Me

People would tell me that starting in this industry at 17 years of age would be tough, and they were right. But it was something I wanted to get into, the family business, and was determined to make something of myself. It was a struggle at first. I was young, and looked even younger for my age, which was a big stumbling block to overcome. But I had confidence, and that was the key. It allowed customers to look past my age and believe what I was telling them.
Before I embarked on my first lead, I spent weeks with my dad who showed me the ropes well. I studied hard to know as much of the products as quickly as I could. Luckily I am a quick learner so this wasn't too much of a problem. It was in July when I started the job properly. The first lead I had was for two doors in Eastmoor, not the most welcoming of areas. But, I stuck with it, and managed to get them to come to the showroom later that week. During their visit I got the job, I was over the moon. At that point leaving 6th Form College a year early was the best thing I did!

The next few months passed without great trouble or stress, until I met a couple who I can best describe as being creepily friendly and smothering. They lived in Rothwell, Leeds. I stepped through the door at 10am in the morning and was greeted very warmly and confidently, a good sign. We eventually got sat down after spending copious amounts of time being introduced to the pet parrot. They wanted to replace all the windows and doors in the house, and wanted to build a small porch on the front of the house. So in terms of size it was a great lead. We spent the next hour or so going through the usual discussions, which went well, and knew that we were going to get this job as we were getting on so well. They were one of these customers where you could tell them that the pope would be popping round later and they would believe you. But we aren't a company to take advantage. My opinion of these people at first was that they were a nice couple, mothering me a bit but that was probably because I looked so young, and just a bit lonely. But that changed immediately when they brought out the homemade calendar! I'd not even turned 18 at this point and I was being shown pictures of a mid-50's woman, riddled with half a dozen debilitating diseases, dressed in Mrs Santa Claus outfits, in disturbingly suggestive positions! I've never felt so uncomfortable! Now I knew why they were ignored by most of their neighbours! You come across customers who feel compelled to tell you their life history, and these were prime examples. But they were also people who perhaps felt too comfortable around me and forgot their boundaries! I managed to leave at about 2:30pm, starving. Needless to say I got the job and a large conservatory about 9 months later.

About nine months into the job, I thought it would be interesting to find out how the competition operated, more specifically the details of their showroom. As I was relatively new, it was unlikely our competitors knew who I was, which meant I could go into showrooms posing as a nobody, without getting caught. Which is exactly what I did. Me and my girlfriend at the time went into two of our bigger competitors' showrooms in central Wakefield posing as a young couple shopping around for replacement windows for my sick parents who couldn't leave the house! It seemed to work. I was able to establish how their showrooms were set out, look at product spec, pick up literature and see how customers were dealt with as they entered the showroom. If I was to give my honest opinion, I wasn't too impressed. Customer service seemed lacking, layout was ok and there seemed to be a lack of buzz and energy about the places. We left unnoticed, still undercover, with my knowledge a little sharper.

The next year or so was the steepest in terms of my learning curve. The experience I gained from my first year I was able to apply to my next year as a salesman. It proved useful. I found myself being able to deal with more difficulty questions and customers easier. I found that my conversion rates were going up, the money I was earning became more significant and my confidence was more abundant than ever. Everything at this point was going smooth. My decision to come into this industry at 17 was proving fruitful, and I was enjoying it, which for me was the most important factor. This stayed that up until about late summer 2008.

August/September 2008 was the beginning of a long, arduous, stressful road, for us and the industry as a whole. For the first time I was having to realise that money would be harder to come by, leads would be harder to convert as more and more people were looking to reign in their spending. As a company we also had to make some crunch decisions. We decided to put a number of staff on reduced wages and reduced time. We have a great workforce and we didn't want to make anyone redundant. We also had to look at our overheads, and what we could afford to lose, we did. We had to. Everyone had to. Over the next few months the whole of the economy seemed to grind to a very abrupt halt and we had to get used to the reality that people weren't buying anything in all industries. What was particularly tough for me was trying to earn money. We are paid on a commission only basis, which breeds a great work ethic, but if tough times come around, life becomes hard. There was a period at the very back end of 2008 where I had not been paid in three weeks, and Christmas was a matter of days away. This was easily the toughest time of my short career so far.

