Ok, I know Im opening up a can of worms here…
I am opening an electrical supply house up here in the North East (USA). I am looking for some feedback to see what has worked and what hasn’t worked. So tell me, what is the best and worst that you have encountered with a supply house.


[This message has been edited by Winlectric (edited 10-25-2006).]

Just one thing I'm sure there will be others. You calling in an order for pick-up three hours later you go there to find out they do not have instock. Nobody calls to tell you they are out.

[This message has been edited by Sparks30 (edited 10-24-2006).]

Screw one guy, one time, and he'll never come back. And he may end up being your competitions biggest consumer down the road.

There is plenty of other supply houses out there.

Good luck in your business.

Answer the phone a 1/2 hour before closing, open early, double check orders, be open to new products, just a couple of things. Good luck, electricians are *****, I know I am one or both.

[This message has been edited by electure (edited 10-24-2006).]

Don't sell across the counter to anyone without a contractors license or electricians license. If you do decide to sell to the public, have a small counter space reserved for non-electricians. I don't know how many times I've had to wait while a salesman explained the finer points of a 3 way or other electrical item to a DIY'er who should have gone to the big blue or orange box.

Have inside salespeople answer the phone calls...........not your counter help

Be open all day saturday.

Give away lots of hockey tickets.

Have a emergency call number and someone who can open up in off hours.(premium charge)

Ok, the first 2 are more of a wish.

I hope you never decide to DIY duct work in your house, Tom. The HVAC supply guys have this down COLD! The big boxes don't carry a fraction of what you need, and it's such a freaking PITA to get any of the HVAC supply houses to sell to you without lying to them.

That two that finally would sell to me (one local and one online) are now $500 and $2500 richer respectively. And the others? Well, I'm sure they've got plenty of business and don't need mine.

Okay, here's one from outside the box. If you end up getting the basics down pretty well and you want to put your supply house over the top to take all your competion's customers, put a deli in there too. I'm serious. Have soups & sandwiches maybe drinks and coffee and donoughts. Don't want to spread youself to thin? Sub it out. Lease a small space and set it up as a seperate counter.

Now you'll have the lunch rush. Guys that would normally put off running to the supply house for a small part won't put it off if they can grab it at lunch. And as long as they're there, they'll grab something else too. Then make sure you're moring shift and evening shifts overlap at lunch time so you have twice the personell on hand.

Even if you don't go with the deli idea, try to figure out a way to have some extra counter help at luch time. Guys will always shoot over because they're out anyway for lunch. Nothing worse than standing in line because there is a lunch ruch and half the help is out to lunch.

Free - fast delivery. Even for small orders for account customers. The amount you spend having a minimum wage guy drive all day dropping stuff to guys like me who hate to drive will pay you back 3-fold in the amount of buisiness you do with it. For us, thats time there, and time back at Journey+ wages, and lost time on job. Not to mention loss of a good parking space... Owners will love you if thier guys never see your shop.

Invest in a Symbol system! There is nothing like being billed for the wrong thing, or not being able to read a hand written slip.

Print an easy to use catolog for common items so a sheet can be faxed from site right to you. And have easy numbering system to avoid over the phone mistakes. For instance: Yesturday I ordered 4Sq-3/0-5/8 rise rings - I got 4/0-3/0 5/8 Rise rings. But if I could say - "Quanity, ten - 1586" Maybey I would have gotten the right thing?

Take advantage of Email and the Web. Established customers would be able to email you parts lists for price and avail. and possible pick up the next morning. How about Internet ordering and jobsite drop off? This is just stuff I fantasize about because I have to wait at least 2 weeks to order anything above our petty cash amount and at least 6 months for anything involving purchasing. But I think it would be slick if a contractor could take a pic with his phone and attach it to an email with, "I need this in stainless with a lip. What do ya got?" Maximum interaction with minimum interruption. I would think there might be a market for that.
Joe

I'll second what Tom said, I'll go out of my way to go to the "to the trade only" supply house. I'd advertise it to the contractors, "We sell to the trade only, we don't support unlicensed handymen"

Steve, I spent over 5k last week in ONE supply house and theres 8 of us that are service in the company I work for and 80 guys total. Do the math, 3k loss from a handyman or HO is nothing compared to the business I can take elsewhere.

If selling to HO's (which I really have no problem with) take EC's ahead of them if the HO's have a bunch of questions.

I think Joe may be on to something. The 21st century supply house will be able to do business over a Blackerry type device.

In real life we could order parts with our RF connected Motorola PTs (Blackberry's granddaddy) in 1987 so this is far from a new concept.

