Building value for our members

10 March 2020
Christine Wall, BMF Marketing Manager, announces the launch of BMF’s Project Excellence

Project Excellence materials for members

For years, the BMF has been the backbone of the building industry by offering unrivalled support to builders’ merchants and related businesses across the UK. Now, we’re excited to make our vital support for members even more accessible and actionable with the launch of Project Excellence.

The result of 18 months of research and strategic development, Project Excellence is now about to be rolled out, making our member communications even more personalised and relevant by addressing their unique needs with exactly the right solutions to support their journey to excellence.

Specialist support

Working closely with sector experts CMDi, we developed our ‘Building Excellence’ strategy. Project Excellence is a vital cornerstone of this, delivering robust segmentation that will deepen engagement with, and build value for, BMF membership.

John Newcomb, BMF CEO, says “Project Excellence represents considerable investment by the BMF in a cutting-edge approach to member engagement through a combination of research, strategy, communications and CRM implementation.”

Excellence built on research

First, BMF data was used to identify different merchant engagement patterns. Next, over 10% of all merchants were asked about the needs of their business. From this research, six merchant member types were identified, with service packages created to match their specific needs.

CMDi’s Managing Director, Dianne Lucas says “We’re proud to have been a part of the team that has developed this transformational approach to member closeness for the BMF. It supports the BMF’s commitment to building excellence for each individual member and for the sector.”

No more ‘one size fits all’ membership

Different BMF members need different support. Plumbing & Heating merchants need uniquely tailored services focused on supporting their specific category. Unengaged merchants who don’t have time to wade through everything need only core services. And even engaged members need help identifying what we can do to drive their business (or sector) forward, while national brands need personal management support for their more complex needs.

Communications

Our new communication packages are tailored to each of our six membership group types. Information about how BMF membership can grow their business is clearer, more relevant, and more efficiently delivered. Rich content is supported by motivational quotes from BMF members and business leaders, all built on the truth that the more you use your BMF membership the better it gets. Materials for Plumbing & Heating merchants will be available first, followed by communications specific to other groups.

Managing a more personal approach

CRM tools have been developed to ensure regional managers are better able to individualise the services BMF provides and each Regional Manager will be proactively working with members to help them build excellence into every aspect of their business.

As BMF CEO John Newcomb observed, “The result will be a more robust BMF, based on member closeness, and a future-proofed building materials supply sector comprised of excellent merchants.”

This article first appeared in the Spring 2020 edition of One Voice