Prefa goes Polish
The mother company was formed in 1946 in Salzburg and now has operations across Europe in Germany, Sweden, Holland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. It was only last year that it set up its Prefa CEE arm.
Leading the press conference was the new managing director of Prefa Polska, Mika Ruotsalo, who has already been working in this country for five years for another international roofing systems supplier. He introduced the sales team and claimed that they all had valuable experience in the roofing business but that they would be backed up by professionals in Germany and Austria, "who have fifty years experience" in the field. The company, he said, would outsource its IT, accounting, PR and marketing activities, as these didn't form part of Prefa's "core business."
The Polish operation would be supplied by Prefa's factory in Germany, some 700 kilometers from Warsaw, and the new team would be "working very hard to build our distribution and service channels in Poland, with the most professional installers and distributors in the country," said Ruotsalo, who added that he viewed architects and conservators as being "very, very important in introducing our products to the market."
One of the unique services he claimed Prefa would be introducing to the Polish market is its '72-hour service,' which would invite prospective clients to send in digital pictures of their buildings. Within three days, the company would pledge to "send a visualization of the building with the old roof, alongside one with a new roof using Prefa materials," said Ruotsalo. The company would then make an offer to the client and send them a list of its partners in the neighbourhood.
Prefa Polska would also be running training programs for installing its roofing systems and holding discussion seminars across Poland for all its target groups. The new company's first year target (for 2004) would be to install "100 roofs," which, said Ruotsalo, "would be reference sites for the firm's future growth in the market."
The company is to embark on an intensive advertising campaign over the summer that would in turn accelerate at the turn of the year. Prefa Polska, said Ruotsalo, "would address all our target groups with a different approach for each."
Leading the press conference was the new managing director of Prefa Polska, Mika Ruotsalo, who has already been working in this country for five years for another international roofing systems supplier. He introduced the sales team and claimed that they all had valuable experience in the roofing business but that they would be backed up by professionals in Germany and Austria, "who have fifty years experience" in the field. The company, he said, would outsource its IT, accounting, PR and marketing activities, as these didn't form part of Prefa's "core business."
The Polish operation would be supplied by Prefa's factory in Germany, some 700 kilometers from Warsaw, and the new team would be "working very hard to build our distribution and service channels in Poland, with the most professional installers and distributors in the country," said Ruotsalo, who added that he viewed architects and conservators as being "very, very important in introducing our products to the market."
One of the unique services he claimed Prefa would be introducing to the Polish market is its '72-hour service,' which would invite prospective clients to send in digital pictures of their buildings. Within three days, the company would pledge to "send a visualization of the building with the old roof, alongside one with a new roof using Prefa materials," said Ruotsalo. The company would then make an offer to the client and send them a list of its partners in the neighbourhood.
Prefa Polska would also be running training programs for installing its roofing systems and holding discussion seminars across Poland for all its target groups. The new company's first year target (for 2004) would be to install "100 roofs," which, said Ruotsalo, "would be reference sites for the firm's future growth in the market."
The company is to embark on an intensive advertising campaign over the summer that would in turn accelerate at the turn of the year. Prefa Polska, said Ruotsalo, "would address all our target groups with a different approach for each."
