Becoming the "SUPPLIER OF CHOICE"

In a recent building industry poll, home builder executives reported their belief that industry suppliers "just don't get it." (BUILDER Magazine, October 2000.) To these executives, suppliers have little more to offer than price-based competition. While suppliers, based on traditional builder behavior, might find it surprising that builders want something more than price, there is ample evidence of this change in thinking. Among a myriad of other, more positive drivers, the increasing threat of product litigation demands that builders pay more attention to whom they are working with and what they are procuring. The bottom line is, price is no longer the only criterion - unless you let it be.

Easy to say - harder to do. Just how do we come to understand what a builder really needs? Scott Sedam, President of TrueNorth Development, a leading building industry consulting & training firm, has a strategy that will help your company find its own solution in his ground-breaking workshop, "Becoming the Supplier of Choice."

In recent years, Scott has taken his message on becoming the "Builder of Choice" to Homebuilders across the United States and Canada. Several suppliers attending the workshop at the invitation of builders came to Scott and said that this information could be a great help to suppliers. The result is the "Supplier of Choice" workshop, helping Suppliers & Trades understand exactly what is required to become an indispensable partner to the builder. Based on the premise that any business exists ultimately to prevent or solve problems for the customer, becoming "Supplier of Choice" requires that suppliers & trades first understand their most important customer - the homebuilder. Only by truly understanding the homebuilder's issues, concerns and needs, can the supplier solve problems in a way that builds true, long-term, mutually-beneficial relationships, based on more than just price.

These issues are coming to a head as e-commerce systems and solutions begin to enable the builder to more easily change suppliers. There is a clear trend of builders using these systems for extensive price shopping and starting supplier bidding wars. This puts more pressure on pricing than ever before. If a supplier's field personnel have any chance of overcoming the tyranny of price-based competition, they must learn to become the "Supplier of Choice" in the minds of their builder customers. The resulting long-term builder/supplier partnerships result in increased sales, less price erosion and smaller selling expenses.

The "Supplier of Choice" workshop is available in formats customized to meet the supplier's needs - including a 1-2 hour keynote address as well as half, full or two-day workshops. In the longer formats, interactive strategy development is included along with substantial action planning, enabling staff to begin implementation of specific improvement strategies when they return to the field. Are you satisfied with business as usual? Before you make that next price concession, consider if that money might be better invested in helping your staff learn how to become the "Supplier of Choice"

For more information, contact Scott Sedam at TRUENORTH DEVELOPMENT, INC. 248.348.601l, at ssedam@truen.com.