On the Supplier Side

We know that the equipment and materials they offer us stand at the core of everything we design and/or build as watershapers. Nonetheless, it’s easy to overlook the significant role played by those who manufacture, distribute and support the products we use.

As I see it, however, discounting the role of suppliers in the watershaping process is a serious mistake. Not only do these companies produce the materials and equipment we need to do our jobs, but many who work for these companies can also act in key supporting roles in the process and do much more than simply take and fill orders.

In fact, when we interact with manufacturers in a constructive way, a number of good things happen, not the least of which is that we gather key information that helps us apply products effectively, thus ensuring good field performance and maximum service life. Conversely, our interactions with manufacturers can help them improve their existing products and support services and learn what they need to know to develop new or improved systems.

In other words, our regular and positive interaction with suppliers is a classic win-win proposition.

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It’s human nature, of course, to be somewhat suspicious of those who are in the business of selling their wares and services to us. We are literally bombarded by marketing messages, and experience tells us that, while some are valid and helpful, others are nothing more than marketing hype and we have to sort things out for ourselves.

If you were to base your decisions only on what you see in the media, it would be tough to tell the difference. But when you get to know different suppliers and their representatives – maybe first at trade shows and then by working with them directly on projects – it becomes obvious who has confidence in their products’ quality and utility and supports your efforts.

Getting to know suppliers in this more intimate way is important for a variety of reasons. Yes, it helps you sift hype away from fact, but it also gives you ready access to technical information and support while equipping you to deal with any problems that might arise. In other words, you know who to call!

Fact is, first-rate suppliers are generally storehouses of useful and even critical information. Whether it’s knowing how to apply and install particular materials or how to select an equipment set with the right performance characteristics, they are there to lend a hand. Of course, they’re not being entirely selfless here, as it’s in their best interests for you to buy their products and do things the right way. Nonetheless, I am so attuned to what they have to say that I make notes on our conversations, keep a database of suppliers and key personnel and maintain a library of product information that often flows directly into our plans.

I’m also among those who believe there is no such thing as a dumb question. If you don’t know something, what’s silly is not seeking the answer. I would rather move forward armed with knowledge that helps me make better decisions (big and small) and provide others with information they need as much as I do.

Based on all of my own experience, I’m happy to say that suppliers who serve watershapers generally do a fantastic job. In fact, I have the sense that this down economy has actually improved things a bit, giving suppliers ample justification for focusing on client support at a time when their phones aren’t ringing off the hook. Many companies have also established terrific online resources, offering access to specification sheets, installation and service guides and even online chat services for technical issues.

As I see it, however, there’s no replacement for the personal touch, and it’s been my consistent experience that when I use a company’s products, get to know the people themselves and am not shy about seeking their support, I tend to get positive results.

STRONG EXAMPLES

To support this line of thought, let me offer a few specific examples of the sort that come up almost every day in my design and specifying practice – and certainly crop up daily in just about any construction-oriented business as well.

In the past couple years, for instance, I’ve had the need on many occasions to specify waterproofing materials. Along the way, I’ve become quite familiar with two fine companies: Aquron of Rockwall, Texas, and Aquafin of Elkton, Md., both of which make a range of products for waterproofing applications and offer top-notch technical support. My files include references to headquarters contacts as well as regional and local representatives.

These days, it’s common for us to contact one or the other of these companies and submit plans asking for specific recommendations about waterproofing treatments. Once we’ve made our decisions, we include detailed information in our plans and specifications, right down to installation recommendations and information on contacting technical support.

Waterproofing can be tricky, and we simply don’t want our contractors to make such key choices on their own: They haven’t done the research we have or had our varied field experience, and we certainly don’t want to run the risk that the only resource they’ll have on the job site is reading directions on the container. All anyone involved has to do is look at our plans to know what to use, how to use it and who to contact with questions.

That’s a huge benefit to installers and to us because it drastically reduces the chances of the wrong product being used or the correct product being misapplied. It benefits everyone in the process, and it all happens because we’ve already picked up the phone, asked the questions and developed confidence in our choices.

The same thing happens with something like glass tile. Most people know that this sector has experienced some difficulties in recent years and have faced many questions about how their products should be installed and how they hold up. My response to all of this hasn’t been to stop using these products, which produce spectacular results when used in the right situations, but rather to identify and work with reputable suppliers that not only create great tile but also support me with precise information about installation.

Lightstreams Glass Tile of Mountain View, Calif., is one of my top choices here, and I’ve always appreciated the care they’ve taken in preparing installation instructions I can fold right into my plans. There are other tile companies that have taken similar courses, and at this point it’s safe to say I will work only with those that rise to this standard.

Pebble Technology (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is another company that operates at this high level. Some time ago, for example, we specified a PebbleTec finish for a big residential project in Bermuda. Not only did the company help me find a qualified installer who was willing to travel there, but also sent representatives to the job site to make certain everything was being installed properly.

SPECIAL CASES

That level of responsiveness and responsibility – and dedication to quality outcomes – speaks volumes about the character of those organizations, and I must say that I find myself gravitating toward companies that share this philosophy more and more: Lightstreams, Pebble Technology and others like them give me confidence that makes my life easier and my projects more successful.

