Think the LED Transition is Over? It's only Begun.

5 Tips for Profiting from the Renovation Market

By Marc Hodges, Director Solutions - Lighting at Sonepar USA

Over the past decade, LED technology has transformed our industry. Energy-efficiency projects have swept the nation at an astounding pace, but the transition is far from over. Less than half of the lights in the US have been converted to LED technology, and the percentage of smart controls guiding those lights is still in the single digits. Trends in sustainability and energy efficiency are guiding the market on a steep upward curve in our favor. Here are five tips for generating and taking advantage of untapped opportunities in the renovation market.

Use Built-in Flexible and Smart Technology.

The adoption of LED technology has opened the door for smart controls that dramatically increase lighting efficiency. In the renovation market, using products that incorporate flexibility also helps you avoid mistakes and wasted time, while giving you room to respond quickly to changing customer needs.

For example, if you offer your customers flat panels with the ability to field-select lumen output and color temperature, both you and the customer benefit from that flexibility. Once installed, if the customer decides the lighting looks warmer or cooler than they were expecting, you can make a quick and easy adjustment.

Encourage customers to take advantage of smart technology as well. I always recommend having smart sensors integrated into lighting fixtures. Distributors can make this easy by pre-installing the sensor at the counter; all you have to do in the field is twist to turn it on.

Not sure they’ll be interested? Educate customers on the benefits, such as the amount of energy they’ll save and how automation will ease their day-to-day use of the lighting system. Emphasize how a solid controls system can offer flexibility and convenience.

Proactively Generate Demand for LED and Smart Lighting.

Don’t wait to be asked about these products. This is a critical tip for success in the renovation market! The vast majority of opportunities for renovation installations involve small- to medium-sized businesses. The owners of these traditional light systems are likely unaware of the investment benefits of converting to a more energy-efficient system. By bringing the information to them proactively, you can create sales opportunities.

The best way to keep a strong pipeline of opportunities is to have an aggressive, multi-faceted demand generation strategy. Work systematically and focus your efforts where they’ll be most effective by keeping the opportunities in your pipeline sorted into categories like prospect, proposed, won, lost and completed.

Distributors can be especially strong partners when it comes to demand generation. An account manager at your local Sonepar distributor can set a cadence of targets and monthly goals for new opportunities in your market.

Show the Impact of Your Lighting Projects via a Digital Platform.

When you get an opportunity to explore renovation opportunities with a customer, make sure you have the proper digital tools to showcase your offering. Showing your solution on a digital platform allows the customer to have full visibility of proposals and active projects. At Sonepar, we partner with SnapCount to give customers a comprehensive solution they can access via laptop or tablet. An easy-to-use dashboard provides an overview of the project and brings home the impact you’re making for your customer.

For example, we used this technology for a retrofit project with an industrial customer that has 40 locations across the U.S. The customer was able to view progress at individual locations as well as data insights around their overall sustainability gains and energy savings. Partnering with a distributor that has access to these tools can be an effective way to serve your customer.

Maximize Project Efficiency with Systematic Planning and Data.

All successful projects start with a solid plan. By standardizing as much as possible and laying out a long-term game plan, you can avoid unnecessary delays and inefficiency. You should always provide detailed design information to the customer to validate the solution. Photometric calculations can assure the customer that light levels will be adequate. Controls layouts can help you confirm that your controls system will meet, or even exceed, code.

If you work with a distributor, you can also ensure ahead of time that local branches have the correct amount of inventory for your projects. This step is critical if you want to get to work on an installation as soon as you win a big project.

At Sonepar, we also provide contractors access to our Digital Job Center, which offers real-time project information like lead times, shipment tracking, fixtures being stored at the warehouse for you, fixtures that have been delivered, a record of all communication between you and Sonepar about a particular job, and technical information on the products. All that – in just a few clicks. Systematic information organized by job makes a world of a difference in efficiency and guarantees that you never have to go scrolling through a 50-message email chain looking for information on your order.

Develop Strong Partnerships.

Strong local partnerships in the target area of your renovation efforts make a big difference in your project’s success. If you are in an area that has utility incentives, develop a relationship with the local account managers of that program. Utility incentives can help a project make financial sense and underline the difference between an expense and a smart investment.

At one of our Sonepar companies, Codale, we were able to use utility incentives at a local candy factory to upgrade the LED high-bay fixtures and include a smart sensor on each fixture. Thanks to the sensors, the customer had the flexibility to set schedules for when the lights would be on and could dim them when not in use in specific areas.

Working closely with your local distributor or agent also allows you to benefit from the relationships these groups have with lighting and controls vendors. Particularly in a difficult supply chain climate, it’s important to work with a distributor who has strong relationships with manufacturers that have been in the lighting industry for a long time. Those manufacturers will have an advanced supply chain strategy to keep more products available to you and ready to install. Partnerships with local industry players also give you more leverage on any post-project issues that may arise, such as defective or damaged fixtures. With these five tips, you’re ready to get out there and generate big wins in the renovation market. ■