70 • autolocksmiths
PROUD SPONSORS
OF THIS PAGE
Never a dull
moment
in the auto
locksmith
trade!
»»There’s one thing that
can be said for working in the
auto locksmith trade –there
is never a dull moment, says
DEAN SANDERSON of 3D
Group.
You really can’t rest on your
laurels in this industry, at the
moment it is really forging
ahead. Largely led by the
technological advancements
in security, it seems that if
you blink, the next piece of
programming equipment has
been developed or the latest
remote product has been
released. This ever- increasing
range of products that is
available to this market means
that price is key, and one thing
that we do here at 3D Group
is continuously aim to get the
best possible price from our
suppliers so that we can pass
those saving on to you, our
customers.
3D Group realises that there
is a need to stay competitive as
a wholesaler just as much as
you need to when competing
with other auto locksmiths
within your service area. One
area of 3D Group that we
had recognised as needing
improvement was our code
retrieval service. It had been
some time since we had
researched the market and
assessed how competitive we
were on price and service. The
text server and email methods
were handy but we knew
adding an online option would
benefit many of our customers.
Having identified the possible
areas for improvement we
began our research. We
managed to negotiate with
our suppliers for the best
possible prices for the codes
that we offer, leading to us
bringing a new code supplier
on board, thus allowing us to
lower prices on selected codes,
speed up response times and
add more brands and models
to those that we already
offered.
A new code section of the
3D Group website had already
been developed in anticipation
of the new website being
launched later in the year, but
we realised that this service
could in fact be launched
early as a separate section of
the current website. We knew
that having this service online
and making it mobile friendly
would make requesting codes
quicker and easier for many of
our customers, so the decision
was made to put it into testing
early and get it released months
before initially planned.
As a result our new code
service is now online and
active for you to use. Simply
visit www.3dgroupuk.com/
codes and log in as usual. You
can complete the online form
within seconds (we know, we
tested it with a stop watch and
our best time was 17 seconds!)
and submit your code request.
You can even keep track of
your previous requests online
and see where they are in the
process before receiving your
code via your chosen response
method, either e-mail or text.
We have also added a handy
and free part number look-up
facility that will make selecting
the correct product from our
extensive stock range much
easier.
We launched this service on
the 23 April and have already
had great feedback about it which is encouraging as this
is just a small part of the new
website that is yet to come, so
please don’t just take our word
for it, give it a try yourself!
“Nice job guys...as ever
making our job a lot easier, a
very professional company
that personally I can’t fault!”
Locks 2 You Ltd.
The new 3D Group catalogues
have been released but - as I
mentioned earlier, this industry
moves so fast that they are
already out of date! We supply
the printers with the artwork in
a matter of days and when the
artwork leaves us it is bang up
to date with the latest products;
however, in the time it takes to
be printed, bound and shipped
from China to the UK we have
already had another couple of
hundred new products added to
our stock range! Unfortunately,
until someone develops instant
point to point travel this just
has to be, but we think that the
new catalogues look great. The
little tweaks we have made to
the design have paid off and
they are now being distributed
FREE with all of our customers’
next orders. We really do hope
that you find them useful to
have in your shop or van. Just
remember that for our latest
stock and prices you can always
check our website too.
Visit 3dgroupuk.com/codes
or if you have any questions
or comments please call 3D
Group on 0115 941 5333.
locksmithjournal.co.uk | MAY/JUN 2015
Sponsored by ASSA ABLOY