Playing the Marketing Game
Marketing plans don't have to
be cast in stone.
By Kathy Simmons
Kathy Simmons is a writer
based in Kennesaw, Ga.
"We make your ideas Concrete"
proclaims the Web site of A. E. Concrete Precast
Products Ltd. in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
That is a clever approach to marketing - which
is exactly what it takes for precast concrete
products companies to compete. Fortunately,
sales managers recognize that fact and are taking
unique approaches to make sure customers, specifiers
and others know the company is available to
serve their needs.
Let's face it: There will
always be a need to market precast concrete
products. Certainly there may never be a need
to build a drive-up window so customers can
order off-the-shelf precast concrete products,
but folks do need to know that the products
exist. That explains why so many sales managers
take marketing so seriously.
"Everything you do falls
under the guise of marketing," said Dan
Houk, owner of Wilbert Precast Inc. in Spokane,
Wash. "You're not marketing just your products.
You're marketing your company as well."
Joel Mich, sales manager at
Cretex Co. Inc. in Elk River, Minn., offered
a similar thought. "Marketing is needed,
but not necessarily to the purchaser of our
product," he noted. "We have a client,
i.e., the engineer/owner, and a customer, i.e.,
the contractor. We need to market ourselves
uniquely to each."
The question, then, is not
whether to market but how to market.
The Marketing Process
There is little consensus
among precast concrete sales managers on how
to market their products. Individual companies
and managers take different approaches, but
their goals are the same: to publicize their
products and build sales and goodwill. The process
ideally includes every company employee, from
the initial contact with a potential customer,
through the delivery of the product, to the
resolution of problems after the delivery.
Houk believes that the marketing
process begins with the first phone call. "We're
in a little bit different business than a lot
of suppliers," he observed. "We are
not in direct sales, so we have to be acutely
conscious of our customers' needs. A big part
of why people like a company is who answers
the phone." Houk is convinced that everyone
connected with the company must understand the
importance of first impressions and the need
to keep them positive and permanent.
"We talk to all our employees
to make them aware of their roles in the marketing
process," Houk revealed. "Twice a
year we have employee dinners at which we talk
about marketing. We stress that it takes only
one bad incident to hurt our business, which
we can't afford. It is everybody's job to avoid
that one bad incident." His comments are
evidence that a marketing plan of some sort
is a necessity in the highly competitive world
of precast concrete.
Of some sort? Marketing plans
are not always the sophisticated textbook types
management consultants would encourage. "We
have a disjointed plan, to say the least,"
Houk admitted. But, he emphasized, "That
does not mean we don't have any plan. Perhaps
I can best describe our approach as a four-step
strategy: Be friendly on the phone, make a good
product, be there on time with the delivery
and follow up." That may not sound like
a plan to marketing purists, but it works for
Houk. In truth, a formalized marketing plan
seems to be the exception rather than the rule
among precast concrete companies.
Steve Pukanich, sales manager
for A.E. Concrete, disclosed that his company
is just beginning to focus on developing a marketing
plan. "Our marketing strategy is in its
infancy," he stated. "We are just
forming a strategic management team to study
our marketing approach and to find out what
the industry wants." Pukanich sees the
latter as an important step in determining A.E.
Concrete's marketing approach. He views marketing
as a two-edged sword for the company, as do
his counterparts.
Some precast concrete companies
simply do not have a sufficient number of personnel
to devote a great deal of time to formalizing
marketing plans or hiring management consulting
firms to do it for them. "Marketing companies
are expensive," Pukanich explained succinctly.
That is a fact of life for owners and managers,
who often become their own marketers.
For example, at A.E. the six
members of the newly formed strategic planning
committee share responsibility for all facets
of the company's operations, including marketing.
The team comprises three representatives from
production, two from sales, and one from management.
That team approach might be every bit as good
as a formal marketing unit. Pukanich believes
it bodes well for the company's future - as
long as all team members recognize the need
for constant marketing as a part of its overall
competitive strategy.
Tools of the Trade
Although there is no
universal plan endemic to the precast concrete
industry, the components individual companies
use are remarkably similar.
Perhaps one of the most frequently
used tools is the Web site. One glance at selected
companies' Web sites shows that they are capitalizing
on enhanced technology to sell their products
and solicit business. Individual companies are
adding more and more information to their Web
sites to the point where there could conceivably
be no need for face-to-face contact between
buyers and sellers. That can present a bit of
a problem, though.
Personal interaction is an
integral part of marketing. Companies must resist
the urge to let Web sites do too much of their
sales for them. They have to maintain personal
relationships in order to increase sales and
retain customer loyalty, two keys to survival.
That is being done via a variety of marketing
tools.
For example, A.E. utilizes
e-mail messages and CD-ROMs to alert customers
and specifiers of products and company news.
