Mark Dudley, Managing Director of Windowlink, argues that the most transparent installers will tackle recession the best.
The R-word is finally here – recession is officially upon us.
We all knew it was coming, and the media are currently making it sound like the worst thing in the world.
But we’ve been through recessions before, and we’ll go through them again.
Rather than panicking, it’s far better to look at the situation calmly and rationally – it’s here now. There’s nothing we can do to change that.
Instead, we should see if there’s anything we can do to lessen the impact it’ll have on our businesses.
For installers, the biggest challenge of 2023 is fairly obvious. Homeowners, the source of the vast majority of their work, aren’t going to have as much disposable income as they did.
That doesn’t mean they’ll all automatically stop buying windows and doors.
If past recessions are anything to go by, it’s often surprising how little some people’s buying behaviour changes – especially those who had the cash to splash on large-scale home improvements in the first place.
But I suspect people will become a lot pickier about who they buy from, and much more demanding when they do choose to part with their hard-earned money.
Building trust
How can you encourage more sceptical consumers to choose you rather than your competition? One major way is building trust.
There’s no doubting that the glass and glazing sector has come a long way over the last twenty years.
Once, it was synonymous with sleazy, high-pressure sales tactics and low quality. After a lot of effort from upstanding professionals in the trade, that’s changed.
But the ‘White Gold’ effect hasn’t disappeared entirely. So when you present a homeowner with a price, many are still likely suspicious that you’ve just plucked it out of thin air, based on a quick calculation of what you can get away with.
It’s to help tackle that perception that we built transparency into Focus and Vector, our leading sales and order management software.
We’ve given you the ability to set a standard price for every product you offer – which means that when you select a particular window or door on our system, that set price immediately appears for your client to see.
In other words, they can clearly see you’re not taking them for a ride, and making it up on the spot.
Recession-beating benefits
It’s just one of the huge array of benefits that Focus and Vector have to offer, all of which can help give you that critical competition edge in recession.
Helping you manage the sales process from quote through to contract and delivery, they allow homeowners to customise their ideal product, choosing from a vast array of different styles and configurations. We can completely personalise our software for your product range.
Then your staff can superimpose their chosen design on an image of their home using impressive visualisation technology. We’ve even added full animation, so your customers can see exactly how bifolding door combinations and other complex products work in real life.
Finally, all the above can be quickly and easily translated into personalised quotes, contracts and reports – helping build trust, and present you as a highly skilled, professional, reputable business.
With Vector, you can also significantly streamline the conservatory survey process, too. Quotations can be turned into a job file that’s sent directly to a surveyor, who can then make any modifications, then send an order to your suppliers.
Speak to the experts
Are you interested in learning more about how Windowlink can support you? Contact us today for a free demo, and we’ll show you how we can help your business grow.
For more information, visit www.windowlink.com, email info@windowlink.com, or call 01452 348575.
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