Chairman of the European Drinking Water Cooler Association James Anderton recently shared the association’s views on the priorities for the mains-fed water cooler sector in 2012.
The economic challenges posed in the current climate are one of the biggest difficulties the water cooler industry is up against.
“With the backdrop of economic instability, the industry is faced with eroding revenue streams, increasing costs and less opportunity to balance the deficit with fresh business prospects,” says Anderton.
He tells how other factors, including exchange rates outside the Eurozone and ever-rising fuel prices have further exacerbated this situation.
“In an unregulated environment, this would have led to a drop in service standards,” he warns. “Therefore, it’s imperative from an association perspective that members consistently meet or exceed the standards and the annual audit.”
He states that the association maintains survival as its key driver, but asserts the importance of ensuring “commercial decisions cannot be allowed to impact on quality, safety or agreed standards.”
He also explains that there is an increasing need for organisations to develop a “clear and robust retention strategy”, focusing their efforts on retaining existing, usually more profitable, accounts, rather than seeking new opportunities for growth.
“The priority here is exemplary service balanced with good value, rather than lowest price, cheapest service option.”
“To enable this, it’s imperative that we position the industry in the service sector rather than as commodity provider, as this approach will enable good service to consistently retain business over lower priced competition. The EDWCA can help reinforce this by promoting the importance of selecting a credible supplier from a progressive association.
The second part of this interview will follow next week
