Conair Names New Head of Customer Care

Auxiliary equipment maker Conair Group has appointed Jared Helfrich as vice president, customer care. Helfrich has replaced Brian Dowler, who recently moved into the role of vice president, service for Piovan, Conair’s parent company.  

In his new role, Helfrich will direct the efforts of Conair’s growing customer care group, combining Conair’s existing parts and service and repair organization with a new range of fast-growing customer services, including machine health assessments and service agreements. 

“Our goal is to expand our ongoing relationship with the customer after equipment is installed,” Helfrich says, adding that, “instead of reacting to customer problems, we are moving to provide proactive services that eliminate unexpected downtime, improve asset performance and extend asset life.” 

Integral to meeting that goal are two Conair service products introduced earlier this year. The first, called machine health assessments (MHAs), “provide a systematic on-site inspection and evaluation of the performance and maintenance status of auxiliary equipment — a thorough evaluation that customers often wish they had, but don’t feel they have the expertise or focus to do themselves,” Helfrich explains. Each MHA results in a written report of equipment status, maintenance recommendations and a one-time discount on recommended repair or maintenance parts. The second offering — service agreements — provide similar evaluation, reporting, maintenance and parts discounts on a scheduled basis, two or four times per year. 

“Both of these new services enable Conair professionals to function as an extension of the customer’s own team, offering specialized expertise, recommendations and hands-on training,” Helfrich says. “We can tell the customer precisely what’s going on with their equipment, what’s needed to make it right and how to keep things operating smoothly in the future.” 
 
Helfrich joins Conair after serving most recently as vice president, global aftermarket at Desktop Metal, a maker of 3D printing systems, and previously as vice president, business development, at ExOne, a manufacturer of 3D sand and metal printing equipment.  He earned a bachelor’s degree from Duquesne University and an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie-Mellon University.