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Customers Take Opportunity
to See Production First-Hand
ABUS UK Sales Director David
Hudson hosts top locksmiths
at ABUS Pfaffenhain
» » THE START OF APRIL SAW THE
start of several ABUS customer visits
planned to strengthen and build
understanding of what makes ABUS
cylinder production so special. ABUS
have always sold its cylinder systems
by endorsing the USPs that make ABUS
cylinder suites special: Unrivalled
patent lengths endorsed by trademark
protection, curved key profiles, a unique
13mm wide cylinder housing, coupled to a
modular system, which can be integrated
across the ABUS 83 padlock range, all
combine to give lock specialists a choice
of product that is firstly highly secure, and
from the distributors’ point of view, offer
a profitable and convenient solution to
commercial security.
But while our sales team do their best to
make these USPs understood there is no
substitute for seeing first-hand the ABUS
investment in plant and production that
goes into literally making the best cylinder
suites available. Sales Director David
Hudson commented:
“We have of course seen our factories as
part of our training, and that knowledge
and confidence in our product becomes
part of our DNA. But as professional sales
people, we recognised that selling our
confidence via our distributor network
would be so much better endorsed,
if like us, our customers could see for
themselves what it is that makes ABUS
cylinder production so special. The
solution was simple – organise customer
factory visits.”
Easier said than done, as the ABUS
cylinder factory in Pfaffenhain, Saxony is
some 2 hours from the nearest airport, and
UK customers are not all living near an
appropriate UK airport. But the seed was
sown, starting with a productive bespoke
factory visit for a committed customer in
March, which was quickly followed up by
a combined trip accommodating 10 top
locksmiths visiting ABUS’ Pfaffenhain
plant in the first week of April.
Travel and accommodation organised
between ABUS UK and ABUS Pfaffenhain
had the clear objective to not just bring
key customers to see ABUS cylinder
production, but also to bring customers
together. The trip included sightseeing in
Prague (includi