Perceptive architects and building designers often talk about the flow of a building — the way lighting, color, materials and aesthetic structure make an occupant feel, as well as how they serve to lead a person from room to room. Jan/san distributors need to keep the flow of a building in mind too, especially when discussions with customers turn to waste receptacles.

“It’s one of those product lines that can really make or break a room,” says Barbara Casse-Bender, president and owner of BCB Janitorial Supply, Hackensack, N.J. “Few things look as bad as a hotel lobby that would be first-class if it wasn’t for the cheap-looking, plastic trash cans that are randomly scattered about.”

Anytime a product detracts from the original intent of the room, it can come back to haunt the sanitary supply distributor who is responsible for that product being there. While a number of jan/san items function covertly, below the radar of most building patrons, waste receptacles are hard to miss, says Andrew Brahms, president and owner of Armchem International, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

“We train our salespeople to examine two major items as soon as they enter the building of a potential customer: waste receptacles and floor matting,” he says. “First, those items set the tone for a building immediately when someone enters through the door. Waste receptacles and matting can both provide a whole new image for an entryway. Second, those are the things that most people notice. They might not realize it at first, but if they have something to throw away or there’s refuse piling up or the waste receptacles don’t match the rest of the design, they’ll realize it soon enough.”

Just as the wrong waste receptacle gets the wrong kind of attention, the right waste receptacle is a subtle reminder that a building has its act together.

Materials Matter
Anytime a building is newly constructed or recently renovated, all of the details — including the waste receptacles — are examined closely in order to follow the theme of the overall design. That was obviously true for large church near Wilmington, Del., where Blue Sky Cleaning Supply is located.

“This church was really growing, so they completely renovated their restrooms to accommodate all the new people who were attending,” says Gary Ventresca, owner of Blue Sky. “They had spent about $30,000 to upgrade the restrooms throughout the facility, so they didn’t want to negate that investment by using poor waste receptacles. Instead, they chose some beautiful and durable stainless-steel models that had brushed brass on the top. Those receptacles complemented the new renovations that were done in each restroom.”

A waste receptacle that doesn’t match the rest of a building’s interior can stick out like a sore thumb, Brahms adds. “A good distributor has to find out the specifications and materials that are already in place before he or she recommends a particular receptacle,” he says. “You have to ask the right questions. If the receptacle is going to be outside, then the customer needs something durable. If the outside of the building is stone, then you can recommend a nice chattahoochee [exterior made of small stones] receptacle that incorporates small stones that will match the building’s exterior.”

If the customer is responsible for a prominent building, the purchasing agent will usually be willing to spend extra money to find a waste receptacle that will enhance the building’s image, says Casse-Bender. “Look at how the waste-receptacle manufacturers are responding to these high-profile buildings,” she says. “They’re sparing no cost when it comes to getting the best metals, wood and protective coatings, etc.”

Years ago, Casse-Bender sold 5,000 waste receptacles to The Meadowlands football stadium in New York. How did she do it? While other distributors were bidding lower and lower to get the huge account, Casse-Bender looked around The Meadowlands and saw a void she could help fill. “I saw that they had so many people coming through, and there were tremendous marketing opportunities, so I came up with the idea of the Ad Can, a waste receptacle that had slits for various advertisements. They loved it, and we got the account.”

It’s not usually a 5,000 order, but most customers do buy more than one waste receptacle at a time, says Brahms. “Rarely does any customer buy just one waste receptacle, and it’s not unusual for some of the larger buildings to spend around $1,000 on each one,” he says. “That can really add up.”

Repeat Business Possible
It’s true that waste-receptacle revenue has the potential to multiply on the initial sale, depending on how many receptacles are needed for a building. However, liner sales that come afterward can be even more lucrative, adds Brahms.

