Are you getting your market?
Mansfield, Ohio — Safe drinking water is critical to modern life. It is a prerequisite for all human activity —physical, economic and cultural. The U.S. has one of the safest water supplies in the world. It has a long history of implementing programs to provide clean and safe water. The Safe Drinking Water Act (sdwa) and Clean Water Act (cwa) are examples of a work in progress to insure it remains the safest in the world
The Department of Homeland Security recently published these interesting statistics regarding drinking water in the U.S.:
- 160,000 public water systems (pws)
- 84% of the total U.S. population is serviced by pws
- Pws produce 51 billion gallons per day (67% residential; 33% non residential)
- Pws obtain 63% of their source water from surface sources
- 2.3 million miles of distribution system pipes in the U.S.
The Department classifies these pws as critical assets requiring protection against terrorist acts. They have developed a Water Sector Specific Plan to protect these assets.
You can help protect your customers from the known and unknown issues facing their drinking water supply with your own drinking water sales plan.
Customers rely on your expertise. A large majority of companies rely on their core products as their primary revenue source and sometimes forget to include popular options.
Point of Use (pou) drinking water systems can be a source of significant revenue. It has the capability of producing reoccurring income for years to come. With the right sales model, pou sales can greatly add to the bottom line profits.
One only needs to look to the appliance industry to see the sales model that can be readily implemented at your dealership. In the last five years nearly every refrigerator with ice or water through the door has a water filter installed at the factory. This has created a large cash flow from replacement cartridge sales to the manufacturer’s bottom line.
This decision for the inclusion of water filters was made by management and not sales. Are you ready to make a similar decision for your company?
How can you implement a similar sales program?
- Offer your customers a system approach by bundling it with your core products. For example, include a drinking system as integral part of every proposal for sinks, kitchen faucets, water softener sales, well pumps and more. One that is conveniently installed to service not only their refrigerator, but all of their water using appliances, including the fixtures used for drinking, cooking and food preparation.
- Select a drinking water system that can be included with each proposal. Offer options based upon their water quality and interest levels. For example, include a water filter that has superior performance and more convenient than is being used in the refrigerator today.
- Select your water filter and optional drinking water carefully. Third party (wqa or nsf) certified systems are easier to sell and give the customer the assurance they are getting the performance they want.
- Do not use a tds meter as the only measurement of water quality. With 84%* of the population serviced by public water supplies according to the epa, disinfection by-products, Trihalomethanes, Volatile organic chemicals, mtbe, chlorine, chloramines, cysts and lead are the primary contaminants and many do not register on a tds meter! The epa also states that 63%* of the public water supplies are from surface water supplies which tend to have low tds.
Financial impact: What can it mean to your bottom line income
Increase your bottom line from the initial sales and more importantly create an income stream from the sales of replacement cartridges for years to come. I invite all of you to review your sales plan and improve these ratios and your bottom line as well as your customer satisfaction levels. Just 12 system per month can produce over $50,000.00 for profits in just three years.
Review your current sales plan and consider making a top-down management decision to leave no customer without improved water for cooking and drinking.
For new customers, include a drinking water filter as a standard part of every proposal. When it comes to existing customers without a drinking water system:, utilize your service department to offer customers a drinking water system while they are at the home.
* Water Sector Specific Plan, Executive Summary.
Andrew Zeigler, president of Waterline Technology, has been actively involved in the wqa and water treatment industry specializing in drinking water systems since 1983. Waterline Technology is the manufacturer of the first Certified Drinking Water System with high flow and high performance as certified by wqa Goal Seal Program under nsf/ansi 42/53 at 1.5 gpm. He can be contacted at 800/522-3949 or via e-mail azeigler@waterlinetechnology.com. Visit them online at www.waterlinetechnology.com.