Man operating a crane in factory
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Deepening customer focus: driving for clarity, efficiency and responsiveness

In 2023, Konecranes published a renewed strategy for the coming years, driven to answer global calls for businesses to contribute positively to a more resilient and sustainable economy. Deepening customer focus has been identified as one of the key enablers in this renewed strategy. 

Konecranes is a global leader in material handling solutions, serving a broad range of customers across multiple industries. We’re with our customers through their equipment lifecycle, optimizing their performance and enhancing their profitability. We’ve systematically developed our approach to account management to strengthen our commitment to customer focus, ensuring that every interaction with us is clear, efficient, and suited to meet diverse needs.

Your goals, our technology: partnering for a sustainable future

We’re continuously adapting our offering to meet changing customer requirements. Automation and digitalization drive the development of our products: smart and connected equipment and their data support our customers and allow us to continuously improve our offering.

Sustainability is a key driver in developing our offering. By introducing new technological innovations, applying smart product design, and optimizing material flows with automation and digital solutions we can help our customers achieve their low-carbon goals. Our design strategies prioritize maintainability, durability, energy efficiency and lead to creating products with maximized lifecycle value.

Responsiveness and reliability

In recent years, we have focused considerably on ensuring rapid response times and supply security. Our Commercial Excellence program, driving sales development in the company, aims to guarantee that the customer experience is as effortless as possible, with several contact platforms at customers’ disposal. Whether through the self-service portal YourKonecranes, our new Customer Portal or Konecranes Store, we ensure that crucial information and key aspects of the buying process are readily accessible online, catering to both straightforward purchases and more complex solutions.

Personal connection provides clarity in cooperation and helps to build a comprehensive approach to customer service. That's why key accounts are managed by a dedicated individual, tasked with advocating for the customer's needs and finding the optimal solutions, whether it's for a modernization project or new equipment. Our goal is to deeply understand our customers’ activities and processes to offer the best consultative support and become a long-term partner.

Adapting to customer needs in service

Our sales model is ever evolving, designed to provide the right product from our service offering quickly and efficiently to each customer. From structured service agreements to a lighter sales support model for less frequent crane users, we ensure that our approach fits specific customer requirements.

Our emphasis on asset management throughout the lifecycle of the equipment means customers can engage with our services at any point, with the relationship growing organically from there. The initial equipment purchase or service call is just the beginning: as we systematically care for our existing customers and anticipate their needs, we naturally nurture an environment that provides further added value to the customer.

A significant portion of our service agreements are for equipment not originally supplied by Konecranes. These agreements often lead to further opportunities for equipment sales. When servicing cranes from other manufacturers, we are able to offer our own manufactured spare parts, ensuring that we are a complete solution provider for our customers.

Leveraging data to optimize the service experience

Our digital services portfolio plays a crucial role in providing the specific support our customers require. Together with its customers, Konecranes gathers and manages more data from the fleets we service than anyone else in the industry, a major advantage that we've built through years of investment and technical development. This data, collected through remote monitoring and technician input is pivotal in offering predictive maintenance services that deliver exceptional customer value.

Konecranes is committed to advancing the material handling industry by placing the needs and expectations of our customers at the heart of our decision-making every day. We prioritize clear communication, responsiveness, and personalized service. Our dedication to understanding and meeting customer needs, combined with our technological expertise in automation and digitalization, positions us as a trusted partner, offering solutions that help our customers achieve operational excellence and sustainable growth.

 

When our technician visits a customer site, they conduct a review, detailing performed work, identified issues, and suggested actions. Within 48 hours, we follow up to discuss and agree on the plan, a process known as a service review. This approach successfully translates findings into actionable strategies, providing tailored advice. Additionally, where appropriate, we meet with our customers to discuss a comprehensive service review quarterly or annually to discuss extensive investment plans.

 

Learn more about our strategy, and read the other articles in this series:

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