Ultraframe Marketing Manager Mark Hanson challenges retailers to review how they currently sell conservatories – can they be more effective?
Yes the market for conservatories is somewhat less than 5 years ago and yes macro economic conditions are tough – that’s a reality. But could we be collectively – as an industry - in danger of underselling ourselves? After all, the total installed value of the conservatory market is at least £1,000,000,000 ie ONE BILLION.
One thing for certain though is that are some spectacular changes taking place within the industry across all stakeholder audiences.
At the government level, our industry is going to comply with new tighter Building Regulations on the thermal performance of windows but at conservatory level – despite some expected changes – the department for Communities and Local Government has left us alone ( for now). For now, the ‘de facto’ national standard for conservatories is the GGF ‘ORANGE’ guide.
At the company level, Ultraframe is continuing to invest in new products and service propositions. As the conservatory roofing company with the strongest brand and reputation, there is an expectation from its users that there is always something new around the corner and in that respect Ultraframe is delivering. The latest generation Classic roof was launched at the beginning of the year along with a brand new proposition which is the provision of new fabric covered frameworks integrated into the roof – we call this product Shades.
Game changers like Classic Plus and Shades are always going to take time to gain ‘traction’ but already there are retailers who are using these products every time in their pitch to consumers. Those retailers who have taken to these new ideas – early adopters if you like – are not afraid to talk about the elephant in the room – namely privacy, potential overheating and glare issues. And, of course, they have the perfect solution in Classic Plus and Shades.
The products we have launched most recently are in response to the new challenges of a mature market. Analysis of consumer registrations at its consumer call centre, show that whilst 53% are first time buyers, a whopping 47% are second and third time buyers. These buyers typically have more to spend, are looking at ‘crossover’ products like Orangeries or the recently launched Veranda and they tend to demand more complex conservatory shapes that have all the bells and whistles….often these decisions are fuelled by ‘mistakes’ made when they were naive first time buyers.
Orangeries, Veranda’s and Shades sold at the point of sale are all products and solutions that give retailers ‘something different’ - Cornice, an aluminium powder coated shroud that adds interest to the gutter/bar end locations is a further tool that a retailer can deploy to get that elusive £ of consumer spend. Given that it takes time for new products to be grasped by retailer’s sales teams, we are now seeing encouraging sales of this innovative product. Furthermore, this is the first leg of a journey to have a complete aluminium external suite of products for the Classic roof.
Coloured foil conservatories is another trend that Ultraframe was instrumental in influencing.
Products introduced by Ultraframe sometimes have an immediate appeal on their own but often are designed to work in ‘tandem’ with other products on the conservatory – the example here being the Super Duty Eaves Beam which allows conservatory designers more freedom to give the consumer exactly what they are looking for, namely opening up the sides of the whole conservatory to blur the garden/home interface.
Ultraframe is tuned into the needs of consumers in general and conservatory buyers in particular. An interesting question is – how has (if at all) the behaviour of consumers changed during the recession? As mentioned earlier, thousands of consumers have sent back their registration forms found with their roof and have shared with us lots of critical data to give us a rare insight into their buying patterns. If we analyse data from the first quarter of 2008 and compare it to the same period of 2010, we see that in 08 43% of respondents only obtained one quote and that has come down to 31%......so consumers are asking for more quotes than before ( with those obtaining three or more quotes up from 7% to 16%).
Furthermore, those thinking about a conservatory for a period of 12 months or more before buying went up from 31% to 38% ( also interestingly, those thinking about it for less than a month halved from 19% to 9% in the same period).
So retailers need to amend their sales tactics accordingly as more consumers are thinking about it for longer and getting more quotes. Retailers need to be adept at project selling, and include other items like underfloor heating, floorings and shading products. They shouldn’t be afraid to take at least two visits to get to the point where a quote can be issued.
Short termism should be avoided at all costs – directors/proprietors/sales managers of retail businesses shouldn’t be afraid to probe and challenge existing sales techniques of their ( usually self employed) direct sales people – the owners and decision makers should check that expensively generated leads aren’t being ‘burnt’ if the sales person can’t get an appointment within days. The most successful retailers have strategies and processes in place to nurture consumers who are on this longer journey – remember 38% of consumers are taking over 12 months from research to completion.
One prominent trend that is emerging is that of conservatory refurbishment and upgrading. Leads that often result in a new replacement roof or indeed frames and roof being replaced often start out as a plea for help from a consumer – issues with a leaky vent, overheating, sealed unit break down. By actively engaging with what some retailers ( or at least their sales persons) view as ‘nuisance’ calls, the more pro-active retailers are turning these leads into substantial upgrading opportunities.
Ultraframe knows the percentage of its roofs that are being for replacements ( consumers tell us when registering for their Certificate of Authenticity) and it is surprisingly high ……..inevitably in the months ahead, we will be looking to introduce new products to tackle this market.
There are three million existing conservatories, many of them now quite old – the technology embedded in a conservatory 15 years ago is a far cry from what we can deliver today – and it’s vital that we communicate these new benefits to consumers.
After the recession and once people start moving home again, more and more consumers will inherit a conservatory, with many wanting to upgrade it. Ultraframe deals with this opportunity by steering consumers to independent vetted members of its Ultra Installer scheme who can then tackle this opportunity professionally.
