“Can't we just switch off 12Build for a while?” asked a calculator at De Haan Westerhoff Zonwering. “No,” replied Jeen Zuidersma, the General Manager. Jeen is very pleased with the growth. Since De Haan Westerhoff has been collaborating with 12Build, the company has received double the number of invitations to tender from general contractors.
However, it was certainly not easy for 12Build to be invited into De Haan Westerhoff. Or at least there was a little delay. Jeen: “We were convinced that using 12Build would lead to more invitations to tender. But I didn't want to overburden my colleagues at the time with the extra workload. We first had to organise things internally and take on new staff before starting with 12Build.” First take on new staff and only then collaborate with a platform provider. That bears testimony to the degree of trust. “That's right,” admits Jeen. “And that expectation has been fulfilled.”
The title of General Manager means very little to him. “I've been around here for a long time and progressed along the way. You get more responsibilities and the title that goes with it,” explains Jeen. “Such a job title has no added value for me.” Jeen began his career at De Haan as an intern while studying Business Economics. “I liked working more than studying. I quickly completed my studies and was able to implement my thesis work at De Haan Westerhoff by setting up the service department.” Jeen is now responsible for, as he puts it, the whole operational side: for private projects, for the general public and for service. People want service.
“Colleagues said: ‘Jeen, you're mad! Contractors only go for the lowest
price’,” he recalls. “I just thought: contractors employ a calculator and a
purchaser. People. And people want service." And this has proven to be the case. In just one year, De Haan Westerhoff has doubled the number
of invitations to tender from general contractors since the company
started using 12Build.
Jeen: “Contractors are not always interested in the cheapest option.
They value service. And I'm absolutely convinced that calculators are happy if you can reduce their workload by submitting a fully completed tender on time.”
De Haan Westerhoff was founded in 2001 from a merger between the Frisian company De Haan Zonwering and the Groningen company Westerhoff Zonwering. The notion that ‘one plus one equals two’ quickly became evident to De Haan Westerhoff. De Haan Westerhoff grew into one of the leading companies nationally for sun blinds and roller shutters. De Haan Westerhoff targets both the general consumers and project-based customers.
The company has made the switch from Production to Service. Jeen: “15 years ago we manufactured our own products, whereas today our emphasis is on our strengths: customer focus and service. Service in the broad sense of the word, not only service provision but also delivering a product and assembling it. If you're no longer involved in manufacturing your product, you need to find new added value.” De Haan Westerhoff continues to assemble and install its products. The company still has a number of factories located in the Netherlands. Consciously in the Netherlands. “We wanted to remain in the Netherlands for the most part,” says Jeen. “
We think communication with producers is important and that is more difficult if they are in another country.” De Haan Westerhoff has witnessed significant growth, particularly in the last five years, and the company now has branches at six locations in the Netherlands: from Brabant and Limburg in the South to Friesland and Groningen in the North.
According to Jeen, the service offered by De Haan Westerhoff is unique in the construction industry. “We believe that promises must always be kept. And that's why we've made it our main objective to do just that. We sort out everything within a few days and we're always there when we say we will be.”
Before De Haan Westerhoff started working with 12Build, cold calling was not something the company did. “A contractor's calculator isn't going to appreciate receiving three phone calls a day from us,” explains Jeen. “We waited until we received invitations to tender. Contractors want to spend time doing the things they are good at.”
“Well before the 12Build era, the mail would arrive every day and be loaded into the big blue containers. You could see whether there were many invitations to tender by the number of blue containers.” For as long as Jeen has been working at De Haan Westerhoff, the company never actively went in search of invitations to tender. But then the moment arrived when they wanted to grow. The company was looking for a platform to draw attention to De Haan Westerhoff without having to spend much effort achieving that. And that is when the company turned to 12Build.
However, it took a little time before the collaboration between De Haan
Westerhoff and 12Build actually got off the ground. Jeen: “We were convinced from the start that the collaboration would be a success, but first I wanted to organise things internally before getting started. With us, people come first, so that's where you always have to start.” He first wanted to take on new colleagues so that all the departments could handle the expected workload of tenders. And on top of that: “Now and again our calculator even asks if we can pause the number of invitations to tender we have to process,” says Jeen with a laugh.
