2023 saw a change in the way Ervin interacts with customers, deciding to visit and exhibit at a wide range of trade shows across Europe rather than just the GIFA trade show. We asked Sascha Berger, Sales Director for Ervin in Europe to explain the reasons for the change and to reflect on the results of the new strategy.
“At previous GIFA trade shows, we have found that many of our customers and other visitors who come to see us have a busy schedule and don’t have enough time to have a full discussion of their blasting challenges and how we can help them, which is a missed opportunity for all of us.”
“We felt that redirecting our investment to attend more events across more countries over a four-year period would give us more time to spend with visitors to our stands. We also wanted to run our own ‘blasting forum’ where we could invite key customers and expert speakers to share their challenges, experience and ideas and build their own networks.”
“The results and feedback has been better than we could have hoped for; in 2023 we exhibited at 13 events and visited a further 12 events, across 10 countries and ran our own ‘blasting forum’ in Germany. This is by far the most events we have participated in during a single year. Customer feedback from the trade shows has been very positive; we met more people than ever before, and the conversations we had confirmed our belief that most people really do appreciate that finding the right, high quality abrasive can make a big impact on the quality, efficiency and cost of their blasting operations.”
“The customer attendees and expert speakers were very positive about the ‘blasting forum’. They found the talks informative and valued the opportunity to network with their peers and develop ideas to take back to their operations. We really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know them all much better.”
“Two other highlights for me were the Surtech trade show in Istanbul in October and Metal Madrid in November. We had never previously exhibited at these trade shows, so we were delighted with the number of visitors and the high levels of interest in Ervin products.”
“Not surprisingly, we’ll be doing more again in 2024, building on the successes of 2023 and what we learned from all our events. Our experience tells us that when we visit new customers, in around 8 out of 10 situations, we are able to make efficiency improvements to their blasting processes. We want to give as many companies as possible the opportunity to talk to our experts and find out how we can help them be more successful. We are more than just an abrasive manufacturer, we work with our customers, sharing our knowledge to improve their surface treatment operations. By meeting more people in more markets in an environment where we have time for good conversations, both Ervin and our customers will benefit.”
