Breaking buyers' habits

One of the most common barriers to new sales cited by building product manufacturers is specifiers' unwillingness to change. So are they stick-in-the-muds or are suppliers failing to communicate effectively?

The honest answer is probably 'a bit of both' – with a helping of practical circumstance thrown in for good measure.

 

The problem

Let's start by looking at it from the architect's point of view. The fact that the majority of UK practices are small belies the wealth and variety of projects they'll undertake. Yet traditionally, many still rely upon word of mouth and a website to promote their services. New clients may be attracted by the practices' existing portfolio of work. They may come as a result of a friend or a colleague's recommendation. But whatever the circumstances, they'll often be influenced by whether or not the practice has already created something similar to what they have in mind. In some cases local planning restrictions may force the issue as regards the degree of similarity. And so the architect ends up using similar products, services or processes, because it's logical to do so.

Still on a local level, contractors can also play an important role in the specification process. Practices involved in smaller projects will often work with a roster of reputable local builders. They in turn may rely upon a limited number of builders' merchants for materials. If the local supplier doesn't stock an item the builder must either accept a delay or chose an alternative that is immediately available. One such architect we spoke to admitted that where supply was limited to one or two builders' merchants they often wouldn't bother specifying a product unless they knew it was kept in stock.

Finally, time spent researching new materials or processes is time not spent working on billable projects. As both creative and technical people architects can't help but be drawn to product innovation and new ideas. They just can't afford to spend hours researching them.

Few could argue that when explained in those terms specifiers might have a point. Change may disappoint the client, or affect planning consent, or cause delay, or increase costs. Fortunately, when decisions are based on practicality and logic however, there's always an opportunity to change minds!

The solution

Unlocking habits and mind-sets rarely involves just one key, so 'solutions' is perhaps more accurate:

Become an information resource

Small architectural practices (and small building firms) are busy places. Everyone has to do everything: selling, planning, office administration – as well as designing. There isn't much time to keep abreast of regulatory changes and product updates, and yet all specifiers recognise it as crucial. Both online and face-to-face CPD presentations are an effective way of transforming your technical staff from 'sales people' to 'information providers'. If your products comply with a proposed change in Building Regulations where others' don't, so much the better, but the most effective CPD seminars are about showcasing expertise in a way that is relevant to the audience. Architects have a duty of care and will thank you for good advice. If, in addition, you help them solve a problem, their trust and loyalty will follow.

The RIBA CPD Providers Network offers practical guidance on how to use CPD to best advantage. Its rigorous assessment standards also ensure that any organisation offering RIBA-assessed CPD is immediately taken seriously by specifiers.

Improve availability

Easier said than done, we know. Except that there are ways of improving availability that don't involve overhauling your distribution network. Your technical pages in RIBA Product Selector and ribaproductselector.com may include details of how your product is packaged and delivered (and if not, they really should), but do they cover the issue of ordering in smaller quantities? Do you offer next day on-site delivery? Is the telephone number provided a dedicated sales hotline? Can the operators give technical advice?

Be easy to find

All research shows that specifiers rely heavily upon printed directories and the Internet for new product information. Your website may include details of your product range, but has it been optimised for individual products? Both RIBA Product Selector and its online counterpart have been developed and refined across many years. Pages in ribaproductselector.com have been categorized, not only to improve site-wide search, but to dovetail with the search functions of all major search engines. As a result more than 50,000 pages are now listed on Google alone. How well do your products rank?

Don't forget the important role that CPD can play here too. Most specifiers don't necessarily start out looking for a product so much as a solution. Pages on ribacpd.com are also optimised, so make sure the titles of all your online CPD presentations include the same words an architect might use in a search query.

Don't overdo it

Bombarding prospects with emails and sales literature every five minutes will only result in the one sales message that might have been relevant being ignored with all the rest. theNBS.com features sponsored articles on both its Homepage and category-specific sections, visible to all 52,000 visitors to the site each month. That means key product information is within relevant content areas that specifiers are actively looking at. The monthly emailed product alert select meanwhile, has the advantage of being requested by over 9,000 specifiers, all of whom want to read about new products, case studies and other developments.

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