It’s one thing having a supplier who offers the highest quality products to their customers. But having a supplier who also offers a skilled technical team to support their customers, is a much rarer thing.
We all know the adage of ‘people buy from people’ – whether the business is a B2B or B2C enterprise, the ability to speak to a real person and ask for help is vital.
That’s why the majority of businesses have an in-house customer service team who can support their clients in helping them to generate quotations and place orders.
But what about after the order is secured?
Our industry is highly nuanced and scientific in its approach to producing the exacting quality that is required, so what does a customer do if they are unfamiliar with the particulars of a product, or need help setting up their machinery?
This is where a team of highly qualified technical experts, based in the UK and able to visit site, is vital: people who know their products inside and out and can work in partnership with customers to take them to the next level.
100 years of knowledge
“One of the biggest changes I’ve seen over the 40 years I’ve worked in the industry is the degree of professionalism that customers now expect,” says Graham Colls, aluplast’s newly appointed Head of Technical Applications and Operations. “And that includes end users, installers and fabricators.
“They expect to see professionalism in terms of certification, proven testing, and the general way that products are presented to them. The whole subject can be quite complex and we need to guide and steer our customers through those processes.”
Graham is just one of the newly strengthened aluplast technical team that was brought together at the end of 2023.
Alongside Graham, Andrew Stafford was brought on board to serve as External Technical Applications Engineer and Andrew Ballinger as Product Application Support Engineer. With over 100 years’ experience in the window and door industry between them, the technical team are providing that vital personal touch to support both new and existing aluplast customers.
A helping hand
“We’re on hand to support customers on a wide range of issues, including switching over to aluplast from other systems, providing technical advice to architects and specifiers, and designing and testing products so they comply with Building Regulations”, says Andrew Stafford.
And what makes the technical team so invaluable to aluplast customers, according to Andrew, is their agility.
“We spend the majority of our time at site, helping customers in person. Customers value technical support very highly, and they need to know the miniscule details of the profile and how the different elements work together.
“This can’t be done over email or on the phone. Equally, we help with setting up machinery and training fabricators whilst we’re on site – these are all vital services to customers in making the transition to aluplast as smooth as possible.
“When it comes to helping a fabricator move over to the aluplast system, we offer a very comprehensive support system internally and externally. We try to give them as much help and assistance as we can, starting by providing an audit, so they know what to expect, and there aren’t any unknowns.”
Long-term solutions
Andrew Ballinger is tasked with supporting customers with technical drawings, technical manuals, BFRC ratings, thermal simulations, and wind loadings.
Andrew also provides architects with the correct technical information during the design process, which creates leads for aluplast customers as projects are put out to tender.
“The need for thermal simulations is on the rise again,” Andrew says. “We can help our customers prove they manufacture some of the best thermally rated windows and doors by supporting them through the testing process.
“It’s been to clear to me since I started at aluplast just how far they are willing to go to support their customers”, Andrew says. “Our products are industry-leading in their quality and performance, and are being backed up by significant investment in their manufacture.
“Our customers now also have the technical expertise and people on the ground to complete the jigsaw, and it’s been a real pleasure for me and the rest of the team, partnering with them and their businesses.”
For more information about aluplast, call 01684 273401 email info@aluplast.co.uk or visit www.aluplast.co.uk.