12
DECEMBER 2013 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
FANCY A COMMISSION
CHEQUE FOR £10,000?
This time the Winner Takes All in the FIT Show Sales Professional of the Year Competition.
Today the sales people of the window,
door and conservatory
industry have to be
sharper, more informed, better educated and simply slicker
and sharper than ever
before. Because their
customers are!
Able to summon up the
most detailed information
at the click of a mouse
button the smart home improver of the 21st century
has all the information they
need – and often a great
deal that they don’t – at
their finger tips.
The net result is that the
modern home improvement sales person has to
be ahead of the game and
their customers, able to
provide accurate answers
t o their customers’ ever
more searching questions.
In other words, they must
be true professionals.
A star feature of the inaugural FIT Show, the Sales
Professional of the Year
competition was the first
ever to seek out, recognise
and reward the people in the
front line, those providing
the initial key link between
the retailer and the customer
and as such, the difference
between a sale or not.
For 2014 The FIT Show
Sales Professional of the
Year Award will follow a
similar course, under the
watchful eye of Paul Clifton,
who is acknowledged as
one of the UK’s leading
sales trainers in the home
improvement market.
This year we are seeking
out the best Conservatory
sales people so a special
set of skills will be required. After a testing initial
‘filtration’ process entrants
will be grilled by Paul and
put through a searching
interview.
Those successfully passing his expert scrutiny
will then advance to the
finals, which will take place
once again in a specially
chosen ‘home improvers’ house, with specially
trained actors posing as the
‘prospects’. Finalists will be
videoed and their performances will be broadcast
Concerned over reports
of misapplication of glass
surface treatments
The Glass and Glazing
Federation was concerned to hear of a
potential health risk in
the application of glass
surface treatments
(protective coatings) in
UK factories.
The issue has been raised
by GGF Members, that some
factories are not taking
the necessary precautions
to protect their staff from
inhalation of toxic particles
when spraying protective
coatings onto glass.
The GGF will discuss the
issue at its next Health and
Safety Committee Meeting
with a view to determining
the dangers of misapplication
as well as trying to gauge
the scale of the issue and if
necessary provide additional
guidance to Members and the
wider industry.
Giles Willson, GGF Deputy
Chief Executive and Director
of Technical Affairs commented, “The issue has been
raised and we understand
there have been instances
of misapplication of glass
surface treatments in the UK
and abroad. Having listened
to our Members’ concerns
we will go through the GGF
Health and Safety Committee to establish the potential risks and if any further
action or investigation is
required.”
For further information go
to: www.ggf.org.uk
in the months leading up
to The FIT Show 2014, with
a final three selected to
undergo the toughest part
of the challenge: sitting at
The FIT Show Gala Dinner
to find out if they have won
the star prize of a cheque
for £10,000!
Just as in real life sales
situations there is no sec-
ond or third prize: and for
2014 they don’t even have
to split to prize with their
employer - just as in the
real world of window, door
and conservatory sales, the
winner takes all - a cheque
for £10,000!
FIT Show co-organiser
Matthew Glover, himself a
seasoned glazing salesman,
says this is intended to test
the mettle of everyone that
has pride in their abilities
as a sales professional:
“The £10,000 prize will
motivate people of course.
But just as we did last time
we will grill the entrants
and dismiss all but the
very best. The winner will
not just be good at closing
the sale. They must secure
the order whilst showing
detailed and current knowledge of their subject, care
for the customer and genuine integrity, the qualities
that should be expected
of all home improvement
sales people in this day and
age.”
So ask yourself: “Do I
have what it takes to win
£10,000 and the title ‘The
FIT Show Sales Professional of the Year?’” If so, go
to The FIT Show web site
now at www.fitshow.co.uk
and ‘close the sale’.
To the rescue!
Traditional Christmas cards are
usually the order of the day
throughout the festive month of
December, but at Synseal this year
it’s more about arrow keys and
fun-filled evil trolls thanks to the
system supplier’s new online game
“Christmas Rescue”.
Last year Synseal took the bold decision to send seasonal greetings via an
online game instead of posting hundreds
of boring old Christmas cards. Known
as “Fat Santa”, the entertaining pudding-munching game proved to be a huge
success throughout December with many
players across the industry competing
with one another, each of them trying to
rise to the summit of the Top 100 league
table – published online, this pecking
order changed constantly due to the
game’s popularity. Nick Trueman of Direct
Window Supplies in Swindon eventually
proved victorious, racking up an awesome
total of 162,250 points and beating over
600 posted scores along the way.
This year things are a little bit different. While league table bragging rights
will remain the same, the game itself has
changed. Titled “Christmas Rescue”, evil
trolls have imprisoned Rudolf, Fairy and
Santa. As one of Santa’s trusty elves you
must navigate your way through moving
candy canes and hat-popping snowmen,
all the while collecting Christmas puddings for energy along the way.
So why not strap on your green boots
and see if you can top Synseal’s leader
board, even if only for a brief moment?
Watch out for this seasonal slice of fun,
which will be e-mailed to a sizeable database of industry contacts very soon.