Embracing the changing face of business

By Spectra Packaging

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, many businesses have been forced to adapt to a changing landscape beset with lockdowns, restrictions, and limited human contact.

any have had to close their doors, placing employees on furlough or, worse still, making redundancies. Others have had to continue operating safely in often challenging conditions to provide essential products that help in the fight against coronavirus.

One such business is Spectra Packaging, an independent, self-financing rigid plastics manufacturer based in Suffolk in the UK. Founded in 2008, Spectra epitomises a forward-thinking business that embraces innovation and new ways of doing things.

At the height of the pandemic, the company witnessed unprecedented orders for hand sanitiser bottles, working roundthe-clock shifts to ensure products reached those in need as quickly as possible.

The difficulties thrown up by the pandemic have undoubtedly tested many companies who are having to navigate through what many now refer to as the ‘new norm’. One could argue that the business landscape will never be the same again. Businesses such as Spectra, which thrive on human interaction to provide a personalised service, have had to re-evaluate strategies to adhere to their core values.

With a greater reliance on remote technology, which some may see as an inferior makeshift substitute to human interaction, Spectra very much sees its role as complementary with genuine added benefits.

Jonathan Powell, Sales Director for Spectra, understands there are positive opportunities despite the uncertainties that lay ahead.

He remarked, “Covid-19 has impacted everyone’s lives, both on a personal level and in the workplace. As a business, we have had to counter many challenges over the past year, ensuring the safety of our employees while satisfying unprecedented demand for our products.

He added, “Customer interaction continues to be fundamental to our on-going success. However, as more and more people work remotely, we have had to adapt to the changing face of business to ensure customers continue to feel supported. Technology has most certainly helped us achieve that”.

Unsurprisingly, one of Spectra’s initial concerns was whether the available technology would align with their customer-focused business model. However, what they found was the enforced changes had reaped benefits for both them and their customers. Rather than seeing a decrease in customer contact, the firm has witnessed increased interaction thanks to platforms like Teams, Zoom, or Google Hangouts.

Refreshingly, the company has also seen other departments within the business build remote face-to-face dialogues with customers. In contrast, before, telephone or email may have been the traditional communication method.

Jonathan explained: “By embracing remote face-to-face technology, all departments at Spectra are undoubtedly more accessible to customers than ever before. In many ways, we are increasing customer contact and support, at a time when it is theoretically more challenging to do so”.

Spectra has also been carefully crafting a new website, ready to go live in April 2021. Keen to ensure the new site has been developed to complement the ‘new way’ of doing business, many of its features have been specifically created with the customer in mind. The design process has seen Spectra look in even greater detail at how it can maximise its online communications for the benefit of the end-user.

Spectra believes the new site is another excellent example of its desire to create a benefitsbased experience that builds interaction and gets to the core of customer needs, preferences and behaviours. One such feature on the new site is MySpectra - an innovative personalised online portal that enables customers to gain exclusive access to a wealth of information not available to the casual visitor.

Other features include animated explanations of how products are made, an easy-to-use product selector and a sample ordering system that integrates with MySpectra. Customer education also plays a vital role, with an information-rich responsibility section focusing on recycled products, recycling processes, and bio-plastics.

COVID restrictions have also restricted another key element of Spectra’s sales support, namely customer factory visits.

Until the outbreak of COVID-19, visitors to Spectra’s modern purpose manufacturing facility were consistently impressed by enthusiastic and knowledgeable employees, happy to engage and share their extensive industry expertise. According to Jonathan, Sales Director, although safety continues to be uppermost, a lack of visitors partaking in conventional meetings and tours has proved frustrating.

“Factory visits have always been a key way to show visitors what Spectra is all about. Our tours show what we are trying to build here; they introduce passionate and approachable staff and offer an educational insight into all the Unperturbed, Spectra didn’t want a lack of human interaction to hamper what can be an important customer relationbuilding exercise. With this in mind, the company is developing an innovative remote platform that

offers more than conventional virtual tours, including movies, Q&As from staff members and indepth departmental touchpoints.

Jonathan concluded, “In many ways, the pandemic has normalised remote working. That said, when we eventually return to some form of normality, those businesses that have embraced new ways of doing business will be better placed to navigate the hurdles ahead and engage and support their valued customers. In our view, there are genuine opportunities that may not have been fully explored pre-pandemic. COVID-19 has shown how resourceful businesses can be, and Spectra is most certainly up for that challenge”.

Spectra Packaging Ltd. Antonine Way, Sparrowhawk Road, Holton, Halesworth, Suffolk, IP19 8RX +44 (0)1986 834190 sales@spectra-packaging.co.uk www.spectra-packaging.co.uk