Here at SEHBAC, we like to keep an eye on what’s going on in the world of double glazing, conservatories and home improvement.

Yesterday we stumbled across this entertaining blog post - you’ll need to be a Star Wars fan, otherwise it’ll go straight over your head; but if you loved Star Wars as much as we did, you’ll enjoy this very much indeed.

We’ve included a taster here:

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, every window in the Star Wars universe shattered from the underwater shrieks of a million dying Gungans. Yes, the Jar-Jar Binks clan had to go. And no, they won’t be missed.

But now, the Rebel Alliance faces the impossible task of intergalactic window replacement and thus created the aptly named Allied Forces Inter-Galactic Window Replacement Task Force (AFIGWRTF).

Which parasitic species require anti-ooze sealants for their two-foot tongues?

Who or what is a Lumpawaroo?

And does a long acronym defeat the purpose of an acronym?

All this and more shall be answered in CalFinder’s edition of Star Wars Window Replacement.“

Read the full post here: Star Wars Window Replacement - enjoy

Today’s spotlight is on Martin Dunnett, who manages our Suffolk team, and works out of our Ipswich Double Glazing and Conservatory Show Centre.

How long have you worked for SEHBAC?

20 years. Prior to working for SEHBAC I worked for two or three other double glazing companies. Before that I used to work for Ipswich Borough Council in their social housing department.

How did you get into the industry?

I was made redundant from Ipswich Council, and at the time I’d really had enough of the public sector and wanted a change. I saw that Zenith were looking for staff, so I thought I’d try my hand. Despite really liking the industry I left Zenith because I didn’t believe in the high pressure sales tactics that they wanted us to employ. I finally settled at SEHBAC (or SEH as it was then), because I much preferred their approach to selling.

Which towns / areas do you cover?

As the Sales Manager I’m in charge of the Ipswich, Chelmsford and Colchester showrooms; and cover Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire & Essex (down as far as Chelmsford).

Which products do you sell?

Now my job is to manage the sales teams, so I don’t sell as much anymore; but I used to sell Double Glazing, Conservatories, Fascias, Soffits, Doors - the lot!

Now I only sell to my own customers. As I’ve been here for 20 years; some people ask for me, as I’ve sold to them in the past, it’s nice to continue the relationship, so I’ll sell to those people, but will pass the new customers on to my sales team.

What do you think consumers are most interested in when it comes to purchasing windows and conservatories?

Value for money! But people are also interested in getting the right product, be it a conservatory, double glazing etc, and of course they’re keen to make sure that the workmanship is up to scratch.

Ultimately they’re looking for a reliable company that they can trust. 

Have you seen a trend towards people being more interested in environmental issues / savings on heating bills?

I have seen a trend towards people asking about heat insulation values, but I think that people are unsure of the difference between the various window ratings. I think that there’s still a job to be done in terms of educating customers, as window ratings are a little more complex than the rating which they place on white goods which are arguably easier to understand.  

What’s the best thing about your job?

Every day is different, and brings about new challenges which I enjoy. I’m a people person, which you definitely have to be as it’s a very customer facing role. I also like that it’s not strictly office based, and it’s certainly not 9 to 5.

What do you do for fun?

I play Bridge - funnily enough quite a few members of my Bridge Club are customers.

I’m also an Ipswich Town season ticket holder, so between football, Bridge and my five children I’m kept pretty busy!

If you weren’t in double glazing/conservatories what would you be doing?

I’d probably still be in social housing, or perhaps in another sales job.

Who would you get to play you in a film of your life?

Order my windows, go ahead, make my day...

Clint Eastwood. Because I really like him as an actor.

If you could have lunch with anyone, alive or dead who would it be?

Jimmy Page, guitarist from Led Zeppelin. I’m a big fan.

If you were a superhero - what would your superpower be?

I’d like to be able to read people’s minds.

PVC or Hardwood?

When it comes to double glazing, I’d choose Hardwood for looks, but PVC for practicality.

What’s the biggest misconception you face in your line of work?

Some people think that all double glazing salesman are rogues, and indeed some are. Of course at SEHBAC we don’t employ those sort of dishonest practises, but unfortunately the industry is still blighted by those that do. 

What industry improvements do you think will come about next?

