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PLUMBING CONNECTION
AUTUMN 2015
I
t’s tough in any business these
days, particularly for small to
medium operations which don’t
have the market scale advantages of
their larger corporate competitors.
So spare a thought for your local
independent plumbing merchants who
are copping it from all sides.
You, the plumbing contractor,
keeps pushing them for more service
in the way of stock availability,
product advice, guarantee of product
compliance, delivery, pricing - oh, and
you want to push out the payment for
as long as you can too!
On top of that, growing competition
from the big box retailers and the
internet and the fact that builders,
developers and more than a few
contractors are bringing in non-
compliant imports from Asia in the
hope of not getting caught by the
authorities or having a product failure.
Thus, it was interesting to recently
sit in on a business leader’s seminar
run by GWA (Caroma) who brought
to Sydney a sizeable number of
the leading independent plumbing
merchants from around Australia.
These are self-made men and
women who have lots of skin in the
game, while at the same time being
open minded about learning where
today’s business and industry trends
are heading.
In welcoming the audience, Les
Patterson, the Chief Executive of the
GWA Bathrooms & Kitchens business
asked them to think back to how the
industry ran 10 years ago, during
what were very healthy days for the
plumbing sector. However, predicting
what the industry will look like in 10
years forward is rather scary, given
the changes in customer behaviour,
communications and technology.
The merchants obviously deal with
the trade and most have, to varying
degrees, sizeable investments in
showrooms for consumer selection.
GWA brought in a very interesting
keynote speaker, Patrick Medley
from Kedleton & Co, a respected
management consulting firm. He
delivered a challenging presentation
aimed at assisting organisations
to better understand and take
advantage of the new technologies
that are fundamentally changing the
relationship between supplier and
customer.
He outlined what the retail
customer’s expectations are these
days, their changing attitudes and how
well-armed they are with knowledge
before setting foot inside a showroom.
The trends are being driven by the
fashion industry from overseas and
then impacting Australia and rolling
through to other sectors. It’s fair to
say that plumbing product selection
(for the consumer) has a way to go.
JEFF PATCHELL
WAS RECENTLY INVITED TO SIT IN ON AN INDUSTRY INITIATIVE THAT BROUGHT TOGETHER A
NUMBER OF AUSTRALIA’S LEADING INDEPENDENT PLUMBING MERCHANTS.
INDUSTRY INITIATIVE
LEFT TO RIGHT:
Michael Benton – Bentons Finer Bathrooms - Victoria, Patrick
Medley – Keynote speaker, Dr Steve Cummings – GWA Research & Development
Manager, Terry Lucas – Samios Plumbing Supplies, Reyn Bennell – Galvins
Plumbing Supplies – Western Australia, Les Patterson – Chief Executive GWA
Bathrooms & Kitchens
ASSISTING SALES PARTNERS