Wholesaler Guide Stop the drift: B


ranch managers are pulled in every direction: grow sales, protect margin, keep stock on the shelf, hit budget and solve today’s problem before it becomes tomorrow’s complaint.


All of that happens while customers challenge price at the counter, on the phone and on every quote.


Margin rarely disappears in one big decision. It drifts away in small ones, made daily: a discount given before anyone checks the comparison, a special price that quietly becomes the standard price, a loyal customer still getting last month’s price. The branch stays busy. The margin line doesn’t.


Margin drift is behavioural Most branches already have a pricing system, a discount structure, an approval process. None of it matters much once a customer says, “Is that your best price?” or “I can get it cheaper elsewhere.” Trade customers are tuned to challenge price. It’s part of the buying ritual, not necessarily a genuine objection. They ask because, often enough, the person across the counter backs down. That’s rarely carelessness, it’s a lack of training and becomes a behaviour customers pick up on. Discounting is the fastest way to end an awkward conversation. Do that often enough, and drift becomes how the branch operates.


A branch running 25% gross margin that gives an unplanned 5% discount needs roughly a quarter more sales volume just to stand still, margin earned back the hard way.


Price rarely wins, when customers are honest


I used to ask customers a simple question: if you could only choose one, what matters most, stock availability, service, price or product quality? The first answer was almost always, “I want all of them.” Pushed to choose just one, they rarely chose price. Tradespeople need more than a cheap product: the right item, in stock, at the right time, sold by someone who understands the job. A few pounds saved counts for nothing if the part isn’t there, the spec is wrong or the job stalls.


Make the branch worth choosing Every branch manager should be able to answer one question without hesitating: why should a


24 | electrical wholesaler September 2026


Pricing control starts at branch level How branch managers can protect margin without damaging customer relationships.


customer buy here rather than ten minutes down the road?


The answer might be reliable stock, technical knowledge, fast turnaround, dependable delivery or the confidence that problems get sorted without a fight. It can’t just live in the manager’s head. The whole team needs to know it and use it when a customer pushes on price. Without that, staff fall back on the one lever they know works: knocking a few quid off.


Train the response


Nobody should be expected to hold the line on margin without being shown how. Instead of reaching for a discount, staff can ask: “Is that the same product, same spec?” “Can they get it to you today?” “Does that price include delivery?” These questions don’t put a customer off. They slow the conversation down enough to make the comparison honest. The goal isn’t to win an argument, it’s to put value back into the conversation before price does the talking.


Build control into the routine Pricing discipline shouldn’t rest on the manager signing off every order. Staff need clear boundaries: where they can negotiate on their own judgement,


when a price needs approval and which accounts need closer scrutiny.


Each week, the manager should pull a handful of quotes/sales notes and ask: Why was that price agreed? What did the customer challenge? What value did we explain? Would we make the same call again? This isn’t about catching people out. It’s about spotting where confidence or discipline is slipping.


Discount on purpose


The strongest branches don’t refuse every discount. They discount on purpose, knowing where to compete hard, where to hold the line and where to walk away. Their teams can tell a customer testing the price from one genuinely about to buy elsewhere.


Margin doesn’t disappear on the monthly report. It disappears at the counter, on the phone, in the fifteen seconds before someone agrees to a discount they didn’t need to give. Train the behaviour. Promote the difference. Control the drift. That’s where branch margin starts to come back.


Nick Summers is the founder of Business Growth Coaching, a specialist coach in the trade merchant sector with over 25 years’ experience.


ewnews.co.uk


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