Energy efficient products remain a big driver for sales, with homeowners, architects and developers looking to improve a home’s thermal performance thus reducing energy usage and bills. Selecta Systems Technical Manager, Cliff Prosser, explains the company’s philosophy behind ensuring that any new developments and enhancements continue to be fabricator and installer friendly, whilst also being as cost effective as is possible.
Windows and doors are often seen as a ‘distress purchase’. A purchase made out of necessity rather than pleasure. Replacing windows and doors within a home is amongst one of the largest investment renovations that a consumer will undertake on their property. Energy efficient products will now very likely feature top of their requirements, when choosing replacement windows and doors, closely followed by security and aesthetics.
Window and door companies have the ideal opportunity to promote the energy efficiency of their products as one of the main USP’s. Whether this being new build projects or replacing ageing and tired windows and doors, there is a necessity and requirement to improve a homes thermal efficiency and reduce energy bills. The latest and future revisions to Building Regulations Document Part L and the Future Homes Standard (FHS) provides companies with a strong legislative platform for promoting the thermal performance of windows and doors within the home.
With the recent and future changes to Part L and the FHS, coupled with further calls for action on climate control and sustainability, our industry remains under pressure to further develop product energy efficiency innovation and sustainability. These changes have seen Selecta provide further investment in our research and development programme, working closely with ER Certification and Clayton Glass. These partnerships have led to some truly exceptional results with some very efficient and cost-effective solutions attained.
The objective of our energy efficiency and sustainability R&D programme has been to continue to provide fabricators and installers with an effective and easily attainable solution, that meets and exceeds current and future requirements. This philosophy has seen our existing ADVANCE 70 system capable of achieving a U value of 1.1W/m²k with a 4/20/4, 28mm double glazed unit. Again, incorporating 4mm glass, a 40mm triple glazed unit will achieve a U value of 0.8 W/m²k, meeting the proposed FHS target. All this has been achieved without any further modifications of our ADVANCE 70 system and very much standardised glass specifications.
We realise the fact that the FHS final intended 0.8 W/m²k U value requirement will pose a significant challenge to many in our industry. These planned tighter regulations may indicate that some products on the market may have already or be close to reaching their design limits of their product range.
This is why we are extremely pleased that our continued investment in our R&D programme has clearly demonstrated the excellent technical and thermal capabilities of our ADVANCE 70 system in current and future market conditions. Along the way, we have been able to retain the company ethos on providing fabricators, installers and consumers with the most innovative, proficient and cost-effective energy efficient window and door solutions on the market.
We firmly believe that by partnering with Selecta and our ADVANCE 70 system, our excellent thermal performance ratings present fabricators and installers with greater sales and marketing opportunities. The future proofed ADVANCE 70 window and door system, combined with our first-class marketing and technical support package certainly provides you with the tools to generate new sales leads and win new business.
The last four years or so have been, and continue to be, a true rollercoaster ride for many. With various highs and lows during this time, the market now seems to be more settled overall, but remains challenging for some. Selecta Systems Sales Director, Andy Green, highlights why it’s now even more important to be with a PVCu window and door systems supplier that’s continuously investing in your future. More specifically, a systems company that is there to help you and your business, create opportunities and overcome those challenges.
It’s widely reported that the industry is down by approximately 10-15%, but here at Selecta we continue to grow whilst we undertake a number of investments across the business. These investments all form part of our long-term vision in helping fabricators and installers grow and win new business.
For example, our delivery fleet has been expanded with the purchase of four new HGV’s, increasing our delivery capabilities and capacities. Two new extrusion machines have been purchased this year, with more planned, on the back of the four that have been acquired in the last couple of years. Combined with a new material conveying system, these have had a positive impact on extrusion quality and efficiency, when combined with the major upgrades to tooling and dies.
Another new lamination machine, increased staffing levels and improved shift patterns have been implemented within the lamination department. The demand for colour continues to increase, which in turn has seen coloured profile stocks and special colour profile figures hit figures not experienced previously. The investments in the area have not only seen increased stocking levels, but also enabled ourselves to provide a fast turnaround for special-coloured profiles.
These multi-million-pound investments have been ongoing in the background, forming part of our expansion and growth plans. We see this as a way of investing not only in our future, but the future of our customers, enabling us to continuously improve our products and services, of which we offer.
Creating Opportunities and Winning New Business
The investments don’t stop there. Our aim has always been to provide a sales and marketing support package that adds real value and benefits to fabricators and installers. In a challenging market, it is important to stand out from the competition. Within Connect, we believe that our sales and marketing tools provide you with the perfect platform to create opportunities and meet those challenges head on.
Our Window & Door Designer with Home Visualiser has been very well received by our customer base who have seen this as a real game changer when it comes to lead generation and helping to close of sales. Branded Mode is fully loaded with our window and door solutions, styles and configurations, and can be branded with your logo and company details. As it has its own url, it has many deployment solutions at its disposal. This enables you to generate sales leads and win new business across many platforms!
The Window & Door Designer can be deployed on your website or in your showroom, linked within your social media posts or used as a presentation tool at a customers home. You or the homeowner can take a photo of their home, choose the window and door styles, configurations, colour etc. and paste them on to the customers house to visualise how they would look! You can change the design as many times as you like until you find a style and colour that compliments their home. All-in-all the Window & Door Designer provides you with a professional lead generation tool and sales aid, that sets you apart from the competition.
To compliment the Window & Door Designer, we have also invested in two branded and themed websites, one for fabricators and one for installers. Fully equipped with all of our window and door solutions, photography and text, you can have a modern and ready-to-go website up and running within 5 days! All you need to provide is your logo, a company bio and your contact details. You can even choose your own colour scheme to match your branding, taking away the whole headache of a website build.
There are a number of upgrades to the standard themed websites, including adding the Window & Door Designer, so that you can have a branded professional online package to help you start generating new business. The themed websites are designed to grow as you grow, allowing you to add new products, services and pages.
