Back to basics: dealers with top-notch installed sales programs share some fundamental business traits

Prosales, August, 2003 by Mike Butts

Installed sales. Is it an opportunity to expand your bottom line or a threat to your profitability? It depends on how well you implement the program. It's no surprise that while there are literally hundreds of dealers across the country offering installation services, there are at least as many different ways of approaching the business; however, the most successful dealers all share some very similar traits:

Commitment. Everyone in the company is committed to the success of the program. Additionally, the opportunity for growth and the added value of the company's service has been well communicated and ingrained into the corporate culture.

Dedicated staff. The most successful installed sales programs have a dedicated staff, starting with an installed sales manage. This individual does not have a multitude of additional duties to perform, thus enabling him or her to devote 110 percent of their effort to the management of the installed sales program. Moreover, many dealers have realized the necessity of providing additional inside support staff to coordinate the numerous administrative details within an installation program.

Good contractor relationships. This issue cannot be stressed enough. To support an installed sales program, you absolutely must maintain excellent relationships with contractors. Regardless of the type of installed sales being offered, contractors serve as either subcontractors or customers of your program. In either case, maintaining open lines of communication is an absolute necessity. You also must constantly survey customers--whether builders or homeowners--to ascertain whether an installation program is working for them, what they think of it, and how it could be improved.

A dedicated management system. The process of offering installed sales is different from selling commodity lumber and building products via normal retail channels. Hence, you must implement a different management system designed to handle the complexity of installations. This system needs to track the demographics of customers, job schedules, estimated margins, actual margins, individual labor components, total material costs for the jobs, additional costs associated with projects (landfill costs, building permits, etc.), and many other details that are not normally tracked through a point-of-sale system.

Superior customer service. If implemented properly, installed sales is a service that will differentiate you from the competition and provide a very strong advantage. But to be effective, superior customer service is mandatory. Nothing else will get the job done right.

Continuous business development The most progressive companies in the industry are always looking for ways to expand their businesses and remain on the cutting edge. They realize that complacency is the death bell for any business, and the same holds true for an installed sales program.

Well-trained employees. Installed sales leaders implement continuous employee development programs to train and educate the work force. Each employee must be well versed in the difference between "project" and "product" selling.

All of these characteristics may seem obvious and simple, but they are vitally important because they can make the difference between an installed sales program that exceeds expectations and one that merely survives.

Mike Butts is the vice president of the Michigan Lumber and Building Materials Association. 517.394.5225. E-mail: mike@mlbma.org.