Santens - Setting the course in a rapidly changing market
June 2022
Santens is a leading Belgian family business in B-to-B distribution and services of window, door and furniture door fittings, tools, smart access solutions and personal protective clothing.
Customers order via the web shop, representatives, the commercial department or the stores, and can pick up goods in the stores or via delivery on location.
The brand new Central Distribution Centre is located in Merelbeke, where the Santens’ Head Offices are. The culture among the 200 employees can be summarized as 'Customer First'.
“Mentor & Men's strategic exercise was a real blast. As a brand new CEO, the clear and elaborated Organisation Scan Mentor and Men had made helped me to switch and adapt extremely quickly. A few months later, we were already able to start rolling out our new strategy throughout the company. Moreover, the numerous brainstorming sessions were a real help to strengthen the team spirit within the management team!”, Wim Vercauteren, CEO Santens.
Fast changing construction industry
The profession of B-to-B distribution is changing rapidly as well as the construction business. Customers are consolidating and becoming major players, the construction sector is fully drawing the digital card and is experiencing a continuous wave of renovation.
Sales are increasingly taking place via digital channels. Digital customer loyalty is becoming the norm. Moreover, competition from foreign web shops is growing at lightning speed.
“Mentor and Men approached the Vision and Strategy project methodologically and truly tailored to Santens and in co-creation with our management team Their sector knowledge ensured that we arrived in short term at our adjusted mission and new strategy”, Gaëtane Santens, PR Director and main shareholder Santens.
From organization scan and alternative business models to strategic plan
Santens wants to be a leading player in this rapidly changing world and selected Mentor and Men to guide them in developing a vision and strategy tailored to the company. Following an organizational scan various viable business models were evaluated. Once the vision was clear, the management team worked out the strategy and operational plan in detail, under the guidance of Mentor and Men.
“Mentor and Men's expertise and tons of energy have not only resulted in a clear strategy in a short time. As a management team we have grown closer to one another, we connect in a better way, there is more room for feedback and open communication. Our commitment is a solid foundation for effectively realizing our set goals”, Paul Cassiman, Commercial Director Santens.
Enforced group dynamics
The senior management team worked out the new strategy as a group. This formed the basis for determining how Santens can organize itself even better internally and externally (commercially, process wize, application landscape & systems, from an organization point of view and financially) in order to achieve the objectives as effectively, sustainably and efficiently as possible.
Santens wants to be the top-of-mind partner for its customers and suppliers, with well-developed e-commerce channels. In addition, the family and management of the company puts sustainability in their business approach first.
“Our ambitions are far reaching. We found the right partner in Mentor and Men to challenge those ambitions. They pulled us out of our comfort zone, they were critical and helped us translate our goals into a strategic plan for the next five years,” says Günter Santens, Product Director and main shareholder Santens.
