Building product manufacturers should spend time acquiring new customers but not at the expense of existing customers. As the old saying goes, it’s less expensive to keep an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one. Don’t let your customers slip away due to preventable mistakes.

According to author Jim Blasingame, it’s not your customer’s job to keep your business top-of-mind. It can be very gratifying when architects, specifiers, contractors, and other design professionals visit your office, website, partner, or distributor. However, building product manufacturers can’t depend on that happening every single time.

Where Are Your Customers?

In the old days, the pre-internet world, customers would have to visit a brick and mortar store and order from a catalog to purchase something. Telephone calls, faxes, and snail mail was the ancient process design professionals used to order supplies, products, and services. However, the marketplace has changed dramatically since the advent of the world wide web.

In 2019, it is crucial that building product manufacturers stay relevant amongst the noise of offers and deals on the internet. Existing clients and potential customers need to be able to find your products and services easily, effectively, with few roadblocks. Building product manufacturers can lose customers in various ways but violating trust, flooding a client with offers, and not following through can all lead to failure.

Smartphone Versus Brick and Mortar Store

Design professionals are likely to obtain their information about building products via smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other smart devices than visiting a brick and mortar store. Product specification is taking place on i-pads instead of notepads. Manufacturers who have robust website platforms, a social media presence, and modern outreach programs will retain more customers than some of the antiquated methods still being used today.

Although product showrooms still place an important part in product selection, especially with interiors products, most building materials are selected and purchased online. Architects, contractors, and designers are more likely to visit a website than a brick and mortar store to select a product.

Building an Impression

It is important to build a strong positive impression for new clients but also existing clients. If a client no longer thinks your product, approach, or strategies are relevant they may move on and work with your competitor. Architects, contractors, engineers, and other design professionals are busy and if they deem your product or service as not relevant, you’re in trouble. Customers can be hijacked by competitors.

How can a manufacturer retain existing clients and gain new customers? Maintaining a great reputation and reinforcing a positive impression. What are some of the tools manufacturers can use to stay relevant, avoid competitors from stealing their clients, and finding new business? Let’s take a look . . .

AIA Continuing Education

Every building product manufacturer should have an AIA continuing education program. Manufacturers can educate decision makers 24/7 with a free AIA course. Continuing education can help educate existing clients about new products and make new converts as well. AIA courses are one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to increase product specifications.

Specification Documentation

Another crucial tool to maintain existing clients and obtain new ones is specification documentation. 3-part guide specs, product certifications, and transparency documentation are all resources that can help product manufacturers get specified. However, the lack of one of these documents can lead a client to one of your competitors.

With the launch of LEED v4, AEC firms are requesting transparency documents such as Health Product Declarations (HPDs), Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Declare Labels, and other disclosures. Product manufacturers who develop these important documents are more likely to continue to be specified and used on projects. Overall, manufacturers must always be on alert that their business isn’t hijacked by competitors.

How does your company maintain customers and gain new business?