At this early point we don’t claim to present our response to this question as the single, most important message. However, based on our previous experience working with Home Depot and Construgia to help them connect with Hispanic contractors and tradespeople, we do believe there are three key insights which will drive what will likely be one important message to communicate to Hispanic customers.
Any contractor operating their own business is likely a self-made entrepreneur. To be both self-made and successful in growing a small business into a bigger one they also need to be highly resourceful.
This is particularly true, however, of Hispanics. It’s something in which they take great pride. Part of the reason for their resourcefulness is simply that it’s in their DNA due to their ethnic heritage.
Living in a country like the U.S. where resources are plentiful, we tend to develop “functional fixedness”; a cognitive bias that limits a person to use an object only in the way it is traditionally used. In many Hispanics’ countries of origin that is not the case. So they and their families have learned to be creative and innovative. With time, they’ve learned to see things as what they can be or do and not necessarily merely what they were originally designed for. As the adage goes, Necessity is the mother of invention.
A further reason for this resourcefulness, particularly pertinent to Hispanic contractors, is the wide array of trades in which they tend to gain experience. By the time a Hispanic entrepreneur ventures out into their own business it's highly likely they (and their crew) have a breadth of experience across plumbing, electrical, construction and landscaping, to name a few. It’s one of the reasons so many formen, even in Non-Hispanic landscaping firms, are Hispanic.
So, while many Non-Hispanic landscaping contractors may use specialist subcontractors for different aspects of a project (irrigation, hardscape, etc.) this is less the case for Hispanic contractors, many of whom will instead draw on their own diverse experience and that of their crews to handle more of the job, directly, themselves. In some regards this could mean that a Hispanic landscaping company can represent several customer relationships in one; the hardscape, irrigation, lighting, nursery, etc. customer. In their own right they, like SiteOne, are a one stop solution.
In our previous work with Hispanic contractors it was evident that they often feel as though their relationship with suppliers is purely transactional. This is not by choice. Despite their prevalence in the contracting fields, few brands have dedicated programs and services that expressly acknowledge their importance to their industries and cater to their needs. This perceived lack of recognition leads to a sense that their custom is not as valued by companies as that of Non-Hispanic businesses. To the contrary, in numerous different industries we work across we consistently see that when a company makes a concerted effort to acknowledge Hispanic customers, give them credit for what they do and how and why they do it, they quickly become a brand’s most loyal customer.
From one one-stop-shop to another, we recognize you as resourceful super-customers and we’d love to get to work and help grow our businesses together.
Why is this an important message? Because, Hispanic Landscaping contractors don’t get the recognition they deserve. A message of "we see you - we get you - we know that you do it all and that makes you a VIP customer to us." will be very powerful in building a relationship with this segment.
Importantly, we believe this message needs to be delivered with a mutual intent; "let's grow together" vs "Let us help you grow". For this audience it’s important not to come off as a big Corporation talking down to a group that's very accustomed to being talked down to - but as a partner with simpatico and mutual respect.
We are a collective of smart, creative, culturally attuned trailblazers with unique cultural and consumer sensibilities that enable us to help brands stay in-step & grow with today's "new" consumer in ways no other marketing group can.