With further developments in our Connect portal at a well-advanced stage, we are confident that there is something of real value and benefit to every fabricator and installer. This is why it’s essential that fabricators and installers partner and investing in the right window and door system and supplier. One that can provide future proofed window and door solutions to meet the demands of your customers. One that is investing in your future and looking at long-term innovation and development of its products and services. One that can provide a range of marketing and technical support tools and services to create opportunities and win new business in today’s market. Even more reasons to #bepartofthefamily
With the boom in the home improvement market now clearly a distant memory, we all envisaged that the demand for new windows and doors would not be able to continue at the rate that we had experienced over the last few years. Selecta Systems Marketing Manager, Mark Walker, talks about how they are taking fabricator and installer sales and marketing support to a whole new level.
Over the last few years, we have been working meticulously in the background at ways of adding real value and benefits to our sales and marketing support service, tools and mechanisms. Our main drive and objective being very clear; to make our sales and marketing support package a real game changer, not only for ourselves, but more importantly for our fabricators and installers.
New Trade & Homeowner Websites
One of the first investments we identified was a brand-new website. In fact, we saw huge opportunities for two new websites, one for trade and one for retail. We were experiencing a number of homeowner enquiries, some 25+ per week, just through the website alone and more via telephone and email. This highlighted that there was potential for a consumer dedicated website with improved homeowner-based information and branding.
This in-turn would be capable of generating and capturing sales leads for our fabricator and installer customer base. Hence, we designed and built both a trade and retail website, with the latter aimed at promoting the ADVANCE 70 brand. The way we see it is that our fabricators and/or installers sell the ADVANCE 70 window and door system, not Selecta, and the end consumer has ADVANCE 70 windows and doors installed.
On both the selectasystems.com and advance70.co.uk websites, a Find a Fabricator / Installer feature was added, to make it easier and quicker for consumers to engage with our growing customer base. By filtering it down to their area, distance from their location and products required, consumers can drill down their most local fabricators and/or installers. Direct links to the fabricator and/or installers website and contact details are included in the customer card, all contained within a Google map with directions, street view and other map functions.
Window & Door Designer and Home Visualiser
The biggest and most exciting addition to the consumer dedicated website is the Window and Door Designer with Home Visualiser, delivered by the amazing TOUCH. The complete range of Selecta products, direct from our Business Micros dataset, have been included thus allowing visitors to the site to design their own windows and doors!
They can choose the style, configuration, colour, hardware and glass decoration before saving each design within the portal. The most valuable part of the designer is that a homeowner can upload images of their home and drop on their newly designed windows and doors! This enables them to see if the colour or design they desire compliments the style, period and location of their home before submitting the enquiry. Once completed they can submit their enquiry which lands within the Dealer Network section of our newly upgraded Connect customer portal. A professional PDF copy of their design lands in the homeowners inbox too!
Once the enquiry hits our admin area of the Connect portal, we are then able to assign it to their local fabricator and/or installer! Every customer of Selecta is included within the Connect portal and has an account to not only access their sales leads, but a host of other sales and marketing tools and information. The fabricator and/or installer is now able to accept the lead, which comes complete with the customers design and contact details. It also allows them to download a professional PDF copy of the design and a survey sheet to quote the customer.
Selecta are the first systems company to launch the TOUCH Window and Door Designer and provide this level of sales and marketing support, as we continue to put fabricators and installers at the heart of our business. Between the Find a Fabricator / Installer feature and the Window and Door Designer alone we are currently generating in excess of 200 sales leads per month. These are distributed through the Connect Dealer Network to our customer base, dependent on leads location. We see this figure increasing greatly during 2024 as we venture on an exciting campaign to further promote the ADVANCE 70 brand, website and Window & Door Designer.
Stay Connected
As part of the website updates, we also upgraded our Connect customer support portal. Connect is designed to provide fabricators and/or installers with 24/7, 365 days a year access to a host of sales, marketing and technical support tools and information.
Originally launched in 2018, our Connect customer support portal, now includes more sales and marketing tools than ever before! The same Window and Door Designer with Home Visualiser that features upon our homeowner website, is available to fabricators and installers to have branded and sit on their own website. This amazing designer package and sales lead generator revolutionises the way fabricators and/or installers present and sell windows and doors to a whole new level.
Also, within Connect is a brand-new website support package, where themed ready-made websites for both trade and retail businesses are available to fabricators and/or installers, who don’t want to go through the headache of a website build. With pages full of quality imagery and product information, all that’s needed to complete your branded site is your logo, contact details, colour scheme and about us bio. Combine that with the Window and Door Designer and you have the complete online package to help you win new business!
We also have a web2print brochure creator on its way that allows our customers to brand and edit our range of brochures with their own information and imagery, without requiring any graphic design experience. There will also be a stationery and promotional product shop, where customers can design and purchase everything from branded pens and letterheads, through to workwear and mugs.
With the addition of new sales brochures, branded sales videos and images, these investments in our range of sales and marketing tools demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the industry and more importantly, our customer base. Everything has been purposely designed to provide fabricators and/or installers with a simplistic way of upgrading their sales and marketing offering, helping to promote their products and services. All of which is aimed at helping fabricators and/or installers win new business and take their business to a whole new level in 2024 and beyond.
Having visited the excellent Glazing Summit and digested the latest industry figures, the statistics seem to demonstrate that there is a steady decline year-on-year in the number of PVCu window and door fabricators operating within the UK. However, it seems that PVCu Systems Company Selecta Systems are currently in the process of bucking that trend as they are seeing more new fabricators coming on board than what they’ve witnessed in previous years. Selecta Systems Sales Director, Andy Green, analyses the figures and explains why there seems to be a surge in new fabrication start-ups and installers going back in to or start fabricating.
I read with great interest the most recent and excellent Industry Report produced by Insight Data. The figures make thought-provoking reading and are certainly in line with many people’s perceptions of the current state of play within the industry. As for Selecta, 2023 has seen an increase in new start-up businesses, conversions and also fabricators diversifying and dual sourcing. However, what is interesting, is that Selecta have seen an increase in installers moving in to fabrication, with the clear reasoning being, to ‘take back control’ of their business.
Taking Back Control
The recent demise of some big industry figures has certainly played a big part in many a businesses plans, from both an installers and fabricators perspective. We totally understand the rationale behind this ‘taking back control’ spate, which has been very clear and concise, especially with the failure of some big trade suppliers, another systems company and one of the largest window and door installers in the UK.
