Google Wave

Now this sounds a bit interesting. Real time communications, real time photo exchange and file exchange. For the larger businesses, they could use this as their new internal messaging service, no reason not to if it speeds everything up.

This could also open up the doors wider to the idea of or industry being more communicative with each other. It certainly would make it easier.

Artificial Glass Shortages, More Price Increases?

Well, as if we didn't need any more hindrance from Pilkington's massively unjustified price increases; there are now rumors that they are to shut down a number of plants across Europe. In doing so creating a shortage, and allowing them to artificially raise prices further. And remember, whatever Pilkington do, the rest copy. This came to light after reading page 2 of 'The Installer' this morning.

We have to walk away! The industry has to speak up in one massive collective voice and say f*** you. Enough is enough, when are we all going to get together properly and start to look at alternative glass suppliers.

If we were all to walk away, Pilkington would lose one of their biggest and best markets. There is not a single reason to explain why shutting down some of their plants would be justified, and surely this cannot be legal!

GAP and Rockdoor have done it, they are sourcing their glass from the Far-East, I know that out-sourcing glass from the Far-East would not do our economy much good, but I don't think it would be a long term arrangement, plus it would be more harmful to the economy to stay with Pilkington as more businesses would become insolvent, more companies I think could be saved by sourcing cheaper glass from the Far-East temporarily. If we all said 'see 'ya' to Pilkington for a while, it might change the approach the glass cartel has towards our end of the industry.

Next Year In Three Words

Let’s have some suggestions on how we think next year is going to pan out in our industry. Here are mine:


1. Opportunities
2. Challenging
3. Exhaustive

There are definitely going to be more opportunities for business out there next year, even with a fragile recovery there are going better trading conditions, especially compared to the beginning of the year.

There are also going to be challenges to overcome. The new Document L regulations are going to be one of the main ones; it could cause a rise in company insolvencies at the start of the year.

Next year is still going to be exhaustive. Getting the business in is still going to be hard work. Even if we do start to recover, consumer confidence in our sector is still nowhere near what it was years ago, so the extra effort required this year will be needed again next year.

Insensitivity

Customer's never fail to amaze me with their lack of understanding.


After installing a top of the range conservatory, which the customers were over the moon with, it was just the blinds that were left to measure and install. Unfortunately, the guy who takes care of that had an urgent family emergency over in Canada, so had to catch the next available flight to be with his family. So understandably the blinds could not be arranged. But when it came to explaining this to the customers, this simply was not good enough. They were appalled that he had to leave for two weeks; they were dismayed that they weren't going to get their blinds and thought that we weren't going to do the job and just disappear.

Now is it me, but when a family member is living his last days, this should be the primary concern. But please tell me if I’m wrong!

Support For One Man Bands?

About a half hour ago, I rang up a customer I expected to hear from a while ago to see where we stood as regards to the quote we submitted to her. To my astonishment, her main reason for not going ahead with us is that she wanted to support a one man band! Now I can sort of see her point of view about wanting to support the local companies, but we aren't massive!


It's not really frustrated me, more surprised me. In times like these, I'd have thought consumers would have wanted to go for the safer option, going for companies with long histories, good reputations, safe guarantees etc. So for me to hear this was quite a surprise. This though I think is a one off, in fact this is the first time I've been told a customer would rather support a one man band than an established company! But each to their own...

Advertising

We received the latest edition of the Wakefield and Leeds Yellow Pages last week and we were astounded how depleted the 'Double Glazing Installers' section has become. The recession has really hit the advertising budgets for double glazing companies hard. The question that then springs to mind is how many of these companies not advertising have gone bust? For those still in business this is all good news. The less there are advertising, the more leads are going to go their way, less choice means more business for the few that remain.


When the economy starts to recover properly, those left in our industry are going to make a killing. I think this time round though, we are not going to see the saturation of our market place like in the past, this owing to the fact that banks are now very selective on who they give loans to now.

Yet More Crap From English Heritage

Good old English Heritage has released yet another of their wonderful reports into how PVCu is destroying the fabric of English housing.