“The city of Coral Springs is quite a large city here in Florida,” he says. “We started out selling them waste receptacles and it led to repeat sales on liners. That was a great opportunity for huge repeat sales. You have to ask the right questions and find out what each customer needs. Once they see that you know how to match color or surface for waste receptacles, they’ll trust you with other product lines.”

Initial waste-receptacle sales will provide more instant revenue, but there’s bigger potential in the long-term business for savvy distributors, adds Brahms. “It’s just like when distributors give away paper dispensers in order to begin a partnership to supply the paper every month,” he says. “Who cares if you have to take a hit with the dispenser? That’s not worth much compared to the repeat business that you’ll get with the actual paper. Now, I’m not saying that distributors should give away waste receptacles in order to sell liners — that’s too much money, usually — but there’s nothing as valuable as getting your foot in the door and initiating that long-term business.”

If distributors don’t ask the right questions and develop an understanding of the needs and themes within each building, repeat business is just a pipe dream, says Casse-Bender. “You have to look around and see what’s going on with the building,” she says. “You have to build their trust.”

The purchasing agent for Coral Springs noticed Armchem’s level of commitment to maintaining the integrity of the city’s design, which parlayed that initial sale to bigger sales down the road. “The thing is, lots of purchasing agents don’t know where to go to buy jan/san supplies, so if you take the time to answer their questions and you show that you’re concerned about the overall design, they’ll keep coming to you with their business,” says Brahms. “You don’t have to be a genius. In distribution, being an expert means that you know one more thing than the buyer.”

Location, Location, Location
Successfully fitting proper receptacles to a facility means more than evaluating its materials and physical specifications. It also means understanding the characteristics of the building’s patronage, especially areas of heavy traffic — near the entrances and exits, for example.

“When that church told us about their growth, and their need for new waste receptacles, we found out that they had about 350 people coming in and out of the rooms every Sunday,” says Ventresca. “We realized that we needed an extra-large receptacle in the restroom, but there wasn’t a whole lot of room, so we recommended a wall-hugger model that would use the available space efficiently.”

Once Ventresca found out the optimal specifications for the restroom receptacles, that conversation provided a natural lead-in to asking about the building’s strategy for the placement of other receptacles. It turns out they didn’t have one.

“There were waste receptacles in a few rooms, but not in other rooms, so people were constantly having to run from room to room looking for a waste receptacle to throw away their garbage in,” says Ventresca. “We showed them how they could employ fewer, larger waste receptacles in more strategic areas, so that everyone could find them easily. Our idea made sense to them, and it opened up more possibilities for us to help the customer.”

Show and Tell
Unfortunately, waste-receptacle sales don’t lend themselves easily to product demonstrations. That’s why a high-quality, professional catalog is invaluable, says Brahms.

“You usually don’t take a waste receptacle with you in your car on a sales call,” he quips. “We’re a show-and-tell company, but for waste receptacles, you need to help the customer understand the need for the product by using a good catalog as your show and tell. We’ve benefited significantly from the well-made collateral marketing catalogs that our waste-receptacle manufacturers have provided for us over the years.”

Of course, a distributor can’t rely entirely on the catalog and expect it to do the selling for him or her. But, if the distributor is paying attention to the needs and flow of the a building and asking the right questions, a waste-receptacle catalog can be a tremendous asset, adds Brahms.

“It’s just not a product line where you can easily bring in a product sample — like a piece of metal or wood — that will give customers an idea about what the waste receptacle will look like,” he says. “But if you take the time to sit down with them and go through the catalog, then you can point out the advantages and disadvantages that each model has for that particular building. Plus, a lot of purchasing agents need something to look at. They need to visualize how the receptacles will look in their buildings, and the catalogs enable them to do that.”

Most waste-receptacle manufacturers, and many wholesalers, have catalogs that are available for distributors to use for sales and marketing. If not, a distributor can also make his or her own catalog with a computer, a printer and a digital camera.

“The key is to ask questions and pay attention to what’s in front of you, then the sales will come,” says Ventresca.




POSTED ON: 2/1/2005