By: Joel Grier, Furniture Regional Manager
Not every reseller has a trained staff of furniture installation experts but that doesn’t mean that they should not sell furniture projects requiring more than delivering and unboxing. Today’s dealers can rely on third party installation firms that are trained in many types of Office Furniture assembly, from basic desks and chairs, to installing a building full of new cubicles and workstations.
We have helped dealers, large and small, come up with options to install a variety of projects both large and small. There are many options, ranging from collaboration with other dealers, to contacts with all sizes of independent Installers. When a reseller’s footprint is local or regional, there are firms that handle installations for both. This is helpful when a project is sold in one region but needs to be delivered and installed in another.
Don’t think that you have to be bound by your physical receiving capabilities, we work with dealers everyday that work from office spaces and have no dock who can successfully implement large furniture installations. Most installers have the capability to receive product for a dealer and use their logistic abilities to manage the entire delivery and installation process. Another option could be to coordinate an installer’s schedule to pick up product at one of our distribution centers and take the product directly to the job site to complete.
Don’t be afraid to list your installation as a charged line item to your customer. There was a day that a dealer built the cost of the installation into the selling price, which can still be done, but most quotes today include the product and the installation under separate lines.
Don’t be afraid to put a margin in your installation quotes. Nine times out of ten, there will be return trips for adjustments in product or to repair a punch list.
A recent example of the ins and outs of a project requiring installation went like this, a dealer’s Account Manager had rapport with an end user that allowed him to secure a large opportunity involving a panel system, casegoods, and seating. With current and future office configurations needing to be compliant with COVID regulations, this end user was overhauling their current open office concept design. Selling and ordering the product was no issue, delivery and installation was causing concern. I was approached with the question of how I could help with a solution, I suggested two regional installers and the dealer requested a quote from both, they settled on one that was willing to accept the deliveries of multiple vendors at the site of the project, bypassing the need to handle the product twice. Even though the project involved numerous trips to the project site over a 4-week period, the job was completed, and the dealer found other smaller furniture projects to help complete.
While we don’t always have the resources to get a job done on our own, there are many options to make it happen. Creativity is all around us, let’s get creative to get the job done!