We got through the winter, not easily, but we got through which meant we survived. The early spring of 2009 brought a very gradual recovery. But it was enough of a recovery to allow us to put our staff back on full time and full pay, with a small pay rise to boot. Personally, it meant I could stop worrying about my money situation and start to relax. Being worried to such an extent that I was definitely affected my work and the way I operated. Luckily for me I managed to secure the jobs of a few large scale installations during winter 2008 and early 2009, these managed to see me through the most difficult times.

In terms of weird customers, I've managed to stay clear of any other major embarrassing moment. One thing I can say thought is that I am extremely popular with the older generation. Again I'm assuming it's my young looks and my politeness which attribute to that!

This year has been a busy one for me. I started this blog in March 2009 and have stuck with it since. A lot seem to start blogs then let them fall by the wayside. I was determined not to be the same as others and wanted to get this one established, which I think I have...sort of! It's received more comments and page views as the months have gone by which has been pleasing. I also started to re-design the company website in the summer of this year. It was a long, tedious task, but got it finished about a month ago. Unfortunately, when it was uploaded, we hit quite a few snags. After looking into the problems, I very quickly realised a lot more work was yet to be done, work that I wasn't qualified to even think about doing. Two people on this blog told me to get a company in to do it, and in hindsight they were right, but I enjoyed the designing phase of it so it wasn't a huge loss.

In my near four years in this industry, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every minute of it. From the time I began at 17, to the over-friendly customers, of course the money earned during the better times. Strangely I've also enjoyed the tough times over the past 18 months. I'm a person who thrives on pressure and challenges, and the recession has been the biggest challenge I've ever experienced. After coming out of the other side, I feel more knowledgeable, more experienced and better prepared to take advantage for when the better times come back to our industry.

This is my last post of the year, and hopefully lots of you will continue to read my posts during 2010. I'll try to keep the content as useful and relevant as possible. Thanks to all that have read during 2009. Have a great New Year and a successful 2010.

Double Glazing Blogger.

My Next Big Post

I've spent three and a half years as a salesman in this industry, starting at the very tender age of 17. Now at 21, my next big blog post is going to be about my time spent in this industry so far. People who I've met, be it customers or competitors. I'll try and tell some half interesting stories! The post will represent my reflection on the industry, the highs I've had, and the lows too, it's going to be a personal affair.

At the same time, I may start to drip in details of who I actually I am. I've remained anonymous thus far, but I am undecided as to whether I reveal myself fully, partly or not at all. Giving myself away will give me an identity and image, remaining anonymous means I can remain impartial and unbiased. I would appreciate some feedback; it will probably make my mind up. There's only one person that I'm aware of that knows who I am at the moment.

Merry Christmas all!

It Wouldn't Be Christmas Without...

It wouldn't be Christmas in the double glazing industry without:

1. Customers prolonging paying so they can wait till after the New Year to clear their debts. Except this time we can charge the normal 17.5% VAT rate! Serves them right.

2. Fitters complaining about the weather. As you will not have failed to notice, this past week we have been in the grips of very icy, cold and snowy weather. Which gives the fitters the perfect excuse to duck and dive out of as much work as possible.

3. The same Xmas CD being played over and over again in the office and showroom.

4. Customers rushing in to try and get windows fit before Xmas, just a couple of weeks before we shut up for Xmas.

5. Very drunken office Xmas parties.

It's all very British in tradition, nowhere else does it like we do.

