Offering a wide and varied selection of products and brands to your customers is a smart (and often necessary) business move. By providing multiple options you can cater to everyone, giving your customers the beauty of choice.
The beauty of choice can sometimes turn out to have an ugly side, however.
Take spill solutions. There’s no shortage of options on the market. Not just different brands, but different products made from different materials. But not all of them perform to the same standard – some don’t even meet certain regulations.
It’s hard to know everything about every product, but having some basic background knowledge on the performance of popular spill products can go a long way to making sales – and keeping customers.
Poor value products drag down business value
When it comes to spills solutions, distinguishing the good from the not-so-good isn’t always easy. The underperformers are hiding in plain sight – they’re products that have long been widely used.
This ongoing popularity clearly means that many businesses don’t know they’re using poor-value spill solutions. So, it’s your job as the supplier to suggest the products that will be more efficient or cost-effective.
An inability to do so can spell problems for you customers. Anything from frustrating and inefficient spill cleans, to serious safety and compliance concerns.
But it also means a thing or two for your business. Having a poor knowledge of the spill products you’re offering can mean you’re:
- Offering incorrect information and products
- Damaging customer relationships
- Not investing in products that will drive sales
Being knowledgeable about products, and being trusted to pass on this knowledge, is not only a bonus for your customers but adds value to your business. Even if your customers don’t know the difference, it can make all the difference to show them.
How do spill products compare?
Unfortunately, the high prevalence of bad products isn’t the only thing that makes buying the right one hard. When choosing spill solutions, there are more factors in play than simply – “will it clean my spill?”
While this is certainly a major requirement, it’s not the only one. Other than absorbency, the essentials for a high-quality spill solution are:
Safety
Spills can have a serious effect on site and worker safety. So, the right spill solution needs to be safely used and handled, be able to quickly and efficiently absorb escaping fluid, and be safely disposed of.
Cost vs. Volume
A lower buy price doesn’t always mean value for money. If a large amount of product or an increased commitment of manpower needs to be used to successfully clear a spill, it can suddenly become a very expensive option.
Sustainability
More attention is now being paid to making greener and more sustainable choices. This, along with fiercer EPA regulations, means that many businesses are actively searching for environmentally friendly product options.
Taking each of these factors in consideration, let’s compare some of the most popular spill solutions currently on the market:
A little bit of know-how goes a long way
As you can see in the above table, some options are clearly more viable than others. It can be tricky to determine quality just on face-value; upfront cost isn’t indicative of performance, or even total costs in the long run.
This shows the importance of having a bit of background knowledge in your arsenal. Simply trying to convince someone to buy a higher priced product won’t work unless you can show its true value.
When you have a clearer idea of how each option performs in different areas, you’re better positioned to:
- Meet individual customer needs
- Ensure customers get the best value
- Position yourself as an expert
- Ensure you’re supplying the best products
While the choice is ultimately your customer’s, research shows you should be suggesting cotton-based spill solutions. They are the best performing and highest-quality option available.
Enretech’s range of cotton-based absorbents (including award-winning floor sweep, KleenSweep) & cotton pads meet and even exceed all environmental, absorbency and disposal regulations. They have also widely been shown to outperform other spill products.
If you’re interested in learning more about spill solutions and ways you can improve service and sales through product knowledge, email me here or call me on 0488 232 741.