Their latest report, included in the latest Glass and Glazing magazine, goes on to explain that installing PVCu to replace old timber windows does not offer 'a dramatic boost in performance'. I'm sorry English Heritage, but you lot, as well as us in the PVCu industry both know how prone to draughts timber is. It's a cold material, especially the older timber, and the glass in original timber frames and new timber frames being installed now isn't too great either, so in terms of energy efficiency it's poor. PVCu can boast the best A+ energy efficient ratings, using well insulated and reinforced frames and sealed unit technology wood frames cannot utilize properly. Now I would say that would offer quite a difference in performance!

The report's next major flaw is how it explains PVCu will 'detract from the charm and character of the property and its surroundings'. What English Heritage are still doing, is focusing on the poor PVCu windows and doors that were installed in the 80's and 90's. Since then, PVCu has come such a long way to improving the aesthetics and the authenticity of the product. The new PVCu sliding sash windows we install to homes look just like the original timber ones we take out, and that’s not us saying that because we install them, that’s the feedback we get from our customers. As with any home, with any material, if you choose the wrong style of window, be it made of timber or PVCu, it can ruin the charm of any home, any material is liable to that problem.


Next they complain about PVCu not being a sustainable material. Well timber isn't exactly friendly to the earth. You've still got to fell trees that have been growing for decades, they don't grow back quickly you know! Also, PVCu is completely recyclable and can be done so an infinite number of times. When timber is shot and cannot be repaired, what happens? It get's chucked. Timber doesn't have a recycling life span like PVCu does! Their next point within this gripe is how PVCu is a strain on oil supplies, something which eventually will run out. Now there's no denying oil will run out, but PVCu windows and doors don't necessarily have to be made from oil. If some of you ignorant English Heritage representatives come across this blog, visit this page: www.fightingbackwithfacts.com/facts_and_fibs/. On it you fill find that 43% of PVCu is produced from ethylene, something which can be produced from renewable vegetable oil crops, with a tiny carbon footprint. See, not so dependable on oil!


Then there's the impact on the environment which they are all worried about. Again, referring back to www.fightingbackwithfacts.com/facts_and_fibs/, a PVC manufacturing plant would have to operate for 30,000 years to produce the same amount of harmful emissions during one bonfire night. Now I would say that there are more harmful factories out there than one that produces PVC.


English Heritage has to also realize that if PVCu was available at the time when these original timber frames were installed, builders would have always used PVCu. It's easier to maintain, easier to install, customers will always prefer something that doesn't need so much maintenance, and they are much more energy efficient than timber windows will ever be. And now with the introduction of dozens of different colours and wood grained effects, customers now have the double advantage of maintenance free PVCu with authentic timber effects.


What we have here is a case of a bunch of old men and the last of the traditional joiners, do-gooders probably, who still remember the day when you could still get good quality timber frames, installed by a good quality joiner. Times have now changed beyond the point of return. As with everything, evolution takes place and older materials and methods fall by the wayside. It's time to stop seeing everything with timber tinted spectacles English Heritage, and realize that with the many improvements PVCu has gone through, it is now the ideal material choice for all home owners. And a word of caution, the PVCu industry will not take much more of your biased, narrow minded crap!

Quarter Of Companies Trading At A Loss

Just when you think the double glazing industry is getting back on its feet, Plimsoll wades in to bring us all back down to earth.

Their latest report suggests that a quarter of fenestration companies are trading at a loss.

For some, this will be their first year in which they have made a loss, so blaming the tough trading conditions is a valid excuse. But for some companies, this will be their second, third or even fourth year trading at a loss, so to blame the downturn in the economy will just be their excuse for not adapting to changing market conditions like other, better run firms have. You have to cut your cloth according to the market, for those companies who have been reluctant to cut costs, make redundancies and stream line the business in general, they are now suffering the consequences of poor business management.

For those who have made a loss for the first time this year, this might be the only occasion in which they make a loss. There has been a surge in business over the last two months or so, market conditions have certainly become a lot better. So we may find that this time next year, Plimsoll will give us something to read which is a bit easier on the eye.

Industry Rivalries

Everyone likes a good scrap, there's nothing like a bit of rivalry to get people's blood pumping. Adrian Brittain and Ian Longbottom know about that!


Any suggestions then for the top 5 company rivalries in our industry, local or national.

Dodgy Rooflines

There is always one thing that gets me gears grinding, and that’s the white van men fitting soffits and fascias. What’s extremely frustrating is that the many of the reputable companies out there are losing so many jobs because of them. The reason? Scaffolding. I've never seen one single tower used when I've seen an installation carried out by a white van man. For the larger companies, or the companies who care about health and safety and want to remain in business, we have to price for scaffolding, which, depending on the size of the house could be upwards of £1000. So when the customer has two quotes, one of which is significantly cheaper, but from a guy who he/she probably won't ever see again the minute something goes wrong, price will always win in the end.

