Archive for the ‘Matt Powell’ Category
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
A new survey by B2B International examines the increasing demand for security at the front door in Europe.
Friedland have been manufacturing door chimes, wireless security and security lighting since 1938 and their brand, especially for door chimes, is synonymous with high quality products.
Friedland’s main market is the buildings and construction industry. This sector has been buoyed in recent years by strong growth, but faces a more challenging environment in the near future. The way buildings are constructed and periphery products (security, lighting) to the building are specified is also changing with the roles and responsibilities within the supply chain slowly becoming merged.
Given the continually changing market conditions in which they operate, Friedland commissioned B2B International to research the French and German markets for door-entry systems, security lighting and alarms.
The market for door chimes in Europe is in decline due to the increased demand for audio/video intercoms for door entry.
Installers are the key decision makers when it comes to deciding what doorbell is fitted in nearly nine out of 10 cases. Quality, reliability and functionality are the key requisites that installers look for from a door chime. Wired door chimes are preferred mainly due to the robustness of the system but also because many installations are replacing existing wired systems.
Friedland’s brand in the door chime market shows very high awareness with nearly all installers in Germany and three quarters of installers in France being aware of Friedland.
In contrast to the door chime market, the market for security lighting and security alarms is in the ascendant with the heightened demand for greater security. The annual market for these products is growing at between 3% and 5%.
B2B executive of this report, Matt Powell, says:
Everyone is becoming more security conscious, so it is not surprising that the research indicates a growing demand for security products in general and for new door-entry products in particular. In the future, companies will need to revise their offerings to meet different market segments. What we see is that brand is important and gives installers comfort that they will be getting a reputable product. Freidland are in a strong position with their ever-present brand. This research will enable Friedland to position itself as an innovator and leader and develop new security products – in other words, to become more than just a door chime company.
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Friday, March 28th, 2008
This week’s Thursday Night Insight comes from Senior Research Executive Matt Powell, who this week reflects upon how customer satisfaction research can go much further than just helping a company better meet its customers’ needs
Earlier this week I received a phone call from my mobile phone operator, which caused me to think for a moment about the importance and impact of listening to what customers have to say.
I have been with O2 since back in my student days when they were known as BT Cellnet – over the years I have been on what could be mildly described as a ‘rollercoaster ride’ in terms of my customer satisfaction. From the feel-good days of unlimited free texts at the start of the new millennium, to the dark days of endless (and extremely expensive) calls to customer services. For many years it seemed as though O2 was resting on its laurels – content with having its customers tied to contracts, yet not listening to what they had to say.
In 2005, after a few years of customer service levels that almost drove me (and most other people I knew with an O2 contract) to leave the network, O2 announced they were to invest £18million in developing the customer services. In short, they started on the road to performing quite an impressive u-turn.
You might be wondering where I am going with this quasi-nostalgia, but earlier this week I received a phone call from O2 which caused me to think about how much my perception of the company and my satisfaction levels had changed over the years. The phone call I received did not contain the up-selling or phone insurance deals that I had wrongly expected – instead the attendant briefly said that she could reduce my monthly rate and increase the number of free minutes I had. Of course, that is always a good thing, yet the attendant informed me that I would receive a short customer satisfaction survey on my mobile after the call, and expressed her gratitude in my filling it in.
As I was completing the survey, I thought a little more about my answers and my satisfaction levels and realised that despite the odds, O2 had managed to turn me from a very disgruntled customer into a very satisfied one. This, in turn, made me reflect further on the impact of the survey I was filling in. By asking me to think about how I feel about the company, and by spending time to dwell on my thoughts, O2 had effectively forced me to think about how good they had just been to me in reducing my bill. If they had not done this, this positive experience might have slipped past unnoticed.
For me it highlighted that listening to what customers have to say is not only essential to improving a business (ensuring that needs are being met), it also pays for the customer to feel that they are being listened to.
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