Little Known Tips about Selling to Contractors

Contractors either inherit their business or pave their own way after years of building up a community reputation and a network of connections. They often try to run their operations like their predecessor or develop their own ideas based on experience. Therefore, most contractors already know what they wish to achieve and the products they want to buy. This way, they can protect their brand reputation and speed up their operations.

Selling new products to contractors, especially western industrial contractors, is usually challenging. It is often down to testing the seller’s ability to research, listen, and derive practical sales tactics. Even when selling a product a contractor needs, there is a need to be mindful of your sales approach. If the salesperson appears too salesy, even when selling a product a contractor needs, they may be perceived as a specific product pusher.

What You Need to Do When Selling to Contractors

The key to successful sales when selling to western industrial contractors is understanding the different types of contractors you are dealing with. As a salesperson or a distributor, you may interact with a demand initiator, demand creator, demand enabler, adopter, or disruptor.

Each of these people has different ways of running their businesses and making decisions. Understanding what is required to sell successfully to these different types of contractors will make your sales campaign a success. Here are some other tips to use when selling to contractors.

• Overcome Their Fears and Remove Uncertainty
• Develop a Qualified Contractor Program
• Mentor Contractors into Businessmen

Overcome Their Fears and Remove Uncertainty

As a salesperson selling to western industrial contractors, your duty is to educate them about the risk of not switching to your products. You must show how your products benefit them, upholds their core business values, and fits into their brand story. Tell them if your product is easy to install, cost-effective, and readily available, and how it makes their company look good. But to efficiently sell these features, you must know the products they are currently using.

Develop a Qualified Contractor Program

Another strategy is to develop a certified or qualified contractor program capable of elevating the contractor’s brand by showing quality assurance and expertise. This can be achieved with a partner marketing tactic that improves your brand’s perception by disassociating from less reputable contractors and validating the top performers in your channel.

Mentor Contractors into Businessmen

Most contractors hate selling. These craftsmen just want to deliver results on their craft. Therefore, when selling to them, try to mentor them into businessmen. Carry out proper research and develop partnership programs and indirect sales material capable of supporting the contractor you are selling to. Ensure you factor in taking up a mentorship role for these contractors, especially those who prefer to work on a job site. Consider how you can help them sell more profitably with your products.

But to achieve all these, you need accurate information on the contractors you wish to sell to. At Scott’s Directories, you can get reliable data about all the industrial contractors in Canada. Our data quality and accuracy are second to none. Contact us now to get started.