November/December 2021

Contract The Business Talk Pilot Barometer
SLOWING DOWN?
As uncertainty slows demand, ‘the bubble isn’t bursting, but it may be deflating’ says
Neil Cooper-Smith, senior analyst, Business Pilot...
Business Pilot Barometer Edition 22: August/September/October 2021
According to the latest Government statistics, the provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of
UK residential transactions in September 2021 was 160,950, 68.4% higher than September
2020 and 67.5% higher than August 2021.
It’s attributable to the rush to take advantage of the Stamp Duty holiday, which closed on the
30th of September, and something which we would now expect to see filtering into increased
demand for windows and doors. People move, they invest in improvements – usually within the
first few months of being in.
That isn’t, however, what we’re seeing. New window and door leads fell by 12% in October.
Average sales also fell by 4%, while average conversion rates held at around the 36% mark.
We’re not suggesting for a moment that the market is about to fall away. House prices jumped
1.8% in October (Rightmove) and with order books running through to end of Q1 2022,
installers are going to be busy for a long time to come.
The bubble isn’t bursting but it may be deflating – just a little.
Fuel and food shortages, rising energy prices and surging inflation mean that consumer
confidence according to GFK, fell a further four points in October, following on from the fall seen
in September. This may explain why some homeowners have – temporarily at least – put their
improvement plans on hold.
Other factors may be longer lead times and supply chain disruption, which may also be
suppressing demand.
As we look ahead to the New Year, it is, however, worth taking note that demand is very
unlikely to be sustained at the levels we have seen, for the duration of 2022.
A slowdown is inevitable, in housing transactions, if not prices. This makes normalisation in
the home improvement market likely.
That means it’s time to think about lead generation and lead management again. The
opportunities are and will still be there, it’s simply that we’re going to have to work a little harder
for them.
As a business management tool developed by installers for installers, Business Pilot can help you
understand where your leads come from, target prospects and manage the lead to conversion
process more effectively. That is going to be more important in the year ahead.
The Business Pilot Barometer offers a monthly analysis of the key trends defining window and door retail, drawing on real industry data collated by the
Business Pilot customer relationship management system (CRM).
Business Pilot uses cloud-based technologies to give installers complete visibility of every element of their operation from leads and conversions to job
scheduling, cost of installation, service calls, and financial reporting.
www.businesspilot.co.uk
@BusinessPilotUK
www.businesspilot.co.uk/barometer
10 T I NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST