2005 was a whirlwind of events for UK Whitegoods with momentum gathering on many projects, not least of which is ISE and the training both of which have already come to fruition. But in many ways that’s just the start, as we’ve all accomplished a lot this year and I’m sure we all hope for still more through 2006.
ISE is of course the big news this year for UK Whitegoods and the independent repairers as it allows us to recommend a washing machine that is robust, economical and ecologically friendly in many ways, not least of which is the fact that it is easily serviceable for the future and not a “throw-away” item as many appliances seem to be these days. It is better for us, the repairers and better for our customers who we like to keep and keep happy.
We’ve also embarked on free wash technology training in the last quarter, details of which can be found that engineers can receive at no cost to them and even pick up some goodies from now as well. Throughout January training sessions as well as an introduction to the ISE brand are being offered at selected venues across Scotland, please email dquinn@ukwhitegoods.co.uk for more details should you wish to attend one of these sessions.
Of course, as usual around here, we’re not resting on our laurels”¦ far from it.
As of today a year long banner ad campaign starts with Yell to promote the website and, specifically, Repairs@ so that more customers can benefit from the excellent services on offer from the independent repairers quickly and easily. Much of this is being paid for by the subscribers and Repairs@ members working together as a cohesive trade in a co-operative way, we think it’s a first and offers fantastic scope and high hopes for the future.
We have also experimented with a Google Adwords campaign over the past two weeks which seems to have boosted traffic and also the use of the Repairs@ module as it is enabling people to find us faster and get help and information on all things appliance orientated.
Speaking of Repairs@, this past year (well the 10 months that the module has been live anyway) saw it perform above all expectation, handling about 4000 service call requests across the length and breadth of the UK. Quite amazing given its limited exposure that it averages over 100 service calls a week. The best of it is that customers seem to love the module with it receiving heaps of praise for both the simplicity of it and the level of service being provided, long may it continue and hopefully grow through 2006.
These figures may well have been helped by the sheer volume of traffic which we’ve received over the past year, over 4.4 million page views this year alone, pushing the total almost to the 6.5 million mark. Amazing to think that we more than doubled the previous eighteen months traffic in the twelve months to the end of 2005. December has been our busiest month ever, again, with just under half a million page views in a single month!
As an extension to Repairs@ we have also commissioned our own call handling system known internally as ACH. No big secret that we’ve done this but some may well have missed it amongst all the other things that have been going on this past year. It is different as it is designed by repairers for repairers from the ground up and has some pretty slick ideas built into it which should help massively reduce administration. We’re not going to tell you any more for now as we’re saving more detail on it for the February meeting in Birmingham. But expect a typical UKW approach to it.
That’s not all that we have planned for the Birmingham meeting this year, which already promises to be the biggest we’ve had yet with many companies having already confirmed that they will be attending and rooms are already being snapped up. If you want more information please email dquinn@ukwhitegoods.co.uk that will be able to help you. We also have a training session planned for the evening before the meeting; please get in touch if you wish to attend the wash and dish technology training session on February 26 covering aspects of both home laundry and dishwashing.
We should hopefully also have a video report for you from this year’s Domotechnica in Cologne. We’re no Steven Speilbergs, but we can let you have a flavour of what the event is all about and see what we got up to, we promise to keep it clean (as much as possible). We’ll report on KBIS later in the year, no doubt with video in September.
Of course, if the containers arrive on time, we will also have the ISE washing machine there on show as well.
Of course no New Year could pass without mention of and, giving thanks to, my fellow UK Whitegoods directors; Kevin who has been relentless in his hounding people for the independents benefit and keeping us all in check. Sean, who has done wonders promoting UK Whitegoods to the trade as well as keeping many a project on track with his dogmatic dedication. And of course Dave on whom we all rely very much for spares information and administration duties on the site, but that’s just what you see, Dave, Kevin and Sean all do a power of work for everyone, trade and public and I just like to let them know every now and again that we’ve not forgotten or overlooked that and there’s, literally, hundreds of people who would agree and applaud their efforts.
Also I’d like to make mention of the UKW Technical Trainers, hopefully we’ll be able to share what they’ve been up to a lot more during the year, but if you get the chance to have a chat with them, take it.
We also have our tireless moderators who seem to work round the clock at times, Mark, Chris, Martin, John, Paul and now Jim all keeping their eyes on the forums and helping everyone out, cheers guys your efforts do not go unnoticed by me or anyone else. Along with myself and Dave they keep the forums a nice and friendly place. I’d also like to thank them for all the contributions, including the articles that they’ve written for the site, not for reward but simply to help people find answers, highly commendable indeed.
Of course these aren’t the only people that help with UK Whitegoods, there are a great many members of the trade that help out. In fact, there’s far too many to list here but I think I can speak for us all and the public when I say that we do appreciate your input and comments. The professionalism of the people within the industry and on this website speaks for itself.
We’ve also found a lot of friends in the industry who are like-minded and want to see the independents survive and prosper and I’d like to thank those companies and individuals for their vision, insights, support and encouragement, especially the sponsors of forums and meetings which helps to enable us to do a lot for a little.
I apologise for the length of this article but there’s just so much to report on, so many people to thank and so much to tell you about the future as we’re just bursting with ideas but, maybe some other time to keep this as short as possible. We have a lot planned for 2006, stay tuned for more.
To everyone I’d like to wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year and all the best for 2006 on behalf of UK Whitegoods, its staff and all the members.
Kenneth Watt