It’s time make the switch!
Welcome Back… time to remind everyone why we are here; and our points of difference. There is a bit to read but it’s worth it even if it only enlightens.
The future is here for getting things done faster and more efficiently than ever. Imagine quoting a job on site accurately and ordering all the parts you need in one place. Now with 3G Mobile Broadband more affordable than ever it’s easier to not only order what you want while the details are fresh in your mind but also to take customer payments and offer more options to pay you.
Mobile Credit Card and Eftpos facilities are available to some banks customers through their secure on line facilities ensuring that you get paid sooner.
Think about how much more you can achieve in a day without having to make sure you don’t miss shop opening hours. 10 mins on line can save you hours of running around in traffic, that’s what delivery drivers are for.
We are here to make sure prices are fair for all no matter if you’re a large operation or small – City or Country you shouldn’t have to pay extra because of where you live. Even if you decide to use us to check the prices and make sure that what you are paying is not a rip off, which a lot of people do. Some don’t feel entirely comfortable with ordering on line and we do understand, but please feel free to use us to check you’re getting a good deal.
While you check the prices make sure you compare “Apples with Apples” and check that the product price comparison includes a 10 year product warranty, if not make sure you make some time in the future to revisit the job under warranty – Murphy has usually got that covered.
Start paying the real price for your stock, not some hiked up – off shore driven, drought and downturn blaming price that no one can afford. The next excuse is the Aussie dollar – It’s already started in some parts of the country.
Delivered solutions, to your place, work shed or direct to site – orders are traceable and you’re kept in the loop as to when they are shipped and you can track them on line to better manage time and job coordination.
Backup service like no other, with products that have set the standard in product warranty of 10 years other manufacturers usually don’t want to know about problems after 10 minutes.
The lowest product return rate on failure in Australia, if we had a product range that kept failing then we wouldn’t be here.
One of the few “family owned” and operated wholesalers left in Australia suppling one of the last Aussie owned brands Australec. There are many faces to our European competitors make sure you keep our dollars here instead of going offshore.
No kickbacks, loyalty payments, cash back via redemption, no spotter’s fees… we are watching our competitors who have been involved in it.
The only people to benefit are the share holders of the companies involved. Wouldn’t you rather spend a little extra on your mortgage or someone’s dividend? It’s not something we are interested in.
You can be price point competitive without cutting your margins, stay ahead of your competition and increase your quality. Less time waisted on the wrong products means more jobs and turnover for you.
It’s time to switch to a new way of thinking so that no matter what happens in the year to ahead you’re working with a team of people who want to work with you to deliver better pricing, quality and service. -TOP-
Are you proudly used and recommended?
It’s always amusing to see a sign on a van or Ute with the statement “We use and Recommend… Brand xyz” the reason why it’s amusing is that there is lots of Brand xyz vehicles – there was never a mention of the trade’s person who was kind enough to have the Brand name on their vehicle.
A few questions you have to ask yourself:
Would Brand xyz do the same for me? Admittedly the amount of vehicles required would be ridiculous, that’s fine we have a solution with a permanent billboard campaign featuring you and your competitors too. You have gone to the trouble of getting permission to use their name, and profess to use and recommend them always – sounds a bit more like a bad marriage.
Don’t they chip in for the sign writing?
Yes, and some more than others… what? you went to all the trouble and got nothing but the privilege of having Brand xyz on display – your not alone.
Then if you are in the mob that got some or all of the sign writing costs back you should tell the ones that got nothing how you sorted that out from Brand xyz.
What’s truly amusing is how much money everyone has just forgotten to get out of brand xyz… money you say, yes cash you missed out on. Do you think that the nice people at the cab co. put signs on the car from their suppliers – you bet they do but it will cost the supplier about $500 per month.
So when was the last time someone said that they chose you because you use and recommend a particular brand? Honestly the public just don’t care.
The public care about the following: Licensed Trades Person doing the work, Prompt customer service, Reasonable Price, quality work, good warranty or back up service. Look of the product, colour, feel and finish all came before the Brand option.
So who are you working for? Are you spending a lot of time being a follower and promoting something that won’t promote you or grow your business?
