‘Change is the only constant in life,’ said the Greek Philosopher, Heraclitus.
So says Freefoam, and, I guess, most businesses in the industry too. In recent years we’ve had a bellyful of change: Brexit, Covid, the Global supply chain, war in Ukraine, and near economic meltdown under PM Liz Truss.
These disruptions were forced upon us, whether we wanted them or not, but some changes are positive, and catalysts for good.
Disrupting the status quo, they enable a reset for reflection, and uncover differences that can lead to progress, competitive advantages, and ways to be more successful.
Emerging from the chaos of the last few years, many of us have the time to refocus on our businesses. It will be business as usual for many, but others will reweigh the balance of benefits with suppliers, reassessing who they’re working with, or even for and move on. ‘Cui Bono’ – who benefits? – investigators and trial lawyers ask. Are they working with business partners or just involved in a series of transactions.
When you think about it, we’re all the product of our history, our DNA and our relationships, and Freefoam’s history, DNA and relationships undoubtedly shaped us.
Our history, DNA and relationships
Many years ago Freefoam entered a market where there was a long-established leading brand, a couple of challengers, and a pack of other brands.
To survive and grow and get to where we are now, we had to try harder. It was that simple. We had to be more innovative to give customers a competitive edge in products and service and try harder with a different take on relationships with customers.
We recognised early on that most stockists did business with their hearts as much as with their heads, both personally and professionally. We decided to become true partners with customers forming close, often personal relationships with them rather than the colder, arms-length, transactional relationships most other companies offer.
In trying to grow we fought alongside customers to win new business, adopting a mindset that if it’s important for our customers, then it’s important to us, knowing that if they grow, we grow.
Helping customers grow is in our DNA, and it’s how we’ve grown. People often say those words glibly. But it is a fundamentally different approach. In transactional sales, once the product is delivered or collected you are on your own. With Freefoam it’s just the first stage of the sale.
We’ve don’t dictate to customers. We’re happy if they prefer to go it alone, but most welcome the assurance that we’re backing them with the tools to sell – guarantees that give confidence, colours that provide choice, products that perform.
We often follow through alongside customers on a project, and when selling to housebuilders we go into bat alongside both stockist and their installer customer.
It was successful for Freefoam and our customers, so it became part of how we do business, in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. The language changes, and the products are tuned to local markets, but in every market, people prefer being partners over transactional relationships.
One consequence of partnering is we don’t step over the boundaries. Without disrespecting stockist customers, we can’t set up as stockists ourselves and compete with them. And we won’t do that. Being a stockist is their job. Our job is to ensure they do well. So we try harder, so they grow and make money, so we do too. Working with partners is incredibly powerful and it boosts your chance of success. But you can’t partner and compete with partners at the same time. It doesn’t work.
Partnering enabled us to see off the pack of other small competitors and grow to become a serious challenger brand in several markets across Europe. So, we don’t intend to change that winning way.
We are what we do, and at Freefoam we see ourselves as partners, not transactional suppliers. To experience the difference partnering makes, call 0800 002 9903 or visit www.freefoam.com.
