Masonry Magazine August 1978 Page. 23
MARKETING AND MASONRY
continued from page 21
Correct, honest and timely answers to these questions are of central importance to successful and effective market and strategy planning. There are no shortcuts and no room for delusion or wishful thinking here.
A second intriguing characteristic of the customer or prospect part of the masonry equation is that there is a difference between the purchaser and the end user in almost all cases. More often than not, the individual or group selecting or buying your products, your skills and your labor is not the individual or group to ultimately benefit most from the transaction. After all, the ultimate tenant or dweller in the structure built of masonry is not normally a key player in specifying masonry instead of an alternative.
In this respect, masonry is quite a bit different from pretty much the entire spectrum of low-cost consumer non-durables-cigarettes, chewing gum. soft drinks, fast food. In these cases, the gap from buyer to user is very short.
But there is a similarity to those products used in quite a few contract services-materials and the equipment going into hospitals, automotive repairs, restaurants and institutional feeding among others. In fact, any processing business, whether it be in clothing or in electronics assembly plants, resembles this characteristic of masonry in that there's a big jump in time, distance and priorities between the end-benefit customer and the people who make the purchase.
What all of this suggests is the need for a two-stage communications strategy.
First, some sort of communication must be addressed to the actual purchaser or decider, stressing the importance of their client's or customer's satisfaction in final performance. Such items as reliability, consistency, on-time completion or other qualities leading to fulfillment of a promise must be communicated in a convincing and provable manner.
The second part of this dual communication effort should be addressed to the end-user, either, directly or indirectly. It normally is based on educating this end-user to differences in results when using products which require a technological competence these end-users normally don't appreciate. In a sense, you're asking them to get involved. to "insist on "the use of certain materials, techniques or specifications they may think are unimportant, but which can have a noticeable impact on ultimate satisfaction or unhappiness.
Unique Element of Masonry Marketing
Closely related to this characteristic of a difference between purchaser and end-user is another particularly unique element of masonry marketing the intrusion of an expert advisor. In the case of masonry, this arbiter is the architect or the engineering consultant who plays a fundamental decision-making role in determining whether masonry will be considered at all, and against what alternatives.
Probably the most striking analogy to the expert directing a purchase is in the world of ethical pharmaceuticals where members of the medical profession in a variety of roles will ultimately decide and specify the purchase and use of drugs, treatments and diet modifiers. Maybe not as obviously, but there's a resemblance also, to this expert advisor in many big ticket consumer situations. More than ever today, end-users-when buying a house, an automobile, a boat or other major high-cost item-will look to those more knowledgeable than they feel they are in coming to grips with the complexities and the traps inherent in a purchase decision of this magnitude.
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HEADQUARTERS FOR
WATERSTOPS
NEOPRENE SBR RUBBER VINYL
FEATURING:
EFFICIENCY FITTINGS
LABOR SAVING AND EASIER
INSTALLATION WITH LESS
LEAKS AT LOWER COST
Field waterstop splicing and joining becomes an easy job with Williams EFFICIENCY Waterstop Fittings (Pot. 2,862,160). Just brush inside of the fitting with Williams No. 37 rubber cement and let rock dry. Then coat squared end of waterstop and insert is fitting. A thoroughly sealed and dependable joint is made in less than two minutes.
CONTROL JOINTS
AND PANEL SEALS
++0000
GASKET MATERIALS
Vinyl type U-closed cell sponge-Closed cell Neoprene sponge-Poly- ethylene foom-Open cell Neoprene sponge Concrete gray sponge- Polyurethane open cell foam.
COLUMN WRAP
An impregnated celluler product. Used wherever separation of masonry units and structural frame is required.
FAST DELIVERY FROM COMPREHENSIVE STOCKS. WRITE FOR CATALOG AND SEE SWEETS CATALOG 7.11/WI.O
WILLIAMS PRODUCTS, INC.
1750 Maplelawn Blvd. Troy, Mich. 48084 - (313) 643-6400
MASONRY/AUGUST, 1978 29