The industry faces a unique set of challenges today. Order books are filling up, but fresh, skilled labour is becoming rarer, making it harder to deliver to customer expectations. We face a challenging economic landscape where cutbacks in spending are required, making it more difficult for businesses to plan their growth. And although digitalisation is speeding up and simplifying some processes, significant investment of both money and time are needed to make key technologies part of many businesses.
In research Häfele conducted in 2023, almost half of homeowners (46%) said they plan to invest in home improvements in the next two years, with interior decorating (29%), revamped kitchens (23%), bathroom renovations (21%), new flooring (21%) and new doors (15%) topping the wish list. Knowing that consumers intend to increase their spending in these areas, Häfele wanted to make it as simple as possible to ensure its customers could take on that demand for additional work, despite the other challenges they might be facing.
“To us, being part of our customers’ teams means one thing – making their lives easier. And that can be achieved with the specialised expertise, platforms and processes we have on offer,” explains Lee Dicey, Chief Commercial Officer, Häfele UK.
“So, bringing together the insights at our disposal and the in-house knowledge across our business, we developed and are now delivering Service+, a new suite of services designed to add value to our customers’ businesses from concept through to installation and beyond.”
Service+ comprises four key elements, each designed to give extra help and expertise across planning, design, customisation and pre and post-sale support, allowing tradespeople and manufacturers to focus on serving their clients, delivering projects and growing their business.
Service+ Knowledge connects customers with Häfele in-house experts who can support them with specialist product and industry knowledge. Using their experience, the team helps customers maximise Häfele products and services to meet their needs and identify additional time and profit-enhancing opportunities to develop their business.
The Service+ Knowledge team can signpost customers to the Häfele Academy for workshops, aiding people and personal development, or training can be brought directly to customers’ doors via Häfele’s specially-designed vehicles, such as its Loox Lighting Van.
Service+ Planning provides planning and specification advice during the design stage, to ensure customers are choosing the right products for the right application to enhance their client’s design. Whether it’s an integrated lighting design to illuminate a new kitchen, or advice on which sliding door mechanism to specify, Häfele’s technical experts will create personalised recommendations for customers’ briefs, along with ready-to-order parts lists, installation advice and instructions to help streamline the process.
Helping customers go from design to reality and building on the success of Häfele to Order, Service+ Customised offers a wider range of custom-manufactured solutions including bespoke timber and assembled drawers, worktops, lighting, handles and cabinet components.
The new service also offers online estimating for certain products, meaning pricing can be obtained out of hours. Additionally, customers can use Service+ Customised to order a combination of ready-configured products and components packaged to their needs and have them delivered straight to site. Ideal for businesses of all sizes, this service has no minimum order quantity.
“The final element of our enhanced offer is Service+ Assist, providing ongoing technical support pre- and post-sale, including repairs, maintenance and advice, with a 24-hour support line available on some product ranges and on-the-ground support during business hours,” says Lee. “Through Service+ Assist, customers can get help with showroom or installation demonstrations to aid business development, or after-sales support to offer peace of mind to purchasers.
“Alongside Service+, we continue to provide same-day shipping on orders placed before 4pm, product lifetime guarantees, access to 65,000 product items via hafele.co.uk and a team of over 100 specialist advisors – all designed to support customer needs.
“We’ve always been passionate about service as a standard commitment and when the world is changing at an ever-increasing pace, the everyday challenges of our customers relentlessly push us to review and expand our range of services. Through Service+, we want to offer the extra pair of hands so many of our customers desperately need and give ways to increase their productivity and efficiency further.
“As well as creating a suite of new services which are our investment into our customers’ success, Service+ is also a promise to continually develop our support, with fresh ideas that are always in line with our customers’ needs.”
