5 simple steps to builders’ merchant success in 2022

We all know Q1 can be hard. The weather is awful; it’s dark and wet. Building projects often get delayed. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. This period can be an excellent opportunity to reflect on your business and what you can do to take it forward.

Here are 5 steps to take your merchanting business forward in 2022:

1.    Review where your business is going

OK, so this is a big one. Think about what clients you want to secure in the future. Could you concentrate on working with fewer, more valuable builders? Would you prefer to secure meatier projects – large extensions or maybe new builds? Write your goal down on paper and then break it down into where you want to be in 6 months, a year and 3 years’ time. Break your big ideas into daily, weekly or monthly actionable targets. Does offering an estimating service figure to help you secure this business? How can you make that happen?

2.    Improve your share of your building customer spend

This is of course the dream for every builders’ merchant but one that is hard to achieve. One way of securing more of your clients spend on materials and plant is to know what projects they’re actually working on - or better still plan to be working on. You can do this by inviting customers to tell you what they’re working on by offering an estimating service using professional estimating software. This has a double benefit. Not only will you know what future work is coming up, but you’ll know through the estimating process and outputs exactly what they’ll need and when, item by item. By being helpful and anticipating the builders needs you’re more likely to secure more of the project. Yes builders chase the pence and pounds but if you can HELP THEM and reduce the stress within their business by providing a genuinely useful and helpful service, the exact price of a bag of sand or cement will cease to matter in the grand scheme of things. It makes your client less price sensitive.

3.    Swap busy-ness for productivity

Busy isn’t necessarily productive or profitable. You need to target your energy in the right direction. Take a step back and look at what’s working and what’s not. Think about ways to make time-savings and put systems in place that will streamline parts of your business. Might that include estimating software so you can secure more builders’ materials spend?

4.    Become more tech-savvy

Many builders’ merchant staff recoil at the thought of “digitisation” (even if head office think going digital is the way forwards!) but all it means is using technology to help staff work more effectively and win more business. Consider where IT could make your business run more smoothly - estimating, scheduling materials, offering building plans are some of the areas where software can help. 

5.    Commit to doing things differently

Changing the way you work can be daunting. But remember the saying, “if nothing changes, nothing changes”. Keep your business goal in mind. Changes are necessary if you want to improve your profitability and have a more successful 2022.