It’s Good To Talk

Apart from me, who remembers the “good old days” when if you had a problem with flooring material, or accessories for that matter, you more or less had to sort it out yourself  If you had an issue with supply, quality of material, specification etc, you as the flooring contractor were on your own in the majority of cases.

What a difference a few decades make, not to mention some stiff competition. Today manufacturers strive to deliver not just first rate products which is a given, but more importantly, first rate service too which is arguably harder to achieve as it is subjective, but at least it gives us all something to aim at.

These days, when you have a problem and ring the manufacturer, it would be a very short sighted company indeed that would not pull out all the stops to help you resolve it.  

We at Altro have gone one better, 30 or so years ago we recognised a need for a team of experienced, practising or ex floorlayers from within the company, to assist flooring contractors with on site help, arbitration, fitting advice, help with specifications etc.

Today, we are called ‘technical services’ and several of the original members, myself included, are still here; older but a whole lot wiser.  Although the roll has grown out of all recognition, our core aim has not changed - it is still to help with flooring problems wherever possible, with whatever might arise. 

In this column, I often mention two valuable sources of technical information and support available for flooring contractors from Altro. Firstly, the technical hotline is a telephone helpline for contractors staffed by personnel with years of practical flooring experience, offering sound advice to solve queries regarding our products. Secondly, our Contractor Training School offers practical training sessions for contractors run by highly skilled ex-fitters, either based at the state-of-the-art facility at our head office in Letchworth, or through a programme of less formal, tailored training sessions at contractors’ or distributors’ premises. It is never too late to learn, and with continuing technological advances, it certainly pays to keep up to speed with new techniques and materials.

But it’s also worth remembering that this contact is a two way street that can benefit manufacturers too. Today’s flooring contractors are different, the trade has come of age and at last quality flooring companies or highly skilled individuals are justly recognised for their ability and contribution in helping to make manufacturers products look their best.

For many years – in fact since we invented safety flooring 50 years ago - we have worked tirelessly with the contractors who use our products day in and day out. We pride ourselves on listening to your views and what you want from a flooring product. And that means that your feedback to our technical team about your experiences on site is just as valuable as the more formal meetings we have with focus groups and our product advisory panel when developing new products.

This article first appeared in the May 2008 edition of the CFJ.