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When the going gets tough, the tough get going' and that's clearly what we've got to do now. While it's encouraging to hear some positive reports from both manufacturers and retailers at the mid to top end of the market there can be no escaping the fact that we're facing the most difficult time we've experienced in a decade.
It's not just the threat of a squeezed economy, declining consumer confidence and rising living costs. We're also facing a growing number of cheaper and sometimes inferior quality products reaching the UK market, plus the ongoing supply of counterfeit products. These are real obstacles. How can we compete?
We're not going to borrow bad luck and mention the ‘r' word, instead we must remain positive, be smart, improve, be innovative and look for new opportunities. It's a buyer's market out there and your customers certainly won't compromise.
Know your suppliers and the products you sell inside out and back to front, particularly if they're members of the Bathroom Manufacturers Association (BMA), as this guarantees a certain standing and quality, which you can communicate to your customers. Proudly boast that you only deal with credible organisations with quality products and services.
Hone your skills. As in sport, when you stop practicing and taking lessons, your game deteriorates. Your sales game is no different. It's time to sharpen your prospecting, preparing, questioning, presenting, closing, negotiating, follow-up, and creative-thinking skills. Today sloppy selling is an unaffordable luxury.
The BMA with its Rate Your Bathroom fact sheet questionnaire can greatly help with this and the Bathroom Academy offers affordable e-learning courses to boost your product knowledge and fine tune your expertise.
Review and follow up every existing account and prospect. Keep in touch with people and assume nothing. Your customers won't know all about you, your services, your new products, your competitive strengths. If they can't buy from you right now, use this time to build your reputation, so that you are the first call when conditions improve.
Connect with past customers. Make sure they're happy with what they got from you. Ask if they'll provide a testimonial or let a prospect visit their property to see the work you carried out. Seek recommendations.
Think creatively and network at events. Send attention-grabbing new-business letters. Read your suppliers' press and remain up to date.
Be positive! With the Government's ‘Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods, A National Strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society' and ‘Water Strategy - Future Water' there are opportunities for those who are smart enough to remain abreast of market developments.
The formula for surviving and even thriving in this turbulent time is simple - go back to basics, be disciplined, think creatively and differentiate yourself with superior training. Be the best you can be and earn some Bathroom Academy certificates to proudly display on your walls.
The BMA and the Bathroom Academy have everything you need to succeed. Visit http://www.bathroom-association.org/ and http://www.bathroom-academy.co.uk/ to find out more.
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