I imagine that in the not too distant future we’ll see window manufacturers moving away from UPVC to another material - e.g. composite windows. We already do composite doors, and the potential for a wide range of colours and finishes is much broader.

We’re also seeing aluminium making a comeback; mainly due to commercial demands; but also because of the look, - it has a slimmer profile, and sleeker lines - it can also be made any colour you like. We’re having an aluminium orangery installed in the Ipswich show room later this year, and Chelmsford will follow.

What are the biggest challenges the industry faces?

I think we do need to stamp out the rogue traders, they give the industry such a bad name.

I also think that at some point we’ll see a saturation of UPVC windows - because they last a long time - people won’t need to replace them. I think that as an industry we’ll need to diversify and offer other products.

Clint Eastwood image Wikipedia

Today’s spotlight is on Stuart Wright, one of our sales managers who works out of our Romford Double Glazing and Conservatory Show Centre.

How long have you worked for SEHBAC?

20 years! Prior to this I worked for another Double Glazing company in Enfield. Originally I was based in Palmers Green, but now I work out of the Romford show centre.

How did you get into the industry?

Like Chris, it was by accident really. I met a guy at a wedding, and he suggested that I go and work for him. Initially I did leaflet distribution, then I got trained up to do sales.

Which towns / areas do you cover?

My patch covers North London, Hertfordshire and Essex. Funnily enough I’ve sold double glazing to many customers more than once - we get a lot of repeat business and referrals which is nice. A couple of weeks ago I went to meet a new customer. At the time I thought the address seemed familiar; it turns out I’d sold the previous owner of the property double glazing about 18 years ago!

Which products do you sell?

Windows, Doors, Conservatories and Roofline.

What is Roofline?

Essentially it’s where the roof meets the brickwork of the house. People sometimes refer to roofline as the fascias, soffits and guttering; or sometimes the bargeboards - it’s all the same stuff.

In some properties the fascias are made of wood, which without regular maintenance can decay leaving your home open to the elements. At SEHBAC we offer a full range of PVCU fascias, soffits and guttering which don’t require maintenance - unlike the wooden versions. It’s a pretty popular line - people often get them replaced at the same time as having their windows or conservatories done.

What do you think consumers are most interested in when it comes to purchasing windows and conservatories?

The price! That and how quickly we can get the job done. Quality of product and workmanship is also really important, as naturally people are interested in how the end result is going to look.

Have you seen a trend towards people being more interested in window energy ratings?

Well I think that consumers understand the energy ratings on white goods such as fridges, freezers, washing machines etc, however I think that there’s still a job to be done in terms of raising consumer awareness of the window energy ratings.

The government’s targets to reduce carbon emissions mean that it’s likely that by 2016 all new build homes will need to have A rated windows, and all replacement windows will need to be B rated or higher.

As such, I think it’s important to make consumers aware of the options open to them, so I make sure I explain the window ratings and what they mean in order to help customers make the right choices when they’re replacing their double glazing.

If you weren’t in the double glazing industry, what would you be doing?

I’d be a pro golfer. I beat former Essex Amateur Chris Phillips at the SEHBAC golf day… He claims he was nursing an injury

Who would you get to play you in a film of your life?

Joe Pasquale - people say I look and sound like him.

If you could have lunch with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?

It would have to be Steven Gerrard as I’ve been a Liverpool fan all my life.

Your house is on fire, you can only save one thing - what would you save?

My girlfriend.

How has the industry changed over the past 20 years?

In many ways it’s stayed the same, as people are still looking for value for money and excellent workmanship. That said, I guess technology has made everyone’s life a lot easier - we’ve got an excellent bit of kit which lets us upload a picture of the customer’s house, and we can show them how various conservatory designs will look. It makes it much easier for customers to choose the right conservatory design.

I think we’re also seeing some changes in the products people are asking for. This tends to change dependent on the area and prevalent architecture style. For example - in Chigwell and Loughton we see lots of requests for Black UPVC windows; whereas in North London the double glazed sash windows are more popular.

What are you most looking forward to in the next six months?

Like Chris I’m also eagerly awaiting a new arrival as my girlfriend’s daughter is expecting a baby later this month, so I’m really looking forward to that.

In this, the first of our ‘Spotlight On’ posts we’ll be introducing Chris Phillips, who manages our South East team and works out of our Romford Double Glazing and Conservatory Show Centre.

