Good news. Many markets are fertile for expansion, particularly in paint and powder. Experts contend the outlook for the year and beyond is quite promising. But the questions are for you: Will your finishing business be positioned to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves? Are you staying ahead of customer expectation? Do you see and understand various market swings? Does it matter that supply chain understand why there is increased demand for specialty high-performance organic finishes, CARC coatings, or by contrast, environmentally friendly (and now economically feasible) water-based paints? Is it important for a small wood finishing shop to know what colors and finishes is currently trending strongly in consumerland? Opportunities are created by successful managers who continually look out on the world and ask of themselves, What’s next?
Why?
Key to creating value is your effort to maintain a step ahead of your customer. And more than anything else, asking the simple question “What’s next?” gets you opportunity.
It will lead you where you wouldn’t have gone otherwise. It will show you the door out of the treadmill. It will beg an answer and differentiate you from everybody else who simply waits for the same order or is content with the status quo. Value is getting the most out of opportunity YOU have created and increasing the demand for what you have to offer.
“There is seldom any loyalty given to a price-leader-order-taker [vendor]. [We] end up resenting the customer and traveling in circles. It leads to nowhere.”
(Quote links to Material Insights blog: “Customer perspective offers direction to more valuable coating solutions“)
The trusted advisor is king
If you aim for value added, you help your customer with more than what is expected. In return, the customer antes up respect and places you nearer the top of their vendor list. But who wants to be a vendor on a list! Go for the partnership and the earned gratuity that comes with it, not the vendor status quo.
The problem with value added service is by the time it actually adds up to something the luster has worn off and we’re on to the next problem. You can’t spoon feed value and hope to become a trusted advisor. You have to create continuous value. Change your aim and ask yourself often, What’s next? It’s a great question.
Understanding the signals
Listening for answers is part and parcel with any good question. A year ago I offered such an answer. Material Insights published “Mobilize your finishing business—a primer to what’s next.” How mobile technology, growing faster than any other cyber interface, is touching and changing every conceivable market narrow and wide. The insight was blunt, “Ignore ‘Mobile’ at your own peril.” That’s what an answer looks like. Want more signals on this topic? Google: “benefits of mobile b2b 2013”
What’s next in finish?
Often answers come from consumers where signals are fairly obvious. Trending: matte-finished automobiles and high-gloss cabinets. What began just a couple years ago as an irreverent car-fashion statement created by aftermarket super tuners, trickled up to elite production muscle cars like the Mercedes CL63 and the BMW M3. Very quickly, the alternative and cheeky finish has migrated from the sublime to the mundane—the showroom floors of Hyundai!
I want a matte white Maytag! (Tell your customer you’re already working on it.)
That’s my point. The questions simply get you on the path of engagement. When you’re listening to signals you’re in the drivers seat so you can be a part of the opportunity. The trusted advisor will know just how problematic that washer finish will be.
Summary example
Inside the home the trend is toward clean, refined paint and lacquered finishes, lots of white—high-gloss even. (You can find more on the topic in our post of August 2012: “Customers dictate the kitchen trends that stick”.) The signal is clear and the opportunity presents itself. What do you do?
Here’s four takes on how such a trend could impact your shop. Make it a team exercise and expand the list to 10 or more:
- More controls. Gloss brings with it more transparency. There will be less hiding behind the “natural” imperfections of weathered, old-world art finishes which means,
- More cost. High-gloss finishes require a clean factory and multistep processes, minimally. They also require,
- More skill. Lacquering reaches beyond the skills and equipment of many. And this will create:
- More demand. You can’t just touch up a shiny finish. Look for more whole cabinet door replacements—a bitch and a blessing all at the same time.
INSIGHT:
“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers” —Voltaire (over 200 years ago)
I welcome your comments, questions or more discussion.