If you play your cards right the sale of a piece of timber can be the start of a lifetime romance between you and the customer.
With the uses for timber growing year on year, the after care wood protection market is a fast-growing industry and there are now many products available to protect and decorate timber.
All sensible retailers will want to place themselves in a strong position to capitalise on this opportunity, by supplying quality products that satisfy the growing consumer demand. This is being encouraged by the number of lifestyle television programmes that are feeding the nation’s imagination.
So what can you, the retailer, do? The first thing might seem obvious but it is to establish a relationship with a quality manufacturer who is dedicated to continual product development and improvement. Its technical expertise and experience will prove of immense value both to you and your customers. Buy and sell quality products that your customers will want to buy from you again and again.
What many of you will be asking yourselves is which range to sell. Should you go for a market leader, where you know from the beginning that you are not getting the same terms as the sheds or the large national chains, or should you source your goods from a smaller specialised manufacturer of which there are several in the UK?
There are advantages and disadvantages in both routes. First, you risk getting continually squeezed on price until you start to consider whether there is any point in chasing a particular sale. On the other hand it may be the product that gets requested. Dealing with a smaller, specialised manufacturer should enable you to get good terms allowing you a reasonable margin. You will find that, compared with other aspects of your business that are high volume low margin, this business works on the basis of reasonable volume and reasonable margin. There is no way you can sustain yourself on the same margins that you get for your timber.
Stocking the right items is a nightmare, especially where colours are concerned for products such as woodstains or deck stains which come in a variety of colours. If you pick the wrong colour then you could be stuck with it! The reality is that most people still buy the traditional browns and, increasingly, greens. Other colours go through various phases of popularity.
The secret is reaching an agreement with your supplier that allows you to buy carton sizes, carriage paid. This gives you the flexibility to supply your customers’ needs without getting yourself into silly stocking positions that tie up capital. After a period of trading you will build up a profile of your customers’ tastes and you can then stock with confidence the goods that will move.
There are products such as general purpose wood preservatives that are more like commodity items and it is wise to establish a good trade price for these that reflects your general policy of offering value for money. Your business may involve your selling pre-treated preserved timber and you should ensure that the customer realises that all cut ends should be recoated – a fact that is often overlooked, to nobody’s advantage.
As part of the service you offer is education and advice, point of sale and good information are important. Your customer needs to be able to rely on you and you need to be able to rely on your supplier.
This business is no different from any other. It is about building relationships and repeat business based on a good service.
Brand recognition
Solignum is a brand which is part of the Osmose Group, the world leader in the industrial pre-treatment market.
Solignum, which started out selling a basic creosote-type product, was founded in the 19th century in London and is probably the oldest wood preservative manufacturer in the world. Over the years it has developed a deep understanding of the market’s needs, both in the UK and in many other countries. In Nigeria it is the generic word for wood preservative, very much like Biro and Hoover have become standard names in their industries.
Solignum has always been a trade brand, finding its natural home in independent timber merchants and builders’ suppliers, many of them family-run enterprises. Indeed, many of its customer relationships stretch back over 100 years.
