9 minute read
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We asked Kevin Coghlan, former owner of award-winning store, MRCB Ltd in Dublin, for his thoughts on paint retailing mid and post pandemic.
Kevin Coghlan.
Kevin has over 40 years experience specialising in the paints and wallcovering industry. Beginning his career in Dods of Mary Street at the age of 14, before joining his family’s businesses, Coghlan`s Paints and MRCB Paints, where they introduced many iconic paint brands such as Farrow & Ball, Paint Library, Benjamin Moore etc. to the Irish market, in their Dublin City centre showrooms. He also worked for Colourtrend Paints as Sales Director, and got to understand the manufacturing and marketing side of the premium paint business. Kevin has carried out extensive paint product and customer sales training on a regular basis for over 30 years with all their team members.
Paint sales are up, but who are our Customers?
There’s no doubt, 2020 was a great year for paint sales. Because of the pandemic lockdowns and the fantastic weather, people took it upon themselves to decorate and spruce up their homes. We all know a lot of our regular customers, but what about the customers we had never seen before or who contacted us through social media or emails?
• Did we engage with them and make them feel welcome? • Did we presume they have been to our stores before? • Have they just moved into a new home or new housing estate in the area?
These are opportunities to make an impression and possibly make customers for life.
First impressions are so important and can create a positive long-term relationship, if handled correctly. It was a crazy unprecedented year and at times extremely busy for everyone, with no time to really engage with the customers. It’s important now that we take time to reflect on the past year or so and learn from the craziness. When the dust settles, it’s important to review our customer services and policies with the sales team and everyone who engages with our customers.
For instance, for each sale do we establish if our customer is doing the painting project themselves, or getting a professional decorator?
If they are painting themselves, have they painted before or are they complete novices?
If they are novices, it gives you a great opportunity to literally take them by the hand and explain everything in detail, from the quality and benefits of paint to the advantages of using a premium quality paint, applicators and tools etc. and perhaps increasing your add-on sales.
They will leave your store very impressed by your knowledge, and possibly somewhat confused, because they won’t have grasped it all. By the time they’ve finished the painting, they’ll have appreciated your expertise and made sense of most of what you taught them. They will remember you the next time they have a paint project. You wouldn’t know any of this if you didn’t ask the questions or engage with them initially. Maybe they are experienced at painting and appreciate quality paints? Maybe they’ve used less expensive paints before, and understand you get what you pay for. This type of customer is happy to pay a premium for quality.
All too often, I hear products being offered based on price rather than benefits, performance, and application properties, and usually it’s because the salesperson hasn’t the training or knowledge themselves. If the salespeople doesn’t have the knowledge and understanding of the products they sell, you can’t expect them to be able to sell paint at premium prices.
We as retailers need to look at the level of training, (both product knowledge and customer service) given and offered to our teams. There are many moving parts in the retail paint industry (technological, environmental, social media and online) and we need to keep up with the rapid changes. This is an ongoing investment in your business and is essential to your success in the future.
customers received top class service and advice? How many customers entered an independent paint retailer for the first time rather than going to the sheds? Will they be back? We may have got away with it last year, as it wasn’t like any other year in memory, but is it good enough going forward, or could we do much better?
When is a premium quality paint the right option for your customer?
Notwithstanding the current disrupted trading patterns with Covid-19 and Brexit let me try to explain why sometimes paying a little more saves your customer money in the long term. Not everyone wants or needs expensive premium quality paints. You have the person who just wants to refresh their house or apartment before putting it on the market for sale. You also have people who love to decorate regularly, so they don’t need anything to last or look good for that long.
When a customer browses paint shelves in a store, they can be forgiven for being confused, as paint cans are confusing. Just because a can of paint is premium quality it does not necessarily mean it’s better for every application as outlined earlier. A question I was frequently asked by customers was ‘What’s your best paint‘? I could only answer by asking the customer further questions about what they mean.
• Is it the best value?
• Is it the best for washing and cleaning? • Is it the best for coverage? • Is it the best finish?
• Is it the best for application etc.?
There is no one answer, nor is there one product that fits all the criteria. It’s very important to understand the questions as much as the products.
Generally, less expensive paints don’t cover well, or if they do, they won’t last long. If your customer has to give, for example, two coats of paint versus three coats of a less expensive option, you need to inform them before-hand so that they can value their time. Also, they will need more paint for that third coat which will add more cost. Also, if it doesn’t last as long, they will be repainting sooner, costing more money again, you can see where I am coming from here!
