Building product manufacturers(BPMs) understand the pain of losing customers to direct competitors, but not knowing why might be even harder. Within this space, however, there are some key factors that could be sending your customers to the competition. Let’s explore the top six: four things that you might not be doing and two things your competition is definitely doing.
1. You’re Not Standing Out
BPMs are noticing greater saturation within the industry, making it harder and harder to stand out among the competition. Those companies that are getting themselves noticed, however, may be where your customers are heading. As greater numbers of BPMs are taking up space, it might be time to reevaluate how you present your value proposition to customers by asking yourself:
- What is different about my product offering?
- How do I position our products at a different angle than the competition?
- What do we want to be known for that differentiates us?
2. You’re Not Asking For Customer Feedback
One of the most important ways to understand why customers are heading to your competition is to simply ask them. By utilizing real-time customer feedback throughout every step of the process, you can understand what elements of your service are working and which are not.
Have your reps ask for feedback in short, easy-to-use formats, and even offer incentives to encourage customers to complete it. With this feedback, you can identify common pain points that are pushing customers to look elsewhere and double down on things that customers like.
3. You’re Not Providing Key Information On Your Website
Architects, especially millennials and those that are new to the industry, are expecting to be able to lean on your business and your website for technical documentation front and center, and so many BPMs don’t provide it in an accessible way.
According to the American Institute of Architects (AIA),
“Convenience and speed are key attributes by which architects judge a manufacturer’s website. In most instances, architects are seeking product-specific information when they access a manufacturer website. Therefore it has to be easy to find the information the architect needs, and the information has to be complete once they find it. Architects focus on functionality; specifically, they pay attention to the flow of content access, from the general menus to the specific information they require. They are less concerned about the visual design of the website, as long as it is intuitive to use.”
AIA research has shown that 61% of architects will go to a different manufacturer’s site if they can’t find the information they’re looking for on yours. To position yourself to answer architect questions and give them the information they need, you need a website with product data integrations that’ll keep prospective customers on your site and away from the competition.
4. You’re Not Using Social Media To Your Advantage
Nearly 72% of building professionals use social media for their businesses. This means that if you’re not using appropriate social media channels and tactics for your business, your competitors certainly are.
Publishing both organic content and paid ads on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram is proven to increase brand awareness, drive leads, and get your products in front of decision-making eyes.
Learn more about the best ways to promote your building products on social media.
5. They’re Researching You
Competitive research is crucial to understanding how you stack up against your direct competition, and you can be sure that your competitors have done their homework. By conducting thorough market and competitor research, they can identify ways to differentiate their product offerings and stand out.
Just as your competition is researching you, you need to perform extensive competitive research to identify opportunities to market differently and promote your building materials effectively.
6. They’re Offering Incentives
Here’s a scenario: your company and the next BPM offer the exact same products with the same customer service at the same price. The only difference is that the other company is offering incentives for sourcing with them. It’s obvious which of the two companies gets more business.
Providing sales incentives is the perfect way to motivate purchases from both new and existing customers. It’s much more expensive to sign a new client than to keep a current one, so make sure you are offering upsell incentives and loyalty gifts to existing customers to show your appreciation and ensure you don’t lose them to the competition.
To learn more about how to keep your BPM customers happy, book a demo with the team at Concora today.