Or would you rather increase your revenue, be cost competitive and increase the amount of enquiries that become jobs?
Save the space on the van, or better yet put it to good use and advertise a special or a service that puts you ahead of your competition? If you really think that having brand xyz on display will help – charge them for the privilege. Remember it’s not a privilege to use a particular brand it’s more the other way around. Without you they are nowhere, but they would have you believe you would be nowhere without them. -TOP-
Workplace Health and Safety officer’s red card non compliant site power distribution.
In recent times the Health & Safety people have been on the streets and handing out “red cards” and wraps over the knuckles with the correct and approved Australian Standard implement in the most compliant way possible.
Contractors are getting warnings for non compliant site electrical distribution boxes. This has lead to fines for non compliance and also one unfortunate builder getting an on the spot fine for what was deemed to be an “Extremely non compliant” distribution board. We agree that a lead from the outdoor power point next door running over the tin fence with no capping, to a domestic 4 way power board it's not the brightest idea.
So the fines and inspectors aside the far more important thing here is the fact that your team members should get to go home to their loved ones everyday. It is a terrible thing when workplace accidents happen and no one wants to go to work and never go home to their partner and kids.
If the fines and inspectors don’t bother you, would the preventable death of a co worker? If it’s only for that reason – it’s enough. Make sure that everyone who turns up to work on your site, gets to go home tonight too.
Remember it’s a small price to pay not to have to see tears in the eyes of a child who has lost a parent at work. -TOP-
Desperate times calling for dodgy tactics.
With the global credit crunch making it’s impact felt in every part of business, some companies are turning to dodgy tactics to hold on to market share.
There have always been kickbacks in the electrical industry, weather it’s to the wholesaler or the electrician or both. Now while those who are buying the volumes and getting them are happy, there has probably been little thought into just how companies can afford these “rewards” for brand loyalty.
Have a look at the price; you are paying for your own kick back – that’s why the prices are going up. These companies don’t give anything away it’s all built into the price at the end of the day.
You do have to wonder just how long, this long time practice can continue as the squeeze is put on for maintaining profits for these companies. While you may think that being brand loyal is getting you rewards like hats, jackets, trips and cash – remember it’s built into that nice minimum spend of $250 on one invoice or more.
There is nothing for nothing so why not keep that cash in your pocket in the first place? Surly you could put it to better use than getting a hat that is advertising anything but your own business.
The other nasty practice that has reared its head in recent times as companies fight tooth and nail for market share and your dollars – swap outs.
It’s a pretty weak practice in anyone’s book where the odd unscrupulous individual will offer contractors a deal. This deal involves swapping a competitor’s entire stock product that the contractor has or has just installed and in return they are offered double of the equivalent items in return.
We do have a good laugh when we hear about this sort of thing and promptly remind the person who is getting this deal the reason why they get 2 for 1 is that when the first ones fail they will be called back to replace them.
So don’t forget to ask for a little cash to cover your labour costs if you come across one of these deals, no doubt that you will be glad you did when you have to fix the install for the 2nd time due to poor products with little product support or warranty.
Got a comment on this article? Please send them to us via the contact us page.
Desperate times calling for dodgy tactics. -TOP-
Promote yourself for less
With the financial world sending every man and his dog nuts with talk of meltdowns it’s a bit daunting thinking about the future. There is the same amount of people competing for an ever decreasing pool of work, so it’s time to think a bit out of the box when maintaining the amount of jobs coming in.
A wise lady, in fact it was the lady who started the Colorado brand from the states in her later years once said “Early to bed and Early to rise but it always pays to advertise”.
She is dead right; it’s no good just being the best trade’s person about if no one knows about you. So how do you go about getting the awareness you want for less money and remain credible with potential clients?
There are a few ways to do this; remembering there is no one method or medium of advertising and promotion that is the “Silver Bullet”. Effective awareness is a combination of many media types (TV, Radio, Papers, Phone Books and word of mouth) but there are new items in the list of tools to help you get your name out there and at the top of everyone’s mind.
