For those that aren’t familiar with Insight Data and what we do let us take a moment to introduce ourselves. Insight is the leading supplier of prospect data and direct marketing services for the window, conservatory and building industry.

Headed by a team of marketing professionals with over 20 years industry experience, Insight Data was established as a result of frustration with the poor quality of information available from existing data providers. The business has grown from 3 people to a 20-strong team in the past four years.

 Because we specialise in the building industry, we are able to develop niche databases that provide clients with in-depth market intelligence not available elsewhere. And our dedicated, state-of-the-art research centre, with a highly experienced telephone research team, ensure clients benefit from the most relevant and accurate information.

Currently Insight holds the details of potentially 60,000 new prospects for your business, including;

• 15,011 fabricators and installers in the UK and Ireland (now with over 10,000 email contacts)
• 800 fabricators and installers in the Republic of Ireland
• 27,414 Local builders and contractors
• 15,052 Architects & Specifiers
• 5,022 Roofline installers
• 1,142 IGU manufacturers

To find out more about Insight Data and our range of UK and Irish databases call Sonia Punter on 01934 808 293 or visit www.insightdata.co.uk

Like many other sectors, the window industry has seen a barrage of new regulations, tighter controls and new standards to maintain in recent years. While some perceive this as political correctness gone mad, many forwardthinking companies are implementing “Best Practice” policies to embrace these standards and improve their business in an increasingly competitive market place.

Until now, Marketing Best Practice has been widely overlooked in the window industry but this is set to change. Insight Data is the first and only data supplier in the industry to be awarded membership of the Direct Marketing Association – the UK’s leading authority for direct marketing. Only 900 of the UK’s 10,000 marketing service companies are members of the DMA. Membership involved a rigorous application process over several months; and we feel it clearly demonstrates our commitment to the highest quality data, regulatory compliance and Best Practice which we believe is vitally important to our customers and the industry as a whole.

After all, you wouldn’t consider using an accountant without any qualifications, so why carry out marketing using data from non-accredited suppliers? Insight can advise customers on every aspect of direct marketing and how to use the Insight database to maximise results, whilst complying with the latest regulations.

For more information visit www.insightdata.co.uk or contact Insight Data on 01934 808293

2010 proved a volatile year for the window and conservatory industry. Difficult economic conditions, low consumer confidence and continued decline in volume all had an impact.

Fabricators

There was significant movement in fabricator activity during 2010. The number of window/door fabricators declined slightly to 4,552 and 34% changed their details during the year. PVC-u fabricators declined slightly to 1,844 companies while the number of aluminium fabricators increased. The number of PVC-u fabricators who dual-source systems rose by 53% while 649 fabricators now manufacture more than one material – PVC-u, aluminium or timber.

Conservatory roof fabricators had a difficult year with a 20% drop in the number of PVC-u/aluminium fabricators to 449 companies.

Installers

The number of window and door installers actually rose slightly to 12,548 although volume per installer dropped. Installers have diversified and now supply a wider range of home improvement products. 55% of installers changed their details during 2010.

The East Midlands region has the highest number of installers at 1,595 followed closely by the North West, while Northern Ireland had the least at 194.

It must be noted that the number of builders and contractors now actively involved in window, door and conservatory installations has increased substantially, however these have not been included in this report. Insight has a separate database of local builders and contractors for those that wish to target this sector.

Find out more about the Insight window and conservatory fabricator and installer database. Visit www.insightdata.co.uk or call 01934 808293

According to latest reports, social media has become a key part of many marketing strategies, yet few companies believe they are fully embracing the medium. In fact, just a fraction of companies in the window industry are using social media as a marketing tool, despite Facebook having over 500 million users and Twitter approaching 100 million Tweets per day.

Traditional ways of doing business is changing, and companies need to adapt. Insight Data are fully embracing social media and are already avid Tweeters and Bloggers, with plans to move into video blogging in the coming months.

Check out our Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/insightdata

Bad payers. We’ve all had them. You spend money creating leads, your sales team follow them up and after meetings, negotiations, product samples and a great deal of time and effort – the computer says no. Your accounts department credit checks the new customer and they’ve got a bad credit score.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Salestracker, Insight Data’s online prospect database, has a Credit Manager App that allows users to see a financial snapshot of prospects, including credit scores, before wasting time and money, which means you sales team work smarter not harder.

Credit Manager is a live-feed from one of Europe’s leading credit reference agencies, which automatically updates Salestracker as changes occur.

To find out more about Insight’s Credit Manager App call 01934 808 293 or visit www.insightdata.co.uk

There is no point using old data to win new customers. Yet many prospect databases are surprisingly out of date which can cost your company a great deal of time and money.

Salestracker is the world’s first online database for the window industry that is updated live in real time. As Insight Data’s research team interview a contact on the Insight database, the information is instantly updated on Salestracker. This means every time you want to send a mailshot, email campaign, telesales campaign, or your sales team wants to visit potential customers; you simply log-on and access the most accurate, up-to date information.

Salestracker contains detailed information on 60,000 prospects, including over 15,000 fabricators and installers, with in depth analysis on products, volumes and even preferred window/roof systems. You simply subscribe to the Insight database and regions that are most relevant to your business.

But it’s not just about data. Salestracker is also a web-based CRM system which means you can manage leads, attach quotes or call reports, manage tasks and handle your sales and marketing activity. Salestracker is the only prospect database in the window industry to be developed and managed in-house, rather than using a third-party software supplier.

For more information and a free demo, call 01934 808293 or visit www.insightdata.co.uk