Local Levels While the top 100 builders produced nearly 37 percent of the single-family housing market last year, according to PROSALES’ sister publication BUILDER magazine, it is worth noting that the remaining 63 percent were not being built by the top 100 builders.
Sales leadership when serving this market is exemplified by the individual salespeople who take on project management roles with their clientele. Without exception, the best salespeople among local builders are those with outstanding technical skills and the ability to predict technical challenges and project scheduling issues for the builder before they occur and then manage them. The salespeople that really bring in the profits are those that strive to control expectations of builders and get them to work within the “systems” of the supplier.
Renovation Rules According to data from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, the 1970s marked the most prolific period of new construction in the history of the United States. And since studies have shown that the largest remodeling investments occur when homes reach the age of 30, now is the time when remodeling opportunities are at their peak, representing billions of dollars in product sales. But to take advantage of this exploding opportunity, you have to understand what makes this customer base different. Many successful dealers in the Midwest, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic have adopted specialized business practices to support remodelers’ unique situations.
For example, remodeling deliveries differ from new-construction builders in that lumber cannot be easily dropped at the site because a remodeler can’t afford a load to be left sloppily in a driveway or a front yard. In addition, ordering often needs to be more precise as each product order is unique to the remodeling project and construction occurs under the scrutiny of the customer’s eye.
Consider also that a small-volume remodeler lacks the human resources, training capabilities, marketing staff, and sometimes even the project management training of a large-volume builder. By offering specialized business services—e.g., sales leads, business training classes, and 24-hour showroom accessibility—a dealer can distinguish itself as a unique product supplier ready to cater to the specialized demands of the remodeling contractor.
The Bottom Line The key to success within the rapidly changing supply chain models of our industry begins with vision and sales adaptation. The best suppliers are those that help their clientele manage their businesses by accommodating the unique invoicing, delivery, installation, ordering procedures, and marketing services needs—among countless others—of their individual customer bases. If you want to wield power in the supply chain and navigate it successfully, you must adapt your company’s sales approach to the audiences you want to capture. Then you will be sure to hit your targets.
