WANT NEW STAIRS - COME TO LATVIA!

Yesterday I visited the Latvian building exhibition in Kipsala looking for new clients. I went with a colleague who is fixing up his old house so we needed to ask loads of questions about basic stuff like costs and delivery times. I also needed to do some research for the British Ambassador Richard Moon about who wanted to Export to UK and what UK companies were present.

Crisis there may be, but it has not made the industry improve its customer relations and selling ability. On stand after stand we met bored looking staff who did not want to talk or help. On one stand selling wooden doors the staff just surfed the Internet while we opened all the doors by ourselves and then left - unhelped. At the Lode brick making stand, the front man was totally rude and dismissed us not even listening to what we wanted to ask. We were horrified. I know the Lode boss so will be phoning him today.

There were exceptions. The wonderful man trying to sell us baths, from company Vannas, was as good a salesman as it gets. He was committed, funny, knowledgeable and dynamic. We struggled to get away! On another stand the also very dynamic wooden floor salesman said without a hint of irony that his company had not yet seen evidence of the crisis. I hope they pay him well and realise what a gem they have. I also had a super chat about water pumps on one stand. I hope they sell some, they deserve to.

Things that were also noticeable were the disproportionally large amount of Russian speakers involved in the building and interior fittings trade, the lack of English within the trade as a whole and the fact that virtually every stand was selling foreign goods (not much from UK and USA mind) from all over Europe and Canada even though most of those articles could have been sourced and made here in Latvia. It beggars belief that wooden products should be imported from Canada and Italy. The best things made in Latvia were the stairs. They were pure works of art. I have never seen such design and quality before. Please come here if you want stairs....

It was an interesting day but I was left with a feeling that here was a national industry in crisis and not trying to help itself at all. It was sad really.