Are You Overlooking Hidden Profit Centers?

$$ HIDDEN PROFIT CENTERS Are You Overlooking Hidden Profit Centers?

We’ve all heard the terms valued added, back-end selling and after sales selling. What do they really mean, and how does a business provide something valuable for the customer?

The greatest cost of any transaction is in the first sale. Unless you’re selling a product such as a Rolls Royce, you will need additional sales from the customer to be profitable. In order to make this happen, you must have products that your customer will want or need to purchase after the sale. Here are some to consider:

CLEANING PRODUCTS. Every product needs a different kind of cleaner, so why not find one that you can private label or if you are in a buying group, see what they have available. In addition to cleaners, some products need polishes and sealers. Make sure you have them all in stock for your customers.

PROFESSIONAL CARPET CLEANING. Are you doing the cleaning, or allowing someone you don’t know into your customer’s house? Eventually the customer will need new carpet and will ask the cleaner where to get it. If the carpet cleaner has someone other than you that they work with, you’re out of luck. Either do the cleaning or find a “cleaning partner” and work out the details, so you can give the customer what they need and make money as well. You can also sell a discounted cleaning package.

COMMERCIAL JOBS. Start small when building your commercial business, whether it’s negotiated or bid work. Chances are you won’t be paid as quickly as you are for your residential work, so cash flow may be a problem. Look for jobs that make you money and aren’t jobs that just have big numbers. Keep your margins up, not your volume. You might be able to provide the flooring and not the installation. Also consider doing the final building cleaning. This can be very profitable..

PROFITABLE PRODUCTS. Can you provide window treatments, shutters, painting or construction? If you have the skills and the personnel, they are all a good fit. Shower doors go with bathrooms; kitchen cabinets are a natural with kitchen floors.

SELLING VACUUM CLEANERS. This is a great adjunct to the flooring retailer business. There are vacuum cleaners now available that will vacuum hard surfaces and the very thick carpet. There are several new vacuums that are being sold today that can clean this new thick carpet as well as flat carpets and hard surfaces. ❚

$$ HIDDEN PROFIT CENTERS Developing Retail Relationships that Add Profit to Your Bottom Line

By John Gregory. Owner Capital Vacuums in Albany, New York, Charlie’s Vacuums in Glens Falls, NY and Brand Builder, Marketer & Sales Trainer at VacuumRepairShop.com

Some things are so obvious that we miss them. Marketing your retail store does not need to be complicated. It’s about getting attention from your customers. Here’s an obvious but overlooked opportunity.

Dirt hits the floor. Vacuums are a necessity

The second that floors are installed, they will start to get dirty. There’s no way around it and it doesn’t matter what kind of floor. People with floors need vacuums, and flooring stores should either carry vacuums or have a relationship with the local vacuum repair shop.

You should give your customer ideas on how to keep it clean, they will value the installer’s or retailer’s opinion. Also, a customer at the Vac shop would value the vac shop’s opinion on where to purchase flooring.

The retailer-local business relationship

About 10 years ago I built great relationships with some local flooring retailers in my area. These have proven to pay off for both of us. I was determined to position my vac shop as the local authority for anything vacuum cleaner-related and I figured, where better to start than on the “ground floor.”

I had a shop full of trade-ins, vacuums that were not worth cleaning for resale. Rather than just throw them away, I cleaned them up, put fresh belts on and tested them. I also put my sticker on and attached five business cards. Then I loaded up the van and delivered a good working vacuum to every flooring store in the area.

I introduced myself to each store owner and told them I had an endless supply of vacuums to give their installers for FREE. All they had to do was leave my business card on the counter after an install and tell the customers about me. I also told the retailer that installers, whether independent contractors or direct, should have a good working vacuum and to leave the homes spotless. If the vacuum breaks a belt or filter gets bad, or the machine doesn’t perform, just bring it back to me and we’ll give them another one.

Not every retailer cared. However, ten years later we’re recognized as the vacuum repair shop authority in our area.

My customers are shown how to properly vacuum a floor and determine which vacuum is best for them. I believe this is the most important part of the sale. If your customer doesn’t understand how to keep new floors looking good, once they start looking bad, you might be the one blamed. Before we ask for a review we educate the customer; an educated customer is your best customer.

We should all be building relationships with other local businesses and being good at what you do is the best marketing you can do. For more information on finding a vacuum repair shop in your area, go to:

http://www.VacuumRepairShop.com

or call 1-800-263-5425

People with floors need vacuums, and flooring stores should either carry vacuums or have a relationship with the local vacuum repair shop.

$$ HIDDEN PROFIT CENTERS How Cleaning Products Can Be a Hidden Profit Center

Today’s retail market is challenging. Layers of government regulations, competition from other brick and mortar stores, huge DIY retailers, giant online sellers, and a lack of customer loyalty, all contribute to this. As small business owners, we must find unique solutions to keep our businesses afloat and, in the end, have a little leftover for ourselves.

