How Not To Install Fascias

I don't think these two pictures need much explaining, so I'll leave it to you lot to add the comments!

Idiotic Business Practise!

There's one thing that is really bugging me at the minute, and that is short-selling. I know I have talked about this before, but I'm utterly bewildered by the fact that companies are still doing this in a time when profits absolutely MUST be made!


We've had a company quote for a house full of windows £1k+ less than us! When we've worked it out, if we were to match that price we would be making a loss on that job. And this isn't the first case of such a thing happening. My theory is that this particular company know when they are up against us, so they feel they have to sweep the job in order to win the business, as they know we're more likely to win the order. The problem is there that in Wakefield, we come up against each other quite a lot. So God knows how much they will have lost.


Other companies are guilty of this idiotic business practise too. What I can't fathom is how these companies think they are going to manage years down the line when they have to honour their guarantees? That why businesses make profit, to stay in business to serve their customers in the future.


The squeeze on public finances mean it's going to get tougher to win orders over the next few years. What is the point of signing up business if you're not going to make any profit?! Some of you reading this may be guilty of this sort of selling. So would anyone be able to explain to me how selling like this on a regular basis, seemingly not making profits on contracts, is good business practise, and how you expect to still be here in the next 5 years?


I personally would rather lose a contract then sign one up for no profit or commission. I'm not working for free, especially in times where customers are being ever more cautious about spending their money.

Kamikaze Trading

I read a brilliant article in the latest GGP Magazine about what Danny Williams calls 'Kamikaze trading'. He explains the frustration and stupidity of sub-selling very well:


The double glazing industry is not sophisticated. In fact, that is one of its charms. It is, in many ways, an 'Essex' industry, full of characters who, like me it must be said, have made their relative fortunes based upon the purest of human instincts - a desire for beautiful women, expensive cars, Rolex watches, big foreign homes and an insatiable need for cash to fund them all.


All joking aside (!) whilst the industry may have had its fair share of fast-buck cowboys in its heyday, what is left are people whom, I sincerely believe are in the main, serious about their business and who want to do well in an ever tougher market. No one is in it for the quick cash these days, because there ain't no such thing anymore.


What remains however, is a tendency to slash prices at the merest sign of resistance from a potential buyer, if indeed any attempt was made to offer a reasonable and well calculated price in the first place. It happens at all levels, not just the one man band, sticking in a house full a week to pay the mortgage, feed the family and buy his Friday night beer. The hackneyed 80% off for a decision now close remains of course, a bastion of the big national retailers who also appear to be unable to drag themselves out of the 'Seventies rut that passes for sales 'technique'.


The upshot is that with prices remaining at an all time low in the present market, the number of companies at every level of the market making any sort of money is now also at its lowest. With each recession or even the merest market dip, those happy to sub-sell even in those rare times when home owner are happy to splash their cash, are succeeding in eroding prices to the point at which wholesale bankruptcies are inevitable. According to some figures I saw recently, more than 2000 double glazing companies went pop last year, a figure that would warm my heart usually on the basis that most of them were cowboys. But we know that most of them re-emerged the next day under a different moniker to carry on just as before. it's like Groundhog day.


I know I am repeating what many before me have uttered and I am preaching to the converted; but the editor invited me to offer my opinions and so I will do just that. We just don't seem to learn, as an industry, with sub-selling rife at all levels. The fundamental principles of cost and margin calculations are ignored, with an eye only on getting the sale at any cost. Most white van man operations will know simple what their trade supplier is quoting and they will stick a few hundred quid on the price, often not enough to cover their basic overheads. I expect it will always be that way at that level.


What worries me however, is that so many window fabricators are also supporting this downward spiral of slashing costs without doing the most basic maths. I run a lean operation, buy well and constantly examine costs. So how can so many window makers sell at prices that barely cover the component and labour content of their products? It's like sailing towards an iceberg in the fog because they didn't buy a radar.


The key word in the fight against sub-selling is 'value', the mental estimation a consumer makes of the product or service they are considering. Make the buyer believe that they are receiving far more for their money than from any other supplier and the sale will be made. This is also supported by better products, service and support, with communication of all of those factors a key to it all - communicate to the customer through superb brochures, a website and direct communications and the rest will drop into place. Just don't give it away!


I know that I am voicing a complaint that has become perennial, one that is reeled out every time there is a dip in the market. The biggest offenders will bite the dust and, you may say, good riddance to them. But the damage that they wreak throughout is irreparable. Prices - and therefore margins - will never recover as a new line is drawn in the sand. Our principle suppliers must accept their part - their responsibilities in this, by refusing to re-supply the repeat offenders, the serial phoenixers and by intelligently supporting those manufacturers that strive to maintain and improve standards - and margins.


Only then will we be able to re-invest in the wider economy with the lavish spending that otherwise would be the other typifying characteristic of double glazing man; or at the very least, allows us to run businesses on a sound, intelligent footing.


