Ekincioğlu Marble is a company serving in the marble industry with over 30 years of experience in Turkey. Aiming to provide the best service by adopting a new production policy, the company is on its way to becoming a sustainable brand with Ultra Stone Collections, which makes a difference in Burdur Beige. Thanks to its sensitivity to product quality and safety, the Ekincioğlu Stock Cloud system, which will be implemented soon, will enable exporting companies and foreign partners to monitor live production.
The founder and CEO of the company, Serhat Ekinci, is a successful businessman in marble production, sales and export in Turkey. We talked with Ekinci, an Ege University Statistics Department graduate, about the marble industry’s situation, future and difficulties. Here are the details of our interview…
When was Ekincioğlu Marble Company established, and what services does it offer?
Ekincioğlu Marble celebrates its 6th birthday this month. However, we are the 3rd generation of a struggling family serving the mining and natural stone industry for nearly 30 years.
What are the company’s vision and mission? What are your most significant achievements and challenges?
“Vision” is our magic word. It would not be wrong to start by answering the question in reverse. Unfortunately, we are experiencing the most significant difficulties we experience due to the mismatch of vision with the companies we do business with. We are a company that has taken it upon itself to fill a significant gap in Burdur Beij. Did we succeed? I think yes. For the first time, we did not produce it; we did not present it to the market for the first time. But we are a company that sets an example on how it should be produced, how it should be presented, and how it should be marketed. We created a brand. We have succeeded in bringing Ultra Beige into the literature, making it one of the first materials that come to mind when discussing beige, and making it a sought-after product in almost every project, every time of need. Of course, we had a lot of fun while doing them. It is a great pleasure to have a brand that is more popular and unrivalled day by day.
What makes Ultra Beige unique?
What makes Ultra Beige unique and different is the natural depth of the material. The most significant advantage is that the selection waste of our product is very, very low compared to other competitors. In other words, if you try to separate, you can divide it into three selections. But capturing a monolithic image with the proper application of those three different selections in one place is very easy. But the most remarkable part is we are talking about our product.
How do you talk to Stone?
It’s like walking in front of some stones and watching for minutes; while the stone is still blocked, it tells its story. If you give it what it wants, you can be sure it will provide you with everything.
What is your most prominent feature and difference from your competitors?
I do not see any of our colleagues or companies that provide accurate, honest and ethical service to this sector as our competitors. We are all trying to serve our country for the same purpose, with different policies and styles. For example, the companies we work with know very well how helpful and solution-oriented approaches we have. We work quality-oriented, not price-oriented. We could be more sales-oriented; we take care of the progress of the right sale. If there is a point in a project that we can solve, we do not make it difficult because of the price; on the contrary, we make it so competitive that we try to reach the optimum profitability level for everyone who buys, sells, implements and uses it. This is the subject that I am most sensitive to; I often ask almost all our partners and customers. I collect feedback myself. “Are you satisfied with us? Are you satisfied with our products? Do we have any mistakes?” We have the answers to these questions that should always be current. Thankfully, we have consistently increased our satisfaction momentum so far. We will be even better.
Can you tell us about your plans and goals? Do you have social responsibility projects?
Of course, like everyone else, we have goals for keeping ourselves up-to-date and growing. We have now started to put the difference we have made in Burdur Beige into many different products. Our primary goal is to prove that Ultra Stone Collections is a collection that appeals not only to the beige category but to every category in those materials. We plan to go a long way with Ultra Stone Collections and Ultra Beige brands. Thank goodness we have given the start of our investments and initiatives in this regard.
What are your innovative and sustainable practices in the marble industry?
We are a company that has constantly adopted a new production policy. Stocking is not for us. In this context, they are currently working on incredible marketing software, friends. We have completed the demo part. We will launch Ekincioglu Stock Cloud very soon. In this system, our exporting companies and foreign partners can monitor live production fully. In other words, while minimising the luck factor, we aim to reduce the time and costs allocated to procurement.
What is your approach to product quality and safety?
We have an immutable rule. “Sales starts with production.” An improperly produced material will only make you lose. Losing money, time, and reputation is a terrible thing. The issue that I am most sensitive about is “reputation”. Because reputation is much more valuable than money, the sensitivity we show with our teammates in production has sometimes reached superhuman points. You can be sure of that. It is not enough to deliver the product on the promised time. You also have to provide the promised quality. Every company focusing on quality, not cost, understands what I am discussing very well.
Can you share with us the purpose and importance of your investment in the Russian market?
As Ekincioglu, we have been organizing for Russia for a long time and we pay attention to be careful and selective in this organization. Russia is a country with high marble demand and great potential. We want to show the quality and diversity of Turkish marble by acting with the mission of creating a difference in this market as we did in Burdur beige. We have achieved this by doing very careful and meticulous work.
So, what kind of investment did you make?
We are starting the construction of a 5000 m2 stone gallery in Moscow. This showroom will serve our dealer network and customers in Russia, as well as serve all our producer colleagues in Turkey to market and display their products. Here, both producers and customers will find the best marble options. Our goal is the right product, the right customer and of course the right price.
Finally, what does this investment mean to you?
This investment is the largest of our existing multinational collaborations. Our biggest goal, both for our national mission and our corporate vision, is for Turkish marble to take its rightful place in every region of the world. This investment also carries a great responsibility for us. Because we represent Turkey and Turkish marble.