We’ve started to see installers looking at their own business models with many recognising that ‘buying in’ manufactured products totally removes an element of control over the quality and service they provide. These trade supplier failings significantly affect their installation business. The closure of some large window and door trade suppliers has also forced a lot of installers in to making decisions regarding their current business model. It’s also made others think more about other issues that can affect their service, such as, delivery performance, poorly and incorrectly fabricated products, with both potentially causing installation headaches of which they have virtually no control over. All these factors have had and can have damaging knock-on effects to their installation business, not only their reputation, but also on the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations.
There’s nothing worse for installers than booking in a job, their customer having time off work and then having issues where the product hasn’t arrived or is damaged during transit. Then there’s the possibility of fabrication problems when fitting on site. The majority of these issues may not be able to be resolved by the installation company, whereas if they were fabricating, they could apply their own corrective actions and also have greater control of what goes out the door and when. As for delivery timescales, why wait when you can fabricate?
I’m not saying this is the case everywhere for fabrication and installation companies, but we’ve certainly experienced an increase in installers wanting to be in control of their own destiny, with a number starting to and showing increasing interest in the fabrication of our ADVANCE 70 System of late. The numbers we’ve seen of late are certainly more than we’ve experienced in a long time.
Selecta have always had a strong and successful history of setting up fabricators and fabrication facilities from scratch and assisting in all aspects of the process from layout and floor plan design to full blown training, with your own personal technician making the transition as smooth as possible.
The statistics also point you in the direction that aluminium windows and doors are on the increase, with PVCu fabricators and installers diversifying and venturing in to this growing area. This may be the case, but at Selecta we’re also seeing a trend in aluminium fabricators moving in to PVCu fabrication and expanding their product range. This certainly demonstrates that PVCu remains a strong proposition in a customer’s portfolio and that businesses are looking at how they can further protect their business to meet the ever-changing landscape.
The increase in new business start-ups may be more surprising for some, especially with the current state of play with the cost-of-living crisis and other factors that may deter the home improvement market. However, there are plenty of opportunities out there and the number of frames per week that companies like Safestyle and UKWG were fabricating have to be fulfilled somewhere. Those kind of numbers and opportunities are still out there, they simply don’t just go away.
Service and Support is Key
Whether you’re a fabricator or installer, our aim at Selecta is to provide a service and support package that suits everyone, from sales to delivery, technical to marketing. We have an extensive range of retail-based marketing support and sales brochures, literature and sales videos, whilst we also provide a series of trade sales and technical information guides aimed at promoting the window and door range to trade customers and installers.
Our Connect customer support portal, now includes more sales and marketing tools than ever before! A Window and Door Designer with Home Visualiser is available to fabricators and installers to personalise with their branding and feature on their website. This amazing designer package and sales lead generator takes the way you sell and present windows and doors to a whole new level. Also, within Connect is a completely brand-new website support package, where themed ready-made websites for both trade and retail businesses are available to customers who don’t want to go through the headache of a website build. Link that up with the Window and Door Designer and you have the complete online package to help you win new business!
We also have a web2print brochure creator on its way that allows customers to brand and edit our range of brochures with their own information and imagery, without requiring any graphic design experience. It’s a simplistic way of upgrading your sales and marketing offering, promoting you, your products and services.
Perfect Business Partner
In light of recent events within the industry, it is now vitally important whether you’re a fabricator, installer or both that you have, not only the right window and door profile system, but also the right supplier that can service and support you and your business. I believe this is essential in building a successful business partnership.
Our ADVANCE 70 System is now firmly recognised as one of the leading PVCu window and door profile systems. Whether you are fabricating, installing or both, you can be sure of a quality and comprehensive range of window and door solutions at your disposal.
Combine this with our personal customer support and service, marketing and technical support package and you have the perfect partner to not only support your business, but also grow your business. Whether you are already fabricating, or looking at fabricating, diversifying or broadening your product range, feel free to contact us and have that friendly chat on how Selecta can help you win new business.
Over the last few years, there has been an increase in pressure for far more stringent energy efficient products, driven by current and future legislative requirements combined with homeowner demands. Selecta Systems Technical Manager, Cliff Prosser, has been looking through the Selecta archives and articles that were written back in 2017, with concerns and questions raised that still seem pertinent to the current plight that we find ourselves in today.
I was recently looking through the technical archives and I found two particular energy efficiency related articles written and published by the previous technical team, that really caught my attention. It certainly seems like we were looking in to a crystal ball back then! This is particularly interesting on how we spoke about energy efficiency and the route the industry was deemed to be undertaking. What seems significant is that here we are, some 6 years later, with the very same concerns and questions still being raised!
We had acknowledged that the technical performance and specification of window and door systems had improved dramatically over the years, as window and door solutions evolved. It also identified that consumer demand within the replacement market would not only be for energy efficient products, but for more cost effective solutions in being able to deliver those savings with a guaranteed financial return on their investment.
The articles spoke of “sales and marketing campaigns driving fabricators and consumers as to requiring A++ ratings and triple glazed windows and doors to improve the thermal efficiency of properties and reduce energy bills”. This is no different to todays push with U values, Document L and the Future Homes Standard. But more importantly the article spoke of how meeting these rigid targets may present companies with the difficulty of being able to provide cost effective solutions for all.
It points to whether the cost and impact of improving the thermal efficiency of windows and doors may outweigh the overall savings. For instance, the end consumer may never see any return on their added investment when it comes to energy bill savings. Then there’s a business’s extra production and manufacturing costs to produce a product, which could possibly end up increasing its carbon footprint. This could certainly be the case for laminated glass production. Solve one problem, create another! Pretty much a similar scenario with electric cars. Ideology is great, but cost effectiveness, poor infrastructure, non-recyclability of batteries, impact of mining etc. all have detrimental effects in other areas, but hey, “I’m saving the planet by driving an electric car!”
