140% Success at Listers
It seems that Lister Trade Frames have more cause to celebrate after their first year of commercial installations produced results far exceeding sales targets. Contributing 140% extra sales over budget the new venture has proven a huge success setting the standard for continuous growth and achievement.
Listers’ core business is the supply of windows doors and conservatories to trade installers. Listers don’t compete with their trade customers by installing for domestic clients. Back in May 2007, Sales Director Phil Warren took Listers into a completely new area of the industry by establishing a Commercial Installations team.
Forecasting £250,000 of sales for the first 12 months the Commercial Installations division was thrilled to achieve sales in excess of £600,000 gaining many new clients and adding more than £360,000 of orders since February this year.
The first year’s review confirms why Listers decided to develop a Commercial Installations department. Potential clients were happy with the products Listers supplied but disappointed that they could not also install them. So the decision was taken to establish a commercial installations division to meet the clients’ needs.
So, in May 2007 Listers set up a commercial team consisting of just two individuals and a sub-contracted fitting team. This soon grew to three individuals plus a full time survey manager and 3 sub-contractor teams. The rapid growth of the commercial venture meant an additional team was taken on in January and a further team in July.
The new venture has certainly been an all round win. The amount of orders confirmed for the second year already demonstrates how pleased clients are that Listers now offer commercial installation. Listers still maintain their trade only promise to trade installers but are now able to complete installations for their commercial clients.
Contracts Manager, Ron Maskery puts the success of the venture down to the excellent working relationships forged between Listers, their clients and their suppliers,
“Enlisting the support and knowledge of our key suppliers, such as WHS Halo, and maintaining close communication and fine attention to detail with our clients, ensured that our commercial projects achieved great success in our first year. These close working relationships mean that we can be accommodating and responsive to the needs of our clients, which explains why they continue to contact us for future projects.”
The results from one client demonstrate the success of the venture. Working initially on a large block of flats in Chesterfield back in December, Listers developed a close working relationship with the company, particularly with their Site Manager. The project went extremely well, so much so that they were given the next project plus a group of flats, which is currently underway. With a third contract about to commence, Tim Wright Commercial Installations Manager at Listers commented,
“We strive to maintain an excellent working relationship with our clients. We view each project as a partnership where we can deliver quality results in both products and service. This has paid off by far exceeding our expected projects for the year.”
Despite all the doom and gloom in the industry at the moment, Listers’ experience demonstrates the importance of recognising business opportunities and investing time and resources to make them profitable business propositions.