Most important to me, get us in and get us out quick. Nothing worse than waiting around for 45 minutes when there is a full days work waiting.

If so many contractors want these "services" how come so many are not willing to pay for them?

I have seen a contractor leave a counter and drive 2 miles to a box store because the supplier wouldn't lower the price 10 cents on 1 (yes 1) single pole switch.

Remember "you don't get what you don't pay for".

Well, before I started my apprenticeship I used to work at a supply house so I have seen both sides of things A few things I like or dislike are

You MUST have counter staff that have some knowledge on the products and how they are installed. EG I have gone into the suppliers looking for a mercury vapour lamp but was repeadedly told " metal halide is the same thing because it says this lamp contains mercury". I walked away.
Flip side, a good counter person will try to make sure you have everything you need. Doing a new service perhaps? If I saw you did not order "part X" I would ask and make sure you had "part X". Many times I was thanked with " Oh ya I need that thanks for reminding me...

Don't make me wait.. There is nothing I hate more than waiting in line, ESPECIALLY when I see one or 2 counter people puttering around and stocking stuff while the line is like 6 deep OR trying to help " joe off the street" wire up a pigtail.
Flip side , when I was behind the counter, we did our best to help everyone, and would help out any CONTRACTOR with whatever they wanted to know but when " joe off the street" came in looking for info, I would tell him to call an electrician. Also, one of the reasons I quit is because they had me working the counter, doing orders, answering the phone etc while the boss son
( other staff) disappeared each afternoon to run personal errands instead of stocking shelves or taking orders, and got away with it every time!


Keep lots of stock especially of the "common" items. Nothing I hate more than is to go to the supplier for something like a box of standard white duplex receptacles and find out they are out of stock, OR go in and ask for something "not so common" like a dryer or stove cord and find out they can order it and have it in a week.
Flip side, I HATED telling customers that "Oh we are out of part X". Doesn't look good on the supply house, and eventually word gets around NOT to go to your supply house because you do not have any stock.

We also had free delivery, but within reason. orders for " good" contractors, (Good as in large orders regularily, and payment on time) We would have it there when they wanted, wherever they wanted. Regardless of how big or small the order was.. For others it would be delivered " morning or afternoon" and would have to be a reasonable order.
( one 1/2" pvc LB delivered across the city was not reasonable)


A.D

"I'll second what Tom said, I'll go out of my way to go to the "to the trade only" supply house. I'd advertise it to the contractors, "We sell to the trade only, we don't support unlicensed handymen" "

My supplier has a special rate for those who are not licensed....it's called list price.

Definitely have lots of catalogs on hand with the products you handle.

What I plan on having/offering is;

Have a large sign at the counter reading; BY LAW WE CAN NOT GIVE OUT ANY ELECTRICAL INFORMATION. THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE BY A LICENSED ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR.
Keep some electrical contractor’s cards on hand to hand out to the guy crying because I won’t design and tell him how to install the electrical for his new pool.

Open at 7am and close at 8pm.
Every supply house I have worked in locked its front door like Fort Knox at 5pm. After 5pm I see all the electrical contractors at the big box store.

Closed on Saturday.
Trust me, nothing brings out Joe and Jane homeowner like being opened on a Saturday!

Have an emergency number to call your order in and to pick up.
With-in reason of course. That way guys who need to do that service change on a Saturday can call knowing they have access to the supply house.

Free delivery within reason.
Even if it means meeting you after work to drop off your order.

Having a lock box outside with a combination lock.
If a contractor calls his order in, you can pick it up any time after hours.

Have a web based ordering/stock system.
If you need to check pricing for a quote or to place an order, you will have access to our complete stock.


[This message has been edited by Winlectric (edited 10-25-2006).]

I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade...

I am not a contractor, but an architect. I am an advanced DIY'er... I just finished building by own house. I was an electrical systems engineer for many years before going to the dark side... ;-)

I talked for a few minutes with the accounts manager or owner of the supply houses I dealt with and now have open accounts at the electrical, fasteners, HVAC, plumbing, and lumber houses. I'm afraid there is no black & white for DIY/Contractor, but a thin grey line and I really appreciated being treated like a contractor, and I tried as much as possible to treat them like I was a contractor. In return I spent $10-75K at each of the houses. I'd ask that you be open to select owner/builders out there. And I appreciate the houses that are open Sat mornings. (Two guys restock shelves on sat & close at noon)

I hope you can do well on copper prices... All of the sparkies in my area seem to get 95% of their copper at big orange because the smaller guys can't touch the prices... I always run into them at 6pm on weekdays there...

