Pro Attitudes Toward Good, Better, Best Product Offerings

This article was originally published on Dec. 13, 2024 on Home Improvement Research Institute. 

Why Good-Better-Best Works

Offer­ing a range of prod­ucts at dif­fer­ent tiers has sig­nif­i­cant advan­tages. Near­ly 70% of home improve­ment pro­fes­sion­als agree that GBB offer­ings strength­en their loy­al­ty to a brand. More­over, 96% of pros are aware of the GBB mod­el in the build­ing prod­ucts indus­try, demon­strat­ing its wide­spread recog­ni­tion and acceptance.

For man­u­fac­tur­ers and retail­ers, this means that adopt­ing GBB can improve brand per­cep­tion while meet­ing the diverse needs of pro­fes­sion­al customers.

Pro Purchasing Trends

Pro­fes­sion­al cus­tomers lean heav­i­ly toward high-tier prod­ucts. The study found that:

• Best-tier prod­ucts are pre­ferred over Bet­ter-tier prod­ucts by 20%, and over Good-tier prod­ucts by 40%, despite high­er costs.
• 76% of pros believe man­u­fac­tur­ers should offer prod­ucts at mul­ti­ple price points.

Brands can fur­ther increase sat­is­fac­tion and reduce gaps between prod­uct tiers by focus­ing on two key areas: avail­abil­i­ty and ease of instal­la­tion. Improv­ing these attrib­ut­es sig­nif­i­cant­ly nar­rows the pref­er­ence gap between Bet­ter and Best products.

Common Challenges for Pros

Despite the ben­e­fits of the GBB approach, pro­fes­sion­als face chal­lenges nav­i­gat­ing prod­uct lines and pric­ing structures:

• 50% of pros report dif­fi­cul­ties deter­min­ing prod­uct availability.
• 45% find it hard to ensure prod­uct com­pat­i­bil­i­ty with oth­er materials.
• Pric­ing trans­paren­cy remains anoth­er sig­nif­i­cant pain point.

By address­ing these chal­lenges, man­u­fac­tur­ers and retail­ers can improve the over­all cus­tomer expe­ri­ence and build stronger rela­tion­ships with their pro customers.

Understanding Pro Customer Segments

HIRI’s study iden­ti­fied three dis­tinct seg­ments of pro cus­tomers, each with unique atti­tudes toward pur­chas­ing decisions:

1. Want It All (45%)
   • Pri­or­i­tizes all attrib­ut­es — qual­i­ty, ease of use, and availability.
   • Pri­mar­i­ly small firms that val­ue a com­pre­hen­sive offering.
2. Brand Above All (30%)
   • Focus­es pri­mar­i­ly on brand reputation.
   • Includes many spe­cial­ty contractors.
3. Brand Imma­te­r­i­al (25%)
   • Least influ­enced by brand alone.
   • Often larg­er firms or those work­ing in new construction.

By tai­lor­ing strate­gies to each seg­ment, brands can bet­ter serve their pro­fes­sion­al customers.

What Pros Value Most in Products

When select­ing build­ing prod­ucts, pro­fes­sion­als con­sid­er sev­er­al factors:

1. Brand Rep­u­ta­tion
2. Ease of Installation
3. Prod­uct Availability
4. Price
5. Prod­uct Quality

Among these, brand rep­u­ta­tion stands out as the most influ­en­tial fac­tor. Improv­ing rep­u­ta­tion requires a long-term strat­e­gy but offers sub­stan­tial rewards in terms of loy­al­ty and repeat business.

How Brands Can Communicate Better

One sur­pris­ing insight from the study is that phys­i­cal retail stores pro­vide the great­est oppor­tu­ni­ty for improv­ing com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Near­ly half of the Want It All seg­ment (49%) and 41% of the Brand Above All seg­ment sug­gest­ed focus­ing on in-store communication.

Addi­tion­al sug­ges­tions include:

• Enhanc­ing sup­pli­er and man­u­fac­tur­er websites.
• Improv­ing prod­uct documentation.
• Train­ing store employ­ees to pro­vide expert advice.

By invest­ing in these areas, brands can strength­en their con­nec­tion with pro cus­tomers and rein­force their rep­u­ta­tion as trust­ed partners.

Building a Stronger Future with Good-Better-Best

The Good-Bet­ter-Best approach isn’t just a pric­ing strat­e­gy — it’s a way to fos­ter loy­al­ty, sat­is­fac­tion, and trust among pro­fes­sion­al cus­tomers. HIRI’s 2024 Good-Bet­ter-Best Study high­lights the sig­nif­i­cant impact this mod­el has on pro atti­tudes and behav­iors, offer­ing valu­able insights for build­ing prod­uct man­u­fac­tur­ers and retailers.