Pukanich stressed that the staff complements
such tools with personal contacts. "We
try to get our most important question across
to customers, specifiers and others in person,"
he stated. "That question is the core of
our business: what's the most important thing
we can do for you?" Indeed, it is central
to any marketing plan, as other companies' approaches
indicate.
"We employ several marketing
tools," Houk related. "For instance,
we have developed a state-of-the-art Web site.
Also, we send out occasional newsletters and
distribute copies of Precast Solutions, which
are well received, with little blurbs attached
explaining where they came from. We also sponsor
10 to 12 plant tours per year for engineering
firms."
The tours last about 1½
to 2 hours and include a PowerPoint presentation.
"We have found these tours and presentations
to be excellent soft sales and educational tools,"
Houk said. "They give us a chance to demonstrate
to our attendees what our capabilities are,
and we also get some help in our design."
The engineers appreciate the tours, and the
company benefits from them as well.
Cretex's plan employs similar
components, which are fairly typical of those
used throughout the industry. "To begin
with, we have an effective and well-received
Web site," Mich said. "We also use
ACPA (American Concrete Pipe Association) and
NPCA flyers, tools, research, data, etc., and
present the results to engineers."
Another tool is brownbag seminars,
which Cretex uses extensively. "Participation
in engineering and contractor organizations
gets us and our product in front of people,"
Mich observed. That, after all, is the goal
of marketing. Keeping them there is another
thing, but it is one of the most important -
if not the most important - aspects of marketing.
Customer Loyalty
If there is one common
marketing goal among industry personnel, it
is the need for customer retention and loyalty.
As Pukanich stressed, "Customer loyalty
is perhaps the most critical part of marketing.
That means that once we sell and deliver the
product we have to follow up on it. Customer
loyalty supersedes simple customer service."
After all, he said, "We do not want to
sell to a customer on a one-time basis. We want
to attract and retain them. We want to get our
distributors and customers ingrained in our
overall process." That philosophy is widespread
in the industry.
Mich reinforced the idea of
customer loyalty and satisfaction in his comments
on the topic. "Cretex stands behind its
product not only until it's in the ground, but
for years after," he said. "We make
a high-quality product that will last beyond
75 years. If there is a problem right away with
a hole in the wrong place, etc., our personnel
are trained to be able to replace it with a
product already in inventory, or pour the corrected
piece that day or the next day at the very worst."
Mich is well aware that delays
in follow-ups can be detrimental to future marketing.
"We need to minimize as much as possible
the delay incurred to the contractor,"
he noted. "We, and all our employees, realize
that the contractor's time is very valuable."
The key words there are "all our employees."
As Houk, Mich and Pukanich stressed, marketing
is a companywide responsibility. Much of it
lands on the shoulders of the employees who
deliver the product, rather than on those who
sell and create it.
Both Houk and Mich highlighted
the role of the delivery personnel in the marketing
process. For instance, Mich noted, "We
are definitely concerned about how our hired
haulers deliver our product. They and our dispatchers
have the most daily contact with our customers,
and are the ones who deal with the individual
who is actually putting our product in the ground."
Thus, he concluded, "They have a great
deal of impact regarding whether the contractor's
job becomes a success."
Sometimes that responsibility
extends not only beyond the company, but across
international boundaries, as is the case with
A.E. "We do between 5 and 10 percent of
our sales in the United States," Pukanich
said. "We have shipped products as far
south as Tennessee. And we do it with outside
transportation companies." A.E. does not
own its own trucks, and that presents a peculiar
situation for the company and its marketing
efforts.
The trucking industry in the
company's home region is highly competitive,
which leads to attractive freight rates for
its products. That, added to the favorable exchange
rate for U.S. companies, is one reason why A.E.
contracts outside shipping companies. Therein
lies a problem: Can the shipping companies'
employees adequately represent A.E. in a positive
light?
"We are absolutely concerned
with the perception our customers have of us,"
Pukanich said. "Therefore we need our shippers
to deliver a good impression along with our
product." That need does figure in somewhat
into A.E.'s choice of shippers. Fortunately,
he has not encountered any issues yet with the
company's practice of using outside shippers.
But his situation does highlight one important
aspect of marketing: There is always a need
to take into account contingency factors when
developing marketing plans, whether they are
formal or not.
There is no doubt that marketing
is a necessary part of the precast concrete
business. And it is taking on added significance.
Perhaps Houk best sums up its importance: "We've
done a whole lot more marketing in the past
couple of years than we've ever done before,"
he said. "It is a good business tool. Granted,
it is hard to put a real handle on the return
on investment or the time and energy put into
it. Moreover, you never know when a job is going
to fall into your hands or why you get it. But
solid marketing enhances your chances of getting
it. That is why no one should underestimate
its importance."
Indeed. So until that drive-up
window for precast concrete products opens,
it is a wise idea for companies to develop their
marketing plans, formal or informal. They do
not have to be cast in stone, but they will
surely help sell concrete. That is what marketing
is all about.