Danny Williams describes this inherent problem perfectly. There is nothing worse than losing a job to another company which has so blatantly sub-sold the contract. We come up against it every week. But we do as Danny Williams described; promote our products and services to the point where the customer knows what were are providing is far better than others, and then back this up with clear communication and provide good literature and a good website. We win most orders, even though other companies so obviously under-cut. It is however still very frustrating when we lose one to a company which sub-sells and damages their own business in doing so.


I now want to pose a challenge: if anyone is reading this and knowingly sub-sells, I urge you to respond to this post to defend what you do and justify it. There is obviously a reason as to why companies do this, and we would like to hear why you think this is good business sense.


You can find this article on page 74 of the latest GGP Magazine.

Death Threat Sales Calls

This story on the BBC News website really isn't going to do our industry any favours at all:

Elderly people in Leicestershire are being warned after reports of residents being threatened by a company claiming to sell double glazing.

The county council said it had received 12 complaints about a company claiming to be called Bowater.

Trading standards said some people were threatened with fines, "green taxes" and even a death threat.

Officials want to know if anyone else has received any such calls and urged people to be on their guard.

Continue reading the main story

David Bull, head of Leicestershire County Council's trading standards, said: "It is sickening that older people are being threatened with fictitious taxes or fines, the loss of benefits or even death.

"We are very concerned that this firm is deliberately targeting older people and we would urge people and their relatives to report all cases to us via Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.

"Reputable companies do not pressurise or threaten people."

'Very threatening'

The council said in cases reported so far, callers phoned older people and told them they qualified for a government grant to have their windows replaced.

When the resident said they were not interested, they were told their phone call was being recorded and they would be reported to their district council.

The caller then threatened the resident with a fictitious "green tax" and the cancellation of their single occupancy council tax reduction.

In one case, a resident was threatened with a £1,000 fine if they did not complete a survey of older people in the area.

On another occasion, the caller said the resident would be killed.

Paul Shipman, 68, from Broughton Astley, said: "The salesman started out saying that there were new British standards and I needed new windows but when I showed no interest, he threatened me with a green tax.

"When that didn't work, he threatened to put my head in a vice and watch me bleed to death.

"He was very threatening - in the end, he said he'd come round and kill me."

The Glass and Glazing Federation said it was not aware of any current company called Bowater, adding there was a firm with that name several years ago, but they were taken over and had not used the name since.

This story comes straight after Safestyle UK was fined £22,000 after harassing a couple with cold callers over the space of four years.


I don't know how we are going to do it, but we really do need to force out of our industry. People are going to be less inclined to have work done if they think that this is the sort of treatment they are going to get from us all.


UPDATE: 20:40pm
Sutton Coldfield based Bowater Building Products Ltd wished to disassociate itself with the above story. They deal in trade-to-trade business only and never deals with the general public. They wish to say that the malicious use of their name has nothing to do with them. They have also been made aware that the police are looking into these matters. 


Care should be taken when reporting on this story.
(Hence this disclaimer!).

How Far Would You Go?

I sat a lead yesterday where I was up against Safestyle UK. Pretty standard stuff, but the tactics their sales woman used were astounding.

She did the usual stubborn, don't want to leave your home without an order act. But then told the customers that she would drive around locally and then come back later on to see if they made a decision. Upon telling her that they were seeing another company after her, she asked if she could sit in and watch the other company's sales pitch to see if they were 'talking rubbish'! The cheek! Actually asking to stay in a house your not welcome in to watch another company!

I was the third company they saw that day. During the time I was there she rang the customers twice, first to see if they had gone ahead with me yet, then secondly to say that she would wait in her car outside, wait for me to leave then come back in to drop the price yet again and see if they would make a decision then.

So, later that evening I dropped the quote back off in writing later on that day, and the customer then told me she was there another two hours, asked if she could stay there while the customer picked her child up from school, and proceeded to make the customer late for work! She also said she shouldn't go ahead with us because we didn't bring a sample window out and that they could be buying anything! The customer then informed her that I invited them both to our brilliant showroom!

At what point do companies think that this harassment is the right way to go about dealing with people? They've said they would never go with them, based purely on how she conducted herself, and the utter rubbish she was coming out with about the competition.

Despite this, I do like selling against the national companies, their hard sell and harassing tactics make it very easy for those who take the more laid back approach and don't make customers feel imprisoned in their own homes.

If there are any sales people who work for the national companies reading this and wish to defend their corner, I'd love to hear what you think of this and what should change. Or if you think this practise is acceptable.


Oh, and to top it all off, they offered them an 'E' rated window, something which has been illegal for four months!

Silly Prices!

I've just returned from York where I was quoting a customer for a single door, and we were up against Everest. Now guess where they started their price at for a single door, in white PVCu? £3300!


Where do they get their prices from?! It might have had something to do with the area where they lived; Long Marston, it looked a very nice, well off area. But this still shouldn't have an effect on the prices companies quote people. They then dropped the price several times and continue to ring her asking for her business. 


I came in at less than £1k, for a black on white composite door. Including extra fuel money for me and the fitters. They also had Anglian out, they didn't tell me how much but from what they said it was a crazy high price as well.


When companies do their business in this way, how do they stay in business for as long as they have? 

