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Only Onwindowfilmmag.comJULY-AUGUST 2008RaisedThe Bar Has BeenInternational Window Film Expo, Conference and Tint-Off 2008Attendees eagerly took notes as thisyear's speakers dished out invaluableadvice to help better their businesses.The window film industry isconstantly evolving. Manufacturersinvest heavily inresearch and development whiledistributors and dealers strive tokeep up. But one part of the industryhas evolved at an exponentialrate recently: its customers.The green movement and a sloweconomy have led homeowners tobegin exploring energy (and therebymoney) saving options. But anonslaught of “green” productclaims has led those same consumersto develop a scrupulouseye. And if you think the averagehomeowner is a tough sale, waituntil you get a load of the commercialsegment. Property managers,designers and corporationsdemand a level of professionalismand service that’s in a league of itsown.As of May 3, 2008, several hundredprofessionals are more qualifiedto meet these challengingopportunities. This year’sInternational Window Film Expo,Conference and Tint-Off (IWFE)set out to provide a top-notchenvironment for learning, competingand keeping up with the latestand that’s just what it did.Early Birds Got the WormThe event got an early start witha pre-event session. Speaker DaveMcFadyen held early birds on theedge of their seats as he sharedinsights to help dealers improvetheir businesses.McFadyen, who owned AmericanWindow Tinting for 12 years, coveredoperational, sales and marketing,and financial best practicesfrom a window film point of view.“Everybody sitting in this roommost likely owns their own business,”McFadyen said. “There’svery little that I’m going to teachyou today that you couldn’t go findif you were looking for it.” ButMcFadyen was lined up to provideattendees with hard-hitting adviceand by the time his session concluded,every attendee was beggingfor more.“I’ve been to these kinds oftalks,” he explained. “You get all ofthis great information and whenyou leave, you’re all pumped upand then what happens? You neverdo anything.”McFadyen suggested dealers puthis business techniques and adviceto work immediately.The following morning, in a welcomingsession and eventoverview, WINDOW FILM’s editorDrew Vass covered recent industryevents and developments. Vasspointed out how events tend to linkand build upon one another. Healso suggested dealers stay tappedinto the latest developments inorder to identify opportunities.“Whether or not the green movementis a fad that will be here todayand gone tomorrow is irrelevant,”Vass said. “The fact is, it has consumerinterest at an all-time highfor energy saving solutions. And weall need to take advantage of thatincreased interest while it’s here.”Vass kept the opportunity ballrolling by turning the session overto two speakers who discussed theautomotive segment.Automotive OpportunitiesBrett Webster, product managerfor Venture Tape Corp. in Rockland,Mass., covered advancements inpaint protection technologies andprovided key considerations forany window film dealer looking tocapitalize on this segment.Webster said window film dealerswho wish to provide paint protectionas a side product wouldneed to do their homework and be©2008 WINDOW FILM Magazine, 540-720-5584, www.windowfilmmag.com, All rights reserved.

Christophe Fremont, president ofBekaert Specialty Films, presented hiskeynote address to a standing roomonly crowd.able to provide a complete installationin two hours or less in order tobe competitive. In a later session,Dana Curtis covered technologiesthat can help dealers meet thisgoal by utilizing plotter systemsand pattern software. Curtis coveredthe ins and outs of selectingand implementing a plotter systemthen provided a live demonstrationfollowed by a question-and-answersession.Webster also pointed out someless obvious opportunities in paintprotection, including the motorcyclemarket.