Leads are the lifeblood of many contractors, so generating them becomes a top priority. There are many ways to do so, and distributors can lend a hand in some creative and unique ways.

LEADS: Make Your Contractor Smile!

Great prices and on-time deliveries are great ways of retaining customers, but distributors looking to seal the deal can do so by generating leads for them. Wade Baughn, vice president of American Home Systems, shares how distributors can make customers smile by finding leads for them.

Wade Baughn, vice president of American Home Systems, sat down with RSP Publisher Jill Bloom to discuss how distributors can make their contractors smile by generating leads for them.

“Everybody goes back to what is the value of the lead – they think it’s the cost of the lead,” he said. “There’s a cost for the lead, but there’s a bigger outcome there … is distribution, the supplier, missing that part of the business? Because who owns the leads owns the contractor.”

Distributors can do their part to help generate leads outside of the usual means. For instance, Baughn said when an outside sales rep is driving about and spots shingles missing on a home or apartment complex, they can let the property owner know they have a network of contractors who can address the project.

“It may be didn’t turn into anything, but here’s what it did – you’re trying to help [a contractor’s] business,” he said. “It's the perception of somebody going, ‘You know what? Hey man, that guy gave me three leads. I know they didn't work out, but nobody else gave me a lead. Nobody else is trying.’”

Baughn goes over other methods in which distributors or suppliers can assist their customers in obtaining their next job, which he says at the end of the day likely means those customers will buy from you.

“You’re enriching yourself by enriching others,” he said.

Watch the video here or download the podcast of the conversation here.