My Other Passion

While the double glazing industry remains quiet I want to talk about my other great interest in my life, and that’s music, more specifically metal music. Seeing Rage Against The Machine become Xmas No.1 for 2009 put a huge smile on my face. Rock/metal music doesn't get the deserved recognition or coverage in the mainstream avenues as it should, which is why this is such a huge moment for this genre of music. Managing to break the monopoly the X Factor has had for the last 4 years is a huge achievement. I think that this is also a clear sign that the power of the internet has taken a big leap forward in switching the balance of power over to the side of the web, as RATM's success was started by a couple starting a group on Facebook. It would be interesting to know if any of you out there bought either RATM's or Joe's single, or if any of you are metal fans like myself.

YouTuber's have very quickly been all over the chart battle and have made this video which amused me greatly, I'm easily pleased!



I propose this song to be Xmas 2010 No 1:



Do you think TOTP will play this? Rock music never looked so good!

While I was browsing YouTube, it also became clear that Hitler didn't like rock music too much either:



P.S. I know the videos aren't in full view on the screen, Ill sort those out in the morning!

Double Glazing Company In Leeds Goes Into Liquidation

I'm posting this purely on rumours, but the rumours are strong and can be backed up by other bits of evidence. It seems that (removed) are going, or are already in, liquidation. I found this out from the daughter of one of their customers in Scholes, Leeds, when she went to them for some repeat business.

This does make sense. They haven't been putting in their massive full page and double page spread advertisements in the local papers, in fact they have taken out all their advertisements from all advertising avenues, presumably to cut costs. We here though did question the logic of advertising so strongly and so wide spread, when the business wasn't enough to sustain or justify such effort. Their advertising bills must have been huge! Every week during the summer we would get the paper and as sure as eggs is eggs they would have their usual advert bang in the middle of both centre pages.

What didn't help them was losing one of their best salesmen to rivals Conservatory Outlet. We knew that was going to be a big blow, and we were aware of some of the large debts which they owed (presuming what we heard was true). One of the biggest nails in their assumed coffin however, remains the huge amount they seemed to spend on massive newspaper/Yellow Pages/Thompson Local etc advertising. While everyone wisely cut back on their advertising, they seemed to press ahead. This has helped to their purported downfall.

It is never nice to see a big company go under; one has to think of all the staff and installers that may be out of a job, or about to lose one, which is made worse by the fact that we are only one week away from Christmas.

We have noticed today however that there is a new Leeds based company called Rhino Windows, coincidence?

Everything Grinds To A Halt!

This country's inability to deal with a bit of snow is astounding! Canada, Russia and most of Europe must be laughing at us right now. 50-60 years ago we used to have dumps of snow measuring in the meters, not a couple of inches and we coped fine then! What’s gone wrong? We have become a nation of soft touches, reliant on so many home comforts. And when something a bit extreme comes along we all wither and complain! This is a bit hypocritical coming from me though, I do love the central heating, and the fact that I live only minutes from work, and have always had a car from the age of 17, so I guess I have no room to talk. But at least I don't take the weather situation for granted, like teachers!

Standard Europrofile Door Cylinders To Become Illegal

We all know the weaknesses that lie in a standard Europrofile cylinder, which is why we all use different versions of the cylinder to combat the various methods of attack from burglars. Well we have heard on the grapevine, and backed up by our lock suppliers, that Trading Standards is pushing through legislation to make it illegal to use a standard Europrofile door cylinder, for those that do fit insecure cylinders, it will become a sue-able offence.

This is great news to all those that have been using some form an anti-bump/pick/snap cylinder as it will force other companies to raise their prices by having to use the more secure cylinder type (although everyone should be using a mor secure cylinder anyway).

Further door security related news, we have been investigating a new form of door security which could render certain parts of traditional door locking functions pointless. I don't want to say much now as I don't want to give away any selling advantage to any competitors (namely RCG and WYW!). But if/when we start using it I'll let it be known how good it is. According to some it will be the next best thing. RCG better put out some moles!

Juicy Gossip!

I may have some juicy gossip regarding door security, plus a brand new product to enhance PVCu door security, I am now just pondering how much to let you all know about it!

How Long Should A Double Glazing Company Be Shut Over The Christmas Period?

