As I my usual dedication to customer service, I went and hand delivered a quote to a customer last Wednesday evening. There I was, presenting a 4 page quotation with option after option neatly laid out clear for the customer to see and understand, with our company logo sitting proudly at the top with a [...]
In the 8 years I have worked in this dynamic industry, I have seen it go through some changes. I joined when the industry embarked on a journey to try and improve it's image. I joined when the industry was only just starting to get a grip with the internet and the power it could [...]
We went to go car shopping earlier on today. Sophie (my better half) is in desperate need for a new car, and I am also coming to the end of my current arrangement so I need to start looking now. We decided to start looking at the Car People. We had heard good things about [...]
Over the Christmas period I was asked privately by someone on Twitter what I thought installers looked for in a manufacturer. It got me thinking, and there is more than one answer, but all reasons must work in tandem with each other. Product Range I say product range rather than quality because it depends on [...]
The discussions online lately have been about recent problems both with quality control and with communications. More specifically, between fabricators and their installation customers. I think we'll find that as the industry gets busier over the next few years these problems will actually get worse before they get better. Simply because the low staffing levels [...]
There's no point pretending we are all perfect in business. We're not. And we shouldn't say we are. Problems will always occur in our line of work. Tens of thousands of frames and door sets are made every week and there is bound to be a problem with the odd one or two. When people [...]
There are lots of very clever technical and business people in our industry and that is very much a good thing. But it can sometimes be all too easy when in front of the customer to go trundling off into the depths of all the technical information and lose them completely. I am guilty of [...]
I think most will confirm that the majority of their customers are nice, reasonable people to deal with where there aren't any major issues to tangle with. However, we all have that one customer who is just determined to make your life as difficult as possible, no matter what you do. We have had one [...]
We live in a vein world. We're judging each other all the time. It happens everywhere, when you're walking down the high street thinking "Jesus what is she wearing", reading what other people write on Twitter, going on a first date or applying for a job. It is known that someone makes their mind up [...]
Continuing on the transport theme, it was something I saw on the way back from my weekend away in Scotland with my special lady that got me thinking and a bit wound up. I was driving back on the A1 from Carlise, and for most of that part of the journey, I was following a [...]
While I was in New York, we visited a district called Hell's Kitchen. It's not as bad as it sounds, it's just what they call the main food district away from Times Square. The restaurants there are fantastic, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian, Mexican, American, Thai, Chinese, Turkish, Japanese etc. If you cant find a place to [...]
Back in October my dad got rid of his ageing Alfa Romeo GT and bought a new Audi Q5 4x4. The purchasing experience in buying that car was apparently the best he'd ever had. Right from the outset, he said that everything was just so much more professional that anywhere else he had been. The [...]
Are you all sitting comfortably? I am about to tell you a short story which some of you will relate to, and the less professional out there will probably ignore! One day Mr X came into our office asking if we could help him out with an issue he had with his door locking mechanism. [...]
I had two leads on Monday. One was for one window with an integral blind, a couple which had just entered retirement. The other was for 3 windows to an elderly lady's property, with her son there. Both said almost the same thing to me: "now you're not going to add thousands of pounds on [...]
Ever get customers ringing you up complaining about a defect with the product they have just bought from you, even though you haven't produced it yourself? Lets face it, we all get them time to time, especially if you're an installer. That is why I think it is a good idea to explain the supply [...]
I think one area of focus that has had little light shed on it over the last few years is deliveries. The focus has been so much on product quality, availability and price. But you don't hear so much about the quality of deliveries. As far as I'm aware, there are very few companies that [...]
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