2012 sees the launch of an all-new service from Insight Data - the Insight Index – and the company believes it will transform the way people find suppliers, research information and source new products in the window, door, conservatory, glass and building products industry.

The Index is a new online portal that combines an industry-specific search engine with a product finder and supplier directory. Helen Costeloe-Hughes, Commercial Director at Insight Data explains; “The problem with general search engines is the sheer volume, relevance and accuracy of information.  For example, there are 204 million listings for ‘hardware suppliers’ on Google.  People want key information quickly and accurately when searching for products, technical data or suppliers which is why an industry-specific business-to-business portal works so well.”

Visitors can use the Insight Index to find all the products, components, services and suppliers they need. From window manufacturers to suppliers of architectural ironmongery or silicone sealants.  The Index is aimed squarely at the window, door, conservatory, building plastics and glass and glazing industry including installers, fabricators, glazing contractors and industry-specific buyers.

Suppliers can showcase their products on the Index and provide valuable information and PDF downloads, ranging from sales literature to technical data sheets and case studies.

A nationwide marketing campaign has been launched to promote the Insight Index including extensive press advertising, online marketing and a major direct mail campaign that targets every fabricator, installer and glazing contractor in the UK.

Insight Data also has the largest email database in the industry, with 40,000 contacts updated daily by the firm’s own research team and this will form part of a monthly email broadcast promoting the Index.

“We also want to help raise awareness of fenestration and glazing products across the wider construction industry so one of our key marketing drivers is to promote the Insight Index to architects, specifiers, builders, developers, main contractors and house-builders” adds Helen.

Insight Data has put substantial resources behind the Insight Index and believes the Industry needs a central information hub, however the company is under no illusions it will happen overnight as Helen explains:

“We had the inspiration for a product finder when we exhibited at Glassex in late 2010. After considerable research this evolved into a full search engine and window industry supplier directory.  Like any new technology or innovation The Index will take time to establish and it will develop and evolve to meet the needs of the market. We want to encourage those forward-thinking suppliers and business leaders in the window, door, conservatory and glass industry to get involved and showcase their companies and products.”

For further information about the Insight Index visit the website at: http://www.insightindex.co.uk or call Insight Data on 01934 808293. You can also follow the Insight Index on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/insightindex

The home improvement industry has never had a big name behind it. Sure, companies like Anglian and Everest are well known, but they are not a global brand. 

So what happens when a business that everyone knows and trusts, and most people trade with, and that holds a world-class brand, enters the home improvement market?  What happens to established window installers, many of which are struggling to generate enough business as it is?

I am talking about Tesco of course.  The global brand that generates £1 billion sales per week and makes circa £3.5 billion pre-tax profit per year – greater than the entire size of the window industry.

Tesco Home Services has now launched and promises to provide homeowners with quality home improvements through a network of approved partners. Oh, and Tesco Clubcard points too.  If and when Tesco roll this out nationally, it could change the home improvement industry. 

The implications are far reaching.  Installers who sign up as partners could have all the sales leads they could ever cope with, and sales conversion rates they can only dream about.  Homeowners trust Tesco. So will this benefit or mark the end of organisations such as the Double Glazing & Conservatory Ombudsman Scheme? (DGCOS), Insurance Backed Warranty providers (IBG’s) and online lead generation sites? What about the product manufacturers? Will Tesco control the supply chain? 

Many won’t take this move seriously. But this would be a mistake.  With over 280,000 UK staff, along with their family and friends, they already have a captive market before launching the service. 

So why has Tesco moved into home improvements? Well why not. They have recently launched their own record label, movie company, and a chain of hairdressing/beauty salons. They acquired a 24-strong chain of major garden centres. And Tesco Bank provides mortgages, loans, credit cards and insurance. Lots of insurances. So why not home improvements? 

It won’t happen overnight. But it will happen. I would welcome your views on this, please comment below, and you can visit the Tesco Home Services website here:  www.tescohomeservices.com

Andrew Scott, Managing Director, Insight Data Ltd.

Market research, trends, and analysis for the window and conservatory industry. www.insightdata.co.uk

Volatility in the window and conservatory market has reached an all time high with a staggering 320 companies ceasing to trade since January.

“Not all of these companies have gone bust” points out Insight’s sales manager Sonia Punter; “many business owners and sole traders have simply retired or shut-up shop, but the trend is still upwards.”

The number of companies changing their details, moving premises or changing their key staff is also increasing.  “There are now some 1,200 changes to the Insight UK fenestration database every month, which is 20% higher than two years ago” adds Sonia.

