Once someone specs your product, what happens next?
Now that some architectural firms are shifting away from writing “or equal” into the specification and instead providing a list of three or four approved products, aligning stakeholders behind why your product should be installed is critical to gaining the sell.
At this point in the purchase journey, it’s important to translate your overall messaging slightly to target architects, general contractors and installers and to reinforce product benefits like warranties, performance information, ease of install, product availability, delivery dates and overall value.
This doesn’t mean you need to be calling your qualified prospect on a weekly basis to ask if they have any questions or to provide new information. It means providing a seamless integration of information now that the project has evolved from idea to spec.
This can be done with:
- Presentations and/or leave behinds that translate your company’s message and product’s value to each member of the value chain that your sales team may need to speak with. These should also be available digitally on your website.
- Product samples and color chips that represent your product for architects to have on hand in case someone needs them for further product justification.
- A direct line to your customer service or sales team to answer any project specific, timeline, availability or manufacturing questions in an efficient and timely manner.
- Configurators and cost calculators, such as product life-cycle costs and test models, that make it as easy as possible for your sales team or an architect to demonstrate your product’s key attributes.
- An app, like CEMEX, that provides real time information about your orders such as ordered volume, estimated time of arrival and more to help in the management of crew efficiencies.
“Keep the spec” by making it easy for stakeholders to communicate with sales representatives and customer service teams and to find the information that they need when they need it.
At Pipitone, we’ve been working with building product manufacturers for more than 30 years helping to continuously improve the way they approach following through on specs. Let us help you creatively solve your most complicated engagement problems.
