Out of sight, out of sale…
We all know that lasers are attractive theft targets, but keeping lasers enclosed in a glass case will handicap your sales. Work with your laser manufacturer to discuss the safest and most effective way to display lasers in the store. The more units can be handled, turned on and demonstrated, the easier sales will be.
Eric Carson, sale manager, Trimble America
Changing markets
As a popular 1960s folk song asserted, "The times they are a-changing." And they continue to change decades later — even in the construction lasers and levels market.
Back in the "old" days, our laser distribution consisted of traditional distributors who sold directly to the contractor, as well as reselling to what was a very small sub-dealer market. The sub-dealer came to be called distribution dealers or DDs. What evolved was a new segmented channel we called the laser & layout and DD channel. Why? Entry-level lasers needed to be available from the typical suppliers that contractors frequented. This provided the laser & layout dealer the added benefit continuing to sell traditional laser products while migrating their sales organizations into new, developing markets. This new channel provided new labor-saving products to the contractor.
Distribution dealers started with products priced at less than $1,800 because these higher-volume products could be sold in the channels where contractors frequently visited. And it worked! The DD channel has continued to grow with double-digit increases. The segmenting of the channels, while challenging at times, has proven to be the right call in today's market.
So what's changing now?
Many of the DD dealers that began buying only lower priced products found they were being asked to provide higher-end products like grade lasers and pipe lasers. The challenge was how to handle these requests and new sales opportunities. The logic is that as you have a dealer that continues to grow the brand, they become comfortable and want to sell more of the company's products.
The answer is relatively simple. Combine the two sales organizations. Sometimes a DD dealer wants to sell the new technology, but doesn't want to make an investment in additional infrastructure, so we put the DD together with a local laser & layout specialist. The key is to make sure we use all available efforts to provide the customer with the right tools.
The take-away? Markets and products, like the times, are changing. To keep pace, we all must adapt to the changing environment and leverage our complete product portfolio and product knowledge.
