Hunting for New Business in a Challenging Market

Hunting for New Business in a Challenging Market 

It’s been a confusing mix of macro and micro signals in 2024.  Permits have been trending down for most of the year, normally a discouraging sign, but the delay between permits and starts has never been bigger.  Builders are ‘banking’ permits to wait for the best time to build, keeping the level of building activity level despite declining permits.  Available inventory of new homes is at near record lows but the number of folks who want to buy a home is almost at record highs.  Interest rates, home prices and inflation have made everyone feel uncertain and unsettled, so paralysis sets in. 

When production building slows, the focus shifts from ‘how fast can I get it’, to ‘how do I offer more value’.  Builders, contractors and engineers have more time to evaluate new products, new vendors and new concepts.  We’re already seeing a heightened focus on products for indoor air quality, new energy code requirements, new refrigerants and a need for better aesthetics.  That should only increase in the next six months, and that creates opportunities for us at FAMCO. 

How should we attack this new environment? 

• For our distributor customers, with declining sales the need for profitability on each sale is paramount.  Our 5-day lead-time, low minimums and low pre-paid freight make us a very efficient supplier.  Distributors will be able to decrease their on-hand inventories without worrying about compromising service levels – without having to pay a premium. 

• For contractors, this is the time to start building relationships if we don’t have them already.  Our ability to customize existing products, design products specifically for unique code requirements and do it all fast and at a fair price helps contractors meet continuously shifting specification needs while keeping projects on time. 

• For specifiers and engineers wrestling with new code requirements and the technical complexity surround the switch to new refrigerants, this is a great time to introduce FAMCO and have a conversation about designing the next generation of air handling and ventilation products. 

We’ve notched some nice wins recently utilizing these tactics, in some cases designing products that we never thought to develop like custom filter racks, line set penetration covers and high static pressure wall vents.  Let’s start some conversations with new people and see what kind of problems we can find that FAMCO can solve!  Good hunting team!