see if you’d like another coat. Heavily traveled stairways may benefit from a second coat. Apply the second coat the same way as the first coat was applied. Allow the coating to dry completely (around 4 hours before light foot traffic)
  7. Remove the masking tape when you’ve completed the job. It may be necessary to lightly cut along the edge of the masking tape if the coating overlays the tape in order to remove the tape cleanly.

When you’re done, you will no longer have slippery steps and you’ll be much safer.

Soft Tread Non Slip Coating

1 Gallon: $61.95

Add To Cart

You can click here to find Safe Tread Clear and you can call us Monday through Thursday from 7:30am to 3:30pm with any questions you may have at 954-565-6001. We’ll help you get rid of slippery steps.

 

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Non Slip Coating for Safe Footing on Boat Decks

By Dan Hittenberger | Published: November 14, 2011

Soft Tread or Safe Tread for safe footing on boat decks.

A slippery boat deck can ruin your day. Imagine a 40# slimy catfish pulled out of the muddy Mississippi river and hauled into a flat bottomed aluminum boat. Not only is this huge fish flopping all around, ruining tackle, spilling drinks and generally creating mayhem, but he’s sliming the entire deck, seats and everyone aboard. This was the challenge a commercial fisherman relayed to me last summer. He asked: “Do you have a non slip coating that will help me stand up to the mud and slime?” My answer was… I sure do.

Commercial fishermen have a difficult time maintaining a safe footing given the conditions they encounter. Fish slime, fish guts, mud, baitfish and other slippery things find their way to the floor of the boat. With the boat bobbing and moving with every wave that comes along it makes for a dangerous condition. That’s where Safe Tread can make a huge difference by providing a safe footing on boat decks!

On the water, a minor situation can quickly become life threatening. A slippery boat deck can be an accident waiting to happen. Safe Tread Non Skid Coating is the best remedy for a slippery and dangerous boat deck. Maintaining your footing and balance is critical on a boat and it’s easy to create a safe footing with Safe Tread Safety Coating.

My customer was also complaining about the carpet on the deck of his boat. The fish slime was impossible to wash out and on a sunny day the stink was unbearable. He needed a non slip solution that would give safe footing AND be easily washed down at the end of the day. Safe Tread fit the bill exactly.

Once the carpet was pulled up and the boat deck was pressure washed, he primed the underlying aluminum deck with a self etching primer. Then he rolled on the Safe Tread with one of our special Texture Rollers. He waited until it was dry to the touch and rolled another coat onto the deck. What he created with this easy to apply waterbased product is a Non Slip Surface that provided great traction while being easy to clean.

The other big plus was the amount of weight he lost! No, not him, his boat. The weight of all that wet carpeting he removed was about 40#. The weight of the Safe Tread for his entire boat was only about 8# for the two full coats. That means he had another 32# of fish capacity and a safer boat deck.

For pleasure boats where a very foot friendly but equally effective texture is required, our Soft Tread is the answer. Pontoon Boats, Ski Boats, Boat Docks and ramps are all candidates for Soft Tread Safety Coating which is easy on bare feet, but grippy to provide a high level of safety.

A day on the water should be remembered for the fun, not for the slip and fall accident. Make your next boat outing safer with one of our great Non Slip Coatings.

Safe Tread Non Slip Coating

1 Gallon: $69.95

Add To Cart

Soft Tread Non Slip Coating

1 Gallon: $67.95

Add To Cart
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Ceramic Coatings – are they hype?

By Dan Hittenberger | Published: October 29, 2011

Ceramic Coatings are something fairly new in the paint industry, are they hype? Lets make some sense of the subject.

Ceramic as an ingredient for paint came into vogue about two decades ago. Some paint companies sprinkled ceramic powder into their paint and touted their Ceramic Coatings as “Space Age” MAGIC. The hype they sold was fanciful and loaded with phenomenal and astronomical claims.

It’s true – Ceramic is a heat dissipating compound. The space shuttle showed how effective it is at quickly dissipating thousands of degrees of heat from a surface. But once powdered ceramic goes into a paint formula or elastomeric coating matrix, the effect is different than you would find compared to a brick of ceramic on the underbelly of the Space Shuttle. It’s not Magic… it’s simply Physics.

Powdered Ceramic does not enhance coatings or paints. It’s an expensive filler pigment. But there is a type of Ceramic that can really add something to a formulation, Ceramic Microspheres!

Ceramic Microspheres are like minature thermos bottles and they are extremely effective in creating low density Ceramic Coatings. The lower the density, the less heat is transferred. Steel is dense and conducts heat well. Styrofoam is not dense and is a good insulator. Ceramic Coatings filled with ceramic microspheres are somewhere in between those other two substances.

But there’s even more.

Color is a huge determiner of heat buildup. A bright white coating reflects heat while a colored coating absorbs more heat. The best of both worlds comes from bright white Ceramic Coatings filled with Ceramic Microspheres. Very little heat is picked up by the white ceramic coatings and only a small fraction is passed through the low density coating. The combination of white and low density is where the magic is. No hype, just simple physics

Ceramic can make a difference. But not the way some sell it.

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