HHIQ_3Q

SELLING TO PROS
FLE
BANNERS OFFER MORE
THAN JUST BUYING POWER
Where are independent dealers asking their buying groups for help the most?
We polled 16 dealers and co-op execs to get answers.
BY JOHN CAULFIELD
I
t wasn’t an uncommon occurrence
when, this spring, Sexton Group’s
president Steve Buckle personally
interceded on behalf of one of that buying
group’s dealer-members, Nor-Ont Supply in
Thunder Bay, Ont., to persuade the dealer’s
drywall supplier to extend a locked-in price
that was about to expire because of delays on
the construction project Nor-Ont was feeding.
“The price increases that we’ve been getting
on a lot of products have been unbelievable
lately,” said Mark Lendrum, Nor-Ont’s
general manager. In many cases, Sexton has
helped to abate the risk.
“We focus on the vendor side,” confirmed
Buckle about his group’s primary function
for its members. And as the supplier
community consolidates, Sexton, he added,
“needs to do more research to help our dealers
put together solid business programs.”
Products and pricing are still where independent
dealers most frequently turn to
their buying groups for assistance. Windsor
Building Centre in Windsor, Ont., for one,
buys 90 percent of what it sells from Groupe
BMR, whose purchasing services “are really
good” and often include technical support,
said Enzo Bonitatibus, general manager of
this 25,000-square-foot store on five acres,
which has been a BMR member for a decade.
Philippe Element, divisional vice president,
RONA dealer sales and support at
Lowe’s Canada, described his group’s critical
role this way: “To ensure we can offer
[dealers] the product selection that meets the
demand of this customer segment.”
But purchasing, while essential, isn’t the
only thing that dealers say they value from
their memberships. Equally important to
why independents stay with or switch coops
is the groups’ responsiveness to their
requests for programs, services, and advice
to run and grow their businesses.
TAPPING INTO OTHER
DEALERS’ EXPERIENCES
The extent that dealers participate in buying
group programs varies widely. And it’s
not unusual for dealers to have tried out
membership with multiple groups before
they find a suitable fit.
42 THIRD QUARTER / 2018
Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly
www.hardlines.ca