A major reason for the success of Arizona Stone & Architectural Products is its employees, who strive to provide the utmost in customer service and satisfaction.

Experienced sales team members at Arizona Stone & Architectural Products make it a priority to guide their customers in the right direction to make the perfect decision.

Most of us would be happy and content to build one business, sell it for a tidy sum and then enjoy retirement. Bill Burke did exactly that—and then he founded Arizona Stone & Architectural Products and built a second successful company.

Today, Arizona Stone is one of the top businesses of its kind in the Phoenix, Arizona, area, known for providing top-quality stone, brick and paver products and excellent customer service. In less than two decades it has experienced consistent expansion and success.

In 1991, Burke founded Titan Stairs, Inc., in Las Vegas, Nevada, installing interior hardwood stairs and railings. After 10 years—during which time the business expanded to Phoenix and Utah and employed up to 300—Burke decided to sell and retire to Phoenix.

“I was retired, but my golf game wasn’t getting any better,” Burke says. “I got bored and looked for something to keep me busy.”

While he describes the founding of Arizona Stone in 2003 as “just starting a little hotdog stand,” it has become much more than that. One could say that the company’s growth has been “brick by brick”—but it has been anything but plodding.

Since its first office opened 15 years ago in Mesa, Arizona, the business has grown to six locations—five in Arizona and one in Las Vegas. It has 45 employees and an annual revenue of $35 million.

After 20 years working as a subcontractor, Burke wanted his “second life” to be in distribution. He researched the stone business, the design trends and what the opportunities would be.

“From ground zero to three years we were at $35 million a year,” Burke says. “From 2003 to 2006, I was the smartest guy in business. From 2008 to 2011, we were able to take advantage of economic trends and ride out the bad times. We’ve been successful because of our commitment to the customer experience. We’ve changed the way that stone, brick and pavers have been presented to the public.”

Instead of having customers visit a quarry or a dirty, dusty truck-filled parking lot to view merchandise, Arizona Stone has showrooms and design centers that showcase the types of products and work that the company does. This enables customers to see exactly how their ideas or concepts can transition into completed projects.

“We are customer-centric,” emphasizes Burke. “We’re focused on the ‘customer experience’ and a retail-friendly environment. Our pledge to our customers is that they be completely satisfied with the finished product.”

Michelle Holle is Arizona Stone’s Best Practices Manager in charge of compliance. She has been with the company for 11 years.

“A lot of our success is based on our customer experience and satisfaction,” she says. “In one week, I got three calls from contractors who are customers who wanted to let us know that their experience with us was exceptional from start to finish. Those were all unsolicited calls. And often, you only get a call when the customer has a bad experience.”

Key to Customer Satisfaction: Happy Employees

MBurke has made loyalty a two-way street. He rewards and relies on his employees to be the face of the company. Salesmen are attentive, knowledgeable and helpful. The formula: Happy employees equals satisfied customers.

“Our organization chart is the antithesis of micromanagement,” says Burke. “Our employees are encouraged to take ownership of their departments. The best ideas and changes have come from our employees.”

When an employee is observed going above and beyond to achieve customer satisfaction, he or she can receive the company’s “Good Stuff” award. “We take a lot of pride in our employees,” Burke says. “The ‘Good Stuff’ is a daily recognition of our employees for going out of their way to serve and please our customers. I think it’s much better and more productive to catch somebody doing something right than for doing something wrong. Employees appreciate being appreciated.”

Last year, the company completed its fourth annual back-to-school program for its employees’ children. Since the program’s inception, the company has provided over 50 children of its employees with $100 each to defray back-to-school costs.

In 2016, management staged a “Twelve Days of Christmas” program with every employee receiving a daily gift for 12 consecutive days (for example, 12 lollipops, 11 oranges, $10 to Chipotle, etc.). Coordinating the delivery of those gifts was challenging but helped management show its appreciation to the employees.

Staying on the Cutting Edge

Steve Arnow, owner of Sun Valley Veneers, has been in the stone business for about 38 years. His company is one of the top installers in the Phoenix area utilizing products that are supplied by Arizona Stone.

M“I’ve been working with Bill since he started his company, and I’ve always been very happy and satisfied during that time,” he says. “He’s probably one of the more progressive individuals in the stone business. He’s always trying to stay ahead of the curve in terms of what’s becoming popular. He’s always looking for the next big thing.”

Arizona Stone keeps keeps an eye on the competition by “secret shopping” other stone businesses to make sure that its own customer service is top notch and attentive.

“Bill has renovated his showrooms three or four times to make sure he stays current,” Arnow says. “There are trends that come and go, and there are some items that are always popular. He wants to make sure he has the items that are innovative. He does the best job in our area in displaying the products that customers can get excited about.”

Arizona Stone services every aspect of the new construction marketplace—production homes, custom homes and commercial products. Over the last 15 years, Burke says the company has sold over 50 million feet of stone, brick and pavers.

When the business originally opened, it had one product line—Coronado Stone. Arizona Stone’s offerings have since expanded, and it is now the leading provider in its marketplaces for Coronado Stone, Natural Stone Veneers, brick and pavers.

Arizona Stone can work with its customers from start to finish on their projects. After the customer shares his or her initial concept, the company’s experts can show the customer the various stone, brick or pavers that would be available for the project, and then provide guidance on the best products that will help complete the customer’s vision.

Giving Back, Looking Ahead

Arizona Stone also is actively involved in its communities in terms of charitable contributions and engagement.

Late last year, the company was involved with the holiday toy and clothing drive for the children of Sunshine Acres, a homeless shelter in Mesa, raising more than $3,000 in contributions as well as donating boxes of toys and clothing to the shelter.

Arizona Stone also partners with the Phoenix Rescue Mission, the Phoenix Children’s Hospital and Arizona’s Children Association’s Thrive Mentor program, which is focused on helping transitional foster children.

“Being involved in local charities allows our employees to be part of giving back to the community,” Burke says. “Our employees love it, and our customers love it. We try to focus on the underprivileged and children.”

Carving Out New Prospects

In 2017, Burke launched a new company, Solstice Stone, with an innovative design center in Scottsdale, Arizona. Solstice Stone features unique, hand-selected natural stone from various regions of the world. The design center displays a dynamic palette of materials and textures for vertical and horizontal architectural applications.

Burke’s son, Jake, has been based in London for the last two years and serves as Arizona Stone’s international buyer. Procuring stone from around the world is something that the company has done for the last 10 years, but Jake’s presence in London has widened its scope for finding stone from around the world.

Arizona Stone has jobs around the nation thanks to word of mouth and website. This year, the company plans to introduce Solstice Stone into the Las Vegas and Dallas, Texas, markets. Over the next five years, the plan is to plant a stake in the top 15 metropolitan markets in the U.S. For his “second” business, Bill Burke’s Arizona Stone is doing just fine.