Case: Stonhard

Who are you and what are your own usp's?

Stonhard is an American company by origin. They install resin-bonded floors. These are plastic flooring systems, think epoxy and polyurethane, used mostly in the pharmaceutical, food and chemical industries.

"Our main usp is that we are a single source company. There are other companies in the market but they always buy their materials somewhere and then install it themselves, or just a supplier who supplies it to installers. But we have everything in-house. We produce our own materials both in America and in Europe, and we have our own installation teams. Because we are divided regionally, the customer actually has contact with only one person in the region who takes care of everything from A to Z in that project.

We work all over the world. If we look at Europe, we operate in many countries, not all of them yet. Convins works for the Netherlands and Belgium. In the Netherlands, 6 colleagues are on the road. In Belgium and Luxembourg 5. I myself am responsible for Belgium, Luxembourg and Scandinavia."

How did you come into contact with Convins?

"We started looking around a bit because we needed support in acquisition. We approached a number of companies ourselves, including Convins. Then we had a meeting at the office and started the process."

Why is the cooperation successful and what do you mean by successful?

"The confidence in Convins is very high. Especially the market we are in, there the confidence has to be there. After all, we don't sell the cheapest product. If the trust is not there, the customer will never be willing to buy it from us. It works the same the other way around for us, for Convins. It really is the basis of a partnership. I notice that Convins thinks along with us, for example if there is a new initiative or we could do something different for once. If there is a doubt about an appointment, it is well discussed.

"The contact is very good, which is not only with me but also with the colleagues who are on the road and have to run the appointments in the end."

I see the cooperation with Convins as successful because the trust is there, so we have a good cooperation with each other, and the communication is good."

What do you think are the usp's of Convins and its team?

"It's not just telephone acquisition. There really is a thought behind it. The acquirers don't just pick up the phone and start calling. They first take a good look at what we are going to do. You also notice that in the reports in preparation for the appointments you get.

It had 2 decisive factors for us. First of all, the click with Convins and the way of agreements, they think in a certain way that also just suits us. If a customer says they want the very lowest price, unfortunately that doesn't work. We want to deliver quality and get everything right. It works the same way with Convins because you have a good price-quality ratio.

Second, we really liked the no-cure-no-pay way of working. I think with the Netherlands and Belgium we were the first to take this step to do this. There were some calls but that was mostly on hours or you bought some addresses. So we have done something with it in the past but it was never that successful. Now that we have started this route we are actually very satisfied with it.

The colleagues on the road have quite a wide range of tasks; they also make phone calls themselves. But Convins really does provide some support in this. Making an appointment just takes more and more time. And that time is often no longer available so it is a good addition to that."

What has success meant for your business?

"With certain companies, we have reached agreements of at least 3rd or 4th order, and that's thanks to Convins. We're only a year and a half in now, so it's hard to tell yet. But I do think the final number of orders that come out of it is going to grow. The customers are seeded, but often there are customers who don't have a project for us until the next year. I do see the percentage of orders coming out. In such a specific market as we are in, it is difficult to get brand awareness with a marketing campaign. If you get 1 or 2% you can be happy. At Convins it is very specific. We are at a customer's table or not, there is no difference. At that moment my colleagues can really do their work. That is the most important thing for us, so that they have new contacts outside their own network.

I think it's really a positive collaboration."

"The cooperation is of high quality and very professional level. We are really happy with it."