It was interesting that the 2017 article touched on the possibility of ”over engineering a product just for the sake of achieving a higher rating”. In the replacement market, is a 0.2 decrease in U value really going to improve the overall efficiency of a property? Referring back to the extra manufacturing requirements and costs to achieve such a decrease, which if we were to analyse, would possibly bring minimal to zero improvements to the overall efficiency of the property and or energy savings to the homeowner.
It should not simply be about trying to provide a window or door solution that achieves the lowest U value, but we should be giving greater prominence in the ‘cost effectiveness’ achievement factor to the extruder, fabricator, installer and more importantly, the consumer. Will a 0.2 or even a 0.4 U value decrease provide a large leap in potential energy savings to the end consumer and the thermal efficiency of the property in comparison to the added expense in achieving this?
The articles continued to query whether there “must be a ‘cut-off’ point where the ‘efficiency’ reaches a level that it could be detrimental to the building fabric and the whole cost against benefit of installing the windows or door is no longer pertinent”. I believe this is still relevant when you consider the conflicts relating to documents L and F and the stabilisation of temperature within a property. Another point to add, with it all based on simulation, there’s also no consideration in to the quality of fabrication or installation of the windows or doors, a completely different ball game altogether.
As a systems company at the top of the supply chain, everyone may benefit from a more pragmatic and realistic approach to U values. For instance, moving to a centre pane U value would be the more logical approach, with glass making up at least 85% of all windows and most doors.
It will be interesting to look back in another six years or so to see if any sensible progress has been made in answering these queries and whether common sense does prevail.
Birmingham based PVCu window and door systems company, Selecta Systems, headed to FIT Show 2023 equipped with an armoury of sales and marketing support tools and a range of innovative products and new concepts. Sales Director, Andy Green and Marketing Manager, Mark Walker, talk about Selecta’s presence and huge impact at the show.
Andy explains, “Selecta were the only PVCu window and door systems company to exhibit at FIT Show 2023 and the only PVCu window and door systems company to exhibit at every FIT Show since it began 10 years ago! What this meant for fabricators visiting this year’s show, those who may have been looking to change profile systems or just merely window shopping, pardon the pun, was that Selecta were the only go to. So, by simply being at the show and having that presence presented huge benefits to ourselves. It fact, it provided the perfect platform to enable us to talk directly to prospective customers, whilst presenting ourselves with an excellent level of exposure and further marketing opportunities.”
“Over the course of the three days we had a number of frustrated fabricators who came to our stand to specifically look at changing from their existing systems company. The numbers and quality of these potential customers were extremely good and certainly justified our presence. The launch of our modernised MASTERslide patio door was fondly received and generated a good volume of interest from both existing and potential fabricators and installers.”
“Interest in our newly upgraded Connect customer portal and supporting sales and marketing tools was exceptional. Both existing and potential customers were excited by our sales and marketing support package offerings, appreciating its vast capabilities and ability in helping them win new business”, Andy emphasises.
Selecta saw the FIT Show as the perfect platform to launch the recently updated Connect customer portal and new sales and marketing support tools, as Mark explains.
“The Connect customer portal was originally launched in May 2018, where it focused around a resource centre of marketing and technical downloads, information and guides to help fabricators and installers 24/7, 365 days a year. The updated Connect project has been in progress for almost two years with the portal now boasting a host of new marketing, sales and technical support features. Our intentions were to always grow the platform in to the ‘go to hub’ for all areas of technical, marketing and sales support, and we saw the FIT Show as the ideal stage for us to launch and fully demonstrate its excellent new capabilities and features.”
“I must say, feedback and interest during the show was amazing! On the stand we were demoing our all new and refreshed trade website alongside our brand-new homeowner website, which intrinsically links all enquiries and sales leads between Connect and our customers. The window and door designer / visualiser, fully loaded with our range of window and door solutions, was a sure-fire hit amongst visitors to the stand”, says Mark.
“The real winner for fabricators and installers was that we are able to offer a branded version of the window and door designer / visualiser, which in-turn can be embedded upon their own website! This then enables them to generate their own sales leads, have them land within their own admin area of their own version of Connect and create professional quotes. Not only does this provide them with a professional looking sales tool and an opportunity to win new business, but it also provides them with a brilliant sales management tool in the background.”
Mark continues, “We came away from the show with a long list of customers, ready and waiting to sign-up and have their own version of the designer. The response was excellent and exactly what we had wished for and more.”
Selecta were so impressed with the feedback and response at the show, that they signed up to FIT Show 2025 before the 2023 event had even finished! Andy explains the reason behind this decision.
“What was really nice was that we had so many compliments about our stand at the show. We were so pleased with the stand and the general response to Selecta. our product range and the Connect portal. The quantity and quality of the leads definitely exceeded our expectations. So, we would like to thank the FIT Show team for such a fantastic and well organised event. For us, it really was a no brainer to sign up there and then to 2025 and secure a prime spot on the floor plan, on the back of what was an excellent show and a really fitting result for Selecta.”
Visit our FIT Show 2023 page and take a 3D virtual tour of our stand by clicking here…
Welcome to our brand new Selecta Systems trade website! The new website brings together our range of products, services and marketing and sales support tools, with a modern and simple user interface designed to fit in the company’s branding.
It now provides fabricators, installers and specifiers with what Selecta has to offer in terms of our window and door systems and the range of services and support tools.
A brand new Find a Fabricator / Installer feature has been added to the website, so that installers, specifiers and homeowners can search for their local fabricator / installer. They simply pop in their postcode or area, select the distance and products they are interested in and the list of local fabricators / installers will pop up on the Google map. Contact details, web addresses and opening times (where applicable) are shown on the map, to assist with the search.
The website has been designed to be fully responsive to all devices and compliments the modern branding and styling of which everyone will now be accustomed too.
Another key update is the upgraded Connect customer portal. The recent update to our Connect customer portal takes our marketing and sales support package to the next level, with a suite of support mechanisms designed to help Selecta fabricators and installers win new business.
Connect was originally launched in May 2018, where it focused around a resource centre of marketing and technical downloads, information and guides to help fabricators and installers 24/7, 365 days a year. Our intentions were to always grow the platform in to the ‘go to hub’ for all areas of technical, marketing and sales support, of which we are now able to fully demonstrate its new capabilities and features.
