IN THIS ISSUE

• Payments forge stronger Pro loyalty 💳

• Increasing online adoption (minus the cat-herding) 🐱

• Poll: Ransomeware attacks 😳

• New deck product from GRK Fasteners 🛠️

• Earn a free hoodie (for a limited time!) 👇🏼

DEEP DIVE

Increasing Pro Loyalty With Digital Payments [On-demand Video]

This Tuesday, we teamed up with LMC to host a live workshop focused on one key question: How can digital payments transform Pro loyalty? If you missed the live session, don't worry! You can catch the full replay online and discover why simplifying payments isn't just convenient—it's a loyalty builder.

What did we cover? Businesses that ease their customers' efforts reap loyalty rewards. During the workshop, we unveiled how digital payments serve as a fast and effective tool to enhance your Pros' experiences. We provided practical tips on streamlining financial processes, accelerating receivable collections, cutting down transaction fees, and optimizing your convenience fee strategy.

We also polled our audience to get a snapshot of the current state of payments in the LBM industry. Interestingly, 69% of workshop attendees did not have an online payment option, highlighting a significant area for digital adoption. Furthermore, 77% have been affected by credit card fraud, underscoring the critical need for secure payment solutions. Additionally, 62% of attendees do not charge convenience fees, which suggests potential adjustments in pricing strategy to balance convenience with cost.

Watch the full replay below.

Level up your online adoption by pre-establishing accounts

Syncing your customers' ERP account with their online account opens a world of convenience, but getting customers to climb aboard the online express can sometimes feel like herding cats.

The typical rigmarole? Directing customers to a form on your website to input data they've already given you—name, address, account number—you name it. This redundancy not only tests their patience but can also throttle the adoption rates of your portal.

Here's a pro tip: take the lead by pre-loading their data, establishing the link with your ERP, and sending out personalized invites to activate their accounts. Just ask them set a password, and voilà! It's like telling them you’ve got the car running; they just need to hop in.

So, how do you kickstart this process?

1. Identify key customers: Compile a list that includes at least the customer's email address and account number, which are necessary for account linking. This will generally come from an ERP report.

2. Upload customer data: Upload the customer list to your e-commerce store to create pre-linked accounts for each customer. On TOOLBX, you can do this with the Bulk Invite feature.

3. Send out invites: Encourage your customers to claim their pre-set accounts by sending out emails with personalized links to set their account password.

If you're using the TOOLBX platform chat with your Account Manager about setting this up for your customers.

PULSE CHECK

Results from our last poll

In our last issue we asked dealers “Do you pass along credit card fees to your customers?”. The results were a sizeable no, will most dealers opting to eat the cost of transactions fees for customers.

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Yes (25%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 No (75%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ We don't accept credit card payments (0%)

Ransomware attacks

We will provide a breakdown of results from responses in our next issue.

WORTH READING

• A Home Depot-SRS Megadeal Breakdown [Podcast]: 🎙️ In an unprecedented move in the distribution sector, Home Depot is set to acquire SRS Distribution for a staggering $18.25 billion. Industry experts Mike Hockett and Craig Webb delve into this colossal transaction on the MDM podcast. They explore why this acquisition is a strategic fit for Home Depot and how SRS Distribution has been positioning for such a significant deal. Worth a listen to gain some rare insight into one of the largest deals in distribution history.

FROM OUR PRODUCT TEAM

Easily send bulk customer invitations with Customer Invites

Our latest feature, Customer Invites, is now available. This tool allows you to upload a list of customers and send invitations to join your e-commerce store and customer portal in bulk. This feature will help in growing adoption of your online services by simplifying the registration flow for your offline customers.

To access this new feature, click on the ‘Customers’ tab in Dealer Admin and choose the ‘Invite’ button in the top right corner of your screen.

NAIL THE TREND

Hamilton Building Supply using an engaging interview style approach to promote their decking options to customers.

@hamiltonbuildingsupply

☀️It’s DECK season and @hamiltonbuildingsupply has all of the options for your budget in inventory or just a couple days away! ✅ whether... See more

Villawood Timber use a stop-motion technique to showcase a range of products all at once. Neat!

The new Deck Elite AnglePro from GRK Fasteners provides a premium aesthetic by eliminating the visibility of screws. The AnglePro guides deck elite fasteners precisely between the gaps of each board leaving a perfect finish, as demonstrated here by @woodbully.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Your thoughts?

Was this issue a hit or a miss? Whether it's cheers or jeers, we're all ears. Share your feedback and tell us what you're itching to see more of. Just hit 'Reply' to this email with your thoughts.