Oleg, it seems to me that your company is on the market quite recently (at the end of 2022). But in a short time you became one of the sales leaders among our distributors. Tell us about the history of "Top Acoustic"? What prompted you to create the company?

Yes, indeed, our company is young - we celebrated three years in July. The fact is that I previously worked for 13 years in a company engaged in the production of suspended ceilings. During this time, he went from an average sales manager to the director of a construction company. Everything was fine, we realized quite a lot of interesting objects - shopping malls, stadiums, airports, cinemas. But at one point I felt that I needed to cross some barrier, discover something new for myself. That's how "Top Acoustic" was born.

Why were suspended ceilings chosen as one of the directions? Because of previous work?

At my previous place of work, I was not only involved in suspended ceilings. My direction was the sale of expensive products and solutions. Therefore, the three main areas of "Top Acoustic" are sound insulation and acoustics, designer suspended ceilings and commercial floor coverings. We work with six brands according to our specialization. There was not even a discussion about suspended ceilings - this is our product. The suspended ceiling will always be in our case.

Do you have a large team? How are responsibilities distributed among employees?

Our team is small - 6 people work in the company. But the most important thing for me is their professionalism. Our business is structured in such a way that virtually every one of our employees is a project manager. And he leads this project from beginning to end in any direction of the company. And personally, among other things, I perform the duties of the marketing director.

The company is located in Kyiv. And do you work in regions?

The most sales are, of course, in Kyiv. After all, the company is located here, and more objects are being built in Kyiv. But we really like to work in the regions. Our objects are in all regional centers. With modern methods of communication and logistics, there are no obstacles to work throughout Ukraine. For example, a object was recently implemented in Khust, Transcarpathian region. And yes - Dnipro, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Kropyvnytskyi, Poltava, Uzhhorod - you can list them endlessly.

Are you exclusively engaged in sales, or do you have your own installation crews?

The main direction is sales. From my previous work experience, I know that either you are in sales or you put on rubber boots and do installation. But for customers who want a turnkey job, we have proven contractors to take on that piece of work.

What are the main principles that guide you in the work of the company?

The first, as I said before, is a strong professional team. I can rely on any of my employees as if I were myself. I delegate authority. And I am glad that I managed to gather such a team.

The second thing I also consider very important is our responsiveness and flexibility. In today's world, clients want to get results very quickly. If you cannot provide the optimal solution, the customer will find someone who can instead of you. Therefore, we always offer several possible solutions for the client, and all this happens very quickly.

And thirdly, I think we have guessed a lot with the choice of directions, product range and suppliers.

What goals do you set for the company for the coming year?

The main goal, of course, is to reach the volumes we showed before February 24. Now I understand that in some sense you will have to start all over again, prove again that you are strong, that you know how to do it, that the market sees you. And it will be great to reach the same indicators.

How do you assess the situation on the suspended ceiling market? Do you see any prospects for development?

It is obvious that now the volume of sales has fallen and people are simply afraid to invest. If we compare activity, the western region is currently the most active. And what else saves us is that we had geography for the whole country and other cities helped. There will be a lot of work, especially after the war.

My dream is how Poland developed in 2009-2011 - before Euro 2012. I visited Krakow then - it was a living construction. Our market is very wide. We have a big country, and big countries have very good potential. And when we were developing plans for 2022, I myself asked Kraft to increase our plan by almost 2 times. And based on the projects that were planned this year, I saw that we will fulfill the plan.

If we consider the situation on the market in general, the prospects are enormous. After any decline, an upswing begins. This is the nature of existence. I am not afraid of difficulties. I have repeatedly had to work in stressful situations. But we adapted, kept the team and are ready for new challenges and moving forward.

It is no secret that, in addition to "Kraft Dekensystems", there are several other manufacturers of suspended ceilings in Ukraine. Why did you decide to work with "Kraft" in particular?

Why "Kraft" in particular? First, you have a great range of products. And when we thought about the range of our company, we had "Kraft" in mind by default. We immediately saw the prospects - office centers, shopping malls, airports, railway stations, entertainment centers - what we are doing well now. Therefore, the assortment of "Kraft" satisfies us 95 percent. We have been working with "Kraft" since the very beginning of its formation.

Where do most customers come from? Where do you find them? How many customers have you had during the company's existence?

How many customers? I think, if you take all the sales, then plus or minus 500 is definitely there.

I spend a lot of time on our social media pages. First, Instagram, but we are also represented in other social networks. I will tell you a few examples of how clients came to us.

Once on Instagram, we corresponded with the Lviv design studio "DOUBLE I GROUP" - we corresponded around one o'clock in the morning. And already in the morning they flew to Kyiv. At 10 o'clock we met at the facility and signed the contract. This is such efficiency.

And there are generally unique coincidences. There was a case with our today's partners, the company "TABOORET.DEVELOPMENT". I send them an invitation to subscribe to our Instagram page. And the person who leads their Instagram is sitting at a meeting with customers who needed a plate rail. So we got a client.

Which object was the most memorable?

We got a great experience during the implementation of "Crystal Park". We executed the object "on a turnkey basis". There, the "Kraft" rail is used on all input groups. During installation, a lot had to be bypassed - ventilation ducts, pipes, etc. This object has become very iconic for our company and has taken a worthy place in our portfolio. By the way, Instagram also introduced us to the customer. We knocked on them for a long time, but then I wrote to them from our page and got the contact of the responsible employee. A presentation was held. At first they wanted a grillato, but we came for a second meeting, brought a cube-shaped rail, after which they chose a rail.

Which suspended ceilings, in your opinion, are the most promising?

Definitely a cube-shaped rail. We are currently conducting a project - we will use it on the walls. I also see a good perspective in the grillato GLK. It is in demand. Still in demand is a metal plate 600x600 mm with KRAFT Fortis suspension systems. We now have a client who is very interested in them. And for them, we included a white plate with "graphite" T-profiles in the brand book, and everyone liked this decision very much.

By the way, now there is an underestimation of the plate-shaped rail. This is also a top product, which is the future. So we will try to correct this situation.

Some foreign manufacturers have other types of ceilings in their assortment, which "Kraft" does not currently produce. Which ceilings from their assortment would you like to see in Ukraine in the near future?

It seems to me that there would be a demand for a perforated cube rail with glued acoustic fleece. It also has better sound-absorbing characteristics. At least Western architects and designers are very fond of perforated rail.

Hidden systems (clip-in) are also interesting. Medicine will develop well here, and such systems are used in all rooms with high requirements for sterility. I see a prospect behind this product.

And the traditional final question. Rate the work with "Kraft" on a 10-point scale. What are the pros and cons?

Of course, the Kraft score is the maximum - 10 points. You are our strategic partner, so it cannot be otherwise.

Your main advantage is the assortment. Second, I really like your marketing. And in general, I am very satisfied with how the contractual relations between our companies work. And I also like your promptness in fulfilling orders. Of course, it was different, but globally they never failed. There were situations when it was almost necessary to ship at night, but you always met and came out of such situations with honor. This is also your strong point.

About shortcomings - my credo is never to point out the shortcomings of other companies, especially strong partners. For me, the main thing is that everything can be solved promptly.

What do you wish for "Kraft"?