Aluminium windows and services at KAV Home

KAV started off selling aluminium doors and windows for family houses professionally in Hungary. Thanks to this, and our unique working method and approach, we have been market leaders in our field for many years. Thanks to KAV Home, aluminium doors and windows are now available to a wider range of customers in the field of family house projects. We spoke to Erzsébet Kardos-Tamási, head of sales, and Károly Lovász, Executive Manager of KAV, about the services we offer in this product range.

What services does the company offer in the KAV Home programme?

Erzsébet Kardos-Tamási: We provide the standard services that everyone else in the market provides for these types of homes. The aim is that, when a customer requests competitive quotes for a house, in other words, assesses which company offers what prices and for what kind of windows and doors – be they wood, plastic or aluminium -, so they’re able to compare the services in each offer. This is precisely why it doesn’t include the more complicated engineering service required for an exclusive custom door or window, such as a node design, or a “review” of the entire house through the eyes of a specialised engineer. In a standardised situation, most door and window companies make an offer by looking at the plans and telling you how many and which type of aluminium doors and windows are needed for the building, where the structure should tilt or open, and attach a price to them. We do the same; we have to provide this simple, reduced-expert-content service, so that the customer can compare it with other quotes. I think that most of the time clients perceive KAV as expensive because they compare our quote, enriched with technical and human resource content, which implies extra engineering and design services, with the standard offers they get elsewhere. Therefore, at KAV Home, we’ve made simplifications in all areas. Of course, later on, if the customer needs any of our other services or requires a product or accessory that’s not manufactured elsewhere, they also have that option.

What is that we can obtain from a door and window company if we start to build something?

Erzsébet Kardos-Tamási: Unfortunately, most customers receive a quote in which the pricing colleague has practically priced the sizes based on a description – it’s not like this at KAV but is in other places. He doesn’t verify whether it is otherwise functionally suitable, whether he can improve the use of the building with a different layout or operation, or whether the product needs any other extra additions during installation, whether it needs to be motorized, say, due to its size or for comfort. In the first-round quote from KAV Home, we already also make such an offer, for the sake of comparability, but later on it is also possible to consult with our engineers. And our services are not only backed by the most professional engineering team in Hungary, who’ve been socialised in the retail sector, but also with our own production plant. If a customer chooses us, he gets security in every area.

Does this need a different way of thinking from how KAV has been this far? KAV is famous for its focus on resolving problems: to create every product by finding the best solution for it …

E- K-T: We recommend these standardised products for houses that don’t require any technical uniqueness. For simpler buildings, where the customer doesn’t want any glass-to-glass corner connections, or envisages a motorised frameless sliding door line-up, but wants to use standardised, traditional-sized aluminium doors and windows. There is a left-out wall opening, into which someone would like to insert a door or window. In practice, the size determines the aluminium door to be chosen. To make it easier to understand: I can buy running shoes in two ways. I go to a multi-sports store and there I choose, from three colours and the available types of running shoes, the one that suits my foot size – this is KAV Home. But I can also go to the specialist store to buy running shoes, where they check the way I run, how I lift my legs, what energy I put into it, and then I get suggestions for products and types. There I buy a pair of running shoes that are suitable specifically for my feet, my running, at a much higher price, compared to a standard pair of running shoes. This is the unique service KAV provides. So KAV Home is for those who would like to have high-quality aluminium doors and windows, and not too expensive if possible.

Károly Lovász: I must add that we have met with this clientele in the past years. They were scared away when they entered our quoting circle. They felt that it would be very expensive for them, because we’d taken them seriously, as they met two engineers at the consultation. We’ve tried to think through how to change the fact that even if we offer a good value for money solution to what they want, our extra services will deter them, due to the product and the engineers’ hourly rate. This customer base would like just as much to have beauty and high quality, so why couldn’t they choose for aluminium doors and windows instead of premium wooden doors and windows. Our new quoting method, developed for them, supports this.
They understand this offer and they’ll know exactly what to expect from KAV from the quote. KAV Home is for customers where the house is ready or there are very precise and simple plans stating where and what kind of fixed doors and windows is to be installed. These days, aluminium clips are also used on the exterior of wood and PVC doors and windows, to make them look modern and durable. Instead of this, we offer purely aluminium doors and windows to this customer base. From our quote, they will get to know the widest range of aluminium products that suits them, that they haven’t dreamt of in their wildest dreams. This is because aluminium already offers solutions, as part of the standard range, that seem unimaginable using other materials. I have to add that, in terms of points of sales, 95% of PVC and wood doors and windows are sold by resellers. Reseller sales have their advantages, from both the side of the manufacturer and of the buyer, but they have a huge disadvantage: a mixture of lack of knowledge and product limitations. The knowledge that a custom door and window manufacturer accumulates is an amazing extra benefit. The professionals who work for us have been in the trade for 20 to 25 years, some of them for more than 30 years. This difference in knowledge compared to a reseller is quickly apparent to the customer as well. We deliver on our words, we show the operation, we put node drawings on a table, we make virtual models, if necessary, we’ll show a reference photo so they can understand what’s included in our offer. If he wants to, he can visit our factory to see the manufacturing, or he can visit one of our construction sites, subject to the developer’s permission. In KAV Home, the product segment is only narrower compared to KAV’s earlier product range, but not compared to wooden or PVC products. The parts list consists of about 150 items for wooden products, and 50 for PVC products, from which you can select; at KAV Home, you can build an aluminium door or window from a list of approximately 10,000 items by default. The possibilities are huge: in glass reception, mechanics, operation, durability and care-free surface coatings. Aluminium doors and windows are a good value for money choice, and, at the same time, they don’t lag behind PVC or wooden products in terms of thermal characteristics. What‘s more, if they choose us, the customer won’t be in contact with the reseller, but with the retail market leader manufacturer itself. He gets extra security from us.