Best of luck!!

On a seperate note I think all architects & engineers should be required to spend a few years in the field before getting their license...

[This message has been edited by Mike Wescoatt (edited 10-25-2006).]

[This message has been edited by Mike Wescoatt (edited 10-25-2006).]

We are electricians- not warehousemen. We need YOU to stock everything under the sun for us. We need the supply house to stock ALL of a product- too many times a house will stock, say, the fixture...but not the bulb it needs.

Let us in the warehouse. We can't buy it if we don't know you have it. Indeed, often the counter staff doesn't know what's back there.

While we're in the warehouse.... have lots of GOOD lighting. There is nothing worse that getting the wrong parts to the job; I have to wonder if the lighting has something to do with the error rate, when I see a warehouse that has the minimal number of (horror!) HPS fixtures.

I see way too much hanky-panky with prices. It makes no sense to carry several brands of exit lights, yet throw several hurdles in the way of my knowing the cost. The worst situation is where I buy one today for $50.... and next week get charged $130!

Which brings up the issue of confidence. We ought to be partners- not enemies. Yet, too often, I see parts house personnel trying to 'work an angle' to the benefit if the house.

Winlectric,
Welcome to the group, mate!.

I would go along with a few of Jps1006's comments.
When I was an EC, there was (and still is) a supply house here that used to offer a clean smoko room where you could make yourself a coffee and sit down and relax before you got what you came in for.
{This in itself was a god-send when I was doing Faults work, you never know how long your customer has been working in the morning before he finally gets to your door, he might have started at 1 or 2am and a coffee looks like a beer does at 5pm.}
I know all the staff there on first name (or nick-name) basis.
They all know me in the same respect as well.
Everyone that works there has extensive trade knowledge, most being semi-retired electricians or technicians and that in itself has led me back there when I've had a complex problem to nut out.
Having an on-call person 24/7 is almost imperative these days, because chances are a guy will get to a job and find that he hasn't got some piece of gear that he's used up or the like.
Just my $0.02 worth.

I like getting call backs when I inquire about a product. I know you guys are busy like the rest of us, but we need this information on pricing and availability so we can inform our clients before they will approve the work.

I recently switched supply houses because my regular supplier didn't get back to me in a timely manner, and I had no choice. The items in question were 5 stainless steel pedestals. The order was worth $15,000. I'm guessing a supplier gave up about $7500 in profit because they couldn't be bothered to spend a few minutes on the phone.

Not a mistake you want to get in the habbit of if you'd like to be successful.

Many years ago I built a large addition as "Owner/Builder". The electrical supply house agreed to deal with me if I would show him my permit and only submit big orders. The reality was I only had one order.
I did have a good plan.
I picked up the odds and ends at the hardware store.
Using the same strategy I even got an HVAC suppler to sell to me but again I only had one order. I still couldn't buy the actual "machine" from him but he did sell me all the other hardware. Evidently that was the rule at the time.

That’s why I am opening a supply house. Too many times I see the project manager get a job and it sits on his desk for about a week before he even opens the folder. Or when you’re special order that you needed 3 days ago finally comes in, the shipping receiving guy does not call to let you know its here. I can go on and on but you know the drill.
As for the incompetent help, I will always have one ready to jump on the counter to help that special contractor who pay’s on his account every 90 days!

Nobody mentioned Coffee and Donuts????

I too will say open the back side - You'll be surprised how many guys will just pick thier own order for speed. Sometimes I have orders I could pick myself faster than translating it - then just check out at the counter. And often as mentioned-if its known you have it - you'll sell more of it.

Now this is a wierd one: Here there are a bunch of Chineese shops that I use for a few reasons, and only recently have other shops picked up on thier technique. 80% of walk-in orders are self-picked to keep things moving / over-head low. Free delivery of orders. They dont have it, they buy it from another shop for you. It seems to be a wholesale agreement between competitors - favor to favor. That way the shop you go to says, "Oh, I'll have that for you this afternoon." (And you'll spot the packing stamp of the other store...) The ones who don't do that tell you it'll be a week to get in from deep-space and that holds up work.... So stay friendly with the competition. It helps keep customers....

