As you may already know, every month, we celebrate a wholesaler by putting them ‘under the spotlight’ and asking them to share the stories behind their success.
From the changes they’ve seen during their careers wholesaling, to their unique ways of navigating the competitive market, there’s no shortage of interesting anecdotes and wisdom that every wholesaler has to share.
That’s why we’re sharing a round-up of our favourite moments from each wholesaler spotlight this year – and if you have something to share, why not get in touch with #TeamZano on social media? We might even be in touch with an offer of an interview.
There’s no one path into wholesaling.
We know the paths that people take to ‘get into wholesaling’ are rarely a straight line.
When we asked Tim Powell of Wilson Electrical what made him want to join the family business, he said:
‘I didn't actually! I'm trained as a qualified chef and front-of-house manager. The story goes, I went away travelling, came back a bit ill, and once I got better my dad said, “Do you want to have a go working for us? We need somebody in our Basingstoke branch.” And that was that – 17 years ago.’
17 years later, he remains both a wholesaler and an avid cook. Read the full interview here.
Internet – where some see challenges, others see opportunities.
A number of wholesalers that we talked to said the biggest change to the industry was the rise of the internet – giving consumers more choice on products, and challenging wholesalers on prices.
One of those who saw the opportunities was Raj of PEC Lights, who told us:
“It took years to work out how to sell to customers and advertise effectively, but now, we use the internet to work with suppliers to know what to buy in bulk, so that we can sell it to customers at a cheaper price. We also use it to keep up with trends and tap into niche markets, so we can sell products that other wholesalers don’t.”
You can read our interview with Raj here.
Remember the value that a wholesaler can bring.
Not all wholesalers can agree ‘how the market has changed’, but if there’s one thing they do know, it’s that it has become more competitive.
Adapting to it, however, can be as simple as getting back to basics. For Richard Jolley of Westminster Electrical:
“We offer a competitive price for good brands, and it gives us something to work towards if buyers can buy a product made here locally, rather than an import.”
Meanwhile, for Trevor Daw at CEF Colchester, the secret to success is even more straightforward: “If you have the stock, you’ll get the sales.”
You can read our interview with Richard here, and hear from Trevor here.
There’s strength in numbers.
Whether they are a UK-wide national or an independent company, wholesalers know the power of joining forces. Wholesalers like Jamie Scott of ELS are part of AWEBB, and he believes it’s a game-changer, because…:
“The commercial power that they have to negotiate with suppliers lets members like us be competitive. If we weren’t in such a progressive buying group, the landscape would be very different.”
You can read our interview with Jamie here.
The most important development in LED? It depends on what the customer wants.
All of our interviewees agreed that lighting technology has evolved – much of it thanks to LED.
However, it’s not just efficiency, dimming or the environment that mattered to Dan Mooney of Upex, whose customers have a particular reason for preferring LED:
“As a rural-based electrical wholesaler, we deal a lot with agriculture and animal husbandry, and changing from sodium or halide fittings (which were prone to exploding and leaving glass in animal feed) to LED fittings with virtually no glass has been massively important – and something we wouldn’t have even considered as an industry when I started.”
You can read our interview with Dan here.
When so much else is changing, consistency matters.
With that evolution of LED, so too has LED dimming, and Zano has been at the forefront, pioneering flicker-free and silent digital dimming.
For loyal customers at LAMPS, Simon Abraham can’t remember the last time he received a returned Zano dimmer:
“It has been a consistently high performer since those early days… even those people who have less experience fitting dimmers can do so easily – even if they aren’t familiar with the minimum/maximum settings at first.”
You can read our interview with Simon here.
Zano goes where your customers go.
Lastly, whenever we talk with wholesalers, we like to know which Zano dimmer has been solving most of their customers’ problems. For Terry Beere at Warwick Electrical, the ZBARLED has been the solution to help Central London hotel owners create an ambience for discerning clients:
“We’ve had a couple of hotels who have wanted to dim lots of fittings, and we knew that we could do it with the ZBARLED range.
They’re technically on top of everything else, and the team are easy to deal with, so that’s why we’re stocking them.”
You can read our interview with Terry here.
Whatever the challenge your client faces, with Zano, you won’t just be able to offer them a market-leading dimmer, but you can also rely on expert technical support from our team.
#TeamZano wishes you a Happy New Year, and we look forward to being by your side in 2024.