How to Sell Building Materials to Big Builders

Do you strike out when trying to sell your product to big home builders?

Lots of building material companies do, and it’s often because they assume they know how the builder’s operations work.

Big builders run very complex operation with a lot of parties, firms, staff and contractors involved. It’s hard to get a complete sense of what their world is like unless you spend some time in.

Don’t Rush to Purchasing

One thing I learned when I interviewed Pat Wilkins is that building material salespeople don’t spend enough time with the builder before trying to sell to them.

Building material companies need to get their customer’s purchasing department to approve of their product, so they figure the first thing they should do is reach out to purchasing.

The problem with purchasing is that they’re not concerned with how great your building material product is. What they really care about is keeping costs low. When you’re trying to make a profitable sale a quality product, the last thing you need is to put all the decision-making power in the hands of a cost-.

Visit the Job Site

Instead of reaching out to purchasing, go right to the builder’s job site. Get a feel for the kind of work being done there, for the kinds of problems they face and what they need to keep a project running smoothly.

Once you understand what these major building projects need, you can use that information to sell your product to construction managers. They care about quality and the benefits of using your product, not just the price tag.

And you don’t have to worry too much about purchasing. If the construction manager insists on using your product, they’ll sign off on it.

For more insights on selling to big builders, check out my post for more lessons I learned from my interview with Pat Wilkins.

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