Running a business can be a lonely task, according to Sternfenster’s managing director Mike Parczuk – which is why he is on hand to help.

The success of the fenestration industry rests largely on the shoulders of window installation companies.

A lot of product knowledge and industry experience filters down through the supply chain, and manufacturers invest in new products that can create and fuel new sectors, but ultimately, without the sale, and without the installation process, the whole supply chain will quickly grind to a halt.

It is surprising, therefore, that when it comes to supplier/customer relationships, many fabricators limit their customer exposure to fulfilling an order and issuing an invoice. As Mike Parczuk, managing director at Sternfenster, says, the health of his customers has a direct bearing on the health of his business, so it would be negligent not to show some interest.

“I think it’s fair to say that the vast majority of our industry is made up of SMEs,” Mike says. “A lot of people are very skilled in selling, and very skilled in fitting windows. But when it comes to the business side of things, there are a lot of customers that need some level of help.

“After all, it tends to be a lonely place when you were owning and running your own business.”

General business support runs through the entire operation at Sternfenster, with regular updates posted on the customer-only sub-site Sternfenster Plus (SF+). Along with production management tool EasyAdmin, these online tools help take the pressure out of running a window installation company.

“531 of our customers use SF+,” Mike says. “Some of our customers use SF+ for everything, as part of the day-to-day running of their businesses. We believe that transparency on our part gives our customers greater control in the running of their businesses.

“The news feed, for example, lets them know if there’s an issue with materials or a problem in the factory that might affect delivery times, which then helps them to plan and to manage their customers’ expectations.”

But Sternfenster can go one further, and offer bespoke business advice and support that can have a significant effect on customers’ fortunes. It’s important not to force anyone to listen to your advice, Mike believes, but Sternfenster has a significant back-office function, for example, that should be on offer to the trade fabricator’s customers, because it has been optimised to run with Sternfenster’s retail business, Starglaze.

“If our customers want help, we can provide one-to-one support, and do everything from setting up their account structure in Sage and sorting out their processes so they have what they need to do on a daily basis, weekly basis, monthly basis, and quarterly basis,” Mike says.

“We’ve got a lot of people here in the finance team, and we know exactly what our customers are going through because of our experience with Starglaze. We can offer the help, support and assistance to make sure that if they have any issues that they are ironed out as quickly as possible.”

Fundamentally, this support from Sternfenster helps its customers remain profitable, and Mike says the trade fabricator has helped to restructure at least three of them in the last 6 to 12 months.

“And I’m happy to say that they are on a stronger footing now than they were when they first told us that they had a few issues,” Mike says.

“If other customers need help, they can contact us via the website, or talk to one of our account managers. We’ve never really been interested in having trade salespeople who are just interested in chasing numbers. The two guys that we’ve got out – Tim and Andy – are interested in managing our customers businesses.

“From there, further help can be sought from our sales director, Nathan Court, or myself.

“Ultimately, we’re nothing without our customers,” Mike concludes. “So, we are here to do whatever we can for whichever customers need help at that particular time.”