Home rmprovement profit program for '71

MORE than 65 executives repre. rYr senting allied associations and manufacturer sponsors of the Home Improvement Time Program met recently in Pittsburgh, Pa., to review industry participation and make plans for 1971.

The annual Home Improvement Time Program is sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders, National Home Improvement Council, National Lumber and Buildi.g Material Dealers Association, National Remodelers Association and forty allied associations and manufacturers of building material products. A focal point of each years' activity is the popular May Home Improvement Month, with continuous promotion activity during the calendar year.

The committee reported activity and participation at the local level has surpassed any previous year. A few highlights: increased participa. tionin more than seventeen con. ventions and regional meetings - by 26 major newspapers with Home Improvement Time special tabloids insert sectionsby more than 2,. I00 known contractors and dealers who had direct tie-in with one or more of the program stsrnents - with special editorial treatment by all of the shelter publication group in one or more issuesby other consumer publications sueh as .Nati,orml Obsen)erwith a special Fall program tie.in by Poputnr Sci. ence to 1,000 building material deal. ers (each dealer will receive a count. er display and a supply of consumer m-ailgrs) by House Beautifu) which tied-in 150 leading contrac.

tors with the Home Improvement 'fime sales portfolioof television and radio stations nationwide who used material prepared by HUD emphasizing Home Improvement Time. By Sears & Roebuck Co. who tiedin their stores nationwide with special Home Improvement Time ads and tabloid inserts in Mayby

Story of q Glonce

Participation & plans reviewed by over 65 execs . industry wide tie-in readied . over 44building material assn. sponsors.

HUD with a special statement and press release by George Romney, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Developmentof manufac. turer sponsors in new Headquarters City programs (outstanding examples were Georgia Pacific Corp. in Portland and Simpson Timber Co. in Seattle)by more manufacturer sponsors with a direct tie-in of the Home Improvement Time theme and their marketing programby American Home with a special section and a full-page Home Improvement Time adby the trade press with many feature and news story pagesincreased circulation and use of the new full.color consumer mailer with more Governor and Mayor proclamations nation.wide tied to news storieswith 24 sheet outdoor boards"[1,s Home Im. provement Time."

Headquarters City Sponsoring Manufacturer Advisory Gioup alsi a-nnounced plans for an arpansion of the number of citiee participating in the Headquarters City T97L.

AII local groups and activity in associations affiliated with any one of the four national sponsoring associations should write their national association for a complete kit that details every step to organize a Headquar. ters City Program in their city.

A sponsoring Manufacturer Advi. sory Group for the l97l "Guideline !'or Profit" and L97I "Consumer lllailer" {or home owners, announced several new innovations for I97L. There will be separate editions of "Guideline For Profit" in 197I. The two separate editions will be prepared so each is related to contractors, or to building material dealers. Total circulation will again be I00,. 000.

The full color 'oConsumer Mailer" for contractors and buildine materi. al dealers will also be peionalized for each group in 1971. Building ma. terial dealers will have a choice of individual building material prod. uct, tools and allied units thev can use to build an ad of their "hoi"" for the back cover. They can add their own price to any'individual product or tool unit. There will be an area for thei,t name, address and phone number.

This additional personalization will be at tle standard imprinting charge.

Both the Sales Portfolio and Ad. vertising File for contractors and dealers will be revised for 19?1. The Sales Port{olio has been acclaimed by dealers as one of thq most pro. ductive tools ever prepared to sell home improvement and remodeling.

lst OF A TWO PART SERIES

fT'S logical for a lumber or buildr ine materials dealer to sell parnt.

After all. such dealers sell most of the products a contractor or homeowner needs to build a home from the ground up. Selling paint, the product needed to put the final touch to such projects, is a natural for lumber and building materials merchants.

Yet few dealers really do a good job of merchandising paint. The majority of dealers who stock paint don't really "sell" it. Paint too often is treated as an unwanted stePchild, not as a logical and profit' able product line.

It takes only a modest investment and fairly painless sales and technical training to become a successful paint dealer. Paint is a nearly recession-proof business, for even when building and remodeling activity is low, homeowners paint to maintain and redecorate their homes.

A lumber or building materials merchant has several advantages over a hardware store or even a painting and decorating shop in selling paint. Most important is the fact that nearly all of the lumber, molding, siding, doors and windows sold to customers need some sort of finishingpainting or staining or varnishing. If a dealer has skillful salesmen, it should be a relatively easy matter to produce an add-on sale when the first purchase is made or to implant the idea in the customer's mind that your store is the best source for paint when the time comes for completing the job at hand. Since most construction projects entail many troublesome details, saving a customer a trip to an additional store can provide an invaluable service.

However, a dealer must not expect his materials customers to become paint customers automatically. The dealer must court with a wellknown brand of paint, display expertise in recommending paint and other finishing materials and establish the image of a dealer who con-

by E. G. Williams marketing manager, consumer products, coatings & resins div., PPG Industries, Inc.