02 Ekim 2023,SRL Elevator's competitive strategies are service and solution oriented, Elevator Vizyon Magazine, All What You Are Looking For is On This Site

SRL Elevator's competitive strategies are service and solution oriented

Hello Mr Mustafa. As a company, can you share with us your strategies and targets for export in the lift sector?

Hello. First of all, as a company, we want to maintain the existing customer potential within the scope of sustainable export strategy and maintain volumetric growth in these markets. We act together with these customers in target markets, we evaluate every project together. I can say that we shape our targets according to the data from customers. In addition, we set regional targets in line with the demands from new customers, and we conduct market research and customer visits to reach these targets. We take new customers to existing projects in their regions and make on-site presentations.

Competition in the sector is quite intense. As a company, how do you evaluate the competition in the export market? Also, in this context, has your competition as a company been able to gain a place in the world beyond the borders of your country or do you have such a target?

We support service-oriented, solution-oriented competition strategies in the sector. Unfortunately, when we think of competition, we think of cheaper products for some reason. It is quite difficult to shape this image. For example, we encountered a much more favourable price in the tender we entered with our customer in a country. The material quality is different from each other, but unfortunately, the consumer looks at the offer as a 16-stop passenger lift, the material used and the technical file are not examined.

Which are the leading markets in Turkey's lift exports, what position do you have in these markets, to which countries and markets do you export? Which regions are your strongest in exports?

Regionally, the Middle East and North African countries are the leading markets for our industry. Exports to these markets come to the forefront, especially considering the conditions such as their geographical proximity to Turkey, cultural similarities, and almost no transport problems. Until the last 3 years, our exports to these regions accounted for half of our overall exports.

What are your strategies for entering new markets? What kind of competitive advantage do you gain by establishing collaborations or partnerships in exports?

In new markets, we plan to settle in the market and make joint production by establishing regional collaborations rather than an export-oriented approach, but unfortunately, we face various difficulties here as well. From the feasibility studies we conducted, we encountered problems such as bureaucratic problems, difficulties in accessing raw materials, inadequate infrastructure in the regions where we want to produce. But our negotiations are still ongoing in two countries. We hope for a positive outcome. We believe that we can gain competitive advantage by establishing a production or marketing network in the target market.

As a company, what kind of expertise do you have in the production and export of elevators, what are your differences from other competitors and what are the unique advantages you offer to attract your customers?

We are based on project-based production in lift production. We make production and material selection according to the intended use of the lift, climatic conditions (weather conditions, rainy regions ...). The information we provide to our customers not only satisfies them but also makes us competitive. Offering turnkey solutions to our customers in very special projects also makes us advantageous.

Countries have their own laws, as a company, what approach do you adopt to comply with the local legislation and standards of the countries you export to other than your own country, is the process difficult?

Unfortunately, in some regions we spend a lot of time and energy on regulations and certification works. In some regions, since the lift installation companies also carry out the operations subject to construction, they want those operations to be carried out by us. In this regard, we are progressing with the support of our local customers. We try to manage the production phases as they specify.

How do you plan logistics and distribution processes in your export activities? What measures do you take to ensure timely delivery to customers?

We organise production and shipment dates together with our customers, especially in committed projects. We continue the logistics operations by organising them 10-15 days in advance. We do not have many problems in road shipments, but unfortunately, sometimes delays may occur in maritime shipments due to reasons beyond our control. We try to prevent possible problems by informing customers about these delays in advance.

What factors come to the fore in your customers' export preferences and what approach do you adopt to meet these demands? What strategy have you determined to establish long-term relationships with your international customers, what kind of competitive advantage do you gain by establishing cooperation and partnerships in exports?

I can say that we shape the lift preference of our customers. We make product selection according to the purpose of use. We provide technical information about why these products should be used. The most important problems we face here are customer habits and reasonable prices. We are aware that we need to grow by localising in the country we go to and we will be more competitive. Based on this, we decided to take concrete steps in 3 countries in terms of cooperation, but unfortunately, bureaucratic obstacles, skilled labour and raw material problems emerged in some of them.

How do you approach the export process to ensure customer satisfaction? How do you evaluate customer feedback and how do you use this feedback to improve your products?

We constantly inform our customers during the export process. We share the visuals of the products during the production phase. We transmit test videos of electronic products to them. We forward the feedback from the customer to technical friends. We also share the data from them with our customers. Especially the data from assembly companies are very valuable for us. We have made production changes by taking into account the recommendations from them.

Mr. Mustafa, is this year's data positive or negative compared to the same period last year? Based on these data, could you share your 2023 year-end predictions with our readers as SRL Asansör?

When we analyse the foreign trade data of the past years, I can say that each year has a higher rate of exports than the previous year. Taking these into account, we increase the production capacity accordingly. If we do not encounter any negative picture, our target is to realise 15% growth compared to last year.