The whole project has been in progress for almost two years with the new Selecta trade website hosting the upgraded Connect portal, whilst a brand new homeowner website will intrinsically link enquiries and sales leads between Connect and the customer.
A New Homeowner Website to Compliment the Trade Website
The homeowner website, www.advance70.co.uk, has two fantastic features. It also includes the ‘Find a Fabricator / Installer’ feature, where all of our approved fabricators and installers are available within a simplistic search engine. The second is the option for visitors to the site to design their own windows and doors with our fantastic Window and Door Designer / Visualiser!
The Window and Door Designer / Visualiser
The designer has all of the Selecta range of products, from casement, flush sash and tilt and turn windows through to residential, French, patio and EASi-FOLD doors. We’ve also added in a range of composite doors, so that the homeowner has a good range of products, styles and configurations to choose from and improve their home.
We have kept the design and enquiry process simple. The homeowner can select a number of window and door configurations and styles, the internal and external colour, hardware colour and other glazing options like Georgian bar or leaded glass. The real beauty of this is that they can also take a photo of their property and drop the windows and doors on to their home to visualise how they would look! They can then submit their design as a professional PDF enquiry for quoting, of which we send direct to their local fabricators and/or installers admin area of their Connect portal for access and follow up.
As a fabricator or installer, we are also able to offer you a branded version of the window and door designer for the you to have embedded upon your own website! As a fabricator and/or installer you are then able to generate your own sales leads and have them land within your own admin area of your own version of Connect. You can have your own logo and contact details contained within the package and also emblazoned on all the relevant paperwork. What’s also being added, is the ability to add prices and provide a professional quote and order system.
The upgraded Connect portal will also provide a number of other features to support fabricators and installers.
Your New Branded Website Support Package
We will also provide customers with the facility to have a brand new themed and branded website. This takes away the headache of a website build, whilst also incorporating the ability to have our amazing window and door designer embedded in to the site. This will provide our customers with a professional website and excellent sales lead generation and presentation tool, whether it’s for trade or retail.
Your Web2Print Creator
An excellent Web2Print brochure and marketing material creator and designer will also be featured within Connect. This is where you can take our brochures, guides and flyers, add your own installation imagery and brand them with your own logo and contact details. You can then add them to your basket and have your own branded marketing materials delivered direct to your door! A shop will also provide you with the option to have your own branded point of sale items, banners, stationery, mugs, workwear etc.
A Game Changer
We see Connect and the sales and marketing support tools as a game changer for fabricators and installers. The whole suite of features certainly sets us apart from our competitors, delivering a marketing support package that will help our customers win new business!
One of the UK’s leading and longstanding PVCu window and door systems companies, Selecta Systems, head to FIT Show 2023 with a fabricator and installer support package that is being touted as a real game changer, whilst they also show off how they have modernised the ever-popular patio door! Sales Director, Andy Green and Marketing Manager, Mark Walker, give you an insight in to what you can expect from the independent and family-owned PVCu systems company at FIT Show 2023!
Andy comments, “We have always been proud of our ability to provide a flexible and personal service and support package and we see the FIT Show as the perfect platform to show off our latest innovations. The recent update to our Connect customer portal aims to take our marketing and sales support package to the next level, with a suite of support mechanisms designed to help fabricators and installers win new business”.
“The Connect customer support portal was originally launched in May 2018, where it focused around a resource centre of marketing and technical downloads, information and guides to help fabricators and installers 24/7, 365 days a year. Our intentions were to always grow the platform in to the ‘go to hub’ for all areas of technical, marketing and sales support, of which we are now able to fully demonstrate its new capabilities and features, as Mark will explain.
Mark continues, “The whole project has been in progress for almost two years with our Connect portal now boasting a host of new marketing, sales and technical support features. A new trade website has been built that will host the upgraded Connect portal, whilst a brand new homeowner website will intrinsically link enquiries and sales leads between Connect and the customer”.
“The homeowner website has two fantastic features. The first being a ‘Find a Fabricator / Installer’ feature, where all of our approved fabricators and installers are available within a simplistic search engine. The second is the option for visitors to the site to design their own windows and doors with our fantastic Window and Door Designer! The designer has all of the Selecta range of products, from casement, flush sash and tilt and turn windows through to residential, French, patio and EASi-FOLD doors. We’ve also added in a range of composite doors, so that the homeowner has a good range of products, styles and configurations to choose from and improve their home”.
“We have kept the design and enquiry process simple. The homeowner can select a number of window and door configurations and styles, the internal and external colour, hardware colour and other glazing options like Georgian bar or leaded glass. The real beauty of this is that they can also take a photo of their property and drop the windows and doors on to their home to visualise how they would look! They can then submit their design as a professional PDF enquiry for quoting, of which we send direct to their local fabricators and/or installers admin area of their Connect portal for access and follow up”.
“As a fabricator or installer, we are also able to offer you a branded version of the window and door designer for the you to have embedded upon your own website! As a fabricator and/or installer you are then able to generate your own sales leads and have them land within your own admin area of your own version of Connect. You can have your own logo and contact details contained within the package and also emblazoned on all the relevant paperwork. What’s also being added, is the ability to add prices and provide a professional quote and order system. It really is a fantastic marketing and sales management platform!”, says Mark.
The upgraded Connect portal also provides a number of other features to support fabricators and installers, as Mark describes.
“Within Connect we also provide customers with the facility to have a brand new themed and branded website. This takes away the headache of a website build, whilst also incorporating the ability to have our amazing window and door designer embedded in to the site. This provides our customers with a professional website and excellent sales lead generation and presentation tool, whether it’s for trade or retail”.
“An excellent Web2Print brochure and marketing material creator and designer is also featured within Connect. This is where you can take our brochures, guides and flyers, add your own installation imagery and brand them with your own logo and contact details. You can then add them to your basket and have your own branded marketing materials delivered direct to your door! A shop will also provide you with the option to have your own branded point of sale items, banners, stationery, mugs, workwear etc.”
“Connect will also have a brand-new resource centre full of all the latest marketing and technical information and downloads. This includes brochures, guides, manuals, certificates, test reports and a comprehensive range of product and sales related materials and documents. A news section will also keep you up-to-date with the latest news from Selecta. We see this as a game changer for fabricators and installers and the whole suite of features certainly sets us apart from our competitors, delivering a marketing support package that will help our customers win new business”.
