Clearview Midlands January 2014 - Issue 146 | Page 29

2014PREDICTIONS

Last month Clearview made the short
journey from it’s new premises in Barnsley
to Distinction Doors at Wentworth to meet
new Marketing Manager, Chantel Roach.
Chantel, also from Barnsley, previously
worked as Head of Marketing for Maplin
Electronics for almost 10 years. Here she tells
Clearview a bit more about herself and her
appointment to the role, as well as what 2014
has in store for Distinction Doors…
“After 10 years in retail marketing I was
ready for a change and a new challenge. I was
looking to step out of my comfort zone, but
the position and company had to be right and
had Distinction not appealed then I would
have remained within the retail sector. But the
opportunity at Distinction was far too good
to refuse, given its impressive track record
and credentials. For example, Distinction
has recently appeared in the London Stock
Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain,
which is a celebration of some of the fastestgrowing and most dynamic small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.
“I started at Distinction in September 2013.
My appointment to the role was quickly
followed by a company-wide restructure, so that
I work under Sales and Marketing Director,
Jim Stewart. Jim was quick to acknowledge that
Distinction’s marketing approach had been very
paper and print lead, which was right for the
company at the time. But through feedback
from our Business Development Managers out
on the road, it has become apparent now that

in order to fit into our customer’s marketing
strategy we need to invest in resources in order
to become more dynamic, by adopting a more
digitally orientated approach.
“Stock, of course, is also one of our primary
concerns and above all we, as a company, must
not forget that as a business, we are first and
foremost a component distributor i.e. GRP
door slabs. So 2014 will initially be about
refocusing on that as out core competency
and, to some extent, going back to our roots,
reinforcing Distinction’s position in the market
as the home of the insulated door.
“Through our marketing activities the aim is
to take on an advisory role in the industry and
to our customers, explaining how our doors
are made and what gives them the pedigree
they are renowned for, as well as emphasising
Distinction’s technical support and customer
service.
“There will be a lot of work going on behind
the scenes too, with development to the
infrastructure of the company that is essential
in order to sustain the growth that the company
continues to enjoy, while maintaining service
levels and customer satisfaction. Just to give
you an idea of the speed at which the company
has grown, in almost one month alone in 2013
Distinction sold more doors than in our first
year of trading, so it goes without saying that
systems and processes need to be adapted to
accommodate the kind of volumes that were
talking about. Forecasting, in particular, will be
key here.

CLEARVIEW EXCLUSIVE

GOING BACK TO ITS ROOTS

“Our workforce has also expanded. We now
have a new I.T. Manager that the company
didn’t have previously, in recognition of
what needs to be done in order to drive the
business forward. We’ll also be going back to
our customers and finding out about their
needs by conducting customer surveys, which
is something we intend to repeat periodically
to keep track of our progress. In doing so, we
hope to find out what our customers think we
are good at and what areas we can improve in
and also gear our product development towards
what they want and need.

‘The opportunity at
Distinction was far too
good to refuse, given its
impressive track record’
“Support and training for the staff has also
been recognized as a priority by Managing
Director, Drew Wright. More training and
development has already been undertaken in
2013 and will continue throughout 2014. This
is to ensure the business gives support back to
the workforce in order to strengthen roles as
well as protect and promote our brand values
and excel at customer service.
“In 2014 Distinction doors will start the New
Year off with promoting our core range which
is back to doors, the colour, the choice, the
energy values, as well as developing the tools
our customers need to make their businesses
successful.”

To rea