Well I’m very happy to report that January has been a very productive month indeed! In fact, after doing some numbers and recording some stats, it turns out that for our business it has been our best January since 2007! We sold more than the posted target and more than what we sold in January 2012 so all I can say is that we all hope February continues to be just as positive!

Whilst keeping my agile eyes on you lot on Twitter and the other online magazines it appears that January for the rest of the industry has also been a very positive month, despite the snow and cold weather! This is really great news for our industry as we have all suffered a fair amount over the last four years or so. I think it’s fair to say we all hope that that worst has been and gone and that we’ve turned a corner into more positive territory.

There still remains risks and threats out there to worry about. While there are still problems in the Eurozone and world economy you can count on the news channels and other media outlets giving them full coverage and dramatic headlines. This frustrates me a little as every time these negative headlines get put out there, the public does seem to take notice. We need as much positivity and drive out in the public domain to keep the increase in spending going.

February’s targets are a little higher than in January as you would expect, but I’m hoping that the positive start to the year continues through into the shortest month and sets us up for a good quarter. At the end of January we also had the public launch of the Green Deal. While I think we all have major doubts over the scheme, I think we are all hoping that the increased public awareness will help create a few more bonified window and door leads, even if the customer isn’t interested in taking on a Green Deal loan. Anything that talks up the benefits of having new windows and doors installed can only be a good thing. February will be the first full month of this public awareness campaign so it will be interesting to see if the public do take any notice of what the Government is trying to tell them.

What we’re also hoping for is a mild month. January certainly went out with a cold snowy bang and did have an adverse affect on the number of people into our showroom and the number of leads made. Our industry is greatly affected by the weather and we always find dry, mild weather provides the most productive weeks. So here’s hoping for white cloud and 15 degrees!

Drop me a comment letting us know how your January went!