The electrical wholesale industry is changing and some of the traditional sales techniques aren’t proving as successful as they used to be.
Cold calling and big discounts aren’t that attractive to customers and with major online companies like Amazon undercutting on price, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out in the market. This is where servitisation comes in…
Servitisation is a relatively recent concept adopted by manufacturers to deliver a service component in tandem with their traditional product – providing added value to customers, securing orders and boosting profitability.
It’s a win-win concept with your customers benefiting from your expertise and support while you can boost customer loyalty and sales. With the introduction of servitisation you can deliver not just a product, but a customer experience that will make them remember you and come back for more.
With big players like Amazon muscling in on the electrical wholesale market online, trying to compete on price alone is a losing battle for the majority of companies. This could also cause damage to the industry as a whole if we engage in a price slashing war.
Servitisation, however, is a great way to stand out and compete in the long-term and it is a lot easier for smaller companies to implement. Customers are now valuing product expertise and great service almost as much as the products themselves, so it’s important to look beyond just the sale and give them a fantastic overall experience.
If you are keen to introduce servitisation in your business, then the second half of your battle is to ensure your services are innovative and differentiate you from other businesses.
Standard services like free delivery and equipment training and maintenance will make your customers happy, but they aren’t particularly innovative. Explore how you can use modern technology and software to merge your sales and services in new ways. This starts with knowing what your customers want.
Are you making the most of your customer data? Do you know what your customers want before they even know they want it? Are you listening to your customers?
Use social media and other marketing channels to monitor customer buying habits and create your own strategies accordingly. For example, if you have a customer that always puts in a big order of the same products at a similar time of year then you may be able to set them up with a subscription model. This saves the customer time and effort on making the same order every year and ensures that they stick with you.
If you put your mind to it and use your data, you’ll be able to think of plenty of ways that you can make your customers’ lives easier without too much effort on your part. If you can meet customer needs and solve their problems you will boost your brand loyalty and therefore sales.
Servitisation is a fantastic way for you to stand out from your competitors by giving customers exactly what they need. If you can tailor your services, reward customer loyalty, try new things and build yourself a fantastic reputation in the process, why wouldn’t you want to give servitisation a go?
Bridgewater Professionals specialise in recruitment for jobs within the wholesale, distribution and manufacturing industries, recruiting highly skilled individuals at all levels across the UK and Ireland.
If you’re an electrical wholesale, distribution or manufacturing professional interested in developing your career, get in touch with us today.
