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8 10 16 20 INSIDE A GOOD PLACE TO WORK FACING THE CRISIS STARK HAS SUCCESS WITH TRAINING COURSES THE GLOVE ALWAYS FITS ISSUE 5 · SUMMER 2009 4 PAGE Quality is non- negotiable The story of our customers

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DT Magazine is Wolseley's Nordic employee magazine, published three times a year, and read by staff in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. The magazine serves multiple purposes but the most important objective is to contribute to a strong sales culture. If you want to know more about the magazine, feel free to contact Patrick May at 0045 3115 4477

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inside A good plAce to workFAcing the crisisstArk hAs success with trAining coursesthe glove AlwAys Fits

issue 5 · sUMMER 2009

4pAge

Quality is non- negotiablethe story of our customers

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it might hAve to do with the fact that summer is in the air, but I am beginning to feel some crisis fatigue. I feel the need for something positive again. I can’t help thinking that a lot of peo-ple simply use the crisis as an excuse for not acting. It serves as a legitimate rea-son to postpone everything and wait until the crisis is over. But if we all think like that, it will never pass will it now?

However, in tough times a different breed of people always seems to rise up. The kind of people who roll up their sleeves and truly make a difference. Talking to these people and hearing the stories of their efforts – how they refuse to give up – gives me a tremendous amount of energy.

Fortunately, I know many of these people. In fact, quite a few of them are among your colleagues and may even in-clude you as well. Perhaps it just takes a little inspiration to bring out this person.

enjoy!Charlotte Gullach, [email protected]

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DT Group +45 39559700Wolseley +44 118 929 8700starkki +358 3 850 900stark +45 89343434Beijer +46 752411000Neumann +47 55549800silvan +45 87308730Cheapy +46 431443540Woodcote +420 226539100

useFul numBers:

we’re experts at spotting opportunities

eng

6 hardtalk

10 Facing the crisis Ignoring the crisis won’t make it go away

16 training courses stark upgrades the Danish construction industry

20 toptools The gloves always fit

24 dt Quiz Win a Weber!

4the storyof our customers

8A good

place to

work

Too many work-

related accidents go

unnoticed

Quality is non-negotiable

Magazine2

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This is not some-thing that you nec-essarily learn from

textbooks or courses. Howev-er, we instinctively recognise it when we experience it.

DT Magazine is looking for these service gems, where you, a colleague or a group of col-leagues have made an extra effort and helped a custom-er to solve his or her problem. We’d like to hear from you and we’d also like to interview your

customer to get their side of the story.

The idea is to gain insight into extraordinary service and what it takes. We don’t ex-pect you to write a whole nov-el – the journalists from DT Magazine will take care of the writing – but if you drop us a couple of lines in an e-mail with your name and phone number, we’ll call you!

Send your e-mail to info@ DTmagazine.dk.

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me & my project

Me & my

Extraordinary service requires extraordinary efforts

Project

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The story of our The story of our customers

The most important asset of our busi-ness is our custom-

ers. They are our sole reason for existence. If they are doing well, we are doing well. If things are going downhill for them, we can feel the consequences. But

how are these things linked to-gether?

We found two stark custom-ers willing to talk about their experiences and share their thoughts and insights about the current situation: One major contractor, who’s been around

Quality is non negotiable

the story oF our customers

claus larsenHans Jørgensen & Søn

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customers contacting us. They are looking for a solid company like Guldfeldt with a sound its economic foundation. We are very proud of this reputation.”

“I believe that our success – even during this harsh period we are still expanding our business – is due to the strong traditional values that we apply on a daily basis in our business. We never compromise on quality. Depend-ing on the project and the allo-cated budget, we select materi-als with the right price. However, we never suggest or use a qual-ity that we cannot back up one hundred percent. Another value deeply rooted in the company is integrity. In our companies, we are always true to our word.”

