Contractors Considering the Benefits of Professional Accounts

As many suppliers and retailers expand their online presence, they have found a new way to increase sales by offering special offers and discounts to industry professionals such as contractors, designers and builders through dedicated professional account services. If you manage a home remodeling business, is it worth the trouble of joining a professional account? Keep on reading because what we found may help you decide once and for all.

Calling them “a trouble” may actually be the wrong way to describe these carefully-crafted sales magnets, which for many companies in the home remodeling industry are potential revenue streams that they are not willing to drop any time soon.

Considering that the construction of new homes in the United States decreased by 32% for the month of August when compared to 2008, according to the US Census, the National Association of Realtors estimates that there are at least 4 million houses currently available for sale.

So this means that though the market has slowed down, there are plenty of residual opportunities that retailers are looking to tap into. And so they are relying on customer repeats through their professional account services.

Though there is actually no accurate data on how much retailers are actually making on these services, officials at retailer Expressdecor.com expect their newly-minted program could increase their sales by 5 to 10%. It doesn’t sound like a lot of money but if you consider that online sales are expected to grow 11% this year, according Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester, 5 to 10% seems like an attractive number for anyone.

So while this explains that the bottom line is the reason that motivates these retailers to create such discount programs, the question still lingers: Are these contractor-dedicated programs really worth the trouble?

Most home solutions retailers usually offer discounts to the general public that fluctuate between 10 to 15% off the entire purchase price. The same retailers may actually offer special discounts to contracts and builders that can go as high as 20% and many are even offering free delivery and other amenities.

Though it is very likely that you won’t get that needed kitchen sink hand-delivered to your construction site, it is very likely that your shipment be rushed so that it arrives on time. Also, most if not all of these specialized services are free of charge to join because retailers are just looking to make a long lasting repeat customer off you.

This does not mean however that you should run to your computer and apply for as many professional accounts as possible. Rather, take the time to “shop around” for those that really help your bottom line. Before you do so, consider these recommendations:

• Look for those that offer extended discounts – If you are a regular customer and came late to a great 15% discount sale on bathroom vanity sets, it is very likely the retailer will not roll back the clock just for you. But if you have a professional account, some retailers are extending sales events even after they have expired.
• Dedicated customer service – Join those professional accounts where the Customer Service Representative knows you by name and not by a number.
• Look for experienced personnel – Read the retailer’s “About us” page and find out how long they have been serving their customers and how experienced their reps are. If they do not offer real names, bios and photos of their specialists, it is very likely that it is only one person juggling the work of 15.
• Keeping you on the loop - If you are taking the time to enroll in a professional account service, why not allow them to send you periodic announcements via email? It is always a good thing to learn about sales events, special promotions and even new product arrivals before anyone else.
• No sales tax, no shipping – Though not available in every state, many retailers may wave sales tax charges or even delivery. Just make sure to read the fine print to see if your state applies.

Professional accounts are worth only when they benefit your bottom line. Do a little research and don’t be afraid of sending an email or even calling retailers so that they shed some light on the perks they offer. Hey, on this turbulent economy, every cent that you are able to save can translate into more business for you.

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