Unleashed potential creates new business
Situation and problem
Growth plan for a fastening and installation technology company in the photovoltaic field. Traditional sales were restricted to single-point fasteners, conveyed through a traditional distribution model that operated without adding particular value. Dealers were not prepared to respond for changing demands that ‘poured’ on them. With this model, the company had limited growth prospects. The target market was off to a great start due to the ‘energy incentives’. End users and planners were looking for solutions, systems and professional support in the field.
Challenge and actions
The plan was to turn this limitation into an opportunity: in a decisive, structured and qualified manner. The benchmark from a technological point of view were a few specialized manufactures in other European markets. Instead of copying, a whole innovative ‘best in class’ system was developed. Different in many functional technical advantages precisely determined. This was complemented by extremely qualified operational support. This ‘custom’ support could be provided from the (remote) headquarters or by specialists in the field. Qualified trade-marketing supported a dedicated network of specialist local dealers.
Results
After initial resistance from the network and after fine-tuning of the service, the business has grown very strongly and in a sustainable manner. Potential conflicts with resellers turned out to be manageable. Thanks to the decision to follow the more fragmnted markets inspite of big projects combined with excellent usability of the products/services, the business was healthy and could recover without trauma after the collapse of the first national “energy incentives”.