I’m a big believer in that the more you learn and the more experiences you have, the better you become. That applies very much in the glazing industry. The more someone knows about the trade they are in, the more experienced they become and the more successful they can be.
That is why I firmly believe that people who sell windows and doors should also have a go at fitting windows and doors. I also believe that fitters of windows and doors should spend time selling the product too.
Valuable experience
As I have been getting my hands dirty getting involved in my own home renovations, I have found it something I quite enjoyed. There’s a pride you get in looking back at a days hard work and seeing what you have done in that time.
Admittedly, during my time selling at our family run installations business, I haven’t yet donned the t-shirt and Snickers trousers and actually fitted a house full of windows and doors. I know the basics in my head, but I’ve never been on site and done it myself. I know some of you are already tutting me.
But it’s something I know I would enjoy. The banter with the lads on site. The home owner seeing that sales people don’t just sit in warm offices with their feet up. Gaining knowledge that will ultimately help sell more products and approach more complicated projects with more confidence. As we become quieter towards the end of the year, I’ll probably spend a week with one of our teams getting stuck in and learning.
It shouldn’t be all one way traffic however. I also believe that installers of windows and doors should also spend some time with sales people.
Learning both ways
I often feel like many installers don’t appreciate the work that goes into selling windows and doors to the home owner. Whilst it’s not as physically hard as fitting them, it still requires hard work, and is much more mentally tiring and straining.
Installers should spend a week or two tagging along with sales people, meeting home owners for the first time and understanding what goes into working a lead.
As many sales people will know, home owners aren’t always the easiest people to deal with on a first visit, and it does require skill and the right touch to break down barriers and warm the potential customer up to you. Installers will then know the mammoth task it is to know your product inside and out down to the screw. To answer all sorts of obscure and demanding requests. To deal with a home owner who simply does not want you in their home. And then, at the end of it all, put a quote together and try to persuade them to sign with you.
It’s not easy, selling. And it’s a factor that I think will help installers appreciate all the work that goes on before their part is played.
A greater understanding
For me, if both sides of a glazing business, both sales people and installers, spent a little time doing each other’s jobs, it not only helps each party understand the roles better, but can also help build a strong working relationship.
A greater understanding between all parts of the business builds a better, more efficient, more qualified, more experienced and ultimately better quality business. Things run smoother. People work together better. Jobs become more profitable.
So, if you’re a sales person and reading this, get your glass gloves on and tools out. If you’re a fitter and reading this, get scrubbed up and go sit a few leads with your colleagues in sales!
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Of course you are right Jason and it is an excellent idea, if not vital, that people from different areas of any business get to spend some time in, and gain experience of, other areas of the businesses they work in but we still have a requirement for absolute expertise and specialisation. If I remember correctly (as you know, I’m jolly old) Les Dawson used to relate the tale of how his life could have been very different. His great grandfather had died and left him a Picasso and a Stradivarius. It turned out that Stradivarius couldn’t paint very well… Read more »