With so many changes occurring every month, suppliers can find their marketing results deteriorate very quickly – targeting companies who have moved or ceased trading simply wastes time and money. “At Insight Data our telephone research team continuously verify the details held on our databases, meaning our clients only access the very latest market intelligence and spend their marketing budget more effectively as a result.”

Don’t waste time targeting 320 dead companies, call Insight Data today on 01934 808 293 or visit www.insightdata.co.uk and access the most accurate data on the market today.

In his second article on InsightLive, Neil Roberts, Account Director for Purplex Marketing discusses the influence PR has on the window industry.

Mention the term Public Relations or PR to companies in the window industry and you are likely to get a mixed a response. While some individuals love seeing their face plastered all over the trade press and online E-zines, others would rather keep a much lower profile and prefer to shy away from the limelight.

But while everyone has their own opinion on the merits of seeing their company splashed all over the media, done correctly PR really works.

What do the companies you see regularly promoting themselves in the trade press have in common? Aside from being the most easily recognised, invariably they are the most successful.

Without naming names, the reason some companies significantly out perform their rivals is not because their products or services are much better, it’s because they have built a good reputation through the media.

Imagine two fabricators based on the same industrial estate. For arguments sake let’s call them Company A and Company B. Both are of a similar size, use the same profile and offer similar products, yet Company A starts winning orders over the Company B. Why? 

The difference is PR. Company A has been busy getting exposure all over the trade press and online E-zines and as a result, installers would now rather buy their frames from Company A. Tales like these are happening all throughout the supply chain, with the most successful systems companies, fabricators and sealed unit manufacturers all using PR to their advantage and stealing ground from their competitors.

So how can you go about getting your press releases published in the media? In fact it is not as difficult as you might think. There are some excellent print and online magazines operating in the window industry and the editors are eager to receive your news items.

A good example is Fenestration News http://www.fenestrationnews.com/news/news.aspx Fenestration News a well established online portal that contains press releases from all the major players in the industry. If you have written a story, you can email the editor at news@fenestrationNews.com and if approved will be uploaded for free onto the relevant news section within a day or two. Every Thursday, the week’s news is emailed out to over 20,000 industry contacts, making it very likely your press release will be viewed by your prospective customers. The site is updated daily and it allows people in the industry to catch up with the latest information as and when it happens, making this site ideal for keeping up with the fast paced window industry.

There are several other online E-zines including;

The Gl@zine (http://www.the-glazine.com/ )

Bullseye http://www.ggpmag.com/index.asp

Glasswire (http://www.best-show.co.uk/page.cfm/link=95/)

Some of the best print magazines include

Glass and Glazing Products (http://www.unity-media.com/ggp.asp)

Windows Active (http://www.windowsactive.co.uk/)

Glass Times (http://www.glasstimes.co.uk/)

 Window Industries (www.turretgroup.co.uk)

….which are widely circulated among the industry and will consider running news-worthy press releases for a small printing fee.

So what happens if you haven’t got the time to write your own press release in a way editors will be interested in running them?  The simple answer is leave it to the experts and appoint a PR agency.

Purplex has a dynamic and hugely experienced team of writers that will stream powerful PR and make your prospective customers sit up and take notice. The Purplex team knows the window and building industries inside out and will immediately begin to position your company as the one of the leading players in your specific field and make a real difference to your bottom line.

In conclusion, while you may not think PR is for you, ask as yourself why all the major players in the industry invest in it year-on-year. While it may seem like an ego trip for some, the novelty of appearing in the news would quickly ware off if it didn’t get results and improve profits.

Purplex can help you unlock the power of PR and use this weapon to your advantage and if you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

To find out more about the PR services offered by Purplex please call Neil on 01934 808 132 or visit www.purplexmarketing.co.uk

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But is it hurting your business?

It was Charles Caleb Colton who first said “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” way back in the 19^th Century.  Yet, it seems to be alive and well in the 21^st Century, whether its in fashion, music, or business.

It is, of course, a tribute to the success of individuals or companies when others copy them. In business, small companies will often copy market leaders, aspiring to have their level of success.  Of course, this rarely happens, as it is the research, development, innovation and investment that creates the market leaders in the first place, and by the time others try to copy and catch-up, market leaders will already have moved on.

Take Insight Data.  Established in late 2006 the company became firmly established as the leading supplier of prospect data to the window industry within three years, overtaking companies established well over 10 years.

We were the first window industry supplier to provide data with monthly updates, and a year later our competitors followed suit.  By then, we had already invested £150,000 in developing Salestracker, the World’s first online prospect database for the window industry, back in 2008.  One small competitor reacted by attacking us, claiming that users should avoid web-based systems and stick to traditional desktop formats such as MS Access. Yet, two years later they have been forced to shamefully back-track and introduce a basic online version of their own databases, managed by a third-partyIT company for them.

Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery but in business it can be a dangerous game. Imagine if your suppliers simply copied products from the market leaders without the vision, innovation or investment to “paddle their own canoe”.  Your business will always trail behind your competitors who put their trust in those visionary companies who do invest, who do innovate, and who do lead the market.

At Insight Data, we have continued to strengthen our position further as market leader.  By developing Salestracker in-house with our own software team we’ve already launched the next generation packed with advanced new features that help our customers win millions of pounds in new business.  We’ve invested in a state-of-the-art telephone research centre to ensure our customers have the most accurate, up-to-date market intelligence, and we’ve invested in a direct mail fulfilment centre and digital marketing studio so that our customers benefit from the very best of off-line and on-line marketing. And we’re investing in the future – in new technology, innovation, new databases and better ways of doing business.

Think carefully about choosing suppliers who simply imitate. While as market leaders, we appreciate the flattery, if you want your business to stay ahead of the game – instead of playing catch-up – perhaps the wisest move is to team up with those suppliers who do lead from the front.

For more information on how we help clients win new customers and stay ahead of their competitors, call 01934 808293 or visit www.insightdata.co.uk

As companies slowly recover from recession and look at their sales and marketing strategy again, Andrew Scott, Managing Director of Purplex Consulting, asks whether it’s time to stop the back-biting and get back to professional marketing.  

This year was a landmark for British politics, as the three major party leaders followed our American cousins and went head to head on live TV, hoping to sway the votes of the British people.  The show certainly drew in the viewers and did wonders for British politics, connecting with audience demographics that otherwise would have shown little or no interest in voting.  But what did it do for the party leaders?

While Brown and Cameron attacked each other throughout the debate, Clegg’s popularity increased minute-by-minute.  Was it his policies that overwhelmingly swayed the electorate during the debate?  While Clegg obviously had his part to play in his rise in popularity, Brown and Cameron did most of his selling for him, by undermining and attacking each other.

It’s not just in politics we see this trend.  In response to the recession, both Tesco and Asda have tried “comparison marketing” on TV by pointing out how much lower their prices are than their competitors.  And who came out the winner? Sainsbury’s, who posted a significant increase in profits.

Understand your customers

Marketing is not about how big your budget is, how clever you are at attacking your competitors, or how brash your PR machine is.  Sustainable, long term business growth and profitability comes through really understanding and connecting with your customers in a positive way.

The recession has damaged the fenestration industry and we’ve seen a significant drop in volume.   In such a market, customers – and potential customers – don’t want to see suppliers fight it out or undermine each other, it makes them nervous.  It might give a few short-term wins, but in the long run it damages your brand. We all know an animal is at its most dangerous when wounded.  Do you want to portray your business in this way?

Successful companies who are at the top of their game are driven by marketing principles and ethics that focus on the customer, not their competitors.  Mercedes-Benz may be BMW’s arch rival, but you won’t hear them say “we’re better than they are” because they know it will devalue their own brand values.  Instead, they focus on the demographics of their target customers and what their products will do for them.

With so many changes occurring in the fenestration industry, there is a temptation among sales and marketing departments to undermine or attack competitors, creating rumours or publishing mistruths.  But this is a double edged sword that could be damaging their own business by pushing customers away.

In the long run, companies with strong marketing principles and ethics (brand equity) will ride the wave of recession better because customers will remain, on aggregate, more loyal.  Companies with little or no brand equity are likely to lose customers faster, and it is often these companies who revert to the negative marketing strategies discussed earlier, with the effect of turning off even more customers.

Today, we have a multitude of marketing channels available to us.  But whatever channels we choose as part of our sales and marketing strategy, creating a sense of brand value and integrity will eventually pay dividends.

In the final analysis, we all like to surround ourselves with positive, successful and dynamic people.  It’s human nature. We don’t want to associate with negative people, those that run down others or gossip. 

Promoting your company, your products and your service positively, enthusiastically and professionally will attract like-minded customers.  Not just in advertising or promotion, but with the sales team in the field. Selling the positive benefits of your products – rather than undermining your competitors, will gain you respect, credibility and long term benefits.

Andrew Scott is Managing Director of Purplex, the business, marketing and training consultants to the window industry. www.purplexmarketing.co.uk.  Andrew has acquired, built and sold several window companies and advises major organisations on business strategy.   A Fellow of the Institute of Sales & Marketing Management and member of the Institute of Direct Marketing, he has won numerous awards for business growth and strategy.