Competence Partner

2023 Author: Hannah Pearcy | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 11:39

How does the medium-sized paint manufacturer Zero-Lack see the market and how can it score there? The Malerblatt spoke with managing director and owner Marcus Fischerbock, Rainer Hülsermann, head of application technology, Harald Kranz, marketing manager, and Rainer Virchow, authorized representative and sales manager. Because a number of manufacturers and retailers are currently having problems on the market, I fall straight through the door: How can Zero really score? Marcus Fischerbock: Our development in recent years has been all around positive. In the field of Zerotherm thermal insulation alone, we achieved an increase of 50 percent in 2008. Rainer Hülsermann: We were able to convince with the ETICS systems with our adhesive foam, which is easy to process and does not press. The craftsmen really appreciate this material. And what do you attribute this success to if we don't just look at the area of thermal insulation? Marcus Fischerbock: Zero sales did a great job - not just in Germany. Business is also developing well for us in Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and even in China. How is your sales organized in Germany, do you sell through retail? Rainer Virchow: Yes and no! I want to differentiate a little here: In the past, there were regions where we no longer had a dealer because it may have broken away overnight due to the merger, takeover or sale. So about three years ago we started to establish our first own zero professional painter markets. Marcus Fischerbock:If you make good sales in a region and the dealer fails for whatever reason, then you cannot simply give these sales to the company. But otherwise the very clear statement applies that we are fundamentally dealer-oriented. With this organization you need enormous flexibility. Rainer Virchow: It was always important to us to be flexible and fast. If you order from us until 11 a.m., we deliver with an almost 100% quota the next day, sometimes even at night - that is, the wholesaler has the goods in the warehouse or at 7 a.m. when the painter goes to work delivers directly to the construction site. Harald Kranz: This is perceived positively by the customer and highly rewarded - our own surveys confirm this. Larger providers sometimes need a few days longer. Speed is customer friendliness - and therefore an enormous advantage. Marcus Fischerbock: Yes, exactly, speed and delivery service are our key strengths. Few can still do that. How is your field service involved in this organization? Rainer Virchow: We have around 40 specialist and sales consultants, all master painters with the relevant professional competence. This field service has direct access to all departments, whether he needs support from Mr. Kranz in marketing or the know-how from application technology or the laboratory. Harald Kranz: We at Marketing provide professional support for success on site and also set one or another additional focus. Before that there is an exchange - at Zero, communication is very intensive. I now look ahead to the year 2010. Our FARBE trade fair is taking place again - and you also have an anniversary. Will there be any special new developments on these occasions? Marcus Fischerbock: It is not a priority for us to develop products on certain occasions and then conjure them up from the hat. We have a high-quality full range. And so for us COLOR is primarily a contact exchange, especially for abroad. The same applies to the activities for our 50th anniversary. We will celebrate this with customers and value creation partners. New product developments are not directly affected by both dates, there are anyway, new decorative offers, for example. Thanks for the keyword "decorative". Do you see trends there and do you offer special products for them? Marcus Fischerbock: The painter's craft has to get products with which it can represent itself - and which cannot be copied by every layperson. We are clearly oriented towards the specialist. Rainer Hülsermann: Let me give you an example. About zero quartz style, a fine quartz coating, optionally with a metallic effect, for decorative design of interior walls. This is exactly what the craftsman can profile with the customer. Or with Zero Deco mica. In addition to these decorative specialties, we also have professional products for very special problem solutions in our complete range. Do you have an example of this? Rainer Hülsermann: Yes,the specially approved ship colors are such a product group. Zero is therefore at home on all the world's oceans. Marcus Fischerbock: One of our processor customers turned to Zero many years ago. He worked in shipbuilding and had a problem that needed special products to solve: fire protection coatings on various substrates. We then successively developed a corresponding system. Now this is not a mass product, but there is reliable demand. The image effect underlines our technical competence. And now just look through the marketing glasses: Which products do you want to push this year? Harald Kranz: Well, thermal insulation composite systems are both a current and a future topic. And painters are increasingly taking "the decorative" again - because end customers expect freshly colored ideas and are ready to focus more on color and effect indoors and outdoors. We are concentrating on the early introduction of new VOC 2010-compliant paints and varnishes. Zero will have completed all changes by mid-2009 and is already supporting the industry with practical workshops and training. Marcus Fischerbock: Of course, it's not always just about products, but also about services. Zero is available to the painter as a reliable and comprehensive competence partner. When I review our conversation in my mind's eye,then the main success factors of your growth are specialties in the technical as well as products in the decorative area. And there is also good service, flexibility and speed. Marcus Fischerbock: Yes, it's the sum of everything. And as is usually the case with medium-sized companies, we also grow small and fine. We never went from zero to one hundred, but reached our current level through solid growth over the years, but have tripled the number of our customers since 2000. Rainer Virchow: And we were able to compensate to a large extent for lost trading partners. In southern Germany we see further growth potential … How do you see yourself as a medium-sized company in competition with the big ones? Marcus Fischerbock: It is just the case with medium-sized companiesthat everything they tackle must actually succeed - because they are doomed to it. Medium-sized companies usually never have a second chance! Corporations can say, okay, we tried it out, we look for the mistakes, maybe someone else will be replaced, but nothing else happens. But we SMEs have to think three times about what we spend our money on and which strategy has the greatest success. That's why you might prefer to grow a bit slower, but more solid. Thank you very much for the conversation. The interview was conducted by Ulrich Schweizer. But we SMEs have to think three times about what we spend our money on and which strategy has the greatest success. That's why you might prefer to grow a bit slower, but more solid. Thank you very much for the conversation. The interview was conducted by Ulrich Schweizer. But we SMEs have to think three times about what we spend our money on and which strategy has the greatest success. That's why you might prefer to grow a bit slower, but more solid. Thank you very much for the conversation. The interview was conducted by Ulrich Schweizer.

compact

As a medium-sized manufacturer, ZERO is flexible and acts actively and creatively on the market. In the Malerblatt interview, Marcus Fischerbock, Rainer Hülsermann, Harald Kranz and Rainer Virchow comment on the topics of strategy, competition, sales, product range, future prospects and marketing. ZERO-LACK GmbH & Co. KG Bleichstrasse 57 - 58 32545 Bad Oeynhausen Tel.: (05731) 9887-0 Fax: (05731) 9887-671 www.zero-lack.de [email protected]