With the Connect portal featuring heavily on the stand, Selecta have also used the opportunity to relaunch the modernised and improved MASTERslide patio door as Andy reveals.
“Over the last few years the patio door has had some kind of renaissance and they now seem to be the cost effective solution to creating a wall of glass. So, what we have done at Selecta is bring the MASTERslide patio door bang up-to-date and a more attractive proposition for the homeowner, whilst also being more fabricator and fitter friendly”.
“We designed a brand-new two-part interlock, which not only serves as an added security measure for PAS 24, but also provides both the fabricator and installer with a far more simpler solution. It improves the fabrication and installation time, whilst also allowing greater flexibility for adjustments when on site”.
“An aluminium low threshold has also been added to the patio door for Document M compliance. The new low threshold has a height of just 20mm compared to a full PVCu frame and cill at 80mm, thus providing easy access and egress. Aesthetically, it also improves the look and enhances the appeal of the patio door”.
“Another desirable upgrade comes in the form of the locking system. The addition of a 12 point shootbolt lock adds to the overall security passing the requirements of PAS 24 with relative ease. An attractive infill bar between the keeps provides a clean finish to the locking mechanism”.
Andy concludes, “Alongside the MASTERslide patio door, we will also have our industry leading window and door system, ADVANCE 70, on our stand with a few new product prototypes on display for feedback. With these new products and the fantastic Connect portal suite of features, we are really looking forward to this year’s 10 year anniversary show. As an ever-present exhibitor it demonstrates our continued commitment to the industry”.
Selecta Systems, have always focused on providing fabricators and installers with a fully comprehensive and bespoke service and support package. Marketing Manager Mark Walker provides us with the details of their latest innovative support package, designed to help fabricators and installers win new business, in what he describes as a systems company first!
Two New Websites
Firstly, we are launching two brand new websites, one for the trade and one for the homeowner. Our current all-encompassing website generates approximately 20-25 homeowner enquiries per week, with the content striving to reflect the requirements of all types of visitors. An internal review of the website left us with the ideology that we had tried to suit all visitors requirements, but ended up confusing some visitors. Therefore, we felt that separating the websites would enable ourselves to manage, control and promote specifics better with each target audience.
Another reason for separating the websites was to enable ourselves to promote the ADVANCE 70 brand direct to the homeowner. We feel that this is an important factor in providing the consumer with the information that they require to ensue confidence in the product, with the aim of supporting our fabricator base by directing enquiries to them.
Sitting upon the homeowners website will be two fabulous new features. The first being a ‘Find a Fabricator / Installer’ feature, where all of our approved fabricators and installers will be available within a simplistic search engine. A homeowner can search a specific area, define how far away they want to search and also select which Selecta product or range of products that they are looking to enquire about or purchase. A list of their local fabricators and installers will show up alongside a Google map, where all of their contact details, direct link to their website and also email address is available. This enables a homeowner to contact a local fabricator / installer at their own convenience.
Design Your Own Windows and Doors
To go one further, a homeowner also has the option to design their own windows and doors with our fantastic Window and Door Designer! The designer has all of the Selecta range of products, from casement, flush sash and tilt and turn windows through to residential, French, patio and EASi-FOLD doors. We’ve also added in a range of composite doors, so that the homeowner has a good range of products, styles and configurations to choose from and improve their home.
We have kept the design and enquiry process simple. The homeowner can select a number of window and door configurations and styles, the internal and external colour, hardware colour and other glazing options like Georgian bar or leaded glass. The real beauty of this is that they can also take a photo of their property and drop the windows and doors on to their home to visualise how they would look! They can then submit their design as an enquiry for quoting.
The whole point of this homeowner engagement is to generate sales leads for our customers. We have a brand new interface for our customer only portal, Connect, of which all enquiries will come directly in to our dealer network section. Once they land in our admin area of the portal, it will show us the nearest fabricator / installer to the enquiry. We can then send this enquiry direct to the fabricator / installer, through the portal, of which it will land directly in to the customers own section of Connect for follow up.
The enquiry will have all the relevant product imagery, customer information and details, which are presented in a professional document that can be downloaded as a PDF. The fabricator / installer can then utilise the enquiry to contact the homeowner and carry out a survey.
A Real Gamechanger and Systems Company First
As a fabricator or installer, we can also offer a branded version of the window and door designer for the customer to have embedded upon their own website! Fabricators and installers are then able to generate their own sales leads directly and have them land within their own admin area of their version of the Connect portal. They can have their own logo and contact details contained within the package and also emblazoned on all the relevant paperwork. What’s also being added, is the ability to add prices and provide professional quotes for the homeowners. It really is a fantastic bit of marketing kit!
We see this as a game changer for fabricators and installers, where in time it will be able to be used for both trade and retail. It’s the first of its kind to be launched by a systems company. It’s something you may have expected from a super fabricator, but it’s not been done previously by a systems company and that’s why we’re excited about this whole project. It takes our marketing support package to a completely new level and that’s always been our aim.
This package certainly sets us apart from our competitors and delivers a marketing support package that will help our customers win new business. To compliment this, we can also offer a brand new themed and branded website to sit along the window and door designer. This takes away the headache of a website build, whilst also incorporating the ability to have the window and door designer embedded in to the site. This provides our customers with a professional website and excellent sales lead generation and presentation tool, whether its for trade or retail.
The whole project has been in progress for almost two years, alongside our upgrade to Connect, our customer portal. Connect will have a brand new resource centre full of marketing and technical information and downloads. A fantastic Web2Print branded and bespoke brochure and marketing material creator and designer will also be featured within Connect. Being ‘part of the family’ is as exciting as ever and we can’t wait to unleash our brand new marketing support package at FIT Show 2023, on Stand M31 from 23-25 May.
Whether it’s in industry magazines, at exhibitions, through networking events or via marketing campaigns, many of us will have seen or heard of Selecta Systems #bepartofthefamily ‘strap-line’. This Total Fabricator Magazine interview with Sales Director Andy Green and Marketing Manager Mark Walker, explores what being ‘part of the family’ really means.
