Clearview National April 2015 - Issue 161 | Page 74

HARDWARE&SECURITY

Is Security Being
Overlooked?
According to component supplier
of the year ERA, security is often
overlooked as a key benefit in the
sales process when in reality this is a
perfect opportunity to deliver a point of
differentiation amongst window systems.
»»ERA group marketing
director, Will Butler, explains:
“Last year we commissioned
research amongst a very specific
audience of home improvers,
people very much in the
mind set of making informed
choices about big-ticket home
improvement systems. We
wanted to gauge the appetite
of a home improver towards
two things. First, general
interest levels in improving
home security and secondly,
but critically, we wanted to
understand the appetite towards
replacement windows systems
featuring the ERA Five Star
Guarantee. The response was
overwhelming with as many
as 90% of home improvers
agreeing that they would choose
a window solution with proven
superior security features and an
insurance-backed guarantee.

“This is the opportunity.
Today’s homeowner is often far
better informed about issues
such as thermal performance, it’s
certainly a way of differentiating
one window system over another
and we see this all the time
from fabricators and retailers
positioning A+ rated windows as
standard. However, not only is
security as essential in terms of
delivering additional features, we
know from our research that if
an installer can position security
amongst the key features then a
homeowner is more likely to be
persuaded by that system over
others.
“In reality, until now, hardware
manufacturers have done very
little to provide the installer with
the sort of ammunition that
enables them to position security
with confidence. We know from
our research that homeowners are

74 » A PR 2015 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M

engaged about home security but
the opportunity to differentiate
one locking system over another
during the sales process rarely
happens. If security is to be
used as a valuable point of
differentiation then as a sector we
have to work harder to give the
installer the ammunition to really
sell security with ease.
“That’s why we developed
the ERA Five Star Guarantee.
Without question it includes the
ultimate locking technology to
keep a home secure, but critically,
from an installers perspective,
it allows them to give the
homeowner consumer-friendly
benefits such as compensation
in the event of a break-in if it’s
proven that the locking system
failed. This is just one of five key
benefits. This approach gives the
installer tangible reasons to talk
about security – homeowners

don’t understand the technical
terms that we use to differentiate
one locking system over another
but they do understand terms
such as insurance-backed
guarantee – it’s a shift in
emphasis away from the locking
system itself that will ultimately
appeal to the savvy homeowner.
“The bottom line is that home
security is equally as important
as thermal performance – some
might argue even more so when
it comes to protecting your
family and your belongings.
But until now it has been
incredibly challenging for an
installer to use security as a
point of differentiation – we
know that homeowners love the
transparency of a guarantee and
now for the first time in this
industry we’re giving installers
the ultimate security selling
tool.”