“With 12Build they just keep coming!”
“If you were to calculate the actual costs, the 50 euros that 12Build asks for every invitation to tender you receive, wouldn't be enough to pay anyone to do the work involved,” declares Jeen. “12Build is cheaper than an account manager and has a better return.”
De Haan Westerhoff receives invitations to tender directly from project-based customers and from contractors. The company receives 60% from those project-based customers and 40% from the contractors. “Almost all of the contractor revenue comes in through 12Build,” says Jeen. “It's a great marketing tool for the construction industry.” Jeen knows that a general contractor has a number of projects every year and that he wants to maintain a good relationship with those contractors. “We are specified as a preferred partner in 12Build.” De Haan Westerhoff enjoys optimum visibility in 12Build due to subscribing to Promoter. Jeen: “And our motto is: if you do something, you should do it well.
That's why we also have a banner on 12Build.”
According to Jeen, 12Build is a fast communication platform. “There's no need to send general contractors an e-mail informing them of whether you intend to submit a quote or not.” De Haan Westerhoff can simply do this by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of an invitation to tender. Jeen: “That is in line with our objective of always fulfilling our promises without delay. The trick is then to exceed expectations and to present the tender on time once you've indicated that you'll be submitting a quote. Those buttons provide clarity for all parties of a collaboration. To be honest, due to the extreme demand and the coronavirus, this year has been really difficult for construction companies always to respond to invitations to tender. But it is always our objective to do so.”
“The construction industry is lagging behind,” says Jeen. “The industry is now starting to work digitally to process invitations to tender, but the further you get in that process, the less digitalisation you see.” The biggest gain achieved by digitalisation according to Jeen is the continuous sharing of all data, so that everyone always has the same information. And not just with the general contractor or the subcontractor, but with the general contractor and the subcontractor.
Jeen: “That can be a folder in the cloud, for example, in which everyone can work until job completion. And then to save it until you need it again for maintenance. Now you all start a journey together and then everyone goes their own way.” 12Build already accommodates that digital process by making communication and the documentation transparent for both parties.
“In a year's time, we will have further automated the entire costing process,” continues Jeen. “By then we'll no longer have to retype everything. For a long time, we continued to work in the same way we always worked, but partly thanks to a ‘company doctor’ we have quickly digitalised our processes. I don't know whether working will be easier in the future, but it will certainly be more enjoyable.”
Digitalisation is good for humanity. Jeen says that it reduces the workload of your employees. A positive work culture is paramount at De Haan Westerhoff. “We would rather make less revenue if that means keeping all our employees satisfied. People are the most important thing for us.”
Jeen visited the 12Build office for a meeting with its Director, Erik Nieuwenhuis, and Account Manager, Fokke Noppert. “You see that 12Build is not a hierarchical company and that everyone is equal. You can schedule a meeting with the director just as easily as with an account manager,” says Jeen. “In such a talk, you really get to hear the entrepreneur behind the 12Build story. He has a clear vision, but understands that the success depends on the people
who carry out the work: marketing, sales, interns, support, development, you all do it together.”
Jeen and Erik talked for a long time about Compassion: an international organisation that fights poverty among children. 12Build has a partnership with Compassion for the Dominican Republic. Colleagues at 12Build write letters to children in poverty and send a donation periodically. Part of that donation is sponsored by 12Build. Erik: “How cool is it to free children from poverty on the basis of our success and make deposits in each other's ‘emotional bank account’?” De Haan Westerhoff also supports good causes. Jeen: “We are doing well. The company is doing well. That's why we like to think about the
people around us. Not only in December, when you hand out the end-of-year packages, but all year round.”
Jeen describes the talk with Erik as extremely inspirational. “I especially like the people-oriented approach of 12Build,” he continues. “Just like us, you put people above revenue. Your colleagues must be happy about what they're doing and then the revenue will come naturally. I read your company handbook and I had to laugh out loud. It's wonderful to see there are more companies like us.”
Jeen Zuidersma
General Manager