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Partnering Moore Supply and Grand Hall


Leveraging their strengths creates a winning partnership


By Mary Jo Martin Editorial director


J


eff Joyner of Moore Supply’s Mesquite, Texas, Profit Center has been in the plumbing


wholesale business a long time. And he knows that contractor acceptance plays a huge role in whether a wholesaler has success with any product line. About 10 years ago, Moore added


to their water heater offering with a tankless line, and then in 2007, began partnering with Grand Hall. Profit center manager Joyner was intrigued by the unique design of the Eternal Hybrid Classic models, which he ini- tially learned about from one of his contractor customers. “Evan Ford of The Plumbing Con-


nection has been a loyal customer of ours for years,” Joyner noted. “Evan really sold me on the idea of the Eter- nal Hybrid line, emphasizing what a great product it was, and how easy it was to install. Soon, another cus- tomer started talking about the prod- uct, and I met with Marc Platten, who, I had previously worked with and is now a regional sales manager for Grand Hall. He really validated who Grand Hall is as a company. Marc invited us to bring customers to tour their facility and become more familiar with the uniqueness and ben- efits of their products. Once I saw their demonstration of the product, its performance and output, it was a ‘wow’ for me. I felt like it had great potential for Moore Supply and our


customers in this market. The Eternal Hybrid water heater is


a uniquely patented product that Grand Hall vice president-product and marketing Paul Home often de- scribes as a “best of both worlds blend” between traditional tankless and tank-type units. With super high 98% thermal efficiency, a typical family of four can expect to save be- tween $25 and $55 a month over an inefficient unit, Home noted. The units can be wall- or floor-


mounted with standard water connec- tors on top to save installation time. Easily vented with 2" Schedule 40


room in the engine bay versus a 2010 Chevy that is cramped with all the extra components. Contractors don’t have to worry about hooking the


“It’s kind of like working on a 1950 Chevy with plenty of


heater up to a computer to diagnose and service it.”


PVC pipe up to 35 feet or 3-inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe up to 100 feet, and flexible indoor, outdoor, direct vent or power vent conversions on the same unit. Thanks to thermostat and flow dual activation design, no mini- mum GPM is required to trigger the unit’s ignition, the unit’s built-in 2-gal- lon reserve tank means no start-up lag or “cold water sandwich.” The Eternal Hybrid is fully compatible with Wa- terSense low-flow fixtures, and can be


Moore’s Jeff Joyner and Grand Hall’s Paul Home flank a cutaway display in the Mesquite profit center’s counter area that illustrates how the Eternal Hybrid tankless water heater operates.


easily integrated with recirculation, hydronic heating and even solar appli- cations. It is also environmentally friendly, with ultra low emissions that leave almost no carbon footprint. Its recirculation system compatibil-


ity is one of the Eternal’s biggest sell- ing points, ensuring nearly instant and endless hot water, and saving the average family of four up to 13,500 gallons of water usage a year. Also, some metropolitan areas — including Dallas — are offering incentives to residents and businesses to conserve their water usage. The Eternal Hybrid recirculation-capable design is ideal for this, because not having to wait to get hot water means added conven- ience, and cost savings, for users. Home added that California “is


considering adapting a standard re- quiring water-saving technologies such as recirculation, in fact some California municipalities are already doing that.” A key contractor benefit is the way the Eternal Hybrids are vented. “Tankless units rely on very special


venting that is usually proprietary for those specific heaters,” Home ex- plained. “This venting is expensive, so that adds additional cost to the pur- chase and installation. Because the venting is not interchangeable, wholesalers and often contractors must carry extra inventory. And some recommend having an installation kit, which also adds cost. “While the Eternal Hybrid is a very


technical product, it is very easy in- stall, service and maintain. It has multiple installation options; uses simple and inexpensive PVC venting, which most wholesalers already carry in stock; and because we offer a lim- ited product line, wholesalers don’t have to make a huge investment in money or warehouse space to stock our product.” To that end, Grand Hall offers just


The counter area of Moore Supply’s Mesquite, Texas, profit center is a hub of activity throughout the day. Its trained and experienced professionals are dedicated to serving their contractor customers.


• Be sure to visit www.thewholesaler.com for web exclusive articles and videos! •


three models — the 145,000-Btu GU145(S) and 199,000-Btu GU195(S) models are designed to be used inde-


pendently, while the 199,000-Btu GU195(M) model can be used in a network system where multiple heaters are connected with a network cable so they can “talk” to each other. Joyner believed that first-hand ex-


perience would be a key selling point for the Eternal Hybrid units, so Moore Supply concentrated on en- couraging the primaries from con- tracting firms to install one in their homes.


“Through the Conquest program,


Grand Hall gives wholesalers credit for free units to offer our contractors,” he said. “We found that once someone installed and lived with the product,


•THE WHOLESALER®— JANUARY 2011


The Eternal Hybrid tankless water heater represents a successful high- ticket residential water heating prod- uct for Moore Supply.


they bought in — the units really sell themselves,” Joyner explained. “Once that happens, they become a team member in the effort to promote the product. It’s virtually like expanding the size of your sales force. You can’t beat word-of-mouth referrals. “It has given us our customers some-


thing to offer consumers that is unique, performs to the promised levels and does what it says it will do. And it works in virtually any application.” Joyner went on to note that one of (Turn to Hybrid... page 60.)


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