But even if he didn’t make an extra dime on the retail side, Schneider wanted consumers to at least recognize and respect the name and the brand. “We wanted to create top-of-mind awareness so that it means something to an owner when a builder says he uses us,” says Schneider. “That gives us the ability to drive an appreciation of our services instead of fighting over market share by cutting prices.”
Extending the Value Once Schneider began seeing the benefits of building a brand, he extended that value more aggressively to contractors. Schneider Lumber’s Marketing Partner Program (MPP) mirrors the co-op relationship many dealers have with their suppliers by kicking it downstream to the pro level. “We’re often approached by manufacturers with integrated marketing programs, so why not have a similar program for builders?” he says.
Coinciding with the products mentioned in his radio spots—which often promote specific brands so Schneider can optimize co-op dollars to pay for them—the lumberyard offers pros a series of customizable, informational pamphlets for their use.
Contractor customers can download PDFs from Schneider Lumber’s Web site (or have them customized with the builder’s logo before downloading), print them at a local copy shop at their own expense, and use them in their sales efforts. “We treat [pros] like dealers for our products,” says Schneider. “They need to sell their customers on the value of these products, and we want to help them do that.”
In addition to providing its pro accounts with marketing materials that dovetail what consumers are hearing on the radio, Schneider’s scheme has also built greater loyalty among contractor customers. “We give them tangible evidence of a marketing program that helps them generate sales because we’ve packaged it right,” he says. “We’ve even earned a few new pro customers, so it’s been worth the effort.”
For Cape Cod Lumber and other dealer clients, Yellow Steel often sets up formal customer loyalty or alliance programs that reward business and help pros sell jobs. In turn, such programs provide dealers with measurable results from their marketing efforts. “It’s easy to point to a group of contractor accounts [who are part of the loyalty program] and compare sales from one year to the next,” says Meehan.
To further assist builders and maintain pro loyalty to the dealer, Yellow Steel offers a program similar to Schneider Lumber’s: online access to marketing templates of business cards, fliers, and other materials through the client’s Web site. “It adds value to the relationship between the pro yard and the contractor,” Meehan says.
Such initiatives, he says, enable dealers to attend to their major accounts without ignoring—and perhaps losing—smaller-volume pro customers. “Dealers know they are missing that opportunity because the sales staff isn’t calling 80 percent of the customer base,” he says. “If the program can drive only one or two more jobs from that huge group, it’s a great investment.”
Paying the Price The decision to make the investment with outside help or through an in-house position varies from dealer to dealer, typically depending on the goal of the branding efforts, the dealer’s budget constraints, and the availability of an outside company that knows the industry.
When Parr Lumber recognized that it needed to—and could—recapture retail business in the markets it serves, the dealer did what seemed logical: it hired an ad agency. “We spent a breathtaking amount of money and it was a huge mistake,” admits Bond.
