Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/384751
WORLD FENCE NEWS • OCTOBER 2014 • 47 One way to add value to your products is to offer outstanding cus- tomer service. This should include a thorough knowledge of the products you sell as well as instructions on how your customer can get the most out of them. Become known as the "expert" and customers will search you out for your knowledge as well as your prod- ucts. If you offer more, you will win them over. And fi fth, control costs. These large discount chains grew to be so large by their complete focus on low- ering costs, and you will need to do the same. Many of you have done a good job of this over the past years. Cash fl ow often means the life-or-death of a business and the close control of your expenses, costs and cash fl ow is one of the best ways to make sure you stay fi scally sound. "These are the times that try men's souls" is a quote from Thomas Paine's pamphlet, The American Cri- sis. I think that line clearly states what has happened this past season or two to many of you. We have had to adjust the way we have done business, in many ways, not the least of which is having to run leaner and meaner, so to speak. Some of us have had to take some drastic steps to stay in position not only to survive this economic down- turn but to help ourselves be stronger in the end so we might be in a position to take advantage of the turnaround. There can be no doubt that you, as an established local fence contractor, can provide a top-notch professional- ly installed job which is always going to be better than a customer installed job. There is also no doubt that you, as the local fence contractor, have a bet- ter availability of quality materials, to say nothing of higher quality service, and a warranty, to boot. At times, it becomes more diffi - cult to convince potential customers of those advantages than at other times. A sign of the times? Yes, but in other times isn't that what competition is all about? At this point, I'd like to touch on a couple of thoughts that might prove helpful to you, that can be adapted to your own specifi c locale. First, have you ever considered trying to organize a support program among local merchants? Many of your local merchants, I am sure, if approached properly, would consider a joint effort in a campaign with your local business owners to support the idea among local businesses that do- ing business with the local merchant not only can demonstrate the quality of service and product we are talking about, but can collectively be helpful to the community as well. I have helped organize such sup- port programs with a local chamber of commerce that highlighted not only the quality of shopping for customers' needs but also the service that the lo- cal merchant in the local community can give. Perhaps a tailored program of this nature could work for you. Another approach is checking with your competitors or other mer- chants in the area to see how or what they have done to successfully com- pete with the big boxes. Over the last several years, I have been involved with retailers who have successfully competed with box stores because they refused to buckle in the wake of the big box presence. They have capitalized on their strengths and the boxes' weaknesses. They have weathered the storm, so to speak, and have become stronger for it. Check around; you might be sur- prised at some of the things you could learn. Finally is something I advocate all of the time: fi nd your niche, re-eval- uate your target market if necessary, and perhaps examine whether or not you are reaching the right potential customers. Well, we have rambled on here with some thoughts on how to com- pete against the big boxes. There is no magic wand, unfortunately. However, if you have gotten one new idea, cemented an existing idea or eliminated a myth, then not only was the time spent reading this column worthwhile, but you may have found one more way to help you realize that Profi t Is Not A Dirty Word!™ WFN contributing editor Jim Lucci is president of Management Motivational Associates of Freeport, N.Y. See his ad in this month's issue for information on his series of man- agement audiotapes. Become known as the "expert" and customers will search you out for your knowledge as well as your products. If you offer more, you will win them over. 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