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‘Reputation Before Revenue’ – new research

A new survey of painters and decorators has revealed the lengths professionals are willing to go to maintain their reputation and provide a superior service for their customers. More than a third (37%) put doing a good job significantly above maximising profits and completing work quickly (7% and 8% respectively), while 52 percent have worked out of hours to finish an urgent job.

Surveying 500 decorators from across the UK, Dulux Trade carried out the research to mark the launch of its newly formulated Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt. It looked at a variety of issues affecting decorators in the current market, including Brexit, training, time management and reputation with a view to understanding the broader context of what’s important to customers and the challenges facing their businesses.

The results confirmed that economic uncertainty is a significant concern, with 63 percent of decorators saying they had concerns about the consequences of Brexit, and a third of those (36%) worried about its impact on the economy as a whole. Of the remaining decorators who weren’t worried about Brexit, 40 percent believe there will always be a demand for painting and decorating, confirming their continued confidence in the industry.

Keeping ahead as a professional is a clear priority to today’s decorator, with training being of great importance to those surveyed. 78 percent of respondents said having professional training under their belt and ensuring that their customers were aware of their credentials was high priority. Three in ten (30%) said they had invested in training for their employees in order to boost their company’s reputation.

Being equipped with the right products and tools was of considerable importance, with the end result for the client being of upmost importance to the decorator, and almost half saying that using high quality paint was vital for ensuring the optimum finish. 30 percent had convinced clients to trade-up to achieve a better result and further enhance their reputation, highlighting the decorator’s influence over their clients’ decision making process. A quarter said they would benefit from reduced flashing and cutting-in issues.

The results also highlighted the challenges that many decorators face in running their own business. When asked about their bugbears, 11 percent said it was clients’ perception that they use poor quality paint to keep costs down, while the biggest annoyance amongst painters and decorators was clients paying late.

Rachel Tozer, Marketing Manager, AkzoNobel, commented: “We carried out this research to find out more about decorators’ concerns across a range of issues including the economy, their attitudes towards clients and the state of their industry. The results give a renewed perspective on the priorities of professional appliers today and will help us focus on relevant propositions.”

The study was carried out as part of Dulux Trade’s It MATTers campaign, which encourages dialogue with decorators, helping the leading paint manufacturer to continue to understand the needs of its customers and deliver on the changing needs of the industry.

‘Reputation Before Revenue’ – new research

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