The week before last I visited the Safety Fair in Tampere along with about ten thousand other visitors.
The main thought I took away from the event was that safety seems to be strongly associated with the clothing used, rather than with a feeling in one’s mind.
If that really is the case, then there’s nothing to worry about. There seem to be plenty of clothes on the market for all of us. Depending a bit on how you count, there were over a dozen workwear brands on display. One thing you absolutely couldn’t miss was the presence of High Visibility products on every stand. Which is a good thing – if they didn’t stand out at the stands, how would they stand out on worksites?
Over the last few days, autumn has reminded us of its arrival, and on darkening evenings it’s easy to literally see the safety that HV products provide. It’s great to see that many exercise enthusiasts are also taking advantage of the visibility offered by HV products. After looking more closely at what the fair had to offer, and especially at the new products coming to market, a question came to my mind:
With what factors can we stand out in the Finnish market when the products inevitably resemble each other a bit?
There are certainly several factors. One of the most important ones, however, is the availability of products and the speed of delivery. With several years of experience, I can say that winter still comes as a surprise to many people. So does the need for clothing that is suitable for the weather. Surprisingly, this also applies to winter tires for many people.
Suppliers to the Finnish workwear market must be able to deliver products quickly, even if from the supplier’s point of view the customer’s needs could be predicted and decisions made well in advance. The customer, however, makes decisions about satisfying their needs at their own pace, which we can only try to influence, each salesperson doing their best. Lately, the customer’s decision‑making has been increasingly driven by some concrete, topical need or problem that needs solving. Not so much by old ways of working or purchasing habits like: ‘We’ve always bought these at this time of year and for everyone.’
Once the purchasing decision has been made, a week can feel like a long time for the one waiting.
In our way of maintaining customer satisfaction and gaining new customers, delivery speed and reliability are the cornerstones of our competitiveness. I believe that in this market our ability to deliver products in line with the customer’s requirements makes us the best choice for the customer.
If this is important to you as well and your workwear doesn’t say Dimex, get in touch with us.
So let light and frost come too!
petteri.tirkkonen@dimex.fi
040-3004524