Construction procurement: how great technical support adds value

Tech support has the potential to help businesses of all shapes and sizes resolve problems. So, why does it get such bad press?

It's partly, we suspect, because of the ways it's accessed rather than the service itself. Generally speaking, businesses are frustrated by the unstoppable rise of chatbots, call centres and long-delayed email chains.

It doesn't have to be this way. Done well, technical support can add value to the construction procurement process, saving you time and money and future-proofing your operations.

But for that to happen, tech support has to be a relationship, not a transaction mediated by bolted-on bots and script-reading call service agents.

At Wrightstyle, we make sure all our clients can access our technical support services. And we make sure that the services themselves focus on expertise, not expedience.

When you consider the services and products we provide, it's easy to see why this is important. Glazing systems and specialist glass are there to improve the safety of a project. So, if the procurement process isn't backed by clear and informed tech support, that safety is put at risk.

This clarity of communication is something we're passionate about, whether it's making compliance easy for our customers or ensuring they feel heard and helped without delay.

That's the big picture. So, what about the finer details? Here are five ways in which technical support adds value to construction procurement – and how we can help your project to succeed.

1. Compliance

From one point of view, compliance is a technical affair. It's encoded in arcane documents with names like "Approved Document B" and "BS EN 12600".

But from another perspective, compliance is just another word for safety. And in construction, safety is central to every stage of the process, from procurement to ribbon-cutting.

This is partly because non-compliance not only drives away existing clients but also gives your reputation a thrashing. And that's before you have to foot the bill given to you by the local authority or another body.

One way that great technical support adds value to procurement is by ensuring all your purchases are compliant. A good glazing systems supplier will make sure to help you get the right materials for the job, with the word "compliant" central to what's right and what's wrong.

When all is said and done, responsibility for compliance rests on senior officers and principal contractors or designers. However, working with a supplier that knows its stuff can make untangling compliance less of a headache.

2. Cost savings

Glazing system compliance is niche. And we mean niche – nicher than the nichest question ever thrown at a contestant on University Challenge.

And that statement doesn't just go for glazing systems. It covers most of the products and systems procured by construction companies. We live in a hyper-specialised world where a single digit or measurement can have disastrous or, at the very least, unfortunate consequences.

So, how can you make sure your construction company is across compliance? You can, of course, train up a member of staff. But that costs money in the short term (training) and in the long term (salaries).

Far better to rely on a company like us that provides technical support as standard. You're essentially buying one and getting one free – one being the glazing system and the other being the invaluable technical support.

Along with safety, cost-effectiveness is a priority for all construction firms. Unlock it today with great technical support from a team of experts.

3. Business continuity

A big part of technical support is ensuring business continuity. After all, the biggest risk when buying a product or service is that it will fail. And when it does, your day-to-day operations will grind to a halt while the problem gets sorted.

Working with a good supplier helps allay this fear and reduce this risk. But in life, stuff happens. Perhaps the installer does a bad job, building regulations are updated or your project faces unexpected delays.

In these kinds of situations, good technical support can add a whole heap of value. Rather than sitting around waiting for the fixers to come, you get clear and prompt advice from experts. Armed with this advice, you can get operations back up and running in no time.

This is one of the key reasons why you should always work with a supplier that has technical support as part of the package. When disaster or just inconvenience strikes, you'll be thanking your lucky stars.

4. Future proofing

The world of construction is changing all the time – and your business goals need to adapt to those changing winds.

This can be difficult if you don't have the technical support you need in-house. Sure, you can pull an all-nighter with some AI summaries of the issues at hand. But that stress and inefficiency that come with this approach can be all but eliminated with good-quality technical support.

5. Risk mitigation

When you buy a product from a supplier, you could either see it as a one-off transaction or as the beginning of a buyer-supplier relationship.

Neither one is inherently better than the other. It all depends on the nature of the products you're sourcing and your lead times, as well as global factors like product prices and supply chains.

One big advantage of building a relationship, however, is that you can count on technical advice going forward. This helps you conceive of your business as a network of supportive partners rather than a series of transactions.

In the event of a product withdrawal, new project or updated compliance, having a relationship with a supplier can make a positive difference. And a big part of this difference will be technical support.

Founded in 1996, Wrightstyle is a UK-based supplier of high-performance commercial glazing systems. For more industry insights, visit our free resource hub.

< Older Post