Direct hit: ABC Supply transforms customer service into customer support with an all-encompassing contractor direct-mail marketing program - With Honors

Prosales, Dec, 2002 by Chris Wood

The management team at Beloit, Wis.-based ABC Supply has two types of customers, says company advertising and sales promotion manager Jeff Garrow. First, there are the thousands of pro contractors generating almost $1.4 billion in sales for the roofing, siding, and windows wholesaler. Second, there's the sales force operating from 237 ABC locations that has to deliver on ABC's value-added promises every day. "Our secondary, internal customer is the store and the salesperson," explains Garrow. "They need to provide support packages to their contractors, but they don't have the time to put something like a direct-mail program together. Our job is to make it easy for them to deliver something to their customer."

With ABC's Target Mail contractor marketing program, the pro supplier hits a bull's-eye on both objectives, providing sales reps with a value-added account tool and contractor customers with an easy-to-use revenue generator. Just don't call it customer service. "For us, customer service is on-time, in-stock, fair-price, and treated-with-respect," says Garrow, who explains that those features should be automatic with every transaction. According to Garrow, ABC's Target programs run deeper into the idea of customer support, uniquely tailored for each ABC account to drive sales.

The business logic at ABC is hard to refute: Line your customer's pockets and watch your own sales grow. "Philosophically, our mission is to make it easy for our customers to do business," says Garrow. "A lot of the support that distributors and their salespeople provide to contractors can and should be very custom." But while the concept of support programs is easy to talk about, the implementation is often much more difficult, especially in a construction supply chain already stressed for time and resources. "Our objective is to systematize all of our support programs so they are simple to do and easy to use," answers Garrow.

Simple, indeed. Contractors in the Target Mail program fill out a one-page form, then ABC provides them with a customized, four-color mailer, emblazoned with the contractor's name, that offers potential homeowner clients a no-obligation home inspection. Eleven different mailers are available highlighting roofing, siding, window, or remodeling contractor services and featuring home designs ranging from Spanish to Colonial to Tudor to traditional aluminum-sided units. ABC handles all mailing services and provides a comprehensive follow-up package. "There's been a lot of attention on leveraging the manufacturer brand in our industry," says ABC's vice president of strategic marketing and planning Keith Rozolis. "But ABC wants to concentrate on branding the contractor, on taking care of some of the time-consuming activities necessary to professionalize them and build their business."

For contractors large and small, ABC will tailor the Target Mail program to suit individual market and business needs. "If a contractor doesn't have a message, this is a very powerful visual marketing piece," says Rozolis. "If a contractor is good on the install end, but shies [away] from cold-call sales, the program gives him a very non-threatening point of introduction." Realizing that many larger builders are already working on their own branding, ABC also offers just a list of client prospects (called the Target List), along with the follow-up package. All prospects in both programs are owner-occupied, single-unit dwellings over 7 years old. Mailings can be sent to four separate ZIP codes, allowing contractors to focus on new market penetration, drop mailings in proximity to a current job, or both.

Silver Bullets

The primary challenge ABC has had to overcome is an expectation from contractors that direct mail will provide an immediate and overwhelming response. "At best, direct mail shows a 2 percent return," says Rozolis. "So we tell contractors at the outset that the mailing is not the magic bullet--the magic bullet is in the follow up." Indeed, much of ABC's Target Mail program focuses on reminding customers of basic sales strategies, including how to prioritize and contact prospects, how to generate interest in the contractor's offering over the phone, and how much time the contractor should commit to each sales contact.

"Everybody knows that you have to do follow-up calls in a direct-mail marketing program," says Garrow. "But they're just like thank-you cards after getting a gift--nobody ever does it." To that end, ABC's follow-up package includes everything a contractor will need to get the most out of a direct-mail marketing strategy. The kit includes a sample of the contractor's mailer, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet of the mailing contacts, an appointment worksheet, and a list of sales tips with suggestions on how to handle follow-up calls.

ABC also makes the program simple for its other customer--the ABC salesperson. Target Mail programs can be sold to contractor customers for extra revenue, or expensed to the salesperson's ABC branch to offer gratis as a value-added service. Standard pricing begins at $80 for 100 mailers and 75 cents for each additional mailer. A comprehensive launch kit explains expensing and pricing procedures and boosts morale by reminding sales employees that the program helps to build stronger relationships with their customers while increasing business for their ABC location.