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Recognising that there’s a problem in an industry run by giants is the first step to ending customer complacency, but recognising that there are viable alternatives to these giants without the perceived hassle opens huge opportunities to change the way you do business. Andrew Jones, Technical Director at Axair Fans examines the benefits of stepping out of complacency.
As customers we often get so conditioned to an industry that we assume there is only one way of doing something. But as we all understand, there’s rarely one way. In an industry where there are a handful of excellent companies with a strong complete team, there are also small to medium businesses in the industry who don’t have the advantage of being completely autonomous in their component sourcing. They lack resource or confidence in their own technical selections, integration techniques, or have a fear of trusting unknown suppliers, creating barriers to future competitive advantage.
Fear is a huge driver of complacency. A procurement department tasked with finding components, may turn down a lesser-known company that in culture, value and service, is a better fit for their needs. The reason? Fear, whether real or perceived, that their job would be on the line if something went wrong. This causes teams to ignore the express purpose of their job and even do something that was not in the company’s best interests.
Imagine approaching a new component sales organisation for technical assistance and having one single contact for technical and commercial questions, without getting passed around when you just need the answer that enables you to move onto the next step. Large companies struggle with this, especially as they’ve grown quickly and lost that attentive value. Customer requests are initially dealt with by customer service, escalated to senior levels, then passed to technical with weeks of delays and customer chasing before being brushed aside. The same message is rung around multiple industries. That larger companies often don’t have the time or care for customers spending below a certain threshold. Standards change if you allow them to, when companies start working more with larger customers. The cost of that choice falls on the value added for customers outside of these golden eggs. For small to medium company issues, this poor level of service continually creates complacency. These large companies can stop caring and begin to take customers for granted. That’s an indication that the industry itself has become complacent.
From my experience of working in the tech and engineering industries in my career, similar sized business clients have similar needs; to work collaboratively, to be listened to, to have access to an attentive and focused contact, and to rely on the resourcefulness of the technical team in helping to integrate solutions. Focusing on our niche clients in the value-added customer centric approach we have at Axair leads to trust, quick decisions and everything just moves at a faster pace. Customers are individuals, they’re not companies they work in. We identified early on that our purpose was to help customers to build better systems, and almost 32 years on from our incorporation date, we continue to embed our values into the team, forming long lasting relationships and partnerships with key industry stakeholders.
If your business is coasting by working with existing suppliers who haven’t stepped up the mark, then it’s time to think about how you can end the complacency. Yes, its always tempting to go after the biggest fish in the pond, thinking it will clearly be the best, but if you’re falling short, then consideration should be given to better value-added smaller players who just might be the right fit for your needs.
For more information on Putting an End to Complacency in a Frustrated Marketplace talk to Axair Fans UK Ltd