Why Speed Matters for Building Materials Companies
Mark Mitchell
Building Materials Sales and Marketing Growth Consultant. Win and keep more customers to grow your sales
A lot of people in the building materials industry believe that their customers really care about price.
What they don’t realize is that customers care a lot more about speed.
It’s not because builders and contractors don’t care about money. They do. They’re just aware that delays can cost a lot more than any cheap product could save them.
These days, customers are looking to build smart instead of building cheap. They want to find ways to reduce waste and eliminate efficiencies, even if that means a slightly higher cost up front.
Because of that, the slower building materials companies are being edged out.
The Need for Speed vs. the Need for Control
Why are some building materials companies giving customers the speed they need while others are slowing them down?
It mostly comes down to control.
When there’s a big need for control at a company, the staff can’t help customers quickly. They wish they could, but their hands are tied.
Everyone the customer talks to has to go ask someone else for permission to help them.
Simple questions have to be passed on because the person who picked up the phone or answered the email doesn’t have the authority to give an answer.
That kind of inefficiency doesn’t sit well with customers who are used to Amazon levels of convenience. The more steps it takes for you to answer a question or fulfill a request, the less likely the customer will want to buy from you.
Empower Your Employees
Thankfully, there’s an easy way to speed things up so you can stop delaying your customers.
All you have to do is empower your employees. Give them the authority to answer customer questions and fulfill their requests.
That extra efficiency will impress your customers and it will even keep your costs down. Imagine how much more productive your workers will be if they’re not wasting time sending customer requests up and down the chain.
If you’re wondering why your sales aren’t as high as thy should be, check your speed. If you’re slowing down your customers, do what it takes to rev things up.
Area Process Improvement Manager, Georgia-Pacific
4 年Empowering employees and granting authority requires managers to also accept the inevitable mistakes and to refrain from the temptation to Monday morning Quarterback. Rather, translate this to a learning opportunity and build competence and confidence.
The late Gerry McCaughey passed away peacefully at home after a short, brave fight with cancer on October 18th 2023. CEO @ OffSite Tek, LLC | Entrepreneur, Green Consultant
4 年It’s so simple “Time Is Money”
Principal Building Scientist at Built Environments
4 年Valid points on the manufacturer side. It is simply not often that simple though. Amazon average material sale price is $10-$100, building products can easily go to the $75,000 or more a sale. Takes a different level of decision marking there than the one that is often answering the phone initially. Still good food for thought as always Mark.