BUSINESS AND TRAINING
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knowledge on call to attend to product issues in the field. Part of
the service is warranty claims. Webb says this had always been
a mainstay of Cobra through all the changes that took place in
the group with its introduction of new plumbing brands. What has
changed is that the Cobra service department has now become
its own brand, with consequent increased emphasis. What was a
service technician is now a ‘brand ambassador’ who, in addition
to doing call outs, is also hosting stalls during agreed time-slots at
certain retailers to educate customers and staff and to promote the
Cobra brand over other brands.
Webb elaborates on this model: “We would typically have some
co-branding at the store, so when a plumber pulls up, he/she can
see that this is a Cobra-assisted agent. The issue at stake here is
that the plumber often wants the real thing, but a merchant sells
him some cheap imitation – and there are a lot of cheap imitations
of Cobra products imported from China,” says Webb. “What we
educate them on is, if they buy a genuine Cobra showerhead, for
instance, they get the 20-year warranty, and that we support our
warranties. We also train them on installation of our products, as
this is the main way to get the professionals to spec our products.
We also go and help the plumber with the installation on site. The
payback for us is to win back the support of the professionals.”
Each of the 27 technicians is either a qualified plumber, or if they
come with other skills such as training, they are put through the
entire plumbing apprenticeship and trade tests, explains Webb.
“We had the option of competing on the basis of price with a
cheap product. Though we have worked on our pricing, we have
rather opted to concentrate on our core strengths of quality and
value for money – but the professional has to be educated on the
difference,” says Webb. “Our business model is to compete with a
good, compliant product. South Africa is a price-conscious market
in which a big segment simply doesn’t have the money for quality.
In response, we have a wide range of products and are able to
target each market segment with a different product – and all
are compliant.
But CobraAssist has a dual function. In addition to the above, Webb
explains that it is a channel to find out what new products plumbers
would like and what they want to know in terms of education. “The
plumber loves Cobra products – if he could, he would use our
compression fitting, for example, every time. We’ve been in this
market a long time and they all know us. We want to leverage the
advantage we have by sending him to a place he knows he can get
our product.” PA
“The basis of this initiative
is the recognition that the
plumber is the professional in
this activity, and the person
we should build a rapport
with and really get back into
the plumbers’ hearts.”
August 2020 Volume 26 I Number 06
www.plumbingafrica.co.za