NEWS
Chandler’s passion for what he currently does, and 13
years’ experience in it with Plumblink, means he is not about
to relinquish all of his current duties, although he says a
fulltime replacement must ultimately be made.
Operations director Luvuyo Mgidlana will initially take on
some of the duties in addition to his existing responsibilities,
‘becoming dual operations and commercial director. “I’m a
product guy and always will be, having started at the bottom
as a picker, there are so many pitfalls about a product one
has to be alert to. I’ve had relationships with most of these
guys (our suppliers) for 25 plus years – and most of them
are not just suppliers but friends too, so I would still hold on
to that. Plumblink’s business relies heavily on the product
it sells – so even as CEO I would not relinquish that focus
because without suppliers, we wouldn’t have product to sell
and wouldn’t have a business.
“Product management will need to be a team effort;
product and the management thereof is all about
experience. To get to this level [of product knowledge], I’ve
worked hard, very hard.”
He offers some tips to those who aspire to succeed in the
plumbing retail business: “You have to be a sponge and soak
up product and market intelligence and information – this
is how I have always tried to differentiate myself. If you
understand how a product works, it makes it easier to sell,
when you become a better seller of product, it means you
start to learn more about costings and can become a better
buyer. This gives you a different view of things in total and
allows the business to grow because of it.
“One valuable piece of advice I received from one of my
mentors, the late Leo Hogan, when starting out in this
industry was that ‘you have two ears, two eyes and one
mouth – you should look and listen twice as much as you
talk’ – especially when starting your career.”
Chandler’s second piece of advice is to immerse oneself
in the plumbing industry – and by association, in your
workplace: what some people call passion and Chandler
calls ‘actually giving a sh*t’. “I believe a company like
Plumblink is successful because there are people in it who
live it, eat it and dream it every day and night of their lives.
That’s the secret to success: you can’t replace hard work
and learning from your mistakes – and don’t make the
mistakes more than once. Studying degrees and diplomas
means nothing if a person’s going to be a dilettante.
“You can’t beat experience: I know what happens in the
warehouse because I started there; I know what happens
at the trade counter because I spent 12 years on it; I know
what happens in procurement because I’ve done it.”
Plumblink has been on a new path for the past decade, and
providing that vision now becomes central to Chandler’s
role, albeit the company has a strong team focus. He says
the model of the company (the design of which he was
intimately involved in) has been a success and paid more
dividends than they had ever hoped for. “The plumbing
industry is not a high tech one, with people’s jobs not at
risk to artificial intelligence or high levels of automation
under the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It’s a profession
very much based on human interaction and I don’t see that
changing. We certainly have tapped into market intelligence
and are tuned in to what’s happening – what our suppliers’
strategies are; what our customers’ strategies are – and
February 2020 Volume 25 I Number 12
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“You can’t beat experience: I know what
happens in the warehouse because I
started there; I know what happens at the
trade counter because I spent 12 years on
it; I know what happens in procurement
because I’ve done it.”
that gives a picture of what we need to do for the future.”
We always need to remain flexible and able to change to the
requirements of the market.
There’s no Uber or Airbnb likely to ‘disrupt’ the cleaning of
drains, pipe fitting and geysers replacements and other work
that occupies the time of plumbers. “We were one of the
first plumbing industry companies to have an online buying
platform, these newer technologies don’t simply take off
in the plumbing trade. The plumbing trade is not going to
revolutionise in the next few years, but we can ‘box smarter’.
Technology will affect our business positively by improving
administration on behalf of plumbers: making invoicing
more seamless; and improving their everyday businesses.
It’s about doing the same, better. And our innovation is in
the line of broadening the product range and (possibly)
expanding the range of work plumbers can do, such as gas
and solar heating,” says Chandler. PA
Six planned new store
openings for Plumblink
will take its total store
count to 112
Store openings planned before April 2020:
• Salt River, Western Cape
• Valencia, Nelspruit
• Blairgowrie, Johannesburg
• Umlazi, KZN
• Durban Esplanade, KZN
• Edendale, KZN
The opening of these stores is anticipated to take place between four and six weeks after
the actual site occupation. Plumblink CEO Gary Chandler says, “We aim to get the stores
ready within four to six weeks of taking occupation and will thereafter stagger the official
openings. We sometimes let a store trade for a month or two before the official opening, to
give us time to handle any teething problems. We have also broken ground on the new KZN
regional distribution centre in Durban – we are hoping that this new distribution centre will
be completed and ready for occupation early in our new financial year.” PA
www.plumbingafrica.co.za