Tips for Dealers and Wholesalers: To Succeed in a Down Market, Revisit Best Practices
By Marty Van Doren Executive Vice President, Builder Direct and Wholesale Channels, MasterBrand Cabinets
It’s not surprising that dealers and wholesalers are looking for ways to succeed in today’s housing market.
We are in the throes of a housing downturn that is shaping up to be the worst in a generation, according to The State of the Nation’s Housing, a report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. The falloff in housing starts, new home sales and existing home sales rivals the worst downturns of the post-World War II era, and home price declines and mortgage defaults are the worst on records that date back three decades or more, the report shows.
Fortunately, for cabinetry dealers and wholesalers who supply the housing industry, all the tools to succeed are right in your back pockets. Now is the time to reach in and pull out your best practices.
Get Back to Builder Basics
While builders might tell you that their needs have changed and that price is the No. 1 factor in cabinetry, this really isn’t the case. At the end of the day, when times are tough and builders are trying to drive down their hard costs, they need a supplier that consistently delivers.
True, price might be top-of-mind, but in terms of what really happens at the job site, builders want a supplier who makes things happen. It all comes down your ability for your and your supplier to deliver on “The Four Basics.”
Deliver On-time. If there ever was time when the phrase, “time is money” made sense, this is it. One of the hallmarks of Aristokraft is our reputation for on-time delivery. Our customer service representatives are ready to work with you, whether it’s coordinating with our logistics department or tracking down lost or damaged freight.
Deliver Complete. To best execute at the job site, builders have to be able to get all the materials they need. Any missing piece or part can delay getting a home finished on time. By delivering complete, you’ll gain builder confidence for future business.
Quality That Meets or Exceeds Expectations. It’s easy to deliver on quality when you offer Aristokraft Cabinetry. Our products proudly bear the Good Housekeeping Seal. Our wide variety of quality construction features and upgrades also ensures that our cabinets are built to last.
Deliver Fashionable, Competitively Priced Products. Aristokraft scours the globe, tracking the latest design trends and influences, and translates them into dynamic product lines, year after year. We’re able to incorporate these trends into cabinetry at affordable prices for today’s cost-conscious consumers.
Wholesaler Strategies
On the wholesale level, now is also a good time to revisit best practices and perhaps to embrace new ones.
For example, some of the most successful wholesalers we work with are getting through these tough times by diversifying their businesses. They no longer rely only on production home builders, but are expanding into services such as remodeling and installation, or are focusing on multi-family dwellings in addition to single-family homes.
Many wholesalers are also bundling products into “menu” offerings, making it easier for their customers to make choices. Instead of offering a list of individual products to choose from, they are grouping items such as cabinetry, countertops and other products that go into kitchens. For example, a menu could include “Package A” that includes basic cabinetry pieces, plus countertops, hardware, etc., while “Package B” could offer these basics plus upgrades.
More than ever, in these changing economic times, it never hurts to bolster your business and build a solid foundation for the future by putting more legs under the stool. Success isn’t just about offering great cabinets; it’s about offering great cabinets and the added hustle that helps buyers choose them and use them.
By taking this more holistic approach, you’ll be selling more than cabinets — you’ll be selling solutions.