Total Fabricator (TF): So, Andy and Mark. I have an understanding of what #bepartofthefamily exemplifies and represents from adverts, press releases and various marketing campaigns. As two industry stalwarts with over 60 years of affiliation and service with Selecta, what I’d really like to know is the inspiration behind #bepartofthefamily and understand what it really means to a fabricator?
Andy Green (AG): Over 60 years, that makes us sound old!
Mark Walker (MW): I’d like to think it means experienced and slightly weathered, rather than just old!
(AG): Well, moving on swiftly! To give you a little background information. I have a long and established association with Selecta, whereby before joining the business as a Sales Representative in 1990, I was a customer with Adapta Windows. Like Selecta, Adapta was a family run business, which was owned by my father, so for me there was and always has been a strong family connection within business.
During my time at Selecta I have worked as a sales representative, technical manager and now sales director and I have always felt a strong family bond amongst the team. I’ve also seen Selecta grow, through its entire family ownership, continuing to invest in its people, products and infrastructure. During this time, Selecta’s focus has remained on developing and improving the customer experience with the company values and its ethos remaining unchanged from those early days:
- Innovation – to create and deliver a range of quality products to help fabricators win business.
- Simplicity – to be fabricator and fitter friendly in all aspects of the business.
- Unity – delivering success by working together as a team.
- Partnership – creating a trusting and honest ongoing relationship with customers.
- Success – by delivering a personal and flexible first-class service and support package.
Although very simplistic philosophies, these have always been the driver in creating opportunities to differentiate our business from competitors, thus by being ‘part of this one big family’.
(TF): It’s clear that the family connection has and continues to play an important role internally…
(AG): It does and has always been of importance from an internal point of view, all the way through to how we deliver to our customers. Those unity and partnership values of which we speak of continue to be as important now as they were back when we started. We are now in the third generation of Weihe ownership and what this has enabled is stability and consistency within the business over the years. A clear vision.
From my experience, being independently and family owned has ensured that we continue to have total control of matters, thus meaning decisions can be made swiftly. At Selecta there’s no big board of directors, no big line of shareholders or a group of investors chomping at the bit to get their guaranteed return on their investment! For those kind of businesses, to satisfy those demands, will sometimes mean decisions have to be made where they potentially may have a negative impact on their customer base, brand or position in the market. Whereas, at Selecta, there’s a formulated yet flexible business plan that has everyone’s best intentions in mind, from the cleaner all the way through to customer. The family thing is more than just a strap-line or marketing ploy, it has real meaning and depth.
(MW): I can only back-up exactly what Andy has said. I joined Selecta in 1993 as a fresh-faced youngster, with zero experience of the industry. Over the years I have fulfilled a number of roles, as I progressed within Selecta before being appointed marketing manager at the beginning of 2014.
During my time I can only echo the same sentiments about the family connections. It was these internal and external connections and interactions with staff, suppliers and customers that led to my first project in my marketing role – to give the business a new identity in the industry. One that people could easily relate to and instantly recognise as being Selecta. For instance, if I say “Just Do It” you think of Nike, or if I say “I’m Loving It” it’s McDonalds. We wanted that same recollection and recognition.
What I have observed throughout my time at Selecta are the large volumes of family-run businesses of whom we serve. It’s that connection that instantly resonated with ourselves, it was from this that the whole #bepartofthefamily concept was born. The message being that we want to be part of your journey and so want fabricators to be part of ours. Our intention was to reach out to fabricators, welcome them as part of our Selecta family, put our arms around them and help them and their business grow.
After 7 years, the message is still as strong, if not stronger, as it was when we started. It’s immensely satisfying turning up to industry events or when speaking to potential and existing customers to hear our industry peers referring to us as the Selecta family.
(TF): So, to elaborate further on the being ‘part of the family’ and focusing more on the customer, can you provide me with scenarios whereby you’ve supported customers, offered advice or help to fabricators?
(AG): Being ‘part of the family’ is about providing a personal service and support package that suits the individual businesses needs. Over the years there have been thousands of occasions where our flexibility combined with our personal customer centric approach has benefited individual customers requirements and requests.
We have the ability to and do go above and beyond, because customers have a direct line to the decision makers. For instance, requests range from providing an unscheduled delivery to help out a customer who needed a product or two at the last minute, to travelling hundreds of miles at the drop of the hat to support a customer within a contractors meeting. There are all kind of situations that arise on a daily basis. These kind of scenarios are bespoke to each and every customers specific needs, but it’s those particular instances where you pull out all the stops to help that means a lot to a customer. We’ve always stated that if we can do it, we will. If we can’t, we’ll be up front and tell you we can’t!
(TF): I totally understand. There must be many occasions where it just becomes second nature to do what you can, when you can. Is there anything that you have accomplished recently that stands out with a particular customer or customers?
(AG): We always strive to provide a personal, caring and sometimes bespoke services and support mechanisms, but there are also larger scale improvements that benefit everyone. As you know, there have and continue to be significant investments behind the scenes, ones that have a constructive and positive impact on our customers experience and journey with Selecta. For instance, our investments in new machinery, resources and the infrastructure within the lamination department has had a tremendous impact on coloured profile stocks and more importantly on special-coloured products.
We’ve introduced shorter lead-times for special coloured profiles to assist customers with time sensitive projects. In fact, I’ve had a quite a few calls and messages over the last few weeks regarding the reduced lead times and stocks.
(MW): In fact, I overheard one conversation with a customer the other day. We had sent through confirmation that his special-coloured profiles order had been completed and was ready for despatch. The customer had rang us back to tell us to hold back on his special-coloured profiles order and that he didn’t require them on his next delivery as we had produced them too quickly! We had turned them round in a handful of days and he hadn’t booked the job in as yet!
(AG): I’ve had very similar conversations with customers, in fact I must share this text message I received from a customer the other day – Andy reads it out, “Morning mate, it’s Ian from Coleshill. Don’t panic, not after anything lol. It was just a quick message to compliment you as all the improvements are now showing. We haven’t had a zero on our orders for as long as I can remember (which isn’t long lol) and the specials are superb with lead times. I thought I would say something, as if you’re like me, it gets boring listening to moaning so it’s nice to hear when your hard work is paying off. Cheers!”. It’s very rewarding for the team to understand that the hard-work and efforts of all involved has been acknowledged, especially direct from the customer.
