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Brugmans Groep consists of the companies Total Project Service, Brugmans Vloeren and Interbase. They merged in March this year to form Brugmans Groep. “Internally, there was never any question of different companies. We simply had different disciplines,” explains Simone. “We joined forces this March under one name and decided to take this opportunity to completely renew our corporate identity and media channels. You think it will be straightforward, but that is certainly not the case.”
Bringing together data
Simone indicates that this is where 12Build is so useful. Before the 12Build era, Brugmans Groep would enter invitations to tender they received in their own ERP system. Manual work, multiple systems and of course different company names. “We couldn't integrate everything in one go from the different systems when we merged,” she explains. “That's why currently I'm still working with two different systems to transfer all the information step by step to one new ERP system.”
With 12Build this problem will no longer exist. Simply add one e-mail address, one logo and one company description to the various accounts. “What makes 12Build so practical is that the accounts could be merged so that all the data was integrated in one go. I didn't have to do anything for that.”
About Brugmans Groep: typical Brabant cordiality
Brugmans Groep is a typical Brabant family business with a rich history. Brugmans Vloeren, specialising in screed flooring, was founded by Theo Brugmans in 1968. In addition to cement screed flooring, the company started laying floating anhydrite screed floors from 1996, which were less labour intensive and more environmentally friendly. In the same year, Theo's son, Walther Brugmans, took over from his father.
When Walther took over Total Project Service, a renowned furnishings company, in 2008, the product portfolio grew rapidly. The acquisition of Total Project Service enables the company to offer a wider range of solutions of hard and soft flooring materials.
Simone: “There are a number of subcontractors that offer a total package of screeds and flooring materials in collaboration with third parties. What makes us unique is that we have both disciplines in-house.” In 2016, the window decoration company, Interbase, joined the concern. Through the combined forces of Brugmans Vloeren, Total Project Service and Interbase, Brugmans Groep has witnessed consistent growth. The company now has nearly 60 enthusiastic professionals and a vehicle fleet of about 30 vans and trucks.
But the company has lost none of its typical Brabant character. Simone: “Doors are always open here, no matter who you are. Everyone has a right to be here and is appreciated. And we all get on really well together.”
Pink construction helmet: a woman in the construction industry
Simone is often asked whether something needs explaining to her. “I'm often underestimated,” she laughs. “As a woman in the construction industry, you need to prove that you know what you're talking about. If the men have a biased picture of you, it's up to you to turn that image around.” There is no denying her sense of self-mockery as she talks about her pink construction helmet. “You have to be able to see the funny side of it,” she confesses. “If I achieve my targets for this year, I'll be getting pink construction boots as well!”
Simone joined Brugmans Groep eighteen months ago. She has quickly risen to become an essential player in the team. “When I started here, marketing and sales were still in their infancy. I took on this work as a project, just like the corporate identity after the merger. But I didn't anticipate what a huge task this would be! The size of the merger meant that less attention was paid to some of the side issues. But then later on you find out that these side issues were actually main issues.”
12Build makes a merger easier
You can use many different channels to let your customers know that you have merged three companies into one, but will you really reach everyone concerned? You can use Facebook and LinkedIn to reach many general contractors, but there are others who search for Brugmans Vloeren or Total Project Service, instead of Brugmans Groep. 12Build offers a solution for this.
General contractors who now search on 12Build for one of the three old companies are redirected automatically to Brugmans Groep. This is made possible through the keyword option of 12Build. By adding keywords to your profile, general contractors searching with these keywords will find your company. That could be ‘Brugmans Vloeren’ or ‘Total Project Service’, but also the name of a unique specialisation. Simone: “Now that we've announced we are continuing under one name, people searching for Total Project Service are redirected to Brugmans Groep. It was great to see that this merger went so smoothly in 12Build.”
60% of all requests come in via 12Build
Brugmans Groep receives many invitations to tender through 12Build. “About 60 per cent of all invitations come through 12Build.” Previously to Total Project Service and Brugmans Vloeren, and now to Brugmans Groep. “In an ERP system, data is entered manually. With 12Build that process is automated. Generating statistical reports with an ERP system requires exporting and filtering the data. With 12Build this is also fully automated,”, explains Simone.
“We have a clear set date when the former systems will no longer be needed.” All that importing and exporting is therefore not necessary when you work with 12Build. All invitations to tender for the three companies are received through the same system. Communication is stored in 12Build and all the documents and invitations are accessible on the same platform. “It was really a good decision to start working with 12Build. All of our target group use this channel.”
“It was really a good decision to start working with 12Build. All of our target group use this channel.”
The business accounts of Total Project Service and Brugmans Vloeren have been merged into one account. “That was all done by 12Build without any fuss. The multiple subscriptions we had were combined into one subscription. And this enabled me to focus on other aspects of the merger. Once the accounts had been set up, I only had to add the logo and the e-mail address.”
Reference projects, quality labels and certificates had already been transferred to the Brugmans Groep account. “This meant that there was practically no period of overlap and no invitations to tender went astray.”
Continuous growth
Simone can see precisely how many invitations to tender Brugmans Groep receives in 12Build, how many the competitors receive and who sent the invitations. “We know straight away where our opportunities lie in the market,” she says. “We are equipped to take on large-scale projects, but are also happy to work on the smaller jobs.
When we take on a project, we look at a number of different factors, such as size, location and time needed. This enables us to assess whether we'd be an attractive partner for a customer and of course, whether it would be cost effective for us. 12Build helps you get a very good idea which projects suit your company.” This is because general contractors are able to include the size of the project and to directly share all the documents with a subcontractor when sending out invitations to tender.
12Build has many advantages for Brugmans Groep. Simone: “With 12Build we know which keywords have been used to find us. That's really important because we can then adapt our approach if we see a change.”
“With the statistics of 12Build, we know straight away where our opportunities lie in the market”
Offline, Brugmans Groep is known for its solid reputation, amenable corporate culture and products that can be built on. Online, however, Brugmans Groep makes less of an impact. But this is something Simone is determined to change. “Our customers are also on 12Build, so that's what we need to focus on.” A touch of professionalisation, uniformity and new working methods will help Brugmans Group capitalise on its branding efforts.
“We've introduced new labelling on our vehicles, while using the same fonts, for example. No longer informal greetings in correspondence with potential customers,” explains Simone with a laugh. “12Build helps us with a uniform working method when it comes to invitations to tender. We simply submit a tender through 12Build on the basis of a fixed template in which we only need to adapt the specific text for the project. The template also already includes our logo and all our tenders are now always uniform.” This is also convenient for general contractors, because they know precisely where they need to look.
Collaboration with 12Build: collegiality with another organisation
The colleagues of 12Build are also Simone's colleagues. Or at least that is the way she experiences it. “Contact is very easy, with a low threshold. Just the way we like it to be! Genuine interest is shown and Mario Zijlstra, Customer Success specialist, gives us a lot of his time.” Mario also helped Brugmans Groep with the online merger. “We communicate very openly with each other. Very handy.”
Simone Danklof
Account manager at Brugmans Groep
