Ways to sell more wood moulding

By Jame E. Mongraln Director of Marketing Wood Moulding & Millwork hoducers Association

T-fOIvGOWNERS, builders and remodelers in the'90s I lare well informed and interested in how the products they are buying will meet the specifications of their projects, but moulding is a mystery to many of them.

Deciding on profiles, species, types and lengths confuses them unless the retailer takes time to talk about their projects and the results expected. Those who sell moulding should be trained to provide the help and answers ne€ded. New products such as mouldings manufactured ftom imported woods, solid s fingerjoint, MDF, primed or veneered, require expanded haining in the specific application characteristics of each of these new products. (See related story p. 12) The Millwork Home Study Course offered by the National Sash & Door Jobbers Association Q08-299-3m) is agood strting poinr

In addition to having moulding-wise employees, a stor€ can display infmrration to help answer a prospective buyer's questions. For exarnple, a wall chart can show all the profiles stocked in the store including the lengths available

Did You Know?

o Milfwork sales represent 12o/o of total sales and32o/o of growth in large home centers.

o Millwork with a retail margin of approxirnately 28% has 6.97 turns.

o Millwork is second only to wood as the largest growth product in a home cenler.

a75% of the moulding remodeling is done by do-it-yourselfers.

and species with a narne or number for identification. Display boards that show cross sections of mouldings are geat selling tools. They are extremely helpful since profiles of moulding standing in a storage rrck are difficult to see. Because most customers are not very good at judging lengths, availability of a length stick is important so that the proper length can be selected.

Since most retailers are concerned with having only short lengths left in the moulding racks, the retail staff should be trained to sell the benefits of shorts. Studies show that in a typical house floor plan, more than 507o of the moulding can be shonter than 8 feet.

By finding out the size of the project, the number of rooms, the dimension of the rooms and whether the mould-

Story at a Glance

Ways to train employees to sell more moulding, especially shorts ... displays that help customers make the right choices for their projects cross merchandising techniques.

ing will be stained or painted, a salesperson can show the customer the benefits of buying a variety of moulding lengths, including shorts. Buying in the lengths needed prevents material waste and lowers costs for the customer.

Retailers also benefit from this type of merchandising progfixn. In addition to gaining a satisfied customer who has saved money on his project, he will have the advantage of wholesalers giving him amractive pricing on moulding bundles with short lengths. These savings will enable the store to get a higher return on sales or pass the savings on to the customer through promotions.

Cross merchandising is an excellent way to increase sales. Sales people should be adept at showing the tools needed for most moulding applications. These include a miter box, coping saw, hammer, nails, nail set, tape measure and finishing supplies. They also should be able to demonstrate how these tools are used.

As an adjunct to good salesmanship, clinics excel in helping @nsumers prepare to tackle a moulding job. They should include mitering, coping, scarfing, splicing, hanging doors, doing built-up profiles and finishing. Using mouldings for craft projects such as picnre frames also can be covered in clinics.

Tbe Wood Moulding and Millwork Producers Association has a wealth of information to help retailers including a series of "How To" brochures. This infonnation on working with mouldings, finishing, hanging doors, building up moulding profiles, and craft projects can be utilized in retail training and displays. They also can be made available !o customers.

Softwood