More than a number

MCS Influencer Randy Chaffee says that one of the best ways for companies to differentiate themselves among mergers and acquisitions is to connect with their customers.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing, LLC. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

Alex Tolle: Hello. I'm Alex Tolle with MetalCoffeeShop.com and I'm back for another influencer response here with Randy. So our September 2025 question is, how can contractors remain competitive and differentiate themselves in markets experiencing significant mergers and acquisitions?

Randy Chaffee: Man, that's a that's a timely one, Alex, and I think vitally important, because we know is whether it's at the contractor level or at the distributor level, the manufacturer level, the mergers and the buyouts are happening all the time. And I think the key is a to be aware that that's out there. Be aware it exists, and really spend some time yourself. Spend some time with your team.

I use the term spit balling, but you could describe it as throwing stuff up against the whiteboard. See what sticks. Throw some ideas. What is the difference between us? Because you're not going to beat some of these gigantic operations on price. They're going to have more advertising dollars, they're going to have better buying power. They're going to have many the ability to maybe offer better benefits. They're going to have all that stuff just because of pure size, right?

But the key that you have got to understand and you got to sell it unabashedly and be confident of it and proud of is I'm me. This is my group. We're good at what we do. We care about what we do. We've been here forever. We're the people that you see at the ice cream social we're the people that sponsor the kids softball games. We're the people that put the sign up for the for the band outing at the high school. Tell and show them that you're the people that do those things.

There's a lot of things that the local, smaller operations, whether it's contracting or supplying, that bring to the table that you don't get from the large, gigantic operations. And the biggest thing is, I think, is everybody in your organization needs to remember something is they get you. If you're the owner, you're the salesman, you're the foreman of the crew, the crewman, the truck driver, whatever, remember is the reasons they're buying from your business versus the big guy is because they get to know you. They get to know who you are. They get to know that you care about them. They know that they are more than just a number to you.

The key to differentiating is letting them know that. Let them know that you're in the community. You get up every day and go to the same church, you go to the same restaurants and coffee shops. And I think it's important that we let people know that that you're not dealing with somebody that's a parent company, you know, 3,000 miles away, that could care less other than a screenshot of what it wanted somebody do. What did customer 1897 do? No, you know who 1897 and his bill and that you just did a roof barn last week, he's married and his boy plays baseball, right? Yeah, that's the difference. We got to talk about it and we got to live it every day.

Alex Tolle: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much Randy!