Their values might be tradi-tional, but their approach cer-tainly is not. This contractor, consisting of three separately operating companies, employs approximately 400 people. Every staff member is equipped with a mobile phone and is empowered to purchase listed material. The philosophy is that people should be able to make independent, intelligent decisions and that planning is best served if there are as few bottlenecks as pos-sible. so there’s no delay caused by a manager who needs to ap-prove purchases, as the list of materials is approved at the

start of the project. The com-pany has also developed

their own training. In this way, they can be

assured that staff is

continued on PAge 12

for more than a hundred years and employs 400 people, and one smaller contractor with 10 employees that has done busi-ness for fifteen years. Under-standing the challenges they face, how they choose to priori-tize and what they expect from us helps us to serve them even better.

claus larsen, ceo for guld-feldt nielsen, guldfeldt tømrer og murer and hans jørgensen og son:

“Why should the crisis affect us?” “We’ve been around for more than 100 years”, says Claus Larsen, CEO for Guldfeldt Nielsen, Guldfeldt Tømrer og Murer and Hans Jørgensen og son. “We respect the fact that there’s a crisis, but we also chal-lenge it. After all, why it should affect us? We have chosen to focus on our foundation, which is our existing customer base. This base includes players from both the public and private sec-tors. We certainly are experi-encing stagnation. Our existing customers are not initiating as many projects as they used to. At the same time, we have new

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how are we managing the crisis compared to competi-tors?

When the market was blooming, we worked hard to develop and implement a sustainable strat-egy. As a result, we are now able to take advantage of a highly ef-fective business. In contrast to our competitors, we have creat-ed the conditions to come out of this crisis stronger. I expect that quite a few of our head to head competitors will produce results in the red this year. We won’t!

is wolseley a supportive factor in the economic crisis?

This crisis is global, meaning that not only the Nordic region is affected. Wolseley, just like us, is experiencing stagnating sales due to the economic turmoil. But we’re working at the execu-tive level to manage the effects of the crisis. so yes, it is benefi-cial to be a part of a strong and large company like Wolseley. The reason we can offer products at competitive prices is due to the purchasing power we have as a large, internationally operating group. This makes a difference in our branches every day.

will we open a stark branch in the lyngby/holte dis-trict in denmark in the near future?

I consider that very unlikely. Typi-cally when we decide to establish a branch in a specific area, we acquire a competitor. We bring in our proven shop concepts, prod-ucts and know how and are as-sured customers from day one. This is common for all divisions except for silvan and starkki. Their concepts are difficult to replicate in an existing branch, so we build new branches from scratch. For the Holte/Lyngby ar-ea, I believe that there are simply too few contractors to justify the opening of a new branch.

is it true that we have to reject a potential order if a customer desires a specific brand we don’t carry in our assortment?

Of course we shouldn’t say no to potential orders. We have a very strong product assortment and I am convinced that, in cases where we do not carry a specific brand, we have a product that is at least equally good or better. It’s a matter of knowing our as-sortment thoroughly and being able to give the customer rele-

Hardtalkwith steen Weirsøe

hArdtAlk

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vant and convincing product infor-mation. If we don’t carry a product that is equally good, we want to hear about it so we can fix it.

when can we expect a return to ‘business as usual’?

We have not had a ‘business as usual’ situation for the past many years. The previous years were extremely positive years, with a level of growth that could not continue. Now we’re experiencing a dip. Be assured, however, this dip will pass and business will find a more sustain-able level. Peo-ple have been postponing investments in improving their prop-erty for some time now. But there will al-ways be maintenance that can’t wait. In addi-tion, the larger maintenance won’t be postponed endlessly. At some point, people will start buy-ing again, but at a lower level than we have seen in the last couple of years. I expect that business will improve from the second half of 2010 and on.

in an enterprise with more than 7,700 employees, the distance to the top management may seem long. with hardtalk, we put you in contact with dt group’s most senior manager. steen weirsøe answers your and your colleagues’ questions, no matter how tough they may be.

what would you like to ask steen? send your question to [email protected]’t mince your words, as your questions remain totally anonymous.

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A good place to work

“A good environment is a necessity if you want to create a pro-

ductive workplace,” says su-sanne Kristensen, Workplace Environment Manager at silvan. This is a part time position, as she is also manager of the sil-

van branch in Odense. Her dou-ble function provides her with an informed view of the ide-al workplace environment and what is realistic in relation to the business.

“When I was asked to take responsibility for the work-

Too many work-related accidents go unnoticed

A good plAce to work

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the workplace environment au-thorities. Typically, divisions in DT Group go further than simply complying with the legal require-ments.

necessary or nice to have“And for good reason,” says su-sanne. “We have a responsibility to offer staff a healthy and safe workplace. Also, when people as-sess where they want to work, workplace environment is in-creasingly a factor that is taken into consideration. If you want to have access to qualified and mo-tivated staff, you have to invest in the environment. A good work-place motivates people and gen-erally results in greater resourc-es and willingness to help each other. Proof that the topic is in-creasingly important to staff can be seen in relation to the elec-tion of security representatives. Ten years ago, we could hardly find anyone who wanted to run for these positions and we actu-ally had situations where several branches had to share one secu-rity representative. Today, the in-terest is much higher.”

