SWEPs Channel Partner program has played an important role in being able to serve customer needs globally with local knowhow and expertise since the late 1990s. Today, the SWEP Channel Partner Program extends to about 450 dealerships worldwide which has allowed SWEP to expand geographical and applicational sales reach, without compromising on closeness to customers.
For the past 14 years, MS Schwarz has been an important distributor for SWEP in Austria, Germany and Switzerland – but their value to SWEP far exceeds the volume of units they sell.
The happy bunch of dedicated people at MS Schwarz
“We’re a little unusual because we’re both a dealer supplying large retailers, and we also design fresh water stations. These systems are a very common way of producing hot water in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, and we make them for hotels, large residential units, sports facilities and so on.
“So although we’re a fairly small company – seven people at the moment – we’re well-established in the field, and use lots of SWEP heat exchangers,” Managing Director Markus Schwarz explains.
This has led to two outcomes that have been rewarding to both MS Schwarz and SWEP. Firstly, a close relationship has developed between the companies.
Rikard Tieger Sales Director EMEA North recently visited MS Schwarz
“We’ve always had a civil and pleasant relationship with SWEP, but it’s become stronger over time. At first, we were especially interested in quality and pricing, but we’ve come to really appreciate the technical information and the quick, direct responses we get from SWEP. We see eye-to-eye and there’s trust between us: these broader qualities are important for a good, long-term relationship.”
Secondly, the varied nature of MS Schwarz’s business means that they deal with a wide range of SWEP products. They have a broad and deep understanding of SWEP’s technology, and they are always happy to share their opinions and observations.
“MS Schwarz is a small company, but somewhat like an octopus,” says Wolfgang Berens, SWEP’s Regional Accounts Manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “They have a wide range of clients and applications, so they purchase a great variety of SWEP products. Their technical knowledge is excellent, and we really value the feedback we get about our products.”
“There are always things that can be improved,” says Markus, “and that’s true for both SWEP and MS Schwarz. We’ve got such a good relationship, that we can be honest and inform them of the smallest issues we have. Even if SWEP is 99.9998% perfect, we’re always happy to help them in their goal to achieve 100%!”
This feedback has helped SWEP fine-tune their products and services over the years, and it has even helped with strategic issues.
“The company, and Markus in particular, are excellent at analyzing the market,” says Wolfgang. “They’re closer to the end customer then we are, and they’re very sensitive to changes in demand for products in a wide range of applications. Being able to talk openly to Markus about these things is really important to us and forms a big part of our relationship.”
Get to know MS Schwarz GmbH
Learn more about the SWEP Channel Partner Program