What impresses me most about companies of this caliber is that they also are willing to embrace new challenges and tackle jobs that would make lesser businesses hesitate to get involved. In my own firm, in fact, we consistently run into situations that push the envelope and lead us to turn to our best suppliers to get the kind of support we need.

In certain circumstances – as when we’ve pushed beyond our own experience into new areas of watershaping, for example – we’ll also turn to our key distributors to get advice. The staff at Coastal Construction (a Miami-based distributor) referred me to Aquafin for the first time while I was working on a particular project, for instance, and I often find myself relying on their broad base of contacts, experience and expertise to find the answers I need.

My friends at Team Horner (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) often fill this role for me, too. I often use their AutoPilot saltwater chlorinating systems and not long ago had specified their new Total Control management system – but it was an indoor installation and I had a question about fumes from the acid container. They immediately sent me a custom detail for a rubber container that would isolate the acid reservoir and vent its fumes outdoors.

I might have figured out something on my own, but by making a simple phone call to a trusted resource, I had a solution in hand within minutes rather than hours or days.

Almost every day, we run into situations similar to the above across the entire product spectrum, from the smallest lighting fixtures to the most gargantuan filter systems, and more often than not we go right to our established suppliers and quickly get all the assistance we need. And when you know the right people and they get to know you as well, those pathways to real solutions become quicker and quicker.

PRICES YOU PAY

When I consider the levels of quality, support and service provided by trusted suppliers, I do all I can to uncouple my thoughts from prices – but know that’s a hard thing for lots of watershapers to do in today’s keenly competitive marketplace. In fact, I worry that too many of us let the financial considerations drive our decisions: It’s just the wrong way to go.

As an alternative, I would say that the very issues I’ve been discussing here about products, performance and service are what should define our competitive scenarios, not price. In fact, the value of the interactive product support I’m describing eclipses any sort of price difference. I may be idealistic, but believe that companies stepping up with quality products backed by good information and great personal responsiveness deserve our business because they’re all about breeding success.

As a broad example of this, we all know that so-called “green products” are springing up all around us. Certainly, the belief that we are doing good for the environment is a powerful motivator – plus there’s an ability to save money (by conserving energy, for instance) that’s even more appealing to most clients.

Yet there’s what I would call a healthy skepticism about many green products, because it’s obvious that some are simply riding the popular wave and, once you do the math, are hyping questionable environmental benefits. But here again, if you take an active role in getting to know the products and the companies behind them, you’ll find that many of these firms are offering the real deal.

And some of these green-tinged products and companies are familiar. For many years now, for example, I’ve occasionally specified heat pumps for use with my projects, unaware that they would someday become an environmentally beneficial choice.

With these devices, the objection long has been that their up-front costs are too high relative to their potential payback in energy savings. As this is basically a geographic issue – with benefits to be derived being greater in some places rather than others – AquaCal (St. Petersburg, Fla.) confronts it by offering an online service in which you type in a project’s zip code and get information based on local weather and energy costs to generate a savings estimate.

In one swoop, the company justifies the price of the product in clear and reliable terms; shows clients how their investment in technology will pay back with energy savings; and shifts the discussion from how much the system costs to how much the system saves while doing an important job. That’s the kind of aggressive approach I find invaluable in helping my clients make their decisions.

In fact, that’s the kind of approach that helps me avoid quibbling over prices at all and enables me instead to convince my clients that the products we’re using in our designs are worth the price. We’re so certain the products we’re using offer value that far exceeds the marginal savings from using lesser products (which, after all, tend to come to the marketplace with less-than-outstanding support) that we enter conversations with clients fully confident that we’ve made all the right choices, regardless of price.

GIVE AND TAKE

This leads to a final point in this discussion: loyalty.

If you really want to get the most out of your relationships with suppliers, be a loyal client. Don’t, for example, soak them for information then purchase a cheap alternative to save a few bucks. That discourages suppliers from doing the right thing when it comes to investing in technical support, client services and even product quality.

Yes, I know that there are bargains to be had and that in some cases it’s possible to get equivalent performance from a less expensive option. Heck, that’s what competition is all about. But selling out suppliers to save a few dollars here and there? To me, that’s not how the competitive game should be played.

Frankly, I’m proud of and delighted by the fact that my loyalty to certain of my suppliers earns me preferred treatment. But more important still, I know that my positive personal relationships with people inside those companies give me greater access to information and quicker application of their problem-solving talents.

Suffice it to say, the investment you make in getting to know people on the supplier side of our industry will yield immeasurable returns, especially when you approach the process with the idea in mind that these professionals are as valuable to the watershaping process as any other component in the process.

To that end, let me conclude here by pointing out that this issue of WaterShapes lists hundreds of suppliers of all types who’ve declared their interest in working with you: Use it in good health!

Brian Van Bower runs Aquatic Consultants, a design firm based in Miami, Fla., and is a co-founder of the Genesis 3 Design Group; dedicated to top-of-the-line performance in aquatic design and construction, this organization conducts schools for like-minded pool designers and builders. He can be reached at [email protected].