Tile suppliers who will offer a discount that i can pass on to customer?

[midlandstiler]

Hi
Just starting out on my own as tile fitter in the Nottingham area and was wondering if anyone could suggest suppliers who will over a discount that i can pass on to customers to help me get jobs.
Thanks guys

Any tips on getting work also appreciated.

Karl

[midlandstiler]

"OFFER" a discount even.

[Dave]

This is up to you to sort this out with who ever you use for tiles etc.. or you get discount and then order tiles etc for the customer then customers pays for them..

[kilty55]

open up accounts in all shops locally to you mate,see who offers you the best deal

i use ctd and tg

[midlandstiler]

Cheers dave

I understand that thanks any suggestions on who offers a good discounts?????

[TSTiling]

Your best bet is like Kilty says open up accounts and most places will offer you discounts overtime when they get to know your face!

[tfs]

Most tile shops should offer a discount unless they have reason to supect that you are not in the trade. You may find one or two will expect to you you make a few purchases prior to offering you full discount.

[deanotile]

when i first set up on my own i used to go and get a bag of grout or a tub (yes a tub) of adhesive from my local tile shop i would do this two or three times a week. each time i went in i made a point of chatting to the lads and lasses behind the counter about the jobs i was working on. even though i did not have any work and my garage had more adhesive and grout in it than there store room did. the one day i was standing there chatting and a customer asked if they new a tiler so they said yes dean is a tiler. I did the job and got the customer to tell the tile shop how good the job was and after that they let me put my cards in the shop and sorted me out with my discount.

[midlandstiler]

Brilliant deano thats the kind of comment i was looking for.
Thanks mate.

[dilz000]

CDT or CTD I can never remember which way round it is. When u sign up there they give u a load ifdiscount cards for you to Hand out to customers.

[aph257]

CDT or CTD I can never remember which way round it is. When u sign up there they give u a load ifdiscount cards for you to Hand out to customers.

Ceramic Tile Distributers.

[365drills]

Yes you have to spend a bit of time in the shops chatting to the staff.

Its the same as me. When I am in there putting in stands for diamond drills you have to spend a bit of time chewing the fat. Staff are able to offer discount and it seems if they like you then they also can be more generous.

Another thing I find is that staff will actually recommend you to tile buying customers if they think you are good. However none of this is short term. It takes a lot of time. One of the things you can do is actually BRING your customers / clients to the showroom and introduce them to the sales people in the hope of getting them some sales.

It all works two ways. If you show the staff that you can help them sell more and reach thier targets by briging them clients then they will reward with discounts, free addy, etc etc. I have been into tile shops for over 5 years now and what I can say is that it all takes time.

On a bit of a downer one thing the tile shops DONT like is if you flit in with buisness cards and ask them to hand them out or if you "pop in" to see if they have any work. Take it easy. Take your clients to the shops and get a few tile sales under your belt.

What does a tile shop salesman want to hear?
a) My name is X and I am the tiler for Mr & Mrs Y. They havent chosen tiles yet so I am bringing them to you to see if you have something.
b) My name is X and I am a tiler. Do you have any work for me? Can I leave my cards here? What discount do I get here?

a) is the way you will get the BIGGEST discounts and loyalty. If you dont put the time in then you will either get standard discount or you will have to divorce yourself from the materials buying aspect and just quote a day rate to fit tiles. In other words the client has to buy their own tiles and haggle their own discounts. You just come along and fix them on a day rate.