 An old business philosophy keeps this flooring distribution company on an even keel.
Ask Tom Sandifer how flooring products distributor Cain & Bultman generates $85 million in revenue with just 85 employees and he’ll answer with a laugh, “We’re pretty productive.”
Behind that humble statement is a business strategy that’s been honed over the company’s long history—83 years to be exact. And it all boils down to a philosophy Tom’s father, N.H. Sandifer, adhered to when he helped establish Cain & Bultman in the 1930s: fairness to all.
 Tom Sandifer, Chairman and CEO
Good things like an experienced, dedicated staff and a loyal group of suppliers and vendors that have made Cain & Bultman the most successful flooring products distributor in Florida. And by leveraging its motivated workforce to create organic growth opportunities with that same loyal customer base, the company is keeping an even keel in the market as the recently robust construction industry spirals into a slump.
Value added
Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Cain & Bultman sells, markets, and distributes residential and commercial vinyl, laminate, ceramic tile, and hardwood to dealers across the Sunshine State, Georgia, and parts of Alabama. But the company wasn’t always just about flooring products. N.H. Sandifer got his start with the company selling radios, batteries, and automobile tires, and for many years Cain & Bultman was a major distributor for Zenith and GE. At its peak, the company had nearly 300 employees and generated $290 million in revenue.
As markets shifted, buyouts occurred, and manufacturers began selling direct, the company lost customers and had to shift its focus to the industry with its biggest remaining client: Armstrong.
“It’s quite challenging when you have that many warehouses and employees and all of the sudden the big companies you were doing business with are gone,” Sandifer said. “The people that were here then and are still here now are the reason we were able to survive.”
By expanding the services it provides and focusing on becoming a true partner to flooring manufacturers and dealers, the company quickly reversed the downward slide. Today, Cain & Bultman offers classes on installation, sales training, and even business management seminars. The strategy is to become indispensable to dealers, and judging by recent performance, Cain & Bultman is achieving its goal. Five out of the last six years the company has been named Armstrong’s distributor of the year.
“Anything we can do to help our customers, we do it,” Sandifer said. “We differentiate ourselves from the competition by listening to the customer, understanding their needs, and giving them what they want.”
Family environment
Giving customers what they want means having employees that are knowledgeable, motivated, and service oriented. Such qualities describe Cain & Bultman’s staff to a T.
The reason why employees stay with the company and go the extra mile when it comes to customer service is because of the culture. Seventy-two-year-old Sandifer said he’s worked with so many of the company’s employees for so long, they don’t just feel like family, they are part of the family.
“My door is always open, and everyone knows they can come to me or one of our vice presidents with any ideas or concerns they have,” he said. “We’ve created an environment where our people enjoy coming to work, and that didn’t just happen over night.”
That environment includes extensive training and cross-training programs and the latest technology that enables employees to do their jobs efficiently. When a customer calls the order desk with a question, knowledgeable employees not only provide answers, they offer suggestions, often resulting in increased sales. And thanks to laptops and software the company provides all of its sales reps, new product information and training presentations can be brought directly to the customer.
Other software, in the form of an information system provided by Armstrong, allows Cain & Bultman to manage with a lean mentality. The system gives the company real time performance metrics and warehouse management information that enables product flow.
“How do we have so few people and still average $1 million per person in revenue? We’ve gotten lean and smart and tried things we’ve never done before,” Sandifer said. “It’s not about marketing. It’s about having the people that can provide customers with solutions.”
With the new construction industry continuing to slow, Cain & Bultman is looking to provide its customers with even more solutions. Most notably, the company is leveraging its relationships with trucking companies to provide expanded logistics services. Already, Home Depot and Lowe’s Home Improvement are among its logistics customers, and Sandifer said he’s confident that segment of the business will continue to experience rapid growth.
“Whatever product or service we provide, our customers continue to work with us because of our reputation for being fair,” he said. “It’s how we’ve always done business, and how we always will."
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