What Paver Producers Should be Doing in This Economy

Ten initiatives you should consider undertaking right away to capture opportunities in your market, help your customers to grow, and revisit those processes in your plant that will maximize your efforts.

All of us in the concrete products business are struggling to weather the barrage of bad news from the national media. 
 
In reality there isn’t much we can do to control the economy, but we can do a great deal to positively impact our own companies and even, dare I say, capitalize on the situation to grow our market share and profits.

Each downturn in the economic cycle brings to the forefront those items we chose to ignore during the good times.  Smart business practices that are critical to all of us making pavers, retaining walls, block, and patio products that we employed a few years back, somehow got lost and need a little “dusting off”.

So here, in the spirit of “making lemonade out of lemons”, we present ten initiatives you should consider undertaking right away to capture opportunities in your market, help your customers to grow, and revisit those processes in your plant that will maximize your efforts.  Remember, in all things, be positive. 

# 1 – Hit the Road
It’s a sure bet that your dealers and installers are being impacted by the same challenges you are facing.  Don’t make the critical mistake of focusing all your efforts internally and let your competition have unobstructed access to your best customers and strongest prospects.  Get your managers and sales team mobile and find out how your customers are faring and what your company can do to assist them.  There are so many creative approaches to present, don’t leave any of them off the table, especially now.  Your customers need you more than ever.

# 2 – Re-Evaluate The Competitive Landscape
Many concrete companies are shifting selling territories, sales personnel, and making staffing adjustments in their plants.  All of these are distractions to their normal way of doing business and present you with an opportunity to fill any voids that might have unintentionally been opened in reacting to the economy.  Seek out any of these short-term opportunities and act on them quickly while the window is open.  Most likely your competitors are solid and strong so you can rest assured that they won’t be vulnerable for long.  If you need help identifying these strategic opportunities, or in conducting a competitive analysis, bring in an experienced outside firm to assist you in completing this work.

# 3 – Move to Solution Based Selling
Given the economy, what does your customer really need from you right now?  Talking about last night’s game is not going to get the job done.  It’s a sure bet they are suffering from the same conditions we as producers are experiencing.  Look for ways to gain further insight into their business and work together to find unique solutions that your company can provide to grow their business.  Are you asking the right questions? Their time is going to be spent preoccupied with keeping their business performing. If you have ideas and solutions, it’s guaranteed they’ll be interested in hearing what you have to say and you’ll stand out from the crowd.

# 4 – Keep Your Marketing Projects on Track
A common knee-jerk reaction to difficult times involves cutting back on marketing expenditures.  In reality, those plans, if properly focused will continue to drive your new business opportunities and support your existing customer base.  Think long term and make sure you have engaged a firm that fully understands the concrete products industry and how to effectively communicate to our customers.  If you need assistance with these initiatives or locating some experienced marketing firms, we have a few solid recommendations for you, but remember to stay visible.

# 5 – Strengthen Your Employee & Customer Training
Selling our product line has evolved over the past few years from a relationship based selling approach to one requiring product competence and strategic savvy.  Make sure your employees have the skills they need to execute your plans.  At the same time, this is a great morale-building tool.  For our customers, this is the perfect time to offer real enhancement to their understanding of your products and get them focused on the upcoming selling season.  Help them be as prepared as possible to capture sales.

# 6 – Specify What Works for Your Business
It’s more important than ever to keep track of those factors that are vital to your plant’s health and well-being.  Establish what these KPI’s are and communicate them to all your plant employees regularly.  Keep everyone focused on the same goals.  We all have about fifteen items that can provide us great insight into the health of our factories.  Make sure that all of them are being scrutinized and are truly meaningful to your specific company.

# 7 – Understand Your Customer’s LTV
If you haven’t gone through this exercise to determine the long term value of your customers you might be spending a disproportionate amount of your available selling time on customers that aren’t as profitable as others.  Insure that all your sales personnel have a complete understanding of their customers and their full potential.  After completing this exercise, you might be surprised.

# 8 – Eliminate Wasted or Unproductive Time
In a tightening economy wasted time can impact your ability to maximize your sales reps time and drive your operational costs in the plant through the roof.  This type of analysis doesn’t have to take a long time to complete but the results could have a dramatic impact on your bottom line. 

# 9 – Partner With Your Vendors
There are many vendors willing to work with you to help grow your business and develop a true partnership with your company.  Consider revising your approach of “low cost” provider and look for “high value” providers.  Short-term philosophies won’t carry you through the upcoming business cycles on the horizon.  We all have great resources to develop and maintain high quality vendors while simultaneously reducing your expenses.  Again, if you need assistance, seek out experienced firms that specialize in strong vendor relationships and raw material cost reductions.

#10 – Be Opportunistic in Personnel
There might be some real talent out there getting nervous.  Maintain open communication lines with companies that have their networks running at full speed.  If your company needs some shoring up, make sure you keep your finger on this pulse.  Conversely, if you have a “franchise player” make sure they are fully engaged and involved in all the necessary areas of your business.  Communication will be key to maintaining a workforce that feels good about the company plans and understands the mission.

Bonus – Leverage Your Assets
Now is the time to look for other products or services you can offer using the assets you currently have.  It can increase your revenue and provide an opportunity to get some extra run time in your plant.

2009 can be a year of success.  It is up to us to identify the needs of our customers and our organizations, and then implement the programs that will move us positively toward success.  If you’d like more information please visit our website at www.concrete-results.com

Mark J. Muratore               
Concrete Results, Inc.