Posts Tagged ‘quality’

Marc Nover, President of BLANCO America

2009 was a year to remember (and an economy to forget about)! Despite the tough economic climate, BLANCO’s strong financial position, geographic diversity and quality (German-made) products allowed us to leverage every opportunity for long-term growth. And we’ve succeeded. The changes made in 2009 are already impacting our positive sales numbers moving into 2010.

BLANCO introduced 69 innovative new products in 2009 – including STELLAR, PERFORMA, ARCON™, PRECISION™ 16”, MicroEdge™ (FLOW™) and SILGRANIT® II! We launched the exclusive STEELART® brand at K/BIS (Kitchen and Bath Industry Show) – BLANCO STEELART represents the pinnacle of handcraftsmanship and precision technology in sink design.

These new products were extremely well received by the design community. MicroEdge won significant design awards including a Red Dot award for FLOW, Good Design Award, Professional Builder’s Top 100 Most Innovative Products, K+BB’s Product Innovator Awards and Interior Design’s Best of Year. SILGRANIT II was picked as one of Better Homes & Gardens’ Top Products of 2009. In all, we received about 50 million press impressions in 2009 in TV, radio, online and print. More than 5x the exposure we received in 2008.

From a quiet, but competent family-owned company since 1925, BLANCO has emerged as a solid worldwide leader for innovation, quality and design in the sink and faucet business.

So what’s new for 2010?

We have another fantastic year planned for 2010. And while 2009 will be a hard act to follow as far as new product introductions – we will be launching eco-friendly green products including water-saving faucets as well as some interesting surprises. We have new sink designs and colors that are so “on trend” – they’ve already won international design awards in Europe. BLANCO will also launch a new line of faucets that affirm their status as the jewel of the kitchen. And a new, improved website that will make it easier to find products, specs and information on everything BLANCO. Several existing new products will continue to lead our Designer-focused collections including STEELART-MicroEdge, ARCON, FLOW, PRECISION 16” (R0 and R10) – and we plan to participate in both K/BIS (Chicago, April) and ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair, NYC, May). We have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to in 2010 as we continue to grow as a company and as a brand.

When it comes to technical questions about our products, Blanco is fortunate to have experts ready with answers.

Each day in our Technical Department, Ryan Farquhar and Jim Entwistle deal with functionality issues on all Blanco faucets, plus the occasional sink question.

Ryan, our Plumbing Technician & Product Specialist, teams with Jim, our Quality & Plumbing Technician, to provide technical information and assistance. They often guide plumbers through sink and faucet installation. One of the challenges of their job is to interpret the caller’s issues over the phone.

The faucet technicians, as well as our customer service team, receive a lot of positive feedback on their quick, timely, and personalized service. Some customers are so impressed that they write in thank-you notes.

Some excerpts:
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“Just before Thanksgiving I needed a new replacement faucet. Ryan expedited the shipment of a new Blanco faucet and it arrived two days before the holiday – an impossible mission! My thanks go to Ryan and the whole Blanco family.”
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“I purchased a Blanco faucet 4 years ago and was experiencing a small water leak. With the knowledgeable and patient assistance of Ryan Farquhar and Jim Entwistle, we were able to repair the faucet. I would like to commend Blanco for having this level of customer support available and Ryan and Jim’s able and patient assistance.”

We recently heard from a woman who mentioned that she was “not afraid to handle a hammer, screwdriver and pliers’’ — even at age 77.

After getting the information she needed, she commented: “It’s easy to see why the granite installer said Blanco is the best – not only is your product great, but all the support behind it – you’ve made my day. Thanks again to Jim.”

Thanks to great customer support from staff like Ryan and Jim, quality at Blanco is more than a slogan, it is how we do our jobs every day.

Good selling, and please join in the conversation. Share your thoughts on this or other topics by clicking the comments link below.