(TF): It’s always good to hear positive feedback, especially when it’s in an area where you’ve invested a good amount of time, effort and money to improve a product or service. Are there any further planned investments or support tools that fits in with the whole #bepartofthefamily notion?
(MW): Going back to what Andy said earlier, and I quote, “Selecta’s focus remains on developing and improving the customers experience”. We are constantly looking at ways of developing and improving our range of products, the services that we deliver and the support packages that we provide. As we’ve mentioned, being ‘part of the family’ is all about going that extra mile and providing a more personal service for the customer.
Over the last 18 months or so, I’ve been working on a support package that takes Selecta and our customers to the next level. I’m delighted to say that it will be a systems company first and the complete package will provide customers with a range of marketing support tools to win new business. I’d go as far as saying this will be a game changer and certainly demonstrates our long-term commitment and vision to making sure that being ‘part of the family’ continues to be a successful and thriving partnership between the customer and Selecta.
(TF): A game changer? This all sounds very exciting! In fact, I’m really intrigued… especially as you state it’s a systems company first. Come on then, spill the beans!
(MW): Firstly, we are launching two brand new websites, one for the trade and one for the homeowner. Our current all-encompassing website generates approximately 20-25 homeowner enquiries per week, with the content striving to reflect the requirements of all types of visitors. An internal review of the website left us with the ideology that we had tried to suit all visitors requirements, but ended up confusing some visitors. Therefore, we felt that separating the websites would enable ourselves to manage, control and promote specifics better with each target audience.
Another reason for separating the websites was to enable ourselves to promote the ADVANCE 70 brand direct to the homeowner. We feel that this is an important factor in providing the consumer with the information that they require to ensue confidence in the product, with the aim of directing enquiries to our customers.
Sitting upon the homeowners website will be two fabulous new features. The first being a ‘Find a Fabricator / Installer’ feature, where all of our approved fabricators and installers will be available within a simplistic search engine. A homeowner can search a specific area, define how far away they want to search and also select which Selecta product or range of products that they are looking to enquire about or purchase. A list of their local fabricators and installers will show up alongside a Google map, where all of their contact details, direct link to their website and also email address is available. This enables a homeowner to contact a local fabricator / installer at their own convenience.
To go one further, a homeowner also has the option to design their own windows and doors with our fantastic Window and Door Designer! The designer has all of the Selecta range of products, from casement, flush sash and tilt and turn windows through to residential, French, patio and EASi-FOLD doors. We’ve also added in a range of composite doors, so that the homeowner has a good range of products, styles and configurations to choose from and improve their home.
The homeowner can select a number of window and door configurations and styles, the internal and external colour, hardware colour and other glazing options like Georgian bar or leaded glass. The real beauty of this is that they can also take a photo of their property and drop the windows and doors on to their home to visualise how they would look! They can then submit their design as an enquiry for quoting.
(TF): The websites and the two fantastic features sound impressive! I love the idea of the window and door designer with the visualiser. What happens to that enquiry?
(MW): The whole point of this homeowner engagement is to generate sales leads for our customers. We have a brand new interface for our customer only portal, Connect, of which all enquiries will come directly in to our dealer network section. Once they land in our admin area of the portal, it will show us the nearest fabricator / installer to the enquiry. We can then send this enquiry direct to the fabricator / installer, through the portal, of which it will land directly in to the customers own section of Connect for follow up.
The enquiry will have all the relevant product imagery, customer information and details, which are presented in a professional document that can be downloaded as a PDF. The fabricator / installer can then utilise the enquiry to contact the homeowner and carry out a survey.
(TF): Again, it sounds impressive and provides the fabricator / installer with solid sales leads. Is there anything else that it offers?
(MW): As a fabricator or installer, we can also offer a branded version of the window and door designer for the customer to have embedded upon their own website! Fabricators and installers are then able to generate their own sales leads directly and have them land within their own admin area of their version of the Connect portal. They can have their own logo and contact details contained within the package and also emblazoned on all the relevant paperwork. What’s also being added, is the ability to add prices and provide professional quotes for the homeowners. It really is a fantastic bit of marketing kit!
(AG): We see this as a game changer for fabricators and installers, as it’s the first of its kind from a systems company. It’s something you may have expected from a super fabricator, but it’s not been done previously by a systems company and that’s why we’re excited about this whole project. It takes our marketing support package to a completely new level and that’s always been our aim. That’s what being ‘part of the family’ means for a fabricator and installer.
(MW): Andy is right. This package certainly sets us apart from our competitors and delivers a marketing support package that will help our customers win new business. To compliment this, we can also offer a brand new themed and branded website to sit along the window and door designer. This takes away the headache of a website build, whilst also incorporating the ability to have the window and door designer embedded in to the site. This provides the our customers with a professional website and excellent sales lead generation and presentation tool.
(TF): Exciting times at Selecta! Will this be on show at the FIT Show in May?
(MW): It certainly is exciting and it’s been a project that has been in progress for the last 18 months or so. We can’t wait to unleash it and we will be demoing it on our stand at FIT Show 2023.
Our aim is also to promote the homeowner website and the Window and Door Designer through homeowner dedicated social media platforms, consumer based on-line digital magazines and newsletters. We really want to get engagement from homeowners and provide a customers with a good volume of quality sales leads.
(TF): We look forward to seeing the whole package at the FIT SHOW in operation and maybe we’ll do a feature in a future issue. Innovation doesn’t always have to be in the form of products, but can also be in services and support mechanisms that you supply. Selecta have certainly embraced this and thank you for explaining what being ‘part of the family’ means to everyone.
(AG): Thank you for this opportunity to talk to you and explain the whole concept and meaning to being ‘part of the family’.
(MW): Yes, thank you and we look forward to the launch of our new marketing support package and seeing you at the NEC for FIT Show 2023, on Stand M31 from 23-25 May.
- 1
- 2