European Aerosols

European Aerosols has chosen to offer optimal support to customers, including many resellers. This strategic shift with customer intimacy as a value strategy offers numerous opportunities, but also comes with challenges, as Marketing Director Fokke Ros discovered. To gauge the impact of their efforts, the company decided five years ago to continuously measure customer satisfaction through Customeyes. “What results are we achieving? Are we on track, or is additional action needed?”

Collaborating with and listening to customers

European Aerosols prefers to work closely with their customers. “Together with our customers, we work on optimising their product range,” explains Fokke. “In different market segments, from low to high-priced items. We have defined our ideal brand portfolio, with each brand having a clear and distinct position. With this selection of focus brands and supporting labels, combined with our private label solutions, we are able to fill the categories in various segments in the best possible way. This way, we meet the needs of our customers.” The company’s customer support extends beyond product range and development. European Aerosols also collaborates with customers on logistics, product information, content development, spray can regulations, and marketing and sales of products. “We aim to support our customers as effectively as possible in all these areas.”

This extensive service, which almost takes on the character of co-creation, is a key element in the company’s strategic direction: customer intimacy. To measure how customers perceive this strategy, European Aerosols started with a baseline measurement through Customeyes – an extensive qualitative survey to understand customer expectations and whether the company was meeting them. “That baseline measurement was important. What did customers think of us?”

External and internal challenges for customer intimacy

In the past two years, there have been many developments, such as COVID and rising inflation. European Aerosols has also been affected by these challenges. The first results of the survey were therefore not surprising. “It showed that we need to focus more on the basic services, such as communication around delivery times,” Fokke explains. European Aerosols took this feedback seriously and began working on it. “We analysed the issues and are putting the right actions into place. For example, we are working on being more proactive and transparent in our communication.” Sustainability has also become an important theme for customers. European Aerosols is committed to this cause. “I find it interesting to work on this with colleagues. How can we anchor sustainability within our organisation and contribute to the sustainability of the supply chain with our partners?” Fokke mentions several sustainable initiatives. They are optimising the recyclability of products and further developing a water-based spray lacquer. Additionally, European Aerosols has a Sustainability Roadmap, outlining their ambition for where they want to be in five years.

An important challenge for European Aerosols’ strategy was found within the internal organisation. “Ultimately, our people make the difference, and they need to understand and feel our strategy better. Without a proper explanation of our strategy, they tend to interpret it in their own way,” Fokke explains. “To ensure everyone understands the strategy, we worked on internal communication and the transferability of the customer intimacy strategy. What does this mean for someone on the production line, someone in the office, or a sales support employee? How does an R&D colleague influence this? The concept of customer intimacy had to become more tangible for everyone.” To achieve this, European Aerosols organised a number of workshops for staff and an internal activation campaign. Employees could see what the concepts meant for resellers and how they offered solutions for end-users. “This way, colleagues working in operations or in the office get an idea of how they can contribute to European Aerosols’ strategy. We are still working on this to this day.”

A partner who relieves the burden and thinks ahead for future surveys

After several years of qualitative surveys, European Aerosols decided last year to conduct both qualitative and quantitative surveys. “This way, we can involve a broader portion of our customer base. Quantitative surveys are more concise and accessible, while qualitative surveys allows us to truly capture what is on the customers’ minds.”

In the future, European Aerosols also wants to conduct a customer centricity scan with Customeyes. “The customer orientation scan could be a useful tool to see how customer-oriented our employees are and whether they understand our strategy. For example, have our workshops had enough impact?”

By now, everyone within European Aerosols is aware of the survey results. The urgency to address certain findings has been communicated. Fokke adds, “Customeyes delivered the message clearly and provided concrete steps that we could act on. Now we’re making a plan to dive deeper. Our product range is appreciated, but the main areas for improvement are communication and logistics. How can we improve our delivery performance? And how can we communicate this better?” Fokke expects Customeyes to continue thinking along with them, for example, by assessing whether the research methods used still align with their needs. “We don’t have the capacity to do this ourselves. Customeyes is the expert and provides focus. They truly relieve us; it’s a motivator, the communication is clear, and so far, there have been almost no obstacles. It’s a smooth, respectful collaboration.”