How long have you worked for SEHBAC?

4 years; prior to this I worked for a couple of other Double Glazing companies in Essex.  

How did you get into the industry?

By accident really. Originally I was a builder, but when the last recession hit I decided to change trades.

Which areas do you cover?

I manage the teams which cover London, Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Essex. My area also extends south to Sussex, West to Oxford and North to Northampton. Day to day I’m based in Romford.   

What do you think consumers are most interested in when it comes to purchasing windows and conservatories?

People are most interested in a company’s reputation, and want to have confidence in the sales person. it’s all about trust really. We’ve very lucky at SEHBAC as we get a lot of business as a result of existing clients recommending us to their friends and family.

What do people most ask you most often when they are looking to buy double glazing?

Price! Particularly in the current climate people are being careful with their money.

However, we do get asked a lot about the various of styles of double glazing - so people are also concerned about how the finished product is going to look. We’ve also had a lot of interest in our new coloured PVC frames - they are really starting to take off. We offer a range of colours - blues, greens, greys, white, reds etc. Obviously they’re not going to suit all types of houses, but on modern flats they look really smart.

What do people ask you most often when they are looking to buy conservatories?

Conservatories are particularly popular at the moment, as many are electing to ‘improve rather than move’, and the extra space a conservatory provides is really handy.

Conservatories have changed a lot over the years. I remember my Nan had a conservatory - it really wasn’t a usable room - freezing in Winter, boiling in Summer - not good. Now we can build conservatories which are usable all year round - people use them as dining rooms, living rooms, play rooms for the kids. Plus with modern self cleaning glass they’re much easier to maintain, keep clean and looking good.

Some are worried that they’ll be tied to a particular design - but it’s really not the case - you can pretty much have whatever you want. I guess some might also have concerns over planning - but again, most don’t require consent, and we’re happy to help guide them through the process. 

Have you seen a trend towards people being more interested in environmental issues / savings on heating bills?

Yes I’d say people are more aware of green issues than before, and we’re now able to offer A rated windows which is excellent news.

PVC or Hardwood?

PVC - it’s maintenance free.

What do you do for fun?

I was going to be a pro golfer, I played trials for England, and used to play for Essex Amateur. Unfortunately I got injured in a car accident and so couldn’t continue to play competitively, but I still like to play. 

Who would you get to play you in a film of your life?

Well, people used to say I looked like Steve McQueen…

If you were a superhero - what would your superpower be?

Invisibility.

What’s the biggest misconception you face in your line of work?

There is a stigma attached to the double glazing industry - pushy sales people, etc. At SEHBAC we don’t do that, we’re happy to quote for a job - but we’ll come in, measure up, go back to the office, pull together a quote and then send it on to the client. Our motto is ’no pressure, no hassle, no fuss’.

What industry improvements do you think will come about next?

Well, I’d really like to see tighter regulations on the double glazing industry, particularly with regard to selling practices. I think it would kill off the rogue traders, which could only benefit the industry as a whole.

How has the internet changed your job?

Well I’d guess we get around 60% of our enquiries via the web now - it just makes it so much easier for customers. They can book appointments online, view the range, etc. I think it’s made life a lot easier for everyone.

What are you most looking forward to in the next six months?

Well, we’re going to be having our new hardwood windows and doors range fitted in the Romford show centre. It’s already the best PVC double glazing and conservatory show centre in the South East; but now people will be able to compare PVC and Hardwood side by side in the same show centre. It’s going to be great for the customers.

Work stuff aside, I’m over the moon as my lovely wife’s expecting our second child on 19th December. We’re taking bets on whether it will be a boy or girl, so watch this space…

Steve McQueen image wikipedia

Back in May, I wrote a post about conservatories adding around £7,000 to a property’s value - this figure was based upon a survey commissioned by HSBC.

However, last week the Daily Mail ran a story about a couple who have added a massive £200,000 to the value of their home by adding a conservatory!

The home belongs to property developers Paul and Denise Sewter of Woodstock, Oxon. Now, clearly this is by no means a ‘regular’ conservatory. Installed at a cost of around £42,000, it was a serious investment, but clearly one that has paid back - almost fivefold.

Food for thought, eh?