Oh, and the big one! Rent heavy tools... Hydralic benders, theaders, tuggers, testing equipment. And do some in-house work. Theres one shop I go to that does in-house bends. The owner's an old EC, will bend up most simple bends from an over the phone describtion for me, but doesn't do that for everyone. I tell him I want a 4 1/2" off-set on 3"RMC, or a 90-3' stub on 2"RMC, and just charges per bend, sends it on the truck with the rest of my order. Most guys just go out back and get charged per bend/per thread, or rent the equipment for the day. But this type of thing as a service or place to obtain equipment that big shops would have, helps the small guy look like a big one. And the type of stuff we need is not often avalable at Hertz or U-save rental.

"Keep some electrical contractor’s cards on hand to hand out to the guy crying because I won’t design and tell him how to install the electrical for his new pool."

Careful with this. Be sure to have cards for every EC that deals with you, and don't recommend one over another.

open at least a have day on saturday. And dont forget about good relationships with local Industrial companies, I am in the industrial field, there is big money here. And also go to your compation and check them out, look for good counter help and try to sway them your way. good luck

When new products (tools, parts, quantity sales, etc.) come out, have them on the counter. I like new stuff that saves time, or makes the job easier/cleaner.

Most places (maybe all, I am not familiar) have noise ordinances. Maybe being open before those times would be nice- the sparks come in before they can even be working to get their parts and then can work a full day (maybe a lunchtime run) with minimal interuption sicne they don't lose that time in the morning.

e57,
Umm, can't you read?.
I mentioned that a few posts ago.

The supply house I used to frequent had a good combination of things going for them IMO. They carried the brands I personally liked (P&S, Hubbell, Siemens, Bridgeport, etc..) They had no complaints about me heading into the back and loading up a cart with what I needed, (And I'd usually come across something else I needed while I was back there) I'd jot down quanity and part # on a counter pad while I was back there and they'd type it in the system from that. Now I realize this kind of trust can't just be given right from the start.. But people that do excessive amounts of over-the-counter business with you will certainly appreciate it
As far as weekends, I had phone #'s for 2 of the counter guys and I could usually get one of them to open up for me if I needed. Otherwise I'd have to call KNS in LA where one of the counter guys live above the supply house in a loft, and would open the door if I was spending enough But weekends WILL be lucrative if you get a good service co to open an account to you.

If the "Caper" was here (Harold Endean) he would want canolis

The first time I visited my supply house in my own city, they weren't too happy with me. I went there at 4:45. They close at 5, but they closed their warehouse down at 4:30. I went in at 4:45 to get sone #2 THHN. It was a very dramatic scene, as everyone was complaining that i came when the warehouse whas closed and they had to wait for the lights to warm up and turn on. The salesman who chewed me out behind my back apologized to me and even waited with me until my ride came back (I wasn't driving at the time, so I had to wait for my brother). I told the salesman it's okay, and I was trying to get there earlier anyways. I have always gone back there for things I need. Had he not apologized, I probably would have never gone back and gone to the big box store instead.

The moral of the story: Sometimes salespeople make mistakes. However, if they apologize and offer something at the personal level, then there's a great chance that the customer will come back. Had they offered me a discount and no apology, I probably would never have come back. Sure, a discount saves money, but an apology is priceless, and accepting an apology is priceless.

Of course, when it comes to liability reasons, if you apologize, never admit fault. For example: It's snowing, and you just shoveled the walk in front of your supply house. Someone slips. You can say "I'm sorry that happened" but not "I'm sorry you slipped. James was supposed to shovel, but he probably missed a spot." I know this sounds cruel hearted of me, but admitting guilt in a liability situation is like jumping into the tiger cage at the zoo and yelling "Hey big cats, I'm standing right here! Please don't eat me."

win, to sum it up:

be open 24/7, let us pick our own material and tell you what we took, and give us free stuff (from coffee to sporting tickets)

In return, we'll beat you over the head to give us your "best" price, we'll call and complain (loudly) anytime an order is wrong. We'll shop your prices around like mad when we screw up the bid and need to really save money.

Did I miss anything?

Mahlere, you've hit the nail on the head!

[This message has been edited by Winlectric (edited 10-30-2006).]

That will be $10,000 for the consultation. We take MC/Visa/Disc/Amex/Cash or Wampum. No checks though.

Pretty accurate?

Where abouts in the northeast are you opening ? I would be interested in a good supply house im from ct?

I am located in Shelton Connecticut. Right now we are in a small building and will be moving to a larger space the first of the year.

Do you have a website or tel number.

Have a set of lockers outside, or a customer accessable cage area, so you can leave orders for established customers for after-hours pickup.. either a sesame lock with the freshly set combo given to the customer, or a customer provided lock, or a masterkeyed lock assigned to the customer. (Best locks would work well for this)

advertising wall for customers.. enough space for a 8.5x11 flyer, and a stack of business cards.. randomized weekly so nobody can complain about favoritism..