“Motorcycle dealers cringe whenthey see someone coming into theshowroom, sitting on a bike andleaning forward,” Websterexplained. “If that person has a big,metal, belt buckle on, they couldleave scratches on the gas tank. Sothere’s an opportunity to develop aniche with motorcycle dealers forthis very reason.”Tying into Webster’s presentation,Barry Edwards, president ofAegis Films in Norcross, Ga., providedan overview of the automotivemarket. Edwards providedkey statistics, including expectednew car production levels andexplained that his company anticipatesthe automotive film industryto remain strong. Edwardsisn’t the only manufacturing presidentto feel this way, as his messagewas later referenced andechoed by keynote speakerChristophe Fremont, president ofBekaert Specialty Films in SanDiego.Fremont delivered a spiritedmessage to a standing-room-onlycrowd of more than 120 attendeesas he explained his outlook for theindustry. He encouraged attendeesto take hold of opportunities presentedby the commercial segmentby raising the bar on professionalism.He also advised taking fulladvantage of industry associations—citingnumerous pointsshared by Darrell Smith, executivedirector of the InternationalWindow Film Association (IWFA),in his prior session including anindustry and IWFA update. (Readmore on Fremont’s speech on page28 of this issue.)Smith covered key opportunitiesin IWFA, including the association’ssystem for feeding leads to itsmembers.“If we receive an inquiry for yourarea and you’re not an IWFA member,that lead is going to go to someoneelse,” he explained. “You’remissing out on those opportunities.”Smith also cited many ofIWFA’s efforts, which are supportedby member dues, including accreditationcourses and testing, whichthe association chose to offer alongsidethis year’s event.Inspiring Short CoursesSeveral attendees said their businesseswere markedly slower thanpast years, but steady.From One Dealer to AnotherIn a special sessioncalled “What Workedfor Me,” several dealerstook the time out toshare some of theirsuccessful experiencesand techniques.Mel Villalon, owner ofParadise Tinting in LongBeach, Calif., highlightedhis recent success inoffering a solution forhomeowners with skylights.Villalon said herecognized the opportunity, then used good old-fashioned ingenuity to come upwith an attachment system for sun shades to fill in for instances in which windowfilm could not be used.Nick Williams of Premier Window Tinting in Las Vegas covered a marketingtechnique that worked for his company recently. Williams showed how usingsimple marketing materials and techniques helped to boost his company’s business,including the use of special offers.Last, but not least, Jason Obradovich, owner of Glass Coating Specialist Inc.in Tampa, Fla., shared the juicy details of how he went about landing the “bigone” with his Sarasota Towers project (See “Tower Power” on page 28 of ourJanuary-February 2008 issue).©2008 WINDOW FILM Magazine, 540-720-5584, www.windowfilmmag.com, All rights reserved.

Only Onwindowfilmmag.comJULY-AUGUST 2008ShowcaseIn between educational sessionsand watching the Tint-Off, attendeeshad the opportunity to rubelbows with some new and favoritemanufacturers.Aegis FilmsRoland ASDRoland Advanced Solutions Division(ASD) provided live demonstrations ofits plotter systems and Film DesignsPro software. This advanced systemallows film professionals to adddesigns, logos and text to window filmpatterns.❙❙➤ www.rolandasd.comAegis Films had a crew on handto promote everything from thecompany’s premium films andClearBra paint protection, to plottersand software. The Norcross,Ga.-based manufacturer’s AcuityArchitectural Films are made fromall metal laminates and ultraviolet(UV) protection is built into all layersas well as in between laminatesto provide a high level of UVprotection.❙❙➤ www.1800gettint.comBekaert Specialty FilmsBekaert had a full staff at IWFE todemonstrate the company’s plottersystem, Specularis software andfull film lineup. Live demonstrationsshowed how the company’sPanorama dealers utilizeSpecularis to produce reports andsales packages including accurateimpact predictions based on projectparameters. In addition toinputting building characteristics,the software also uses historicalweather data and sun positioning.❙❙➤ www.bekaertfilms.comJohnson Window FilmsJohnson Window Film’s boothpromoted all of the company’sofferings, including Insulatir—anIR-rejecting, ceramic film that thecompany says is long-lasting andwireless-signal-friendly. TheCarson, Calif.-based company alsohad a number of free handouts forvisitors including its handy toolpouches.❙❙➤ www.johnsonwindowfilms.comMadico Inc.Madico drew a crowd with itscomplete line-up of films, includingeverything from decorative andimpact resistant to premium automotiveproducts.The company’s Onyx ® andCharcool ® lines provide nearly100-percent ultraviolet protectionand block more than 66 percent ofthe sun’s heat, according toMadico.❙❙➤ www.madico.comUltraFilm USAUltraFilm parked a Ferrari F40 inits booth this year. The company’scomplete portfolio of value-priced,premium and specialty windowfilm lines also drew a crowd while amini-lab setup demonstrated itsspecial plasma process.❙❙➤ www.ultrafilm-usa.com©2008 WINDOW FILM Magazine, 540-720-5584, www.windowfilmmag.com, All rights reserved.

