This week sees the big dude at Black Diamond, Mr Casper Schjorring, announce that they are holding the price of Black Diamond rubber this year, making it the seventh year running! Unbelievable, right?
So Window Cleaning Magazine caught up with Casper to find out how this is possible and ask him where does he see Black Diamond rubber in the marketplace? With Black Diamond experiencing a steady growth, against the background of stable squeegee rubber costs to the customer, business seems better than ever!
So let’s find out why the exponential growth chart in the Black Diamond boardroom is heading North.
WCM: Maintaining rubber prices cannot be easy with fluctuating world markets on raw material. You must be negotiating hard on behalf of your customers in the background?
CS: We buy big volume and can manage to negotiate rates 12 months at a time so that helps a lot, but it is not always enough and therefore we place a big effort into constantly optimizing our production to minimize costs.
WCM: This ability must make you really competitive against other brands?
CS: Absolutely! We see our competitors have increased their prices a lot over the last 7 years.
WCM: What is the percentage difference in prices compared to Unger, Ettore, Moerman, Pulex, Sorbo etc.
CS: I have to be honest and say that we don’t go around and check their prices constantly, but it’s probably from 20-50% depending on the brand – Sorbo have always been the most expensive on the market.
WCM: Where do you feel Black Diamond rubber sits in the market in terms of quality at these prices?
CS: We are to be honest a little nervous that people start thinking of our product as a cheap product because of the low price, but we do not compromise on quality. We provide an absolute top quality product and we can see that from our sales too. Last year we managed to grow 38% in sales.
WCM: Black Diamond continues to get great reviews from window cleaners? What is the secret of your rubber?
CS: I think it is many things. The rubber itself has to be consistent in quality and then we do offer the 100% satisfaction guarantee . I think and hope that window cleaners can feel the passion we have for what we do. Then the most important fact is that we are a rubber company, and not just a manufacturer doing many different products. We keep our focus on what we are good at.
WCM: Some might think that the cost on rubber is not important, but actually it is. At the level of usage for some window cleaning companies this amounts to a significant difference. Take the Shard tower in London. That one job alone uses over 5,200 pieces of rubber per year.
CS: It is a huge influencer on the profit for the window cleaner. When I meet people at shows and conventions and we sit down and go through the numbers some of them are really shocked at how much they can save.
WCM: Quality is king? Price is a bonus?
CS: Quality is always king and will always stay that way for us. And we of course know too that we cannot keep our prices at this level forever due to natural raw material cost increases, but I will promise that we will never slack on quality to keep the prices low.
WCM: Great talking to you.
Folks, that was Casper Schjorring the big boss of Black Diamond telling Window Cleaning Magazine that quality is king and price is a bonus. For more details check out Black Diamond – Just CLICK HERE.