Recently, one of our favorite building materials resources, Venveo, interviewed a builder named Tom Benedict. Tom’s a busy guy and doesn’t have time for the standard manufacturer sales pitch.
Free Download: Guide to Effective Channel Incentive Programs
In this podcast, called How to Land Meetings and Win More Jobs With Builders, Tom lays out a few points for manufacturers to follow when targeting busy builders like himself. I found the podcast very enlightening. You should definitely give it a listen.
This podcast got me thinking–what other ways can manufacturers better target builders, end-users, and contractors better? Here are a few key takeaways I came up with from the podcast and how they might apply to inspiring loyalty to your brand.
1. Sell Through Existing Relationships
According to Tom, the best way to sell to a builder is through an existing relationship. For example, he says, if your product has something to do with a lumber yard, then go to a lumber yard and pitch the product to the owners of the yard. Any builder associated with that lumber yard may be more inclined to buy from that yard than from you, the manufacturer.
It’s a harsh reality, but often times, the customers you want to reach are averse to the direct approach. Another sentiment from Tom was that cold calling just doesn’t work. He’s too busy.
That’s why we often recommend out of the box efforts like Tom’s lumber yard suggestion when it comes to promoting a brand, product, program, you name it. Finding the point of influence in your channel that will resonate the most with your end-users is paramount to success.
2. There Is No “Higher Quality”
Another point from Tom was that many builders are actually happy with the quality of the products they use. It can be seen as somewhat abrasive, then, to start off with a pitch for a “higher quality” product. A recent email from Mark Mitchell confirmed this for me as well, stating that the average improvement of a “better” quality product is only around 5-15%. That’s not nearly enough efficiency to warrant making a huge change.
This point helps to bolster the argument for a more holistic relationship with your end-users. Instead of just bringing them in as customers, manufacturers can help these business-people become better at what they do.
Whether it’s a user-friendly eCommerce platform or an eLearning solution, tools like these can help customers become better on the job. This strategy can help build a relationship grounded in an emotional connection, rather than an impersonal transaction.
3. Research: Not Just Key, Essential.
As Tom says in the Podcast, it is essential for manufacturers to do their research on the builders that they are trying to sell to. Not every end-user does the same work or faces the same problems.
This brings up an interesting point for digital insights. Yes, you could have your sales reps go out and do some research on the website or use a data collection tool like ZoomInfo or DiscoverOrg.
But what if you could collect digital insights on the buying behavior of these builders? With enough data, you might be able to put together a serious portfolio of what these end-users are buying, when, and how often. You could then use these insights to find the best time to strike with your well-crafted pitch.
Check out another solution, called Snap2Claim, that we offer manufacturers looking for insights like this.
4. A Relationship Full-Circle
Finally, Tom brought up a problem that we’ve also been seeing affect the building material industry– a lack of available labor and a lot of turn-over. Plus, manufacturer sales reps often maintain their relationships with builders after their departure. This means that they could actually be pulling your current customers over to your competitors.
Tom laments that if you’re not maintaining that relationship in transition, you’re losing business. So, how do we counteract this? Well, much like we said before. Building your brand, not just the relationship your sales people have with their customers, to be a holistic resource for business insights and development is essential to keeping business in this point of transition.
Conclusion
Go listen to the podcast! While I’ve provided a few of my takeaways, the podcast is a wealth of information that any manufacturer would benefit from hearing.
If you want to learn more about what makes a channel incentive program successful, download out guide: The Definitive Guide to an Effective Channel Incentive Program.
