Marketing Herndon & Merry to, the nationwide customer base it would need to support the new business model was Merry's next challenge. "We realized that the only way we were going to get a bigger piece of the pie was to grow the pie so, to speak," he says. "We had to get our message out to high end customers in other parts of the country."
To do that, Herndon & Merry has developed a sales system that combines advertising in national magazines that cater to the high end residential and architectural market, direct mail arid a referral network of contractors and satisfied customers that has grown steadily over the years. Much of the company's work is also repeat business.
"Typically, a customer calls in and says they saw our ad somewhere, and we send them our marketing package," Merry says. Those marketing materials are designed not to sell a prospect on a particular item, but rather to sell them on the idea that Herndon & Merry has the capabilities to do whatever it is they want done. One way the company differentiates itself is by emphasizing its design capabilities. "Almost everything we do is custom made. We produce the icing on the cake for the homes our customers are building," Merry explains. The company meets with the customer, discusses design concepts arid draws up a set of plans for the customer's review. The plans are tweaked to reflect the customer's input before they are finalized. Herndon & Merry charges a design fee for that service, but the clientele it deals with is used to paying such fees for service such as interior design work, Merry points out.
Important business lessons can be learned through many experiences in life.
"Creativity is really integral to the process. That's what allows us to beat out the competition," he says. Garden Park Antiques plays a role in that regard as well. It's not unusual for the company to do a driveway gate and a front porch railing through Herndon & Merry, supply a console or a coffee table to the same customer through Garden Park Antiques, then step out the back door and do a pool fence, Merry says. "The two businesses are married together and let us cover several different categories on the same job."
As Herndon & Merry's story illustrates, marketing should focus on a business's strengths and ability to meet individual customers' needs, not just products and services.
To do that, Herndon & Merry has developed a sales system that combines advertising in national magazines that cater to the high end residential and architectural market, direct mail arid a referral network of contractors and satisfied customers that has grown steadily over the years. Much of the company's work is also repeat business.
"Typically, a customer calls in and says they saw our ad somewhere, and we send them our marketing package," Merry says. Those marketing materials are designed not to sell a prospect on a particular item, but rather to sell them on the idea that Herndon & Merry has the capabilities to do whatever it is they want done. One way the company differentiates itself is by emphasizing its design capabilities. "Almost everything we do is custom made. We produce the icing on the cake for the homes our customers are building," Merry explains. The company meets with the customer, discusses design concepts arid draws up a set of plans for the customer's review. The plans are tweaked to reflect the customer's input before they are finalized. Herndon & Merry charges a design fee for that service, but the clientele it deals with is used to paying such fees for service such as interior design work, Merry points out.
Important business lessons can be learned through many experiences in life.
"Creativity is really integral to the process. That's what allows us to beat out the competition," he says. Garden Park Antiques plays a role in that regard as well. It's not unusual for the company to do a driveway gate and a front porch railing through Herndon & Merry, supply a console or a coffee table to the same customer through Garden Park Antiques, then step out the back door and do a pool fence, Merry says. "The two businesses are married together and let us cover several different categories on the same job."
As Herndon & Merry's story illustrates, marketing should focus on a business's strengths and ability to meet individual customers' needs, not just products and services.
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