As Christmas approaches, many of us will be thinking of a nice two weeks where we get to leave our jobs behind. But how many of us will really be taking a full two weeks off?

We officially finish for the year on the 18th December, but we will be open for the weekend, and for a few hours each day a couple of members of staff will open up the office and showroom to arrange any new appointments for the New Year. The days we will be completely closed will be Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve, New Years Day, then back to work officially on the 4th January.

Over the past few years we have found it very useful to be open for a few hours on these days as we have made quite a number of new appointments for the beginning of the year, meaning the salesmen have work to come back to and we all hit the ground running.

Where Did The Rest Of The Bloggers Go?

Am I right in thinking that this and the RCG blog are the only two full time blogs the double glazing industry has at the moment?

I am following two other blogs, both under the name of conservatoryblogger, but both have been inactive for weeks now. Blogs do take up a big chunk of time out of your day, so I can understand if those particular people lost interest or were too busy to dedicate time to their blogs. The same fate may also have fallen on the guy who has the doubleglazingguy blog.

I still maintain however that blogs are the best way for the double glazing industry to have a clear and open dialogue between others in our sector.

Company Bankruptcy Volatility

November's figures for the number of company insolvenices have been released on www.double-glazing-forum.com, and what is clear to see is that there is still volatile trading conditions within our market.

It think it will be safe to say that we will lose a good number of companies further into the winter period. What is also safe to say that the long term damage of the recession may cause more businesses to shut up shop further on in to 2010. I wouldn't go as far to say there could be a bloodbath over the winter, but it will be extremely difficult. Those companies who have not got back on their feet up to now, may never do so in the future.

And a note to RCG who will be leaving the double glazing community in the first quarter of next year, enjoy the new job! I guess somebody has to do the work! Well done for admirably volunteering your services to such an important part of the UK's economy!

Company Revenge

It'll be the last time that customer doesn't pay up in full on time...

Positive First Signs For 2010?

We had two sets of customers place their orders with us today. Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal but what surprised us is that both of them said that they weren't at all bothered about paying the higher VAT rate which comes into force from 1st January. Bear in mind also that these customers had originally been quoted in June, they both had plenty of time to place their order with the 15% VAT applied.

I think what this shows us is that when the VAT rate officially goes back up to 17.5%, just like when the VAT rate was lowered last year, it's not going to make the slightest bit of difference. This can allay any fears that a rise in VAT would cause damage to consumer confidence.

What is also good to see is that we are still doing decent levels of business despite the time of year. This months figures so far have shot way past last December’s which is great to see. It is important to sell a good handful of jobs in December to give the installation teams healthy levels of work to come back. There is no worse way to start the New Year than a spluttering one, scrapping to find the odd window here and door there to fit.

The World Cup In 2010 May Prove Helpful For The Double Glazing Industry

With the FIFA World Cup coming up in the summer of 2010, it might give our industry and extra boost. Why? Well, if/when England don't do as well as expected, we can count on the drunk football hooligans to pile out of the pubs and take out their frustrations on shop front and doors!

But of course, as an England fan, I'd like them to go all the way and spare my local damage to their windows!

The Wall Came Tumbling Down

Last night we had nice surprise from a drink driver who kindly drove into our wall by the side of or drive way into our show site, then ploughed into or next door neighbour's wall too. We are positioned on a bend, but not dangerously, and we do have plenty of signs up to alert people to our presence. But the driver, who was driving his dad's car, and was way over the limit, seemed to have ignored what was in front of him, panicked, then aqua-planed straight into our property and next door's property.

The police were called and arrested the male driver who immediately refused a breath test, and took him to hospital. Not the ideal way to spend a Saturday night! Luckily he had insurance.

I'll try and get pictures up as soon as I can.

Pent Up Excess Frustration

It is easy this time of year to feel stressed, energy-sapped and angry. I received this e-mail below last week, which reminded me, if I ever feel angry, cheated and hard done by, it is these group of people in which to direct all my negative energy at:

"I bet this makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!



