Whilst having my usual industry related conversations on an evening after a session at the gym, the general health of the industry came up.
I think it’s a fair observation that a lot of the talk online is generally quite positive. The generally accepted commentary is now that the industry seems to have turned the corner into more growth and positive areas, but there there still remains a fragility that occasionally shows it’s head.
For example, whilst having my evening discussion, it was observed that lead levels and sales dropped at the end of January after a roaring start to the month. I think we all agreed that the weather had it’s part to play in that. And it does show that the industry is still pretty vulnerable if a couple of weeks of cold and snow can have a negative effect on our performance.
Still, the news or records being broken and high lead levels is still very encouraging and something I don’t think we would have seen a couple of years ago. Personally I don’t think the rise in lead levels is astronomical, but I do think that we as an industry are honing our skills and converting more of the leads we go on, which would explain the reports of rising conversion rates.
I think we are also learning to sell the higher value products a lot better too. For example, we had the same lead levels in 2012 as we did in 2011 give or take one or two, yet 2012 was our best year for five years. When we looked back, it was due to a lot more house fulls of windows and doors, as well as high-end items like bi-folds and conservatories. The contract values were much higher last year and this had a greatly positive effect on the business and the numbers. It made doing the stats last year an enjoyable task.
This year has continued in a positive vein, but as I have mentioned, I think there is a way to go yet before our industry can say it’s fully on the mend. We are still vulnerable to a lot of external issues such as the weather and bad economic news within the media. I think one shock we may need to ride out are the results from the 1st quarter of this year. We’ll get these in April and I think a lot in business will be holding on with bated breath to see the outcome. We really do need to avoid a second quarter of contraction as if we don’t, the media will latch on to this massively and the headlines won’t be doing much for consumer confidence.
So, lets keep the good news coming. If you have anything to say on our industry, please use this page to shout it as loud as you wish! https://www.doubleglazingblogger.com/positivity/
I agree with this. The double glazing industry’s online reputation is slowly dwindling. I think this is partly to do with how many 3rd part affiliates. We have noticed that lead quality from online sources is getting worse and worse by the year. it’s a shame really!