Workplace environment is a lot of different things. It includes continued on PAge 14

place environment in silvan, I was so thrilled,” says susanne. “This was my chance to improve the workplace environment in the entire organisation and do something good for everyone who works here. That, in my opinion, is the best thing about this job.”

Like all other divisions (except for Starkki and Woodcote), Sil-van participated in last years’ APV (Workplace Environment Sur-vey). The survey evaluates the workplace environment, scoring issues from work related acci-dents, sick leave and ergonom-ics to communication and organi-sational conditions. The purpose of the APV is to identify problem areas and eventually solve these. Ultimately, this should contrib-ute to a healthy workplace en-vironment. An APV is being con-ducted under the supervision of

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top story

Ignoring the crisis won’t make it go away

steenweirsø

We can’t run away from the cri-sis, as it is omnipresent. And since our customers are affect-ed by the crisis, we certainly experience the consequences. But that is not the same as ac-

cepting them. We fight every day. From management to lo-gistics. From Bergen to Bras-ov. Using the best we have learned.

“The situation is pretty much the same in sweden, Fin-land, Norway and Denmark”, says steen Weirsø, DT Groups’ CEO. “stark, starkki and Beijer are well-positioned in their re-spective markets and they will emerge from the crisis strong. I am certain of this because, un-like our competitors, we react-ed adequately to the crisis at an early stage. As a result, we are turning a profit in spite of the crisis, while I suspect that our closest competitors will ex-perience losses this year. If we play our cards right and main-tain our strong customer fo-

Facing the

crisis

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cus, we have an opportunity to eliminate at least of some of the competition.”

“We currently hold approxi-mately ten percent of the Nordic market”, explains steen. “In oth-er words, we have an unrealised potential of ninety percent. To tap into that potential, we need to understand our customers’ problems and solve them. At the same time, we should focus on maintaining a healthy business. This means that we have to be careful when providing credit, especially to major new custom-ers who come knocking on our door. It could be that they have used up their credit limit with a competitor. Due to the crisis, credit risks have increased and we have to act accordingly. Now is the perfect time to show that our concepts and our compe-tencies are relevant to the mar-ket.”

One stop shopping in BeijerAt Beijer in sweden, they look to the future with great confidence.

“In October 2008, the market in sweden collapsed and our re-sults went down fast,” says Re-gional Manager Jan Hellström. “However, we can see a small recovery. There’s an increasing demand, especially for doors, windows and kitchens.”

“We also expect the effect of the ROT deduction to kick in. This is a tax deduction of sEK 100,000 provided to pri-vate home owners investing in the reparation of their homes. This also means that the smaller building companies will have a lot of work in the second half of 2009, which will also be of indi-rect benefit to Beijer.”

“We are also working on our concept of one stop shopping. We have realized that we are really good at heavy construc-tion but that we do not neces-sarily offer the entire range of products that a typical build-er would require. For example, we lack protective equipment, work clothes, machines and more. We’re improving this sit-uation to provide us with the platform to grow our market share from 10-12% today to 13-14% this year.” continued on PAge 13

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for loading, professionally wrapped and accompanied by a delivery note. The same is true of on-site deliveries from stark. If we have agreed that the stark truck will arrive at eight o’clock, we have cleared the way for the truck to pass and we have peo-ple waiting to unload the truck. It’s not good enough if the truck is delayed 20 minutes without notice.”

“Another issue that is very important to us is paperwork. We need invoices and, where relevant, credit notes for all ma-terials and we need them as soon as possible. I can’t empha-sise this enough. We also need to invoice our customer and we can’t do that until we have the invoice from stark. The long-er we wait – and I have experi-enced this so many times – the more hassle we will have with getting our invoice paid. And at the end of the day, that is what it is all about.” continued on PAge 22

continued FroM PAge 5

trained properly, or in other words, the Guldfeldt way.