Little things that make a difference:
-Cold water
-Tea or Coffee
-Drink vending machine that works. If it doesn't work, ensure the machine can be opened by staff to sell the drinks "over the counter"
-A parking area big enough to park a truck with a 20' trailer.
-Knowing how long items are going to be when not in stock.

Um, Let me jump in here please, and tell you what happened around here. The RR spending on electrical equipment varies from year to year depending on what projects are in the pipe, but anywhere from 2500 to 15000 in a years time.

I used a supply house based in another city. The local was reasonably well stocked, which is what I like because a lot of my projects are "engineered on the fly" because I build them around what I can find. Across the street from the supply house was the electronics house, from which I bought everything from solder to semiconductors. Counter help was courteous and knowledgable in both places.
First thing to happen, electrical house bought the electronics house. Pretty soon the electronics house was in the electrical house, squeezing space so electrical supply space got reduced. But the same people still were behind the counter.
Second, the electronics people got moved to HQ, a state away. So now you ordered by phone, or got the electrical people to try and tell you what still existed on the electronic shelves.
Third, the company hired some college kid to run the inventory from the home office. Now the counter help are grumbling about "there's six on the shelf but the computer says I don't have any so I can't sell you one." Or vice versa. But if you ordered by phone it would come out of the inventory "that wasn't in the computer"
Forth, the supply house sold the whole shebang to an offshore company. Now there's nothing on the shelf, with counter help running to other places of employment, and customers having to order everything out of the next big city, the local house is now merely a transfer station with maybe one box of outlets and the like on the shelves.

I moved my business to another local owned place, and they sold out and now it's pretty much useless too.

I am now travelling almost 45 minutes one way to shop at a local owned place, because they have stuff in stock and people who know how it works and what they have.

I realize this is overly long, but it gets frustrating when the places you can get what you need don't have it.

TW

My main supply house takes fax orders,delivers to my place next day.They would as a courtesy drop off 1ea. 1/2 pvc l.b.
Also 2% cash discount 30 days. Plus my salesman can be reached 24/7 by cell phoneif needed.

Bob O.84,pa.15330

Well that's what the EC's say - here's a taste of what your banker will/might say: Keep your inventory at the absolute minimum - it costs you and nothing has moved yet. Re 30 day accounts - lets see 50 clients with 15 to 20k extensions = a million dollar line of credit and it's costing you $7k a month in interest just to cover their credit extension. With EC's in the warehouse now you will be dealing with shrinkage and misplaced inventory just like the big orange - take a look at how much that costs those fellas every year on one of their annual statements. Also now your insurance goes up. Separate people answering the phone in the back vs counter staff, you will be dealing with increased staff overhead because the one can't help out the other and the orders phoned need to be communicated to the counter staff so they know what to give who = more people overhead.

Make sure the big equipment you rent out generates sufficient income to cover actual costs of ownership, here's an example. Big widget costs $5000.00 new. You buy 1, how much do you need to rent it out for: 5k depreciated linearly over 5 years (rental life) = 1k per year. Annual service costs $300.00 Cost of labor on goods sold (rented) at say an hour every time you rent it (15 mins getting it loaded, same for unloading, filling out forms exacting payment) times the number of times it's rented, say 1 times a week = 52 hours of time per year at $15 per hour = $780 per year. Insurance on rental unit for theft or destruction = $50 per thousand per annum = $250. Interest on money borrowed to buy the widget @ 8% = 400 per year. Non labor administrative costs = 250 per year. One repair for damaged piece (not customer fault) = $350. Did I forget anything? We are now up to 1000 + 300 + 780 + 250 + 400 + 250 + 350 = 3330 per annum in operating costs alone, no principal has been paid back and no profit has baan made. $3330 + 1000 per year in returned principal (complete repayment over the life of the unit) plus 1000 per year profit (modest 20% margin) makes 5330 per year or $102.50 per rental. Just my 0.02. Good luck Ann

Ann, How right you are! Its hard trying to explain to a bean counter in the middle of the US that you really do need stock on 4 inch rigid pipe. All they see is the computer print out stating, low inventory turnover for said item. Now I get to argue to a computer about stock!

Do You deliver to the manchester/Andover Area?

Yes, we deliver all over CT and some of NY state(the part hugging CT).

[This message has been edited by Roger (edited 11-03-2006).]

I think enough suggestions and ideas have been discussed in this thread.

It seems to be headed into an advertisement now so it is time to close it.


Roger