This is unbelievable, but can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 600 employees and has the following employee statistics.

29 have been accused of spouse abuse


7 have been arrested for fraud


9 have been accused of writing bad cheques.


17 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses


3 have done time for assault


71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit


14 have been arrested on drug-related charges


8 have been arrested for shoplifting


21 are currently defendants in lawsuits


84 have been arrested for drink driving in the last year and collectively, this year alone, they have cost the British tax payer £92,993,748 in expenses!!!

Which organization is this?

It's the 635 members of the House of Commons, the same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us inline.

What a bunch of frauds we have running our country - it says it all... And just to top all that they probably have the best 'corporate' pension scheme in the country!!

If you agree that this is an appalling state of affairs, please pass it on to everyone you know!"

Merry Christmas!

Winter Positivity

While RCG is suffering from the winter blues, I'll try and be a bit more cheery!

While the industry goes into its hibernation period, now is the time to think about the year we have been through, and how well we seem to have coped as an industry.

The beginning of the year brought the most financially unstable period of economic crisis the country has seen in over 70 years, and certainly of my lifetime. Yet faced with this, whilst feeling the pressure and dealing with some seriously big concerns, we remained resilient as an industry, determined not to let the economic turmoil ruin what has been such a vibrant industry for the last 40+ years.

The spring delivered the first few fledgling signs of calm, not quite recovery, but signs that the worst might just be now behind us. And with that new found calm, customer confidence did the same. Lead levels started to rise, not as in previous years, but a rise none the less. Revenue levels started to rise and the double glazing industry started to splutter into life again. One reality through the late spring and early summer that became apparent was how big a hit our industry had taken via the huge rise in company bankruptcies. The numbers were the highest we had seen. Yet, they weren't as bad as some predicted. At the beginning of the year, many (including me) foresaw a blood bath, with some proclaiming that up to 4000 companies could go. In reality it wasn't that bad. I think we can owe that to the 'never give up' attitude a lot of us in this country have.

The summer and early autumn was when the industry really did start to find its legs. From my own personal experience we found that lead levels and sales volume started to gain serious momentum, and I think the same can be said for a good percentage of the rest of the industry. Again, I'm not saying that levels were as good as previous years, but bearing in mind the massive shock to the economic system, the vital signs were healthy.

The previous two months I think have been busier than usual for our industry. This could be caused by consumers saving their income throughout the year, and now deciding to carry out home improvements before the onset of Christmas, also knowing that the economic situation is much more stable now than at the same time last year.

I think we have a lot to be positive about. We've battled through the worst recession since the Great Depression, and come out stronger and wiser in my opinion. Most of the companies that were lost to the recession were hopefully a lot of the deadwood in out sector, meaning the rest of the profitable business out there can be taken advantage of by the more solid companies. And I think 2010 whilst being a year of change due to the Part L and F updates, the industry will continue to recover well. We should be proud of ourselves!

Keeping It Level

I've not looked on Google Trends for a while so decided to have a browse and see what the double glazing industry search patterns were like.

The blue line indicates 'double glazing', and has remained pretty much steady all the way through the year. There isn't the usual rollercoaster shape on the graph which regularly showed the big rise in summer and huge dip in winter. This is the same for 'conservatories' indicated by the red line, and 'home improvements' indicated by the yellow line.

Now we are at the end of the year it is easier to form a more accurate picture as to how the public has responded to the financial hardship. What stands out to me as a major positive is how there was no mass panic or dip in search number. Granted the volume is down on previous years, but the public could have really panicked and just stopped searching for home improvements altogether, but they didn't. Another big positive is, as the quieter months arrived i.e. September onwards, there was no big dip in the volume of searches. From beginning to end the public's searching behavior has been steady. This bodes well for the industry in the first three months of 2010. Providing there is no drastic change throughout December, if the steady momentum of the public can be carried into the beginning of next year, and not drop off like it usually does, the double glazing industry could look forward to a much more positive start to 2010 than 2009.