PEOPLE 10 MINUTES WITH: ANDY PHILLIPS Sales Director at IRSAP
What is your current role and what does it ential?
My ultimate focus is managing the sales team to ensure our merchant partners are equipped with the knowledge, tools, and support, to help drive sales.
You do have quite a large merchant base, especially with multiple brands – how do you ensure they all have exactly what they need?
We pride ourselves on the close relationships we form with our merchant base and this means we can offer enhanced and meaningful support. Our expertise in the market means we can assist with and provide guidance for any order and we are able to supply a wide range of tools to aid sales – whether that be point of sale, brochures, product training and demo days. We are keen to support as much as we can – including not only providing quotes, but also delivering product direct to site. Our sales force can visit the installation themselves on the merchant’s behalf, securing the sales for the merchant whilst also freeing up valuable time for the merchant to continue running their business.
Finally, thanks to the product warranties we offer, merchants are able to provide added reassurance to their customer base when selling our products. Our membership of MARC and BS EN442 certification further demonstrates our commitment to the industry and standards.
Tell us more about the sales network – is this a recent addition to the IRSAP business strategy?
As mentioned, we pride ourselves on the close relationships we form with our merchant network. We listened to feedback from merchants and as a result, changed our sales structure from a third-party agent model, to a fully employed, national sales team.
Fully trained and solely employed by IRSAP, these representatives focus on our brands and our brands alone. In addition, two of our Regional Sales Managers are ex-agents – so they have been able to pass their experience and knowledge on to the new hires, making training and offering comprehensive feedback much easier whilst also providing continuity.
Our sales representatives are now able 10
to focus solely on their customers to create tailored plans and forge long-lasting connections.
Has the feedback from doing this been good?
It’s been excellent. Our merchant partners wanted a team that was more focused and could support them with customer queries. Our sales team have been able to offer this more precise and tailored service as a result. The new sales model is very positive and we are excited at how this will unfold as the industry returns to work following a challenging few months.
How is the merchant landscape at present, following ever-changing government guidelines?
Obviously, Covid-19 had a huge impact on the merchant sector, as it has across the board. And even before then, there has been plenty of talk about adapting as the customer begins to shop in new and different ways, namely via online shopping.
However, I am very pleased to report our sales force are finding our merchants are re- emerging from what has been a very difficult and challenging environment. We have found some merchants adapting fast and hard to the current market – and as such, they’re enjoying strong successes.
Is there any other advice you can offer merchant and showroom partners? We are extremely focused on educating the market on legislation and protecting the sector. It is the merchant’s legal responsibility to comply with legislation, and to sell radiators that are compliant to BS EN1442 – however unfortunately there are manufacturers that flout the law and, intentionally or not, this will hurt the merchant if they’re caught unaware by misleading or outdated figures. IRSAP is a member of the Manufacturers Association of Radiators and Convectors (MARC). I recently was appointed as its Deputy Chair and this is something we as a company, and I personally, take very seriously. MARC membership demonstrates our commitment to our partners, and we do our best to educate them on what they should be looking for when stocking with any radiator or convector company, not just ourselves. BMJ
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