In addition to to construction skills and competencies this in-cludes values and attitude.

remember to invoiceThey also demand quality from their suppliers. Guldfeldt Nielsen and the two other companies have always dealt with stark. “stark is the largest player in Funen and as such the obvi-ous choice for a company of our size. But make no mistake: when we are in a tender for a project, we always ask three to four suppliers to give us their best offer,” says Claus Larsen. “And we choose the supplier who can offer the best price. That is just the way it is. If we want to win a tender, we need to be cheaper than our competi-tors. Our customers are examin-ing costs too. Therefore, it is im-portant for stark to be alert and think creatively. A project man-ager pitching a tender devel-ops a bulk list with the required materials. We need stark to ex-amine these lists critically, chal-lenge us and suggest alterna-tive, cheaper materials without compromising quality.”

“stark is a professional play-er in this market and we feel that there are a lot of qualified people working there. This is important in all functions. Once the tender is won and we com-mence the project, there are a lot of other parameters we look at when dealing with stark”, says Claus Larsen. “On a day-to-day basis, there has to be mutual respect and understand-ing for each others work and time. When we agree to pick up materials at a given time, I ex-pect the materials to be ready

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top story

Credit rating with Stark

knudAntonsen

stark recognized the need for professional builders to get fi-nancially savvy and initiat-ed a so-called credit informa-tion meetings for customers. “A lot of builders are optimis-tic and they trust their cus-tomers,” says Knud Anton-sen from stark. “At the same time, they are not always that strong when it comes to pa-perwork. We have seen some heartbreaking examples where a builder did not get paid by the customer for some reason and lost a lot of money and, even worse, sometimes had to close their company.”

“These situations can typi-cally be avoided. But it requires a good grip on your paperwork. That is where we come in. We organise information meetings where we have hired a lawyer who comes and teaches our customers about their rights and how they can make sure that they get their money, and

they get some tips on how to avoid the credit trap.”

All in all, stark planned 23 meetings all over the country, with a capacity of up to 100 participants per meeting. The first meetings were met with great enthusiasm by participat-ing customers. In addition to the meetings, stark also offers credit ratings and other finan-cial intelligence that can help customers to avoid having to deal with bad payers.”

Silvan upgrades qualifications

hellehaulbjerg

silvan has identified an add-ed benefit: upgrading its skills and competencies during work-ing hours means that the divi-sion qualifies for compensation from the Danish government.

“We use the financial com-pensation to reduce redundan-cy numbers,” says silvans’ HR director Morten Elbro. continued on PAge 15

continued FroM PAge 11

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A good plAce to work

“We want to create a culture where people look after each other. The security representa-tives are naturally an important link in this ambition. We need all staff to actively take responsi-bility for the workplace environ-ment. For example, a smile or a

compliment to a colleague or a customer doesn’t

cost anything. However, it does add to the over-all atmosphere

on the job. When people run into things

that are poten-tially hazardous

or things that eas-ily can be improved,

they have a respon-sibility to tell their man-

agers. They also must report minor accidents. A lot of people don’t report minor accidents be-cause they feel embarrassed. But no matter how embarrass-ing, reporting your accident can help prevent a colleague from experiencing the same unfortu-nate situation. The only way we can learn from each other is if we share experiences, including those we would rather keep to ourselves.”

continued FroM PAge 9

ensuring that escape routes are accessible at all times,

that safety equipment such as protective shoes is widely avail-able and that shelves aren’t rusty.“ We recently assessed the issue of rusty selves in all sil-van branches and we replaced inadequate shelves in many branches, as they can cre-ate dangerous situations for staff,” says susanne. “safety is an issue we take seriously. When ne-gotiating with vendors, we not only look at the quality and price of the prod-uct but also at the packaging and at how it is delivered at the branches. These are parameters that can improve safety for both our staff and our customers. Here I sometimes run into a conflict of interest with purchasing. special packaging can add to the price and, especially if our competitor does not apply the same safe-ty standard, can make us less competitive. In cases like these, we have to be realistic and ask ourselves what is necessary to have and what is nice to have.”

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top story

continued FroM PAge 13

“At the same time, we up-grade our staffs’ competen-

cies so when customers start returning to our branches, we’re in perfect shape to welcome them.´”

“It’s already working now,” says Helle Haulbjerg, Opera-tions Manager at silvan in Nykøbing Falster. “staff re-turned with great energy from the sales training and since then, sales result per customer has gone up.”

