Spilt At Alpine Windows

Heard on the grape vine earlier this afternoon that there has been a spilt at the top at Alpine Windows. Seems one of the head salesmen, who was in partnership with the owner, has split (amicably or not I don't know) and taken office in one of the showrooms he used to run. It also seems he is trading under the same company name as the owner of the original Alpine windows.



One of them will have to change their names, but it won't be (nor should it be) the MD of the original Alpine.

Survival Of The Fittest

Looking in the various magazines, websites and getting feedback from others, the general consensus is that lead numbers are at roughly the same level as last year (if not a tad higher at some companies), but turnover is down.

It seems more often than ever before that customers are shopping around to find the cheapest prices and what they can get for their money, and quite right. Times are hard and belts are as tight as they'll go.

So the onus is now on each and every company to really sell the benefits of their products, to show them what their products do better than the other companies' down the road. For me, its energy rated windows, or more specifically 'A' rated windows. Our 'A' rated windows aren't much more expensive than a standard window, which gives me the great USP of: 'spend a little bit extra, save a whole lot more in the long run'.

It's things like this which ensure we maintain an excellent conversion rate. Even when customers come to us and say they aren't looking to spend a fortune, they often place orders with us knowing that even though we were probably a bit more expensive than the others, the product we are able to offer them is of a much higher quality and will lower their energy bills drastically in the years to come.

It's survival of the fittest at the moment, and it's how you sell the benefits of your product which is going to play a big part in whether a company survives or dies.

VAT Attack

Figures released today show that RPI measure of inflation for the UK has fallen to zilch percent. On top of that interest rates are practically at zero too. So with the price of living coming down, and all the government initiatives to try to get people spending again, I've failed to witness any marked increase in activity in the double glazing industry.

In my eyes, to really make a difference in this market place, the government needs to do what its done with things like the cavity wall and roof insulation markets, give us a 5% VAT rate on all energy rated windows. The 2.5% decrease in VAT last December did nothing to spark the sending spree the government wanted, neither did it spark any sort of spending spree for windows and doors. Energy saving windows is the sole direction this market is going to follow, a 5% VAT rate on all energy saving products would not only help the general public in being able to afford these brilliant innovations, but it would give those companies who are selling energy rated products a huge selling point.

For those who aren't yet geared up for selling and installing energy rated windows, a 5% VAT rate may be the final push they needed to start to incorporate WER products into their portfolio. There's an advantage for the government here too. The more companies that install energy rated products, the closer they are to achieving their carbon emission targets!

So its frustrating as well perplexing as to why we as an industry have been ignored. Just like the Fighting Back With Facts campaign, perhaps we need to create an industry wide effort to get our voices heard.

Fighting Back With Facts

Fighting Back With Facts is something that has been organised by Martin Randall, director of manufacturing company Crystal Direct. He has spearheaded the campaign to unite the PVC-U industry in fighting back against the myths and prejudices that surround the PVC-U double glazing industry. We have recently registered our company on his website www.fightingbackwithfacts.co.uk to show our support, were not the biggest company in the world, but we see it as vital that every PVC-U company, whether big or small, installer or manufacturer, register with this campaign to fight the PVC-U corner, especially with times as challenging as they are.

Tactics

I stumbled on another double glazing blog the other day, abbreviated its called RCG. They managed to get hold of another companies quote, the company is called B & P Windows. I'm unaware if B & P know if RCG has a copy of their quote they gave to this particular customer.


A comment was left on RCG's post, explaining that you can't energy rate a conservatory, therefore making an 'energy rated conservatory' impossible, implying B & P Windows has misled the customer.


I failed to find any mention on the quote of energy rated conservatories. Which brings me on to why I'm writing. The tactic of using other companies' quotes, picking them apart to try and get one up on the competition, in my eyes shows a lack of quality on the other company. Shouldn't companies try and focus on their own quotes and paperwork, rather than pick apart others?


I don't think much gain will have been had by RCG, if the extract he posted included something which said 'energy rated conservatories', then maybe he would have a had point.


Companies should stick to focusing on their own interests, and not to bother too much with what others are doing.


Must say though, B & P Windows must be an annoyance to RCG, because B & P Windows is mentioned twice on his blog now, they must be a stubborn thorn!

Offers All Wrapped Up In T's & C's

Something came through the post today which i found quite...well if i were a customer I'd think 'whats the point'?

Everest sent a mailshot to where I live, with a flimsy small brochure and a two page cover letter. And it was at the bottom of the second page which left me a bit...well unimpressed to say the least. The letter makes a point to tell the potential customer that they are valid for 'at least' a 35% discount if they were to buy. It goes on to say that there is no hard sell, but then straight away goes on to confirm that this 35% discount applies if you buy immediately, so straight away pressure on the customer. At the bottom of the letter, plenty of fine print. Read on and i found that to qualify for this discount (which is probably added on anyway!) the customer has to place an order of over two grand, is dependent on the product you pick (which probably means the products with the highest profit margins!), have to buy immediately, which most customers don't want to do, and the discount can't be used with any other offers.

Oh and you've got to pay through their finance system, so diddling the customer with high interest payments.

So it got me thinking, for all the effort they make to say that 'hard sell' isn't used, any customer who spent just a few minutes working out how they would qualify for this discount, would realize that it is in fact, a 'hard sell', not a directly vocal hard sell, but one which would bind the customer in the home to make a buying decision, one which they probably would not have liked to make in that manner.

The company I work for has always worked on the premise that we give the customer the keenest price in the first place, no fake discounts by adding then taking away money, just the best price, in writing, definitely no hard sell, then the balls in the customer's court. Honesty being the best policy in my opinion!

Customer's Quote Drought

This is my first post!


What we've found happening quite a lot recently, especially with the bigger companies, is that the salesmen will only give quotes if the customer is prepared to buy right there and then.


"They wouldn't even give me anything in writing" is a quote we hear too often. So immediately a 'can't be bothered' attitude is conveyed straight to the customer. Maybe if the customer doesn't seem like a buyer straight away, surely if something in is sent to them in writing, the salesman (or the company) has at least a slightly better chance of them placing an order. Every little helps in times like this eh?!