LANDSCAPING Face to face fixes for fencing sales
It’s not all about the internet: good old-fashioned, personal service still counts when it comes to selling fencing products.
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n today’s fast-paced and increasingly internet- driven business world it seems the trend is to become a faceless trading organisation that is simply price-driven and ‘reliable’. But is that what builders’ merchants really want or need their suppliers to be?
No one would deny that builders’ merchants who offer a good price and an efficient operation are going to win and retain customers says Grange Fencing commercial director Paul Taylor. “There is no substitute for being able to provide really solid product knowledge and advice. How else can builders’ merchants hope to add value, up-sell and cross- sell if they are simply acting as order-taker?” This is where suppliers can help he believes, by providing proper product training, and advising stockists on what customers and end-users want. “In the decorative garden structures market this is particularly important. For example, the trend for creating ‘outdoor rooms’ has really taken off, with homeowners looking for ways to zone the garden into specific areas for relaxation, entertainment, growing vegetables and more. Builders’ merchants should be able to rely on suppliers like us to advise on these types of trends and to provide advice on which products will therefore provide the optimum sales opportunities, all backed up with good quality product training” he says.
Taylor adds that achieving all this requires a high level of face-to-face personal service,
which Grange believe is going to be increasingly important in the landscaping market. “This is because it is those builders’ merchants who arm staff with specialist product knowledge that will acquire a competitive advantage going forwards. Our goal is to ensure that our builders’ merchant and timber merchant customers become so proficient in advising their own customers that their specialist advice becomes invaluable.”
It is not just instilling product knowledge that builders’ merchants require of their supplier, Taylor continues. The other key area of support is that of assistance in implementing educational and inspiring product displays. “Builders’ merchants can benefit from some good cross-selling opportunities if lap panel fencing options can be made to tie in aesthetically with decorative garden structures such as arches, arbours, gazebos, screen and trellis. Here at Grange we not only advise on how to create a good product display, but we provide practical, hands on assistance on-site to achieve that.”
Mark Dando, category manager of Landscaping Products at Ridgeons agrees. He says: “Grange’s sales representative is well-known to all of our branches. She offers in-depth training on the company’s range of products, which we find very useful. As regards product displays, there’s a good Grange display offering at most of our branches. The most recent was completed in May this year at our
Saffron Walden branch. We commissioned an external design team in order to create a large external display of landscaping products which complement each other well. At the beginning of this process Grange worked with our proposed design and a professional landscaper we had selected and they were able to recommend the best products to use. The display features Grange’s fencing, an arbour, a pergola and an arch alongside a stunning paving display. The display has been well received by our customers as it showcases some excellent products and demonstrates what can be achieved with a little creative thinking.” The twenty-year guarantee against wood rot and decay is the longest of its kind available. This is achieved by using an advanced pressure treatment to impregnate the timber structure with preservatives, as opposed to the hitherto traditional method of simply ‘dipping’ the product. The resulting long-lasting protection means that contractors’ customers will not need to re-treat the fencing year on year, thereby offering them a good cost saving. Taylor says that is a great differentiator for builders’ merchants aiming to grow their share of the lap panel fencing market because it provides a great sales message for drawing in and retaining contractor customers. “I would say that whilst the internet has brought many advantages in business, and certainly ecommerce has its place, when it comes to building understanding of our customers’ needs and helping them to optimise opportunities there is simply no substitute for good old fashioned face-to-face customer care. People still like to deal with people, and that suits the Grange ethos just fine.”
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www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net September 2018
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