O-Gee Paint

In these times you have to make sure your potential customers see your company as a better value than the cheap thrill of riff-raff handy-men and day laborers. You need to let people know you are better and professional but how does that happen when you’re busy on the job?
Let Benjamin Moore help you! Their “Inside Edge” marketing tools are a fast easy way to create attractive pieces to help get more jobs.
They currently offer the following customizable marketing materials:
# Door Hangers – 3 different creative pieces
# Postcards – 5 different creative pieces
# Thank You For Your Business
# Thank You for Your Referral
# Job Site Sign
# Letterhead
# Business Card
# Business Card Magnet
# Sticker
Log in at benjaminmoore.com/marketing to get started.

In the past i have accused Benjamin Moore of not listening to us dealers or to the painting contractors who use their products. “Poo-poo,” said the reps, “Ben Moore is very interested in what the painters think. Why, contractors are our lifeblood and what they think of our products and our dealers is of paramount importance.”

Sure, o.k., whatever, uh-huh. BUT LOOK! You Mr. Painter can make your voice heard like a Who in Whoville by joining the Benjamin Moore Painter Advisory Board. In fact, here is cut and paste bit of a memo sent to us dealers to get things going, and being the webby kind of guy I’m posting it here on this blog so you can join.

In order to achieve a balanced, representative membership for the PPAB, we need your assistance in identifying contractors within your market. We are looking for candidates that will be forthright in their opinions and would actively participate in the PPAB surveys. Presently, we are focusing on contractors who do residential and commercial work, skewing the members more towards residential to reflect our current business mix.

PPAB membership process

We ask that you reach out and ask your field personnel to enlist contractors within these designated markets. We will provide a brochure explaining the PPAB and a list of FAQs to use in their conversations.

If the contractor expresses an interest in joining, we ask that they are directed to the www.bmppab website. There, the PPAB recruit will find additional information about the PPAB. They will be asked to complete a survey that collects more information about their business thus creating a “profile” that the contractor can update at any time.

Thank you in advance for your assistance. The PPAB will be a great resource in helping us better understand the needs of the painting contractor. It will be yet another tool to further establish and maintain our leadership position in meeting the specific needs of the professional market.

There you have it! Click and join and tell them what you think of their paints. Do you like AURA? How about Satin Impervo or Waterbourne Satin Impervo?What would make it better? Do you need a primer for new plaster or low odor fast dry alkyd semi-gloss? I don’t know what they are going to ask you guys. Your feedback might help get new products on the shelves or make their paints better. One thing is certain, the paints are constantly changing to meet the government standards they might as well make them to meet yours.

<—cut and pasted from Ben Moore’s site —>

Benjamin Moore’s Job Cost Estimator is a job tool formulated to help the residential contractor provide an accurate quote based on actual costs and desired profit, not just a look-about dollar amount. In today’s competitive business world, it is important to factor in your actual fixed and variable costs such as overhead, labor, equipment, and supplies. To truly realize your profit potential, these factors need to be included in your bid proposals.

This step-by-step program asks you to enter in detailed cost figures, including items such as state tax, if applicable. The program further allows you to enter details specific for the job including square footage, special considerations, etc.. Once all of the information has been entered, the Job Cost Estimator calculates an accurate figure with which to present to your client on a customized quote letter.

Benjamin Moore & Co., created the Job Cost Estimator in order to assist you in optimizing your business’s profitability. The program is based in Excel and will run on both a PC and a Mac. The Job Cost Estimator is available to professional contractors at no charge from Benjamin Moore.

To order your FREE Job Cost Estimator, please call 866-326-2372 EXT 2315

<— end —>

This should probably be called a Price Quote system because no one wants to show what their cost is. And I haven’t used it to know how hard it is to use but Homeowners want a price while you’re standing there in front of them. It might be good for pro estimators but for the price of it, it can’t be beat.