PARTNERSHIPS IN ACTION
CEMENTING PARTNERSHIPS
Quinn Building Products picked up three NBG Supplier Awards for 2019 and talk about how working together with NBG has maximised sales.
Q
uinn Building Products and National Buying Group have announced an extension of the cement exclusivity deal which was first agreed by the two parties in 2018 and then extended at the begining of last year. In essence, Quinn’s Master Grade product in plastic bags will only be available in Great Britain to NBG merchants for the next two years.
Quinn’s cement range, including their Master Grade cement, was launched in early 2018 when the company introduced three new bagged cement products, all of which are available in both paper and weatherproof plastic bags. The new extended product range included Master Grade, Premium Grade and General Purpose Cement. To date, Master Grade has been solely available to NBG merchants thanks to the exclusivity deal which was announced upon launching the product, and which was extended for a further 12 months at the start of 2019.
Quinn’s GB Sales and Marketing Director, Lee Gillman, says: “There is no doubt that our partnership with NBG has made a significant contribution to the success of our bagged cement range, and our Master Grade product in particular, so we’re delighted to agree an extension to our exclusivity deal with NBG to supply to their merchant members. “Sales have substantially increased since we extended our product offering, with Master Grade sales exceeding expectations. We’ve had great feedback from merchants about the quality of the cement, which has proven to be very popular with their customers. Builders and Plasterers in particularly love working with Master Grade, largely down to the workable texture and cohesive mix.”
“The whole deal came about because, although we had been toying with the idea of developing cement in a plastic bag for some years, we knew that it would require a substantial investment and obviously we needed to know how quickly we would see a return on that investment if we made it,” Gillman explains.
The conversation that Quinn had with the NBG Category Management Team was basically, around the concept of developing a line of cement products that woud be exclusive to NBG Partners. “They were really responsive to our plans and said that they really wanted to work with us. We knew that if we could get the group to guarantee us a certain tonnage of their cement sales, then we could make a go of the investment.”
The company was ultimately trying to drive the deal through to the smaller NBG Partners, Gillman says. Those who don’t want to tie up their money in huge stocks of one product as that affects their cash flow. “These are the guys who want to order cement every two weeks along with other products. So the conversations continued between us and NBG and eventually we came to the agreement that we would supply our Master Grade plastic-bagged cement to NBG Partners and only to NBG Partners. That’s something we had never done before. But we realised that it would give us a really good stronghold. We knew that
16
we wouldn’t get all of the cement business from all of the 85 or so Partners of course. Nor would we expect to. But we realised that we could get enough business to make it worth our while making the investment.
“We promised NBG that we would keep a very even and clean playing field. NBG didn’t guarantee us a certain volume, but they did say that if we worked together with the members there would be benefits for both parties. And they were right,” Gillman says.
“We sat down with the Category Management Team and said: ‘this is what you want and this is what we can deliver. These are the areas we want to work on.’ We haven’t sold the product to any other buying group or any other customers - even when we have been asked to. Together, we and our NBG Partners have grown our businesses. We haven’t own-branded it, we have kept the Quinn brand because then it ties in with all the other Quinn products that they buy, but we sell it exclusively through the NBG Partners. The real thing is that we have done what we said we would do. To the point where we have just signed another two year deal with them and we are even looking at putting another line on in the factory. We’ve maximized our sales and those of our NBG Partners that much.”
Quinn’s partnership with NBG has gone beyond the supply of products and exclusivity deals, as the pair have worked closely together for over 12 months on the development of Genius by Quinn, the new app for merchants.
The Genius by Quinn app has been designed to provide a practical and functional solution to Quinn’s merchant customers, who will have real time order and delivery tracking and access to all product information and documentation on their handheld device. The app also features useful tools, such as the product convertor tool and easy access to the Technical by Quinn team, all of which are designed to help the Partners sell more Quinn products. NBG Partners, many of whom were heavily involved in the research, design and testing stages of the app’s development, will also enjoy exclusive access to Genius by Quinn initially.
Quinn’s commitment to NBG Partners saw them pick up three Supplier Awards, including the overall Brand of the Year Award. Quinn was also named Brick and Block Supplier of the Year and Quinn Cement won General Build Supplier of the Year, with a second-place finish in the Roofing and Insulation Supplier category.
January 2020
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