Use the internet but use it wisely. The net is a great way to communicate not just with email and newsletters, now with social networking and instant messaging it’s the way that the next generation communicate. If you ask someone in their early 20’s to look something up in the yellow pages, they probably couldn’t tell you what one looked like anyway.
Ask them to Google something, they are on to it faster than you reply to their email enquiry on your service.
Get a website, you don’t need to be some web tech person – most ISP’s give you web space part of your account so why not put a page together on your business and then register the domain ( www.netregistry.com.au) they will sort on how to point the name to your site and there you go 24/7 advertising that you were paying money for but never thought to use.
Turn customers into fans! Did you do a great job? Did the person say – “I will tell my friends about you”. Often the retention on this info about who did a good job for what and when, get’s lost in translation over the next 7 days. Research shows that people’s retention for details tapers off and becomes inaccurate after only a short period of time. Remind them on a daily basis – get magnets for their fridge, stickers for their car and a voucher to give a friend for a discount on their friends work.
Get them printed, the lowest cost way to get these sorts of magnets and vouchers printed is www.vistaprint.com.au you can also get business cards and heaps of other gear and it’s only going to cost you the freight in a lot of cases. These sorts of things turn customers into fans, because they have a point of reference to give people the right info. They will tell their friends “hang on I will get the number it’s on the fridge” and you will get the referral.
There are more ways and we want to hear from you – what are your tips to get your name out there? Email us and let us know.
Promote yourself for less -TOP-
Email enquiries go unanswered
In a recent survey it was found that almost all general enquiries and a lot of support enquiries to larger companies go unanswered.
Big business seems to be ignoring some basic common sense and manners, if some one asks a question it’s only polite to answer. It’s surprising that these large companies are like this, you might think that they would be setting standards in customer service that others would want to emulate but it’s not the case.
Our in house policy is that all enquiries are answered same day, usually within a few hours is the average but no question goes unanswered by the end of play for the day. On the weekends, we still try to respond as quickly as possible and at the latest it’s Monday morning for an answer. This only happens if our staff are out of blackberry range or unable to gain the right info until Monday morning.
Some Tips for dealing with enquiries on the email.
- Set up a tracking system for enquiries, your web dudes can sort this for you.
- Be quick to respond and NEVER dismiss any enquiry no matter what it’s about.
- Find the right answer, take all day if you need to but be right when you respond.
- Respond to every email the same day if possible. If not make an appointment with them to let them know when they can expect an answer from you.
- Check your spam folder, genuine enquiries go missing and marked as spam a lot these days, even we get caught on that one.
- If the answer is complex, call the customer. They will be very happy to hear that you have taken the time to deal with their concerns in person. Yes it does take time and effort but a great customer relationship is worth it in the long run.
- Use your manners, even if they don’t. A lot of people now just shoot through a question and that’s it. Reply with a personal greeting and thank them for their enquiry, answer the question and even make a suggestion then end with the offer to help them further if they wish and sign off with a “Kind Regards” or the like. -TOP-
More overseas manufacturers buy direct
Over the last 6 months we have seen a steady rise in the number of export sales to countries like Ireland, UK, Canada, Germany and the UAE. The first question you have to ask yourself would be what are they going to do with Aussie electrical products?
In almost every country there are differences in standards, voltages, plug designs and switches. So it’s fair to wonder why these customers are seeking Australian products.
We do ask each potential client about the products potential use and work with them to ensure that the product they are buying is going to be suitable for the intended application. One of our very first customers was actually from Ireland and purchased a particular product that was not available locally from other manufacturers. We supplied the product because specs matched the local ones and there was not going to be a problem with its use in Ireland.
Other buyers we have found to be making products for export to Australia and require higher quality options that are in keeping with their own product warranty of 5 years or more. It has been a surprise to us, that other suppliers were not (according to our clients) interested in helping overseas customers.
Finally there are other items which these customers are installing in their own projects locally and when asked about why they chose us and our products their answer was clear – “The products you supply are some of the highest quality in the world and cost less than others.” That was really nice to hear so we now include where possible a jar of Vegemite to send with orders going OS. -TOP-
