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Elitis Customer gets More Glass than they'd Asked For!

Derby based window and conservatory company, New Dimension Windows, has just given one of their customers a lot more glass than they had bargained for.

As one of Lister Trade Frames' customers, New Dimension has taken full advantage of the 'Elitis' branding opportunities that Lister offers. Lister provides the complete range of Elitis marketing materials to help customers promote their windows, and the company also has a novel way of after sales promotion, the 'Elitis Winners Web Draw'. Simply put, after a customer has had their new installation completed they can use a unique series of numbers to enter a monthly online Web Draw which is open to all Elitis purchasers and which also has a yearly grand prize up for grabs.

Mr & Mrs Hall chose New Dimension to install their new windows and doors as it is one of Derby's longest established companies having over 30 years experience.

Once their shiny new windows were installed, the couple entered their unique set of Elitis numbers via the web site and kept their fingers crossed. Then, in December, Mr & Mrs Hall got a surprise call from Vic Bacon, New Dimension's Owner, to say that they were the winners of the nationwide Elitis Yearly Grand Prize Draw.

New Dimension Windows delivered the prize of over £500 worth of Tutbury fine cut crystal glassware plus six bottles of fine champagne to help them celebrate the occasion. Mr & Mrs hall were over the moon to receive this additional glass from Elitis and Vic and his son Chris were also pleased not just to see their customer win, but also to receive an additional £500 of Elitis marketing materials.

'This might be a novel way to go about business in our industry, (giving things away after the customer is happy and paid up!) but while the industry continues to struggle, it seems that this is just another one of the tactics that are working for both Lister and its customers as they continue to develop the Elitis brand to drive their businesses forward,' says the company.

Tel: 01782 205605
Email: sales@listertf.co.uk
Web: http://www.listertf.co.uk

Caption: Mr & Mrs Hall receiving their 'Extra Glass' from Chris at New Dimension Windows, and inset Dave Allen of Lister presents Vic, New Dimension's owner, with a certificate worth £500 of Elitis marketing materials.

It's Crystal Clear

The prestigious US Crystal Achievement 2005 Award for the most innovative marketing programme has been scooped by Edgetech IG Inc.

One of the top industry accolades in the USA, Edgetech won the Crystal award with its latest triple-seal, TriSeal™ box with black fold out catalogue.

TriSeal's triple-seal design incorporates an inner acrylic adhesive seal for immediate unit handling. The box contains a product catalogue, a product sample and a corner cut piece of insulating glass.

Andy Jones, Sales Director and General Manager of Edgetech UK and Ireland, comments: ‘Receiving awards like this whether in the US or closer to home here in the UK, is recognition of our worldwide commitment to providing innovative marketing solutions that make life easier for our customers.’

Tel: 02476 705570

Aztec Leads to Winning Formula!

The Aztec Conservatory Roof Systems' Formula Ford has got off to a flying start in its first season, taking the fastest lap at Silverstone in the national Formula Ford 1600 Walter Hayes Trophy, and the overall laurels in the Opel Telcom NW Formula Ford 1600 Championship, simultaneously setting a new lap record at the tough Croft track.

The Silverstone lap achievement- in a time of 1.30.39- with a cup presented by motor racing legend Jackie Stewart, culminates a successful initial season for driver Neil Boardman, who in 10 races has notched up three pole positions, three outright wins, three fastest laps, the Class B Championship title in the series, Driver of the Day title in his opening race, Driver of the Month title by a Formula Ford 1600 website, and the new lap record at Croft of 1min 29.59 secs. He also beat fellow Infinity Motorsports team driver Jonathan Lang for the overall Championship title.

Says Neil, ‘The Championship was down to the wire. I had to win at Croft, the last race of the Championship, to win the title. I won the race for my class of car, and then had to compete against Johnny for the overall Championship title, as he had won the Class A section. It all came down to one 15 minute race! It will be fantastic to now race on the famous Silverstone track, with some of the biggest names in motorsport.

‘It has been an incredible first season. The success is largely due to Colin [Bennett] and the team at Aztec, whose financial and psychological support has been greatly appreciated. I couldn't have dreamt of this when the season started in March!’

Colin Bennett, Aztec managing director, adds, ‘There is a natural affinity between motorsport and the Aztec system, both involving quality British engineering and speed. We are delighted with Neil's success: he has shown our initial, unproven conviction in him and his ability was well founded! To take the fastest lap at Silverstone, the race track, in wet weather and on his first time round, and be presented with silverware by Sir Jackie Stewart, was the ultimate accolade.’

Tel: 01942 720044
Email: contact@aztecsystems.co.uk

Vector Plus is a Firm Favourite with Firmfix

A successful free trial has persuaded a family owned fabricator and installer in Tewkesbury to invest in Windowlink's Vector Plus conservatory presentation and pricing package. Firmfix took advantage of Windowlink's 'Try Before You Buy' policy, which gives companies the chance to evaluate a full working version of the Vector Plus pricing program during a free 14-day trial.

Vector Plus is available either as a complete conservatory design, sales and pricing package or, as in the case of Firmfix, as an upgrade to a company's existing Vector sales software. Adding the pricing option allows accurate prices to be calculated while an order is being discussed with a potential customer, helping to streamline service and speed up the sales cycle.

According to Alan Grimmett, Managing Director of Firmfix, trials of similar pricing software had proved next to useless, ‘But when Windowlink gave us a Vector Plus CD to try, it worked just as we wanted it to. Now it's all up and running customers are amazed at how quickly we can provide them with a fully costed quotation’

The pricing module is programmed by Windowlink to incorporate the individual user's pricing structure. It also includes a checklist of questions based on information provided by each company. Firmfix has 91 questions on its personalised module, which Alan says covers every aspect of an order, from base construction and electrics to extras such as floor tiles and blinds. The salesperson works through the prompted checklist with the customer, either in their home or in Firmfix's showroom, thus ensuring that nothing is inadvertently missed off. The answers are included in the customer's copy of the quotation, thereby avoiding possible disputes or costly recalls.

