Since the launch of the askTRADA website last year, TRADA has undergone nothing short of a personality change. No longer are we regarded as a rather staid research body carrying out necessary but, to many, unexciting research in support of timber and wood products. Suddenly, we are enjoying a lively dialogue with architects, engineers and other industry professionals who have flocked to register with askTRADA since we offered the core technical information free of charge in January. Registrations have topped 7,000 and are growing at a rate of 400 a week. In addition, the site is attracting 20,000 visitors a month.
Wider accessibility
This underlines very clearly that we were right to launch the website and to make TRADA information much more widely accessible. More importantly, through the askTRADA suppliers’ directory we have been able to facilitate a dialogue between our corporate members – companies with products and services to sell – and the architects and specifiers using the website.
We firmly believe that good technical information is the key to developing markets for timber. We recognise, too, the important achievement of the TTJ Awards initiative in encouraging ever higher standards of customer service, performance and training by honouring excellence within the industry.
We decided therefore to sponsor the Best Technical Information Support Award. Our aim is to highlight the importance of good information and its appropriate application, in support of timber products. We hope it will encourage timber companies to recognise the importance of adding value to their products through incorporating technical information as an integral part of the product.
The provision of clear, concise product information has never been more important. In response to the Egan report, timber’s main market, the construction industry, has become ever more demanding. A whole new vocabulary and culture have emerged and construction companies that want to remain on top need to understand what clients expect from their project teams. They have had to adopt new, integrated ways of working, not only with their clients but also with their key suppliers.
Too few leaders in the timber industry, however, are able to talk the language of construction. This, we feel, is perhaps because timber suppliers do not see themselves as part of the construction industry. That must change if markets for timber products are to grow, and here the emphasis is on ‘product’ not commodity. The construction industry is increasingly seeking added-value products and services, preferably with strong branding, and good technical information is crucial to winning business in this arena.
Award criteria
Our panel of judges for the Best Technical Information Support Award will not simply be looking for well-written and well-presented technical information, but for evidence of how it has been applied by sales staff in support of their customers. Evidence of its use in staff training and development will also be considered. Companies that enter for the award might not have produced the technical information themselves, but will demonstrate how they integrate technical support into their sales and training strategy. The award is open to any company supplying timber-related products and services.
Technical information can be presented in several forms and we will be considering:
For TRADA, the launch of our website has been a springboard into a whole new way of communicating with construction industry professionals. We hope that this new award will encourage timber companies to add value to their products by considering technical information as an integral part of the product.