Safestyle Fined £22,000 For Cold Calling

Finally we have a bit of justice handed out! Safestyle UK have just been fined £22,000 for four years of harassment by way of sending canvassers to John Wigmore. The full report is below: 

A FIRM was landed with a £22,000 legal bill last night after a householder plagued by its door-to-door cold-callers won a landmark hearing.

Double glazing firm Safestyle (UK) sent a stream of canvassers to John Wigmore's home for more than FOUR YEARS, ignoring his pleas to stop.

Exasperated Mr Wigmore, 63, alerted his trading standards department after about a dozen visits - but the calls continued.

One agent admitted he had seen a notice outside Mr Wigmore's home that read: "Salesmen, do not knock. Leave the premises. Do not return," a court was told.

HPAS, trading as Safestyle (UK), was convicted of engaging in unfair commercial practice by ignoring a consumer's request not to return to his home.

It is thought to be the first firm to face court under the regulation introduced in May 2008.

Mr Wigmore, who lives in Scunthorpe, Lincs, with wife Lavinia, said: "We were afraid to answer the door. We felt harassed and intimidated. I wrote to the company telling them there was no chance of getting a sale so if they continued to call it would be treated as personal harassment.

"I went to the police and trading standards but nothing much could be done for about three years until the law changed."

North Lincolnshire Magistrates' Court heard Safestyle (UK) used about 850 self-employed canvassers who got a fee if they made an appointment for a salesman - plus a commission if a sale followed.

Electrical technician Mr Wigmore first wrote to them to complain in August 2005 but the calls continued until October 2009.

The firm told him it could not stop canvassers visiting because it had SO MANY.

It sent agents a memo telling them to avoid Mr Wigmore's address and warning of disciplinary action, but to no avail.

The court rejected the firm's claims and fined it £4,000. It was also told to pay North Lincs Council £18,013.

Mr Wigmore added: "I've not done this just for me, but for the rest of the country - especially people who feel intimidated by cold callers."

This is exactly what the public and the industry has needed for quite some time. We've needed someone like Safestyle UK to be made an example of how harassing tactics like this is what the public hate the most about our industry, and that it won't be stood for. For those of us who don't cold call or nag our potential clients, this helps us to show how some of us are different and that customers can buy from us with more confidence.

How Many Names Have You Got?

If you've read my last post you'll know how unfair it is that Anglian actually have 6 different companies/company names. If you've read my last post and have multiple company names yourself then you'll probably be indifferent to this post!


Anglian Home Improvements seem to have six registered business names. One can only assume that these are fall-back businesses just in case their core businesses in the home improvement sector fail. To me this seems highly unfair, as a business that have gone bust in this industry usually deserve to go bankrupt. This is just a way to play the unregulated system, where the big boys stay employed, earning lots of money, while bottom of the ladder staff are laid off from other businesses and customers lose their guarantees.


The practise in unethical, and highly unfair to those companies who trade under one name, without shadow businesses. This does however showcase one thing. If companies set up other businesses for those 'just in case times', does it not show that they don't have full confidence in their main business? To me if your running your company well and are profitable, you won't need to add other businesses names.


Going back to Anglian again, it would be interesting to know how many of those six businesses are up for sales. Is it just the home improvements businesses or is it all 6? Could anyone in the know fill us in?


In extreme cases like this I think are are grounds for restrictions, purely on business ethical grounds. Anglian seem to be a bit like a hermit. When the shell of their current business doesn't do it for them anymore, they can always move home into another business, leaving the old shell and it's customers with no protection and no guarantee.

Registered Businesses

I'm not going on an Anglian rant here, but I've just done a check on Companies House and look at how many names/businesses Anglian Home Improvements have registered:


1. Anglian Home Improvements Limited
2. Anglian Home Improvements Green Power Limited
3. Anglian Home Improvements Group Limited
4. Anglian Home Improvements Insulations Limited
5. Anglian Home Improvements Solar Energy Limited
6. Anglian Home Improvements Solar Thermal Limited


3 are registered in Norfolk, 3 are registered in East Kilbride.


I wonder how many are up for sale!

The Importance Of A Good After-Sales Service

Part of the reason why the double glazing industry has such a tarnished reputation is due to the fact that companies tend neglect the needs of their customers after the installation has been completed. No company is perfect and problems will occur in all areas of installation. But what really earns businesses credibility with the customer is the ability to rectify those problems.

There are too many companies in this industry that ignore the after-sales side of the business, and this is what can ruin their reputation. They tend to be either one-man-bands who cannot be bothered, or businesses that are too big and find themselves unable to provide an efficient after-sales service.

We are a business which prides itself on rectifying any problems that might occur as soon as we physically can. Our customers wait no more than a couple of days for our service engineer to visit them, and that is what surprises our customers the most. Due to the terrible reputation of our industry, it seems they assume that we will put them in such a back-logged waiting list it will take weeks for them to be seen to. That is not the case however, and we receive many letters and phone calls of thanks for providing such a quick and efficient service.

This is such a vital area for businesses in our line of work, yet a lot just view the after-sales side as a bit-part player, and is therefore neglected, harming them and our industry as a whole.