by tradesmeninsights | Sep 13, 2016 | Uncategorized
Today we have a guest post from Mark Mitchel of Whizard Strategy.
Building materials companies frequently only see the customer who is directly in front of their nose. They are laser focused on selling a builder, an architect, a facilities manager or even a homeowner.
In every one of these cases there is someone standing right behind them that you may not see. That person is the contractor. More specifically, it is the installing contractor.
Time and time again, I see building materials companies, with a great product, think they have a made a sale to their primary customer, only to lose the sale because of a contractor.
It’s easy to assume that contractors are working for your primary customer so they will do what the customer wants. That is frequently not the case.
Here’s Why Contractors Resist Change
- There is a shortage of labor so any good contractor is in demand and may turn work down or charge more, if it involves something new or different.
- Contractors see new ideas and products as change and change represents risk. It usually does not represent opportunity to them.
- Contractors can be very stubborn in their resistance to change. They and maybe even their Daddy has always used the same product and installed it the same way for years. Many of them also believe that buildings and homes are not built as well as they were in the past. To them, modern day construction practices and products are not necessarily better.
- New products mean the contractor will lose money. The contractor looks at a new product as having many places where they are going to lose money, for example:
- They aren’t sure how to estimate the project so they can underestimate it and lose money or they can over estimate it and lose the job.
- Their installers will have to be trained and the cost of that training will fall on them.
- Installers will take a longer time on the first few jobs, reducing the contractor’s income.
- There is a higher likelihood of a callback on the first few jobs, once again costing the contractor.
- Dealing with a new supplier is also time consuming, when he probably isn’t having a problem with his current supplier. (more…)
by tradesmeninsights | Mar 28, 2009 | Marketing Tools
How many times have you heard the sales department say sales leads are no good. What they are really saying is they may not be ready to buy now and therefore they aren’t a good lead (as defined by helping me make my numbers for the month).
Ironically, over 50% of all inquiries do have an interest level in what you’re selling, but aren’t ready to buy. What’s aggravating, according to research, is that 80% of not-sales-ready leads are being ignored!
Think about that for a second. If you could convert 10% of these down the road into sales, what would that mean for the company, not to mention the marketing department.
If you’re a manufacturer that makes left-handed widgets for a plumbing application, who in their right mind would inquire about that product unless they thought it would have some application in what they do. Just because they aren’t ready to buy on the spot doesn’t mean they aren’t a qualified lead. The prospect might want more info to see if the application is right for him. If it is, he might want a demo or want to read about how other professionals have used the product.
Angela Hribar, who is the CMO of GlobalSpec, a specialized vertical search information services and e-pubishing company, said in a recent article:
“Senior management can play a vital role in ensuring that a sales team understands the importance of prompt lead follow-up and what it means to business, more so now than ever. Responding to leads in a timely manner can result in increased sales, while delayed follow up can lead to lost opportunities and resources.”
Angela provides 4 tips for effective lead management:
- Assign responsibility. Make lead management a priority and assign someone who has authority and influence with both sales and marketing to be responsible and accountable for it.
- Respond appropriately. Create a central repository for leads, responding to leads in a timely manner, and distributing leads appropriately for follow-up.
- Distribute leads for proper follow-up. Define who is responsible for updating the status of a lead so that at any given time you can determine what’s working and what’s not in terms of lead generation and lead management.
- Monitor leads throughout the sales cycle. Marketing should take control of these (not ready) leads and “nurture” them by sending relevant information and offers: keep them interested with white papers, articles, product announcements, Webinar invitations and other useful information.
B-to-B clients spend billions on advertising activities to generate leads. You can’t afford to allow those leads to slip through the cracks if they are not yet ready to buy, especially in a down economy.
Read Angela’s article: Optimizing Sales Lead Management In The Industrial Marketplace
