Gary Fullwood on how marketing has opened up business avenues, heightened his profile, and will hopefully open doors to an additional career.

Gary Fullwood, co-owner of Watford Kitchens & Bathrooms, was one of the first independent kitchen and bathroom retailers to embrace social media, back in 2011. In fact, that’s how we first met discussing the industry on Twitter with like-minded professionals. Now I’m sat in his double-fronted showroom talking about the importance of social media and marketing and his recent profile picture change. Well, that’s all part of marketing too. He recently swapped a comedy picture of him holding a shower over his head, to a ‘hipster’ look. Well, he does have a beard. “It was getting a bit dated”, laughs Gary “so that’s why I’ve got a new profile picture. It’s quite funny [because] so many people noticed me from [the showerhead] picture – when I was networking at events”.

Helped by association

The events, Gary is talking about are meetings held by the Entrepreneur’s Circle association. The association has a team of business advisors who hold local and national meetings to help owners grow sales through understanding and improving marketing techniques. Gary applauds Entrepreneur’s Circle, which has taught him how to write campaigns, capture people and track the Return On Investment. “Now I’m really crunching the numbers and know in-depth what business is”.

Having been in the association for the past four years, he comments: “I personally believe, if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t be here now. I feel I’m always one step ahead of most people in the industry. I might not be as successful as other people. I know there are some great people out there, but it’s made me leave not one stone unturned to get business. I don’t just rely on one source.” And it has been the idea of embracing several ideas that saw him add supply-only to his design and fit business. Although he admits: “I wanted the business to go more in a supply-only direction. I wanted to try and get to that point where it’s less headache for me. But designing and fitting has always been my bread and butter”, and he was advised not to drop either service.

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He does, however, now offer supply-only to combate cheap web prices and “challenge people like your Bathstores, your B&Qs. If people have got their own builder, then generally they are going to go online or somewhere where they are just going to get it cheap.” And he exclaims the Entrepreneur’s Circle has helped change his mindset from being a manager to business owner. He says when he took over the showroom, five years’ ago “I just carried on being a manager. I thought ‘I’ve got a website. I’ve got an ad in that magazine, so why is that tumbleweed rolling down the road?’ Then I started going to a few network meetings and that’s when I thought ‘actually I’m a business owner now’.” And he adds: “ I love to learn. I read business books and I love it.”

His enthusiasm to learn seems at odds with his schooling which saw him expelled and going to work in a bathroom warehouse. But Gary says “I was always determined to make something of myself. So I’ve had to work my way up. Now he co-owns a showroom with business partner George Croft, a kitchen fitter and cabinet maker. Although Gary may have moved out of the warehousehis heart is still very much in bathrooms.

Marketing for business

To attract showroom sales Gary uses social media. “It works brilliantly for me. I’m very proactive. I’m always on Facebook, I’m always on Twitter. I’ve got my web page.” And he exclaims: “It’s so worth it. When I go to a survey, the minute I’ve left the site I tweet. So it’s not taking up any of my time.” He has just taken on a team to run his account and the reason becomes clear, when he adds: “Google has bought shares in twitter, so obviously tweets are going to start ranking. I’m getting ahead of the game on that.” And he is also looking at developing his YouTube channel to include key Google word and phrase searches “to make sure I’m always ranking and stay on top of YouTube when people search for bathrooms”. Gary says it’s still his website which is best to attract custom but he drives traffic to it by Pay Per Click campaigns and social media: “you can’t always test social media because they’ll look at that and sometimes go onto your website another way. But it’s great for brand awareness.”

However, Gary finds the overall level of marketing in the bathroom industry, poor and not just by retailers, but some manufacturers too. “They could be doing so much more with their marketing to make brand awareness better for the showrooms and they don’t. Their social media platforms should be wider and more varied. If they can show people what their products are about, people like us can benefit”, he expresses. And Gary has put his money where his mouth is, as an exclusive supplier of Fiora shower trays in his area, he draws in business by blogging about the products and making it a focus of his marketing “and I’m ranking just as highly as Fiora on Google”.

In a heavily populated showroom area, “you’ve got about 10 showrooms in a five minute walk”, competition is rife for Gary’s mid to high-end business. But the marketing, which Gary says has been on bathrooms, has seen the split of sales move from half to 80% of orders. And business is brisk “I’m probably doing between 8-12 site surveys a week.” His turnover stands at £700,000 but he expects to do £900,000 this year, by changing suppliers bringing in Ideal Standard, Dansani and Utopia. Gary says his average orders stand at £12,000 but he still has to overcome the challenge of value over the price. “Not many people understand the value of what you are adding to their home. It’s [about] trying to get them to understand whatever we do is adding value – rather than just looking at the end figure.”

Creating fan base

But Gary’s not content with just attracting consumers, his focus this year is create “a fan base”: “What most companies will do is take a deposit and not see them until 4-6 weeks later. So what I do, after they signed the order, is sent a bunch of flowers or a gift. I’ll send that to say thank you for choosing Watford Kitchens & Bathrooms and to dispel any fears. If it’s a four week project, we send a postcard every week, so it’s a countdown until we start their new bathroom. I’m building a relationship from day one.” And it doesn’t stop there, Gary continues: “Once everything has been signed off, they get a gift to say thank you. I’m trying to create a fan – a client for life. It’s not just necessarily them but their family and friends .”

But you could take Gary creating a fanbase as literal, as he has an ultimate goal of being a TV personality: “I want to be the George Clark of the bathroom industry. The goal is to have a cardboard cutout of Gary Fullwood in the window – because Gary Fullwood is a brand. I want to endorse Watford Bathrooms & Kitchens and products.” But Gary isn’t arrogant, he is motivated and believes in positive thinking: “The people that are ahead of the game and got the brand behind them will prevail. I believe in myself and that’s a battle in itself sometimes.”