To learn and establish exactly what our key characteristics are that make us different throughout the sales process, we sat down with Scott Price (Sales Manager).
What characteristics does Colorminium possess that sets us apart from other sub-contractors when we are quoting for a project?
I’ll start by saying it’s about our technical ability and our experience and diversity in providing bespoke solutions, but with a value engineered approach for our clients. This would predominantly be the way we would approach our schemes but above all it’s about our people. We have a unique set of people, they are our point of differentiation in the market and with a high proportion of our business being from repeat clients it bears this out. I would say that would be the key characteristic that we possess that brings customers to us, followed closely by our technical ability and experience.
How has our approach towards clients changed and improved to attract the clients to use us more since you have been at Colorminium?
I have been at Colorminium for a number of years now and we have seen the market approach fundamentally change. We aren’t in the game of competitive tendering any more as we like to work a much longer process where the collaboration is higher and our approach is more geared around the front-end offering. That brings true value in terms of combining consultancy with mainstream contracting. The comfort the client gets from this is that we can provide designs that meet their aspirations that are covered by our insurance through the delivery process and backed by warranties afterwards – they wouldn’t get this with a consultant.
What would you say that the main things clients would consider which company to go with, other than price are, and how do we reflect these attributes?
Very good question and I would start firstly with attitude. It’s about how you approach the project and about how you align yourself with the client’s aspirations. Then I would say next of course comes your competence and track record; as a company have you physically delivered one of these before for a similar style client, in a similar style location – that means a lot in terms of giving the client the comfort that you have the competence to deliver. I would follow thirdly with technical ability. Everything we do has to be underpinned and approved by a high level of technical expertise to make sure the designs we engineer are physically capable of what they are meant to do. And lastly, I would say financial standing. Being in the façade industry for over 40 years, with a cash-rich balance sheet, free of debt, gives a huge competitive advantage when clients can see the strength in depth of our company with the resource that’s needed to deliver a scheme.
What would you say about consistency in service to clients – and that being a main reason that clients would come to us?
Consistency is key, that’s another area where we stand out. The culture and service that we provide to our customers and the dedication to personal relationships result in a large volume of repeat business. The measure of our repeat business is about 80% of our income stream and that is a huge testament to the way that we service our clients. It doesn’t mean that in contracting there isn’t the highs and lows and the pressures of live project environments, but the consistency in approach and the reliability of the persons involved is very important.
How do you ensure that you maintain a good reputation throughout a quote and dealings with clients?
Okay, this is a good question. The fundamental thing for us at this point of the process is communication. At any given point does our client know where we are in the process of a tender or quotation and are they able to tap in and influence that? Often the style and size of the projects we get involved with, could have a lead in just for the quote of 4-6 weeks, and it’s vital to us that we maintain communication with the client throughout the process. There are key milestones where we engage to ensure that when the quote is received, its aligned with what they’ve asked us to do. If we didn’t communicate, it would be very easy to get off track during that process. I think it’s very important that clients do feel that level of service and it actually ultimately eases the process into contract at the end.
What would you say that we offer as consultants?
This is where our business model is a bit of a game-changer. We have morphed over the past few years from being a run of the mill mainstream sub-contractor to getting involved much earlier in the project process. This is often before a principal contractor is involved, and at a very early stage of the design process. This finds us working alongside consultants in terms of delivering the scheme from a compliance point of view and what’s important here is that the client is assured and restful that where they are spending their money, in terms of design and ensuring compliance, is measured and informed. What I would finish by saying to that question is that ultimately, they need to think about where the delivery sits in terms of the warranties and professional indemnity insurance so they have the back up and the comfort should something happen down the line. That’s where we can really make a difference as a business by adding it to our delivery offering over and above pure consultancy.
