Plumbing Africa Plumblink's first hundred stores | Page 17

saying he has had probably ten approaches in the past ten years to open a franchise store. Alternative financial options remain on the table, he says, though there would be many issues to work through before there was any move in that direction. “Consistency of quality, product and price remain the pillars of our success, and franchising holds the risk of dragging our brand down unless actively and continually managed.” The Plumblink model aims to answer a specific market need, and Chandler says this primarily has to do with availability of stock. “The challenge is to have the full range of stock available at all times. The biggest complaints we get are seldom around price, but having stock available. This often stems from a teething problem with a new store or a store in a region where we are new to the market and trying to understand the local idiosyncrasies. Sometimes it happens that we move into a town where a pipe system has been widely used, so we simply have to stock that even though it’s not part of our range. We have 85% of customers’ needs covered 90% of the time. We admit to not being perfect, however we will continually strive to be better than the rest. “The second need is a fair price. Customers still expect us to be comparatively well-priced because we’re the ‘biggest merchant’, also, they want to know that if there’s a problem with a product bought from us, they have recourse.” Being a 100-plus store group can affect its willingness to try new ideas or products, as the implication of the decision has to be multiplied 100 times. “We’re probably not going to be the first to try some new product or retail idea. If there’s demand for an item we will generally recognise it, and www.plumblink.co.za for this we rely on feedback from clients, branch and regional managers to give us such market information. We will then check the quality of the product because we get repeat business by standing by the quality of a product and dependability of supply.” Plumbing is a conservative business, with plumbers generally and rightly so, content to continue using tried and tested products and methodologies, rather than being at the cutting edge of technology. It took the industry a long time to change from a galvanised pipe to a copper pipe for domestic installations as example. “I wouldn’t stock and sell anything I wouldn’t install in my own house. We wouldn’t put our name on a product that’s going to fail – it would come straight back, so it’s a personal thing for me,” says Chandler. Regulations matter “We have long-standing relationships with most of our suppliers for which dependability of supply and after-sales service are the major criteria. Many plumbing products look the same at face value,” says Chandler. “You have to take them apart to see what’s really inside to determine the quality. I have seen products sold as brass, but are simply chrome- plated – coated over – and when I take it apart its actually zinc. This is why it is crucial to approve each product’s quality and its continuity of supply for the quantity we are going to require throughout our group and therefore our clients and our own peace of mind.” “ Plumblink - Proudly Bidvest This was made real to Chandler when he installed a shower arm in his home many years ago. After around 12 months it crumbled and fell apart because it was made of zinc, not brass. “When we physically verify products ourselves as a Plumblink product, we have certainty as to the quality of what we’re selling.” This was a generic product that was available from perhaps ten different suppliers, but with a variance in cost price of as much as 50%, it simply couldn’t be the same quality – even though the appearance was identical. Merchants may sell it because of price (though Plumblink won’t knowingly), and consumers may buy it, but Chandler says there are reputational issues at stake. “If a zinc angle valve fails over the weekend, a customer may return home to find his home flooded,” he says. “We strive to procure, stock and sell a product of decent and certifiable quality throughout our product range, we are very proud of this as we believe this is a differentiator between Plumblink and other competition.” Plumblink also verifies a supplier’s legality with regard to paying VAT and other legal prerequisites, including BEE status. “We work hard at our own BEE status, but it is difficult work as the vast majority of suppliers are wholly-owned foreign companies. We only import about 10% of our total stock, but even ‘local’ suppliers are commonly European companies, they dominate the local market and don’t feel the pressure to achieve high BEE status. Most of the management level ‘has grown up with the company’. Unrecognised talent was given the opportunity to grow, and external appointments were made over time.” Your local plumbing store 15