Ed Golda, president of MichiganGlass Coatings Inc., addressed theissue of softer times by explaininghow dealers can manage to prosperin a down market. Goldastressed the need for professionallytrained salespeople and warnedagainst one-man operations.“This is probably the area inwhich most people in our industryfail,” Golda explained. “They wantto keep it a one-man operation, orthey don’t want to invest the timerequired to train someone to sellfor them.” Golda says this one-manmentality will not see dealersthrough tough times. “I would askyou, in these kinds of times, whenmaybe your competitors are havingissues—maybe there’s a salespersonwho isn’t happy with hiscurrent company, or maybe there’ssomeone from another industrythat’s more depressed than oursis—take a look around. Find someoneto fill the professional salesrole.”One aspect of effective sales isthe art of communicating. DanMolloy and his partner Mel Austonof Molloy LLC enlightened attendeeswith sales techniques centeredon effective sales language.“Just because you can install theheck out of window film, that doesn’tmean that you know how toanswer the phone and set theappointment,” Molloy said. “It’s aCameo Moment?In case you missed it, we publisheda brief video overview for thisyear’s Tint-Off. The video wasdelivered in our Focus on Film e-newsletter, then later posted on ourwebsite. If you missed it, visit ourwebsite and click on “VideoArchive.” While you’re there, ensureyou don’t miss future “cameos” byclicking on and signing up for our“FREE e-newsletter.”dance,” he said, speaking of salesconversations.Molloy and Auston explainedhow certain techniques build theessential building blocks for sales,including trust, respect, freedomof expression and shared commitment.Both speakers engagedattendees with questions andexercises.Learning LingoOne area of opportunity thatspeaks a language of its own is thegreen movement. Window film dealersknow the important “green”characteristics of their products—energy savings, solar control, daylightingand such—but knowinghow to understand and use thelingo that consumers are familiarwith is a puzzle of its own. KathrynGiblin, vice president of global marketingand technical services forBekaert Specialty Films, gladly tackledthis subject, bringing dealers upto speed quickly.“We recently put together a glossaryof industry terms related tothe green movement,” sheexplained, “I think we ended upwith more than five pages.”Giblin said what’s important towindow film dealers is knowingwhich terms apply and how to usethose terms to speak the properlingo to potential customers whohave a new vocabulary.Another segment that offersdealers a challenging vocabularylesson is the signal defense market.Though relatively narrow, thissegment represents a gold minefor window film dealers, accordingto Mike Raymond of ASTICSignals Defenses LLC. Raymondsaid this once government-centeredsector is expanding quicklyto include financial corporationsand virtually any company thatdeals with information-basedassets.“Forty percent of businessesreport losses of proprietary data,”Raymond explained. “There’s anopportunity for you to be the firstone out there offering a solution.”Windows represent a buildingenvelope’s weakest link when itcomes to wireless signal leakage(see related article on page 14 of theNovember-December 2007 issue ofWINDOW FILM). But cracking thisopportunity requires at least abasic understanding of the technologiesinvolved, so Raymonddazzled attendees with his fascinatingexplanations. In one portionof his presentation, he showeddealers how some individuals areable to construct a laser microphoneout a simple laser pointerdevice and basic electronic components.When aimed through a window,the laser strikes a thin, solidsurface and transmits an audio signalback to nearby intruders.Raymond then explained how signaldefense film prevents thesesorts of intrusions.Teaming UpBeing co-located with theIndependent Glass Association’sSpring Auto Glass Show andAmericas Glass Showcase gaveIWFE attendees the advantage ofrubbing elbows with a sister industry.Not only were glass companieson hand to exhibit products andshare information, but industryexperts were available to bringwindow film dealers up to date.The conference portion of thisyear’s event wrapped up with aglass industry update, provided byDonn Harter of the Americas GlassAssociation.Never has there been a more criticaltime for window film professionalsto grow and learn. And thisyear’s event left several hundredready to meet the modern challengesthis industry faces. WF©2008 WINDOW FILM Magazine, 540-720-5584, www.windowfilmmag.com, All rights reserved.