Here are two traditional ways to get customers walking through our doors

Sale pricing — putting items on sale is a time-tested way to get a customer’s attention. However today most everything is “on-sale” price rollbacks, BOGO, EDLP, or whatever fancy phrase you want to use, just doesn’t have the same effect as the old “blue light special” did. I remember people would run to see what the blue light special was back in the day. However, reducing your price on an item can also reduce margins, and today with tight margins on everything you must be careful about just how sale pricing works.

Advertising — advertising is still an effective way to attract customers. With so many options it is tough to know the best way to attract your customer: TV, radio, print, mail, email, social media, Google, etc. Do your homework and learn the most effective way to attract your customer.

As small business owners, we must find unique solutions to keep our businesses afloat and, in the end, have a little leftover for ourselves.

Items like these cleaning products by StainX can all be private labeled.

YES — cleaning products can be a profitable way to get customers into your store regularly. After all, how often does a customer purchase new flooring or a new vacuum?

Cleaning products — a hidden profit center

YES — cleaning products can be a profitable way to get customers into your store regularly. After all, how often does a customer purchase new flooring or a new vacuum? The life cycle on these items could be 10 or more years. So, what can you do to keep customers coming back? Carry cleaning products.

They come in multiple categories — retail brands (Tide®, Dawn®, Pine-Sol®, Swiffer®, etc.), industrial (janitorial) and specialty, green or eco-cleaners. Retail branded cleaners are found everywhere, pricing is cutthroat and, in the end, offers small margins if you can even compete. Industrial (janitorial) — this can be a solid category, but the customer base is limited and mostly these types of products are not considered safe for home use or the sizes are just too large for the average consumer. Specialty, green or eco-cleaners

Color Tile.

These offer you an opportunity to offer better product performance, sized for home use, and generally safer to use. Smaller specialty brands are not found in the big box stores, too much competition from the large retail brands. And the larger retailers do not offer any variety — everyone sells the same products.

Specialty brands offer you an opportunity to sell high-quality products at realistic margins that keep customers walking through your doors. Do your research on these brands as many new brands appear and disappear very quickly. In today’s highly regulated environment many do not have correct labeling to cover the many different state requirements and therefore are forced to go out of business.

Here are some great established specialty brands in the marketplace that offer the opportunity to stock a wide variety of cleaning products: Stain-X (www.stain-x. com), NEU Homecare (www.neu-homecare.com ) and TECH (www.techcleaners. com). They offer a wide variety of consumer-friendly products that will keep customers coming back.

If you do your homework, find brands that fit your customers — your business can thrive in these tough times and before long ,these small $10–$20 sales for cleaners can result in another flooring job. Treating your customers right keeps them coming

STAIN-X can private label their products for your store, provide gift packages, POP displays, etc. For example, this customer appreciation gift package of specialized cleaning pooducts produced for Carpets Plus/ to your store. ❚

Adaven Marketing Inc. | 608-268-2090 | Fax: 608-274-3839 | www.stain-x.com | www.neu-homecare.com

$$ HIDDEN PROFIT CENTERS Safety Meets Style with HandiTreads

Have you ever slipped on a wet tile floor? What about tripped going up the steps of your deck? Everyone has a story where they slipped, tripped, or fell and the lucky ones did not get injured. Slips, trips, and falls are the number one reason for emergency room visits in all age groups. Over two thirds of those injuries occurred in and around the home. Decks, entryways, kitchen floors, bathrooms, and the garage are areas where injuries can happen. A common solution is to put down a mat, however mats pose their own trip hazard, and cover up the beauty of the flooring. So, what is the solution to keeping safe?

The answer to that question is HandiProducts. Beauty and functionality are key components of the HandiProducts line.

In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, HandiProducts was dubbed an essential business. As the world started sheltering in place, people became more aware of the need for anti-slip products in and around their home. Home Improvement stores were reporting record sales as people worked diligently on revitalizing their homes and businesses. At HandiProducts, we utilized the past few months to continue to provide the highest quality safety products and revamping our retail strategy.

We have come up with some excellent solutions to create additional profit centers for our retail partners. From 2' full safety solution displays, to clipstrips and countertop displays that increase impulse buys and can be merchandised throughout the store, HandiProducts has you covered against slips, trips, and falls.

HandiProducts also loves to protect pets. PetStep ramps and accessories ensure furry friends are kept just as safe and their people.

For more information visit: www.handiproducts.com To become a dealer visit: https://www.handiproducts.

com/contact-us/

or email Denee Bruce at dbruce@handiproducts.com. ❚

We have come up with some excellent solutions to create additional profit centers for our retail partners.

HandiProducts Safety Solutions

Slips, trips, and falls are the number one reason for emergency room visits in all age groups.

Decks, entryways, kitchen floors, bathrooms, and the garage are areas where injuries can happen.