TALKING POINT
TALKING POINT
“THE MISCONCEPTION IS WE MAKE HUGE MARGINS”
D&M Tools director Paul Dowding talks about the real cost of the obsession with price and why independents need to share their secrets to succeed
“People can be really focused on price. As a retailer, we can’t be the cheapest in Twickenham but, in my opinion, the cheapest is not always the lowest price. Someone might ask me ‘what’s the cheapest drill you do?’’ and I would say ‘it’s the one that lasts you the longest’. You buy cheap, you buy twice. It’s all about value for money. We would talk customers down or up and would always talk someone out of buying the wrong product. It’s about trust. We’re in it for the long haul. If you tuck up all your customers, you’ll have nothing left. Customer service is not complicated, you’ve just got to do the right thing. Of course, there is a line that you generally don’t cross with price. The misconception is that we all make huge margins. The retailers who survive are well-funded, organised
and well managed, so that they are in a position to plough resources back into the business. Would I open a power tools business now? No. You have to sit on a lot of stock as a retailer. If you had that amount of money, why would you go into retail? Staff at trade counters like Screwfix don’t know what’s in the box when they’re selling a product. They won’t open it up and show a customer – you’d have to buy it first, open it and, if it isn’t right, you then return it and get your money back. Our staff know what’s in the box. If there are no independents left, there will be no box to look in.
If these few main multiple retailers win out the market, how big will their desire be to be competitive then? A healthy market is vibrant with lots of diversity.
Succession planning
Succession planning We promote from within and nurture talent. Our operations manager Ian has been here for 13 years. There is a natural progression in our team and that team has grown. Our sales manager has been in the business for 35 years and he knows his stuff but we need to think about bringing younger people through in the business. That’s why we train internally. We’ve also still got a lot of family members in the business, including my wife, daughter, sister and niece. These are the people who will continue to take the business forward. I firmly believe that we are just the custodians of the business and then you pass it on. A lot of indies are very secretive about what they are doing and don’t want to let people in incase they don’t stick around and then take that
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RESEARCH IS KEY TO SUCCESS FOR BORD NA MÓNA
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information with them when they go or set up on their own. If you pay your staff well and they can see a future with you, they will stay. Mind you, a lot of indies are closing down but it’s not always because they haven’t got a succession plan. Times have changed. Margins have gone out of the business and the gamble is greater. In some instances you get that developer come along and offer the right money and maybe there isn’t that same drive or love to continue.”
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