This isn't then helped by the rising number of 'travelers' deciding it's a good idea to enter this trade. Just like the men in white un-marked vans, they'll supply a dirt cheap price, not give a thought to the health and safety laws or scaffolding requirements, and so force out all the reputable companies giving quotes to the same customer. I don't know why we all don't do anything about it. We should all be shopping these cowboys. These are the people who drag our name through the mud and steal valuable business from those companies who price through the normal channels and carry out work according the latest rules and health and safety regulations.

September 15th

Today is the 1 year anniversary of a very significant date. A year ago today, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, the catalyst which sparked the worst financial collapse and global recession for 70 years. This will be a date that will live in the memory of every man, woman and child that is alive right now.


As with every sort of disaster, lessons have to be learned in order to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again. For the financial sector, it has to learn how to manage its balance sheets better, lend to viable businesses which have a real chance of making something of themselves. It has to learn that the bonus culture, which unfortunately is still alive and well, will only serve to wind up the public against the banking sector. It has to learn to lend to small businesses and make it easier, small businesses make tens and tens of billions for the economy. Start to do that and the jobs sector will improve also.


Specifically for the double glazing industry, we also have lessons to learn. We have to learn not to under-cut, it's the profit companies make on jobs that keep them afloat during the leaner times. We have to remember that customer service is the absolute priority, still some companies neglect this vital area of business practice, for some, the neglect of customer service is the main reason why some companies go bust. But the main point we have to remember and learn is how to get through this again. There will come a time when there is another severe recession or financial collapse, and when there is, we have to know and put into practice all the effort, all the initiatives, all the forward and innovative thinking that has kept so many of us in business through-out this destructive time in our economy.

Reduction In Double Glazing Company Bankruptcies

Some better news for the double glazing industry came out of www.double-glazing-forum.com recently, with their August tally showing the least number of company insolvencies since April 2009 on their records at 187. It's clear to me that our industry is now on the road to recovery. I still think it could be a slow and steady one, but you never know with this economy and the British people, it might come quicker than most of us imagine.

I also found this article on the same website which refers to the selling tactics of Everest, something which I moaned about in my last post; www.double-glazing-forum.com/topics.aspx?ID=21. It makes an interesting read, but this is the part which struck a chord with me:

"The quoting process from these guys is a nightmare, that's the first thing one notices. Everything else gets sold at a standardised price; I couldn't bare the snake skin oil salesman tactics of 'knocking off' thousands from a price which was clearly overly inflated. "

I wonder if soon that due to customers becoming more educated about how salesmen work (well some of them) this sales technique will dribble away into old 'How to Sell' method books.

P.S. If the link doesn't work let me know, otherwise is not too hard to find on the website itself.

Fit The Best, Ever...?

Last Thursday I gained the order of a young couple who as well as ourselves had Everest in to quote them. Now as I've already written about before, we don't operate by giving false discounts or 'deals', Everest on the other hand do. But their take on this tactic seems to be the most extreme compared to others. My quote for the work involved came in at just over £3100, which later went up when the customers decided to change the specification, finally coming to just under £3900. Everest on the other hand (and this is from the customer's mouth) started at £12,000! This quickly came down to £5500, but only if they signed right there and then, and that’s without the extras they picked with me!

Customers are not daft! Customers were not born yesterday! They are fully aware of the tactics played, especially when they are as extreme as this. The customer later told us that they could see our product was better than theirs, but also that the rep from Everest could not explain why their product would benefit them more than ours.

I find it astounding that this company continues to operate the same OTT techniques in times as trying as these. Pushy salesmen, aggressive sales tactics and ridiculous faked discounts will not work anymore; this is a different climate, requiring a different approach, especially to those of the younger generation genuinely looking to pay a reasonable amount of money for excellent service and product.