Firmfix is confident that installing Vector Plus will increase conservatory sales, which currently stand at between six and eight a month. ‘Now we can cost each job accurately and produce a professional sales presentation much more quickly, and that all adds up to enhanced efficiency and profitability.’

Windowlink's trial pricing CDs feature the software's standard configuration, which is designed to meet the needs of most retail installers. On expiry of the trial period, users can either choose to purchase this version as is, or upgrade to the next level which is then tailored to their own business requirements. If necessary, further levels of sophistication can be incorporated at an agreed cost for the configuration of the additional features.

For further information or to obtain a copy of any of Windowlink's free limited life CD offers, call freephone 0800 028 2160.

Web: http://www.windowlink.com

Pilkington Activ™ Star of the Small Screen

Pilkington Activ™ self-cleaning glass has made a further television appearance, with The Gadget Show featuring this product in a recent episode. Screened on October 31st 2005, the programme led with a demonstration of the self-cleaning capabilities of Pilkington Activ™, compared with ordinary glass, and proved that the product truly does what it claims.

To demonstrate to the viewing public the properties of Pilkington Activ™, an experiment was conducted in the studio under UV light that actually showed dirt falling as a sheet from the outer layer of the glass when quantities of water were poured over the glass. The coating breaks down and loosens dirt that has settled on the glass and also ensures that rainwater covers the surface evenly, preventing unsightly streaks. Proven to last the lifetime of the glazing itself, the coating will not rub or wear away.

Pilkington Activ™ continues to work even on cloudy days and at night, significantly reducing cleaning and maintenance costs for all home and commercial applications. The product is increasingly being specified as a low-cost, low-maintenance alternative to conventional glazing, with the Gadget Show the latest to recognise the value to the domestic market by making cleaning windows an old fashioned concept.

New Customer Support for Direct Trade from Synseal

Freefoam Stockist goes from Strength to Strength

Freefoam stockist, North Wales Building Plastics, recently marked the anniversary of its first four years of trading with an expansive PR campaign in the company’s local region acknowledging its suppliers and thanking customers for their support.

Established in 2000 to serve the window industry and general building trade, the company has grown consistently in response to the growing demands of its customers in the roofline installation market. NWBP now stocks a large range of lead-free environmentally friendly Freefoam products in a range of colours, and supplies other non-stock colours to order.

Over the past four years, the company says that it has established a strong presence as a premium brand supplier and has evolved into a one-stop shop for roofline installers seeking quality fitter-friendly products that save time and money and are guaranteed to last.

Kevin Archer, Freefoam Area Manager, comments, ‘The success of the NWBP can be attributed to sound management, focused growth plans and consistently delivering a top class service to customers’.

For more information or a brochure, contact Freefoam directly on 01604 759871 in the UK, 021 491 1055 in Ireland, or email marketing@freefoam.com.

Conservatory Outlet as Seen on TV

Conservatory Outlet, the new initiative offering small and medium conservatory installation companies the opportunity to join a team of growth focused companies nationwide, is set to transmit into homes across Yorkshire.

‘The new television advert was filmed in the showroom at West Yorkshire Windows as well as in the studio. The rest of the images are computer generated and show the butterfly logo flying over fields of daisies,’ explains Matthew Glover, Managing Director of Conservatory Outlet.

‘The voiceover poetically describes the many lifestyle uses for conservatories. The advert will be aired on Yorkshire Television to cover West Yorkshire Windows and Orion, founder members of Conservatory Outlet.

'The investment of £50,000 in the new advert and another £250,000 in airtime is just part of an integrated television, radio and press marketing initiative.

'After a similar campaign last year sales grew by 20%. We are committed to growing the Conservatory Outlet brand nationwide and advertising on television is part of the package.’

Tel: 01924 881920

Listers’ New Toolkit

Lister Trade Frames says that it has come up with a novel way to help its customers to improve their sales image: a marketing toolkit. And it’s definitely not heavy!

The toolkit comes in the form of an A1 full colour wall poster which outlines some basic professional marketing techniques.

‘Over the last eighteen months we have developed an extensive range of Elitis marketing materials which have helped our customers to gain sales at the expense of their competitors’ says Mark Warren, Listers MD. ‘So the idea behind the new Elitis Toolkit is to demonstrate the best ways to use those materials.’

‘Elitis’ is the brand name developed by Lister for its customers. It is supported by a range of marketing aides covering personalised websites, point of sale materials and even completion folders containing ten year warrantees for the householder.

‘We were happily surprised by the speed of good news stories coming from many of our customers regarding their success in using the Elitis marketing materials’ said Mark, ‘many customers reordered items within the first month of use. So we wanted to pass on some of the techniques that these customers were using to gain those extra sales. And so the Elitis Toolkit was born.’

The poster uses illustrations and gives tips on presentation and preparation when selling windows doors or conservatories. It does this by showing how the range of marketing materials not only supports the customer in gaining orders but how easy it is to generate new leads. And it’s all presented in a simple down to earth way that cuts out all the unnecessary ‘heavy’ marketing jargon.

‘We just wanted our customers to have even more success in selling’ says Mark, ‘and the toolkit gives them access to some tried and tested techniques and materials that aren’t always available to the small to medium window businesses.’

With last month seeing the 9th consecutive month of record sales for Lister, Mark puts a lot of the company’s success down to simple and practical ideas like the Toolkit and the extra support that it has been giving to its customers over the year.

Tel: 01782 205605
Email: sales@listertf.co.uk

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