“At Starkki, we try to get more out of less”“Now that we don’t have as many customers visiting us as we’re used to, every customer counts double,” says Riikka Tar-kiainen, HR Director at starkki. “Contrary to a lot of other re-tail stores, we do not suffer from the phenomenon of ‘stroll-ing customers’. People that vis-it starkki come here because they have identified a specific need. It is important that our staff has the right attitude and doesn’t underestimate the po-tential of our customers. Even in times of crisis, people still spend money on improving their homes. We have to be good at identifying their needs and making sure that they leave our branches with all the equip-

ment they need for their building project. To make sure our staff has the right focus, we facilitate sales training that focuses on up and cross sales.”

Woodcote in Brasov improves financial result with half the staff

In Woodcote, the situation is tense but the company is acting professionally and is very good at adapting to the new situation. this is also true in Brasov, in the center of Rumania, where Key Account Manager Ciprian Aga-vriloaia and his team achieved the impossible. “Last year we made € 88,000. In the same pe-riod this year, we have made € 95,000 with only half the resourc-es, as we had to let go of half of my team,” says Ciprian. “The key to this success was to increase the number of customer visits. We simply pitched on all the large construction projects in the ar-ea. In some periods, we had ten or more meetings with potential customers, introducing them to our mateirals, products and serv-ices. And we follow them through too.”

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training courses

stark is always good for an inventive idea or two, including when

the going gets tough. Last year, stark developed an educational series for their customers fea-turing very specific and rele-vant topics. And even though it might be too early to evaluate the initiative, the first results are promising. They are actual-ly so good that the competition can’t figure out anything more creative than to simply copy the concept.

“We wanted to do something unique and relevant to the mar-ket,” says Jan sørensen, HR Di-rector in stark. “We aimed for something that our customers would perceive as added value. When we evaluated the concept of training courses, we knew we had a winner. The construction industry is undergoing constant development. There are new products, new ways of work-ing and new legal requirements. We help professional builders to keep their knowledge and skills

Stark upgrades the Danish construction industry

trAining courses

Klaus larsenHans Jørgensen & Søn

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cause you are required by law to have certification if you work with scaffolds that are three meters or higher. We facilitate the courses in cooperation with the technical school. Their in-structors teach our customers about the latest legislative reg-ulations, tips and tricks. Partici-pants appreciate our initiative because the courses are held at the local stark branches, which are close by and a well known environment.”

“The initiative fits seamlessly into our ambition to gain recog-nition from professional build-ers. Actually, it couldn’t be more spot on. We help professionals to achieve their goals. I am con-vinced that the goodwill we will gain from this will be significant and that it will have a positive effect on our business. This im-pact will be direct, as profes-sionals who have participated in the courses will also want to buy the equipment to apply or comply with what they have just learned; it will also be indirect, as it adds to our reputation of supporting professional builders in their work, increasing our abil-ity to attract new customers.”

Jan smiles when asked about competitors replicating starks’ initiative. “I guess it is the best compliment we can get. We have prepared this initiative carefully and everything has

up to date. We have identified 14 topics for courses and we are confident that, by doing this, we are making a positive impact on the professionalism of the entire industry in Denmark.”

get certified with stark “The interest in these cours-es has been tremendous,” says Jan. “The first course we launched was the scaffold course, which has already been attended by more than 600 pro-fessional builders from all over the country. And they earned a certificate as well, which in this particular case is important be-

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håndværkerkursus

been thought of, right down to the smallest detail. We

have attractive brochures ex-plaining the courses and guides on how the individual branch-es can gain success with the courses. We were there first and because of our preparation, we can take the lead right away. We will be remembered for this.”

johnny lundgren from roskilde technical college:

“Without Stark, we would not have conducted as many courses.”“I couldn’t imaging a better part-ner to do these courses with,” says Johnny Lundgren from Roskilde Technical College. Johnny is the co-ordinator of construction courses and train-ing and he is responsible for ini-tiating courses and student en-rolment. “stark now takes care of most of the work for me,” says Johnny with a smile. “stark finds participants and arranges the location, lunch and admin-istration. We provide the edu-cational content. since stark has very good relations with their customers, it is a lot easi-

er for them to actively find par-ticipants for the courses than it would be for us. In fact, if it wasn’t for stark we could not conduct as many courses as we have lately. so this is good busi-ness for us too. And we have the opportunity to profile our school to a group that we would normally have difficulty in reach-ing.”

“The certificates people earn by participating in stark courses are the same certificates they get when participating in the courses we arrange. This is nat-ural, since the participants are taught the same thing in both cases.”

