05:09 Creating demand, investments, logistics, emulating successful trends

06:48 Helping business owners make informed future decisions

12:43 Top contractors attended a thank you networking event

13:54 Strengthen dealer relationships through off-site events

17:08 Compete by showcasing expertise and adding value

21:34 Adapt strategy to build customer base sustainably

22:49 Prepare for future disruptions; adapt inventory strategies

26:01 Strong network ensures comprehensive industry support

Alex Cadieux has spent almost 20 years at Techo-Bloc, a manufacturer of premium outdoor living materials. He started as a sales rep and worked his way up to being Sales Director, establishing coast to coast distribution across Canada. The company then asked him to bring his knowledge of their customers and competitors over to the marketing side of things. He has been the Director of B2B marketing for the past nine years and is an expert in customer experience. 

After introducing himself and Techo-Bloc, Alex talks about the fact that the data shows the industry is going to rebound, or level out as Beth says, and that will be the trend for the next few years. His point is that by acquiring new customers today, they will become “appreciating assets” that will result in more revenue for at least the next three years. Techo-Bloc is hosting an event for their dealers to give them time, space, and resources to invest in strategic thinking about the future of their business. The event will focus on three things. The first is giving them information about market trends and arming them with ways to acquire, grow, win back, and build loyalty with their customers. The second is about helping them with inventory management and optimizing logistics to deal with the market retraction. The last piece they will cover will be giving them information about people, processes and succession planning so they can make better decisions in those areas and capitalize on what is to come. 

"We’re hitting that end of an era and there’s a new wave coming in. but if you don’t have the right plan, there is no new wave for you. There’s a new wave of people coming into the industry, but if they’re not on your team, your team is done.”- Alex Cadieux

Zach talks about the idea that getting the people in the room together at an event brings a greater value than just what you get from the speakers and panels. A great deal of it is in the conversations that happen between sessions with each other. 

"How do you become that connector in the industry? Because if you can do that, your value is insurmountable in comparison to anyone else.”-Zach Williams

Alex says he and the president of Techo-Bloc have talked about being the “hub of everything great.” His idea is to move more away from competition and towards collaboration, community, and network building. He says it is all about growing the pie for everyone. 

Beth adds to the conversation by talking about Venveo’s experience with dealers and manufacturers saying they want to help their customers grow their business, but they don’t have much depth in their playbook around the idea. She says that Alex’s approach makes it become scalable by being not the single source, but the source of connections. 

Beth asks Alex to talk about the journey for Techo-Bloc realizing that they needed to provide more than just excellent training, exceptional customer service and really great products. Alex refers to those things Beth listed as “basic hygiene factors,” things that should just be expected when doing business together. He says it is comparable to being the bottom of the pyramid on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He tells the story that the president of Techo-Bloc started as a contractor focusing on building things the right way. He then started Techo-Bloc. He started worrying about the future of the business because they were starting to see projects that didn’t last. That is when they decided to support customers by educating them about what it takes to build things properly. That was a major focus for a long time while they grew exponentially. When they started to reach the cap of the market share, they began showing their existing customers how to hit the next level in their business. That has eventually grown into the events they have been sponsoring, starting with one for contractors then deciding they needed to build the same relationship with the dealers. They want them to succeed because they are the channel for them to reach customers. Which means that if they aren’t growing and thriving then Techo-Bloc suffers. He says rather than having to build a new bridge to reach their end customer, they are working on strengthening the existing channel. 

Zach uses the conversation to capitalize on the fact that Alex has a good pulse on the struggles everyday dealers, contractors, and installers are facing today. He asks Alex to talk about the biggest issues and what they are doing to help them solve the problem. Alex names price sensitivity. Through the pandemic businesses were spending their time figuring out how to supply the demand. Now he says they have “excess capacity, excess people, excess everything.” He says the biggest thing you can do to combat that is adding value. The theme for their contractor events this year is “Build For Value. Bid To Win.” He says the industry is going back to where people are having to fight for business. 

"You have to pay attention to things they really want and you have to show your experience and your expertise in ways that you’re going to add value, and you’re going to take what they thought they wanted to another level. “-Alex Cadieux

Alex illustrates his point by describing their process of a yearly build project they go through with real contractors and designers in order to know what the challenges their customers are facing. He says it helps give them content they can give the contractors to add to their playbook, such as finding ways to make some compromises to check off the list, but at the same time reducing costs. He says “at the end of the day, my blocks are blocks. It’s what you do with the blocks that make the difference.” 

Zach brings up a book called The Dip by Seth Godin that talks about when to quit and when to stick with something. He says that hearing Alex talk about the contractors and dealers having felt a huge rush of growth and then feeling the market pull back is them experiencing the dip. He says that he feels like Alex’s strategy is finding ways to not only equip them and help them make money, but to also be the advisor in the process. Alex agrees, but also says that another thing to remember is that if the signs are right that the market will rebound, now is the time to get as many customers as you can. He says even if you are at the end of your career and ready to sell, now is not the time.

"Don’t pull the chute now. Are you nuts? It will never be cheaper than right now to acquire customers.” - Alex Cadieux

Beth agrees that it is an important factor. She says that thinking about positioning really well and maneuvering through the economic environment is very different from “just white knuckling it and hoping the ship doesn’t go down.” She says that how Techo-Bloc is equipping their customers and dealers to be in the best position is a wise strategy. 

"So if you’re just pulling every single purse string that you have, and you’re just going bottom of the barrel for every bid so that you get every single one, you’re not building a customer base.”-Beth PopNikolov

Alex adds that another way to look at it is to imagine that you had known in 2019 that things were going to radically change in 2020. Thinking about how that would have changed your mindset can help you prepare for the next wave so that you can be proactive and position yourself well. 

Zach’s questions Alex about what advice he would give right now to manufacturers. Alex’s answer is that your top priority is to know your customers’ biggest challenges if you don’t already. He says to take the opportunities that are there, like making it easier for people to run their business by adding value. 

"If you’re going to run the same playbook as you did this year, mistake. Even if you crushed it this year, mistake. And if you don’t know what your customers are suffering with and you’re not trying to fix it for them, mistake. Because you’re leaving money on the table. “-Alex Cadieux

He says you also need to figure out what your angle is. They have positioned themselves to have a network of companies that are in the same space. If a customer has a problem, he goes to his network to recommend someone that will have a solution. 

"If you don’t understand your customers, you’re going nowhere.” -Alex Cadieux

Want to hear more from Alex Cadieux? You can connect with him on Linkedin or check out his podcast Hardscape Growth.

SBMM is co-hosted by Venveo’s Founder, Zach Williams and Venveo’s CEO, Beth PopNikolov.