There is no final success, no fatal failure, only the courage to move forward. ——Winster Churchill
The construction and ceramics industry is facing an unprecedented cold winter. Following the withdrawal of 137 ceramic enterprises above designated size in 2018, from January to May 2019, 104 more - nearly 10% of the existing ceramic enterprises - were eliminated. . Some people have calculated that in recent years, an average of 0.7 ceramic companies have disappeared from the industry every day. The second half of the construction and ceramics industry is starting with a knockout round. "As the majority of dealers who are directly involved in the terminal battle, who can survive and see the dawn of a new era?" This became an issue of special concern during the terminal research process of the China Ceramics Network terminal research team that the author participated in.
▲Major stores visited by the terminal research team
Through an in-depth multi-dimensional analysis of the operation system, channel development, team building and other aspects of more than 300 interviewed ceramic tile dealers, the author found that the real estate incremental market has shrunk sharply, terminal retail sales have shrunk significantly, and operating costs have remained high. Under such circumstances, dealers that can still maintain local sales growth of their brands against the trend basically have two major characteristics.
One: long-term focus on brands and channels
From August to September, the China Ceramics Network terminal research team visited more than 70 ceramic tile dealers in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Longyan, Jinjiang, Shishi, etc., with the intention of exploring the business secrets of "the Fujian people who are best at selling bricks" "The original intention of ", the author found that in the "cliff-like decline", "industry reshuffle",When keywords such as "capital winter" frequently appeared on various public accounts and platforms in the construction ceramics industry, the large amount of negative sentiments flooding the market did not affect the enthusiasm of Fujian dealers to move bricks. During the phone appointment interview with the terminal research team of China Ceramics Network, they Either on the construction site or on the way to visit the secondary agent.
▲Jinjiang Gold Medal Asian Tiles
According to statistics, in Fuzhou, there are many well-established brands in the same industry, such as Dongpeng Ceramics, Weimei L&D Ceramics, Marco Polo Ceramics, Nobel Ceramics, Romario Ceramics, Camilla Ceramics and other brand dealers The brands have been operating for more than 10 years. Dongpeng Ceramics, Marco Polo Ceramics and Nobel Ceramics cover the market with omni-channel advantages. Weimei L&D Ceramics mainly focuses on home decoration design channels and has considerable advantages in the engineering and home decoration retail markets, while Romario Ceramics Ceramic tiles occupy a large share of the Fuzhou market through distribution and engineering channels, while Kamiya tiles focus on referrals from old customers and home decoration channels, and the retail channel stands out.
Exploring the reasons why “sales performance has maintained steady growth in the current environment of massive shrinkage of the incremental market and fierce competition in the existing market”, the dealers almost unanimously agreed: “We have been agents of this brand for many years, and we have done our best. The better or better channels have long-term brand accumulation. For this reason, no matter how the market changes, we have the customer reputation and connections accumulated over more than ten years. As long as people still have the need to decorate their houses, we will have no worries. No business."
Through terminal research, the author unexpectedly realized that under the cruel competition of channel fission and hard-decorated houses intercepting a large number of rigidly needed markets, the business secret of dealers who can still stabilize the market through traditional channels is also "long-term brand holding and channel Long-term operation". During the Fuzhou station terminal survey, the author once asked Chen Dengxiang, the general distributor of Romario tiles in Fuzhou: "Why is your sales volume in the local distribution network so stable? Why can you enter so many strategic procurement projects locally." Chen Dengxiang The key point in the answer is his loyalty to the brand for more than ten years, soDue to his focus and more than ten years of business accumulation, he and Romario Tiles have been recognized by a large number of local distributors and real estate developers. Therefore, when the market is not good, the industry reshuffle is a better opportunity for him.
“The market is always changing, but what remains unchanged is the return of old customers.” This is a wise saying that the author heard from dealers during terminal research at Xiamen Station. For dealers, long-term brand holding, intensive cultivation and dedicated management are not only a consideration of loyalty in personal character, but also a kind of wisdom in brand selection and careful management.
Second: Establish professional configuration and services
During the terminal research process at Xiamen Station, the author found that many dealers who are doing well in the local market have already regarded the building ceramics industry as a service industry and ceramic tiles as a semi-finished product for decoration. The Xiamen market stands out because of its overall home design experience and service capabilities in paving and tiling delivery.
The average house price in Xiamen is as high as 60,000 yuan per square meter. People who can afford a house in Xiamen can be said to be "not short of money" when it comes to choosing decoration materials. For this reason, the author learned that some large flats with an area of more than 120 square meters in Xiamen are still delivered in rough form. Such owners will find professional design companies or personal design studios to decorate them, while small units with an area of less than 90 square meters are basically delivered in rough form. Delivered in hardcover. Compared with other cities, the quality requirements for some finely decorated houses in Xiamen are much higher. The price of ceramic tiles for high-quality finely decorated houses can be as high as 150 yuan/square meter, including some ceramic tiles imported from Italy. so. Strong purchasing power prompts many dealers to work hard on brand operation configuration and services.
▲Terminal Configuration Service
The author found that product trends in Fujian marketFollowing the trend of Foshan, ceramic large boards have made great achievements in the Fujian market and have become a trend category that many dealers are optimistic about. As we all know, since large boards have become popular across the country, restrictions on their transportation, processing, paving and other supporting facilities have become the reason why they are not popular. However, the dealers who sell better slabs in Fujian basically rely on their own equipment or resource integration methods, so that they have stable and professional slab transportation, processing, and paving teams, which can basically solve the problem of high-end customer groups choosing slabs. No worries. Many dealers also said that many high-end customer groups are willing to pay for professional supporting services for high-end products such as large boards for peace of mind.
"Providing good service is my future trend. In the future, material dealers will have to transform from a seller to a professional who provides solutions in order to win more development opportunities." This is Douglas Ceramics Xiamen dealer Su Wenwang He shared with the author his business experience in transforming from a decoration company owner into a materials dealer in 2014. He believes that in the future, only high-end products will have a way out, and value innovation is the key point for him as a material supplier to provide space paving solutions for the majority of owners. For this reason, future dealers, whether they are themselves or the configuration of the service team, must be professional in order to gain a foothold in the market.
▲ Douglas Tile Xiamen dealer Su Wenwang
Visiting the Fujian market to explore the "business secrets of the Fujianese who are best at selling bricks", the terminal research team of China Ceramics Network deeply understood the meaning of "Tao to Simplicity": no matter how the general environment changes, focus on the brand of your choice. , be yourself, work hard, and the severe environment will basically not pose a fatal threat to yourself. The future market belongs to professionals.
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