“I think it helps to strengthen starks’ reputation in the indus-try. They were the first to initi-ate this concept. We can see that other companies have seen the light and are trying to get a piece of the action as well. But as the first mover in this area, stark will also be remembered for it. When people in education-al circles discuss the concept, they always refer to stark.”

cecilie eskekilde, stark in glostrup:

“We build a skills database”Cecilie Eskekilde co-ordinates the courses for stark in Glos-

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trup. “I send out invitations, reg-ister and confirm participants, arrange rooms – I basically take care of all the practicalities. The participants are very positive, and for us it is a good opportu-nity to start a dialogue with our customers. Another advantage is that whenever customers in-quire about a professional with specific skills, we have a list of qualified people we can recom-mend. And since they have been to our courses, we also know that their knowledge and skills are up to date.”

Brian johansen, from stark in hobro:

“The courses sell themselves”“We offered the first course on scaffolds last week,” says Brian Johansen, from stark in Hobro. “It’s a great service to our cus-tomers. They need a certificate to use scaffolds that are three meters or higher, or they risk a

fine if checked by the authori-ties. This course fulfils a specif-ic need and I am convinced that our customers are going to re-member us for it. We had twen-ty participants last week, which is the maximum amount we can have in our canteen. The inter-est in the course was large and we are considering repeating the scaffold course. We have al-ready sold the first scaffold to a course participant. He wanted to be sure to work with equip-ment that was both safe and legal. I am certain that it will not be the last scaffold we sell on that account. We sent out a folder and a letter to custom-ers we thought would find this course relevant. We anticipated that we would have to call them to get them to sign up, but the course sells itself. I feel that we have an exciting new product on our hands.”

Scaffolding Course

Splice / bonding with epoxy / PU-containing materials in sealed containers

Use of fall protec-tion equipment and personal protective equipment

First aid

Vapor barriers course

Sheathing light-weight structures - Inside and Out

Rooms with wet facilities - Rules and regulations for building in rooms with wet facilities

Mold damage - Avoid damage / re-pair of damage

Roof frames - Struc-tures of barrings and use of building fittings

Wood flooring - ma-terial knowledge - installation and util-ity

Coating of masonry

Prescription mortar - choice of materials for different tasks

Tact and tone in dealing with cus-tomers

Asset building and construction part-ners

Courses Stark offers or is planning to offer in 2009:

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the gloves always fit

top tools

Product no.

product name

Fabric

usability

Features

price

margin

135.20

Knitted glove w/pvc dots

100 % Polyester

Masonry and carpet projects

Rather poor protection and not suitable in wet working situations.

Cheap

Low

162.10

MaxiFlex Ultimate

Nylon/Lycra knitting w/ pu/nitril coating

Car and electronics, fine mechanics, metal indus-try, plumbing and heating, timber industry, floor and rivet projects, etc.

Eminent finger touch, super-fit & grip, ultra-thin and resistant to oil and moisture

Medium

Good

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This is especially true of gloves that come in a good qual-

ity. They enhance the working experience and protect hands. On top of that, gloves are a product with a high profit mar-gin, meaning they are good for business too.

Gloves are in the same fam-ily as ear protection, helmets, knee protection and protec-tion shoes. Together they form a product category called Per-sonal Protection Equipment (PPE). PPE is a category we easily forget when considering cross sales. When selling an angle grinder for example, why not try to sell safety glasses, ear plugs and gloves as well? The customer will definite-

ly appreciate you asking and you easily add an additional DKK 200 to the tab. More im-portantly, profit margins in this category are high.

In fact, selling two pairs of gloves in the high-end catego-ry will give you approximate-ly the same result measured by profit as selling a high-end angle grinder. So even though they might not be the sexiest item on your shelves, they’re definitely a good piece of equipment to remember when you close a sale.

do the mathHere you can see an overview of the gloves you will typical-ly find on the shelves in your branch.*

Gloves might not be the most exciting product that you can imagine sellíng, but they are certainly highly appreciated by customers.

B2B logistics sHoP

About:* DT Group’s preferred supplier for PPE is Sækko Industri (Abena Group). DT Group sells around 2.5 million pairs of (OX-ON) gloves a year. All OX ON gloves are tested in accordance with EU regulations (*Doesn’t apply to Cheapy).