The Last Upgrade

Again my over active brain has been looking into the future, and if you ask me, our industry looks set to explode into life in the next few years. Here's why I think why:

1. The focus on energy efficiency is only going to be come stronger, and more recognised, in all areas of our life. Take cars for example, any new car that is now being produced is being made with energy saving and carbon cutting measures in mind. The more educated the public become about energy efficiency, and how double glazing can add to significant reductions on carbon emissions in the home and save the customer money, demand will surely only go sky high. But it won't be just be restricted to old tattered wood windows, it will open up a whole new replacement market, encompassing 2nd or 3rd generation replacement PVCu or aluminium installations. This is a massive business opportunity.

2. Our time will come. There has been such a big focus on grants for cavity wall insulation, new boilers and loft insulation, the end result will be that the last thing left for householders to replace or upgrade in their home will be the windows and doors. Once all the above is out of the public's system, double glazing companies may see a rise in inquiries.

3. The winter will cease to become the worst months of the year, well in my opinion! The focus on energy efficiency and warmth, may just galvanise the minds of some consumers to 'feel the benefit' and replace their existing windows during the winter.

This, coupled with an economic recovery which I think will be more robust than others think, will give a significant boost to our industry. It's up to us to take the bull by the horns and properly take advantage of it.

Robert Peston

Anyone read the BBC's Robert Peston's Blog? It's pretty good, but his knowledge of business of all types and his ability to foresee which road the economy is going to be headed is what impresses me most.

It got me to wondering, do we have a Robert Peston like character within the double glazing industry. Do we have someone with such an impressive ability to not only analyse and predict the future of our industry to aid us, but to impart his/her wisdom on all those willing to listen.

Just like Robert Peston's blog, he/she could create a similar blog, one that all those in the industry could read and take note. Perhaps then, we would have a true figurehead for our industry, one that could help unite our little section of the British economy.

Level Trend

It's been a while since I last looked on Google Trends to see how the double glazing industry was faring up in terms of searches. The results for 'PVC windows' in the UK in the last 12 months:

It plain to see that there wasn't the usual spike in the number of searches in the middle of the year as we have come to expect. From my perspective, the graph perfectly illustrates the type of fluctuating year it has been. Since the beginning of 2009 we have had a constant see-saw effect, where we have had a couple of solid weeks, followed by a couple of quieter weeks, followed then again by a more busy period, as the graph indicates. And this trend has continued on up to present. If you were to look on the year as a whole so far, the search results, and probably business in general has been steady, nothing dramatic like the usual spike in the summer then dive during the winter. To be honest, I think the usual routine for our industry won't return for at least a couple of years, if not longer, due to the disruption of the economic balance. If we were to look at the trends in exactly one years time, I can see the graph above, and business in general being exactly the same.

Google Analytics, And A Bit Of A Moan

A feature which I find hugely useful is Google Analytics. Simply copy their tracking code into either your blog or website, and it will automatically track the number of visits per day, where the visitors are in the world, how long they spend on your blog or website, how many are new visits, where visitors are finding your blog or website etc.

What it also lets you do is set goals, so you can improve things like visitor numbers or time spent on the site.

Whats strange is that I have 3 followers from Washington State, USA. Though I think they may have stumbled on my blog accidentally, as I think my 1 visitor from the Philippines, 2 from Belgium, 1 from the Netherlands, the 1 from Australia and the 1 from Sweden may have done!

Of course today was the day the glass cartel decided to inflate their prices once again, I'm intrigued to see whether the manufacturers pass on the price hike this time. We escaped last time, not receiving any sort of increase, whether that was the same for other companies I don't know. But with most types of glass now up 50%, it's hard to see manufacturers taking such a large increase on the chin.

Not wanting to sound too negative in this post, but I'm already envisaging another hurdle for our industry to tackle, and that will be the return to higher VAT at the beginning of the 2010. Personally, I don't think that VAT will go back to 17.5%, it will go higher, possibly to 18 or 20%. If it does go as high as 20%, I can see our industry losing any ground it may make up in the economic recovery for possible the first 6 months of 2010. But that is worst case scenario of course! The positive side to me thinks that we will weather that little storm quite well. Oh, and then there's the changes to document L...

Orangeries

Orangeries have been available on the market for well over a year now, but we have seen very little in the way of demand for this new luxury item.

No doubt that it is an excellent new collection to the home improvements market, and a definite step up from conservatories on the evolutionary ladder. But I think it arrived at completely the wrong time. Unfortunately, the deepest recession in 70 years made more of an impact than the availability of orangeries did. The nation suddenly stopped spending money, on everything, so a brand new orangery was never going to be on their list of things to buy.

