Go to the Decision Maker
Not all contractors are equal in the influence they exert over what builders will buy and install. Max Guetz, former president of Home Lumber in Colorado (now part of ProBuild), says purchasing managers are usually too unseasoned and bottom-line oriented to be open to trying new things, even if the products can save their companies money in the long run. “That’s why I always wanted to talk to the decision maker,” recalls Guetz.
Guetz says he relied on manufacturers primarily as the best sources for trends. And the role that manufacturers traditionally play in training dealers’ salespeople often becomes more pronounced when new products are rolled out. TimberTech, the deck- and rail-making division of Crane Products, is using co-op dollars to encourage dealers to conduct seminars to enlighten contractors about its new deck-lighting package that can add between $700 and $1,000 to the cost of the installed sale.
“The burden is on us to create demand for our products, and we understand that we need to convince dealers why our new products are going to sell,” says Kevin Brennan, TimberTech’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Without our distribution channel, we’d be nothing, because they know the end user better than we do.”
Huber’s products include its popular Zip wall sheathing system with a water-resistant barrier that eliminates the need for housewrap. “We spend a lot of time educating dealers on the building science behind our products, so they can speak intelligently and objectively to pro customers,” says Meredith Murchison, Huber’s Zip System general manager.
Her counterpart for AdvanTech, Charlie Robinson, adds that a dealer’s credibility with contractors and builders often comes down to how that dealer handles warranty issues. Huber conducts its own internal survey to produce a report card that evaluates the customer-service levels of dealers, distributors, and itself.
More than three-fifths of respondents to Hanley Wood’s survey said dealers play a very important role in their final purchasing decisions. Smart dealers aim to establish themselves as experts, so when they recommend new products, it sticks.
Sargent, of Advanced Building and Components, recalls that when structural insulated panels, or SIPS, first came onto the market, “I didn’t need prompting [from suppliers] to sell the product because I had used it myself.”
Before Frontier Lumber of Erie, Pa., introduces new products to its customers, “we do a lot of research,” says salesperson and designer Jeffrey Chambers, who has been with the company nine years. Frontier will even test the product itself. “When Azek [composite exterior trim] came to market, I personally spent hours milling and using the product on my home and several jobs,” says Chambers. “If you rely on manufacturer representatives and published materials for information, you still do not know enough.”
Woody says that when a new product doesn’t take off for Spencer Home Center, “it’s because we didn’t believe in it enough.”
Jason Coil, a contractor salesman for Kreofsky Building Supplies in Plainview, Minn., says contractors now trust his company’s judgment to narrow product choices to the best selection for their particular needs.
“When I believe a new product can help a contractor do a better job, save money, or reduce labor costs, I will do everything possible to get them to try it,” says Bud Passoni, an outside salesperson for Sammarco Stone & Supply of New Rochelle, N.Y.
That kind of commitment to a product can pay off, as Paul Evans can attest. Evans is business development manager for BMC West’s branch in Coppell, Texas. When that yard introduced the new Ultimate Casement Window by Marvin, it was the only local dealer carrying the window. That singularity, plus the product’s unique features, let BMC West’s salespeople “hit the road running,” says Evans, and get meetings with hard-to-reach builders.
–John Caulfield is a contributing editor to ProSales.