From our perspective, not every siding product should be an area of investment for the pro dealer. Some products like brick and stucco/EIFS are best suited for masonry yards. And some products like polymer shake/shingle are too small in volume to make any significant impact. However, lumberyards account for only 10% of total outlet sales for vinyl siding which has 34% of the siding market. As an alternative to wood, engineered wood or fiber cement, vinyl—or a premium cellular vinyl—could round out a lap siding product offering. Match it up with cellular trimboard already being sold extensively through lumberyards and you’ve got another complete siding package to offer your customer.
But, as we’ve learned in a recently completed survey with siding contractors, what and how to sell to the professional market are both critical elements for dealer success. Principia found that the top factors for a contractor when selecting a dealer involved price, product choice and the level of service delivered.
Commonly cited factors related to product choice include product breadth and availability. Stocked inventory equates to product availability, since the building pro is balancing lost or idle time with expectations from homeowners to get the job done quickly. As important as having product available, it’s also having the right product available, that is, the range and number of brands and products offered. But dealers can’t carry every product, so it’s a matter of knowing what the local market wants and even carrying a differentiated product to give the contractor a competitive advantage in the market against competition when bidding work.
Like many surveys, it’s not surprising to see price at the top of the list of contractor responses. Competitive pricing, however, doesn’t necessarily mean the lowest price as we teased out of the responses. Everybody needs to make money and sometimes buyers and sellers have to be reminded of this very basic rule of doing business. Find the right value proposition around your product and service offering, and price becomes just another part of the overall buying equation.