But now with a recovery (albeit a slow and nervous steady one) on it's way, consumers might start thinking more adventurously, bringing orangeries back into the game! And if so, bi-folding door sales will go up with it.

Polls

Polls on blogs are of absolutely no use whatsoever!


They don't sort out any issues, the questions are usually so trivial no one gives a rats arse, so nobody bothers to lift their forefinger to click once. So there will be no polls on my blog in the future!

Phew, that feels a bit better.

End of a good week, hopefully a good, productive weekend ahead.

Then Monday 7th Sept, the cartel due to twist the knife ever deeper! I'm sure I'll have something to say about that come Monday!

Not PVCu, But Glazing Non The Less

Found this on the glass times website, unitised curtain walling at it's best if you ask me:

Now sadly this isn't a UK project, it's actually been constructed in Doha, Qatar. But I challenge architects in this country to be a bit more creative and original. Though planning would probably put an immediate stop to anything like this over here!

www.glasstimes.co.uk has more specifics on this 200m gem.

Blogs 2

Well this isn't really about blogs, but an expanded idea based around blogs.

If you have read the comments posted on my last 'Blogs' post, you'll see that myself and the owner of Conservatory Blog have been pondering the idea of a twitter group or network, instead of a network of blogs. In hindsight, although blogs are great for wanting to publish ideas and longer articles, time is a factor in two respects. The first would be the time directors or managers of companies would have to take to work on their blog, reply to comments or messages etc, it's not realistic or feasible to think this is possible. Second is the time it would take for messages to be replied to, messages to be sent, feedback would be slow, so companies using blogs to get instant feedback would be disappointed.

This is where Conservatory Blog stepped in with the idea of a twitter group. Everybody can follow everybody else, replies and messages are far quicker, instant messages can be sent to specific followers. And then there's the TweetDeck. This is an application stored on a desktop which allows tweets to be posted without having to go to twitter.com every time you wish to post something. Plus you are still able to see what others are tweeting about, send messages and store the more important tweets and messages. If every company director or manager had TweetDeck installed, once they've learned how to use it, it becomes a fast, easy to use application, thus allowing an industry-wide twitter group to be formed easily and quickly.

But there will still be a need for blogs, the idea behind the industry communicating as a whole is to share, create and develop new ideas, solve problems or discuss any other important issues. With Twitter having a character cap of just 140, not much in-depth discussion is going to take place.

Here's the possible scenario: if this were to work, I believe blogs and Twitter would have to run aside each other. Twitter would be the breeding ground for new ideas, innovations, inside information, FAQ's etc. But blogs would then play their role to host the larger, wider, more in-depth discussion to build on those ideas, innovations, information and to answer those FAQ's.

An idea came to mind before I started to type this. If either myself, Conservatory Blog, or both, were to compose an email to be sent to as many company directors/managers, explaining our idea and vision, opening their eyes to the advantages and the many positives for their company and industry, could we start something revolutionary?

New Website 2

I said in July that I would keep all that are interested up to date in how our new company website is coming along. In the last month, I've done absolutely...nothing! In the past 4-6 weeks I've not been able to snatch half an hour just to look over what I've done I've been that busy. Which is a good thing so I shouldn't been complaining right?!

I've had to give up the late nights, staying up till 1-1:30am wasn't doing my body or my selling any good at all so have stuck to trying to sneak the odd hour here and there to try and make progress, but a period heightened customer activity has prevented me from doing that, which is always nice.

Something else which was nice to hear about a couple of weeks ago was the Government's new initiative to penalise (motivate) people in to buying double glazing if their home doesn't already have it, with the incentive to lowering their council tax band. Those who don't make the effort to make their home more energy efficient will face a higher council tax band. This will work swimmingly for the double glazing industry provided that the Government allows all double glazing companies, big and small a cut of the action, and doesn't just single out the largest installers who can do it for the cheapest amount, spread the wealth Mr Brown, it will be greatly appreciated.

For those wanting to know exactly how large the toll has been on our industry, visit:http://www.double-glazing-forum.com/bankrupt-double-glazing-companies.aspx?M=7&Y=2009. The total number of companies that have gone bankrupt from April to July this year stands at 991. Those are just the ones they know about. Their records do go back further so if your really interested (or sad and boring) you can see how many other companies have gone to the knife from the beginning of this year.