162.20

PowerGrab

Polyester/cotton w/latex coating

For serious work in the building & construction industry

Good fit, durable, good grip

Medium

Good

076.20

OX-ON Kenwo

Thin cow leather / cotton

Installation, gardening and other tasks which require good finger touch

Good fit

Medium

High

197.10

OX-ON Driver

Pig Skin

Construction industry, gardening, warehouse work, truck driving.

Good fit, made from good natural materials

High

High

21Magazine

Page 22: Dt magazine 05

owners. In 15 years of business, he built up a good reputation. This brought him a fair share of returning customers, but that doesn’t mean that the crisis did not have an affect on his busi-ness.

“We have experienced a steep drop in the number of projects, especially the past four months,” says Henrik Beck. “We were 15 people when we were at our top. Today we are 10. I am quite optimistic though. We have a solid foundation and we have trimmed down where necessary. We will get through this crisis just fine. Besides, I don’t think it will be long un-til things start looking up again

henrik Beck, carpenter and business owner:

“After April, things will start looking up again”Henrik Beck is a carpenter whose company is working in the area of Helsinge – Ramløse. His company has been a loyal customer of stark ever since he started 15 years ago. Currently he employs ten people and has assignments both from the public sector and private home-

the story oF our customers

Henrik Beck

continued FroM PAge 12

Magazine22

Page 23: Dt magazine 05

Name:

Address:

Postcode and City:

Country:

Phone:

E-mail:

Employed at:

send this coupon to dt group, Attn: charlotte gullach, gladsaxe møllevej 5, dk-2860 søborg, denmark

1:2:3:4:5:6:

A B C

Your AnsWers

B2B logistics sHoP

and the number of assignments returns to normal levels again, in part due to tax regulating measures by the Danish govern-ment.”

“In fact, I think April will still be slow but there will be bet-ter times ahead. However, busi-ness will not return to its previ-ous level from before the crisis started. But that was also a wild period. We had to turn down so many assignments and disap-point a lot of customers.”

prices are negotiableHenrik Beck is also experienc-ing the crisis on a different lev-el. “Our suppliers are also hurt-ing. I frequently get phone calls from suppliers who want to of-fer their services and materials for rock bottom prices. Price is an important parameter – prob-ably the most important, in our line of work. so I naturally use this in my negotiations with stark. However, I should add that price is not everything. I have an excellent account man-ager and he’s been serving me perfectly since the very start of my company. And he still is. Of course I also know

the other guys in the branch I use (Græsted). We have a great chemistry and they know that prices are negotiable.”

“What I appreciate at stark is that they are knowledge-able about the materials they sell. They can intelligently dis-cuss new materials as well. An-other important issue is that staff at stark follows up and fol-lows through. Recently they also started construction courses, which is totally cool. We’ve been to a scaffold course and a vapor barriers course. Both of these were of an excellent quality. The best thing about it is the loca-tion: my local stark store. Nor-mally, I would have to go to Co-penhagen to get courses like these. And you know how that goes: when do you have the time to prioritise these?”

Page 24: Dt magazine 05

B2B logistics sHoP

Quiz

QuizQuiz

1 how many gloves do we sell a year?

A 2 million pairsB 2.5 million pairsC 2.7 million pairs

2 what is the main objective for stark’s training courses?

A Get a new product on the shelves

B Get a closer relation to customers

C Get acknowl-edgement from professional builders

3 which divisions did not particpate in last year’s Apv?

A silvan and starkki

B starkki and Woodcote

C Woodcote and Cheapy

4 how big is Beijer’s market share?

A 10-12%B 13-14%C 20-21%

5 how many people does guldfeldt nielsen, guld-feldt tømrer og murer and hans jørgensen og son employ?

A 40B 400C 160

6 selling which glove will give you the best balance between price and margin?

A OX-ON KenwoB OX-ON DriverC Knitted glove w/

pvc dots

see back side of

this page for the response coupon

RE

ME

MB

ER

DU

E T

AX

Es

ON

TH

E P

RIC

E

use the coupon on the other side or send your answers by e-mail to: [email protected]

Win an Weber!

take the test and win a portable weber grill and accessories.

whether you live in a house or apartment, this grill is perfect for

camping, trips to the beach and city excursions! Bon appétit!

How well-informed are you about what happens

in DT Group?

send your answers before july 15th!

Winner of the last quiz:

in the last quiz, you could win cake for the entire department, delivered to your

branch every friday. the winner was susanne kristensen from silvan in odense. congratulations susanne. we hope you all

enjoy the cake!