If your customer employs a Painting Contractor, it always works out much cheaper to purchase the best quality and most suitable paint for their needs, as the Decorator will charge them the same labour costs for applying two coats of paint irrelevant of the brand or quality. In fact, sometimes a Decorator may have to charge more if they have to apply a third coat because it`s not covering very well.
There are many forgotten or hidden qualities in premium quality paints, that the manufacturers and we as retailers sometimes don’t emphasise enough. For instance, a lot of people paint simply to change the colour of their homes. Premium quality paints generally use better quality organic and inorganic pigments which generally don’t fade or fade very little. This is particularly important outside, and more so with deeper colours. Quite often, premium quality paints are not that much more expensive than ‘regular’ quality, so it’s well worth while asking your customer relevant questions and giving the best advice as it will save them a lot of money in the long term. Also, lesser quality paints tend to break down much more quickly, leading to flaking, peeling and becoming unbound, which in turn costs more with the amount of extra preparation needed.
There are many more benefits to premium quality paints, such as scuff resistance, mould resistance, great touch up quality, more wipeable, more refined finishes, better flow and levelling, more environmentally friendly, higher volume solids, more frost resistant the list goes on!
Most people are not acutely aware of the prices as it’s not an every day item. It can often seem expensive to them when you add up everything you need for a proper painting job, but the opportunity you have is to `sell the difference` in price between regular paint and premium quality paint, because they will find, it’s not that much!
Irish based Hightower Painting Products gains 20 year USA & EU Patents for award-winning products.
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For further details email info@hightowerpainting.com or call Keith McGrory, Director of Sales on 087 1351158.
Home decor trends to follow in 2021
The key looks updating interiors right now. Ideal Home Magazine rounded-up the top design trends reshaping your customer’s homes during 2020 & 2021.
Unsurprisingly, the predicted trends to watch for this year are all about creating a comforting and nurturing home. From mixing modern with vintage, layering texture and maximising natural light, these are the top trends Ideal Home Magazine are informing homeowners to be mindful of throughout 2021.
Whether your customer lives by trends or feels totally unaffected, from popular paint shades to furniture choices, everything designed for our homes are influenced by a wider trend.
2020 proved a challenging year for so many. We have all spent more time at home and have therefore invested more in the comfort and luxury of our properties, ensuring they are somewhere we feel relaxed and peaceful.
This is reflected in the emergence of these popular trends. Homeowners are choosing cosiness mixed with unique elements of their own personality, to make their space as desirable as possible.
Trend 1. Grandmillennial
The ‘Grandmillennial’ trend is a twist on the popular ‘granny chic’ style. It’s been on the rise throughout 2020 as people craved a sense of comfort and nostalgia for their homes – and it’s going to continue to grow. The key for this trend is adding layers, to create a space that welcomes relaxation and eases anxiety. People choose this decor if they like simple, understated style and honest, unfussy pieces – but still want a home that feels relaxed and comfortable rather than overly minimalist.
Customers are choosing pieces of furniture, patterns, cushions and accessories they might associate with their grandparents’ house matched up with a few carefully selected modern pieces.
Trend 2. Structured Simplicity
Deriving from the Nordic trend this look is a `stripped back` style. The purpose is to create a calm, comfy, chilled-out space to relax in – it’s all about making homes a safe, inviting space to rest and regenerate. If your customer`s home is their haven, this trend is for them. It is a personal sanctuary that they can enjoy, that they don’t treat as a showpiece and nothing is reserved for best. Furniture feels comfortable and inviting with comfortable sink-into sofas and hearty tables to gather around. This is for customers who like a low-maintenance look with weathered woods, faded tones and time-worn finishes.
Trend 3. Honest comforts
There is a consistent theme within the current trends, and that’s comfort. Like never before people are looking to create a cocooning space in their home, to escape the outside world. Layers of soft textures are a simple and easy trend to incorporate into their home decor. They can introduce different types of natural textures and materials in similar colour shades to add personality and character to a room without overwhelming the space with bright colours. Textures and tactile qualities are taking the place of bold colours for adding interest. Blankets, throws, cushions and rugs are a straightforward way of incorporating different fabrics and textures.