October 2022

Article Lead Generation
A NEW WAY TO LOOK FOR LEADS?
Lead generation is back on the agenda. So which channels work for home improvement
businesses? Thom Emerson, Sales Director of Ideal Window Solutions and Emplas
The tap hasn’t been turned off, but the flow
has slowed. According to the latest figures
from Business Pilot, year-on-year sales in
summer were down around 30% on where they
were in 2021, and 60% on where they were in
July 2020. Leads are down by approximately 30%
and 50% over the same period.
Consumer confidence is at a record low and
inflation at a 40-year-high, yet despite that Thom
Emerson, Sales Director, Ideal Window Solutions,
seems unruffled.
Operating throughout Hampshire and West
Sussex, Ideal Window Solutions was founded by
Chris Palmer in 1996 and later joined by Thom as
a co-owner in 2012.
customer, discusses this in more detail...
The business operates across commercial
and retail sectors buying-in product from
Emplas since 2017. The boom in the former
and the installer’s split across two sectors
perhaps providing a foundation for Emerson’s
philosophical outlook.
“There are a lot of people talking about the
pressures on the market, falling leads, price
increases. I don’t think we’re looking at a
catastrophe. It’s much more an adjustment
following the inflated demand that we’ve
seen in retail, and little bit of a panic that it’s
happening”, he said.
A continued partnership
Ideal Window Solutions has just agreed a new
three-year supply deal with Emplas, in part to
protect itself from rising product costs on projects
which are often won on a six-month or more lead
time. He is again non-plussed about the prospect
of trade price increase in retail.
“There’s a big difference”, he continued.
“You price a commercial job, you win it and you are
contractually committed to it. Price increases can
be very damaging because they can erode margin
to the point that you’re not making anything.
“Retail is a different thing. We don’t know what
we’re fitting until we sit down with the homeowner.
“We price it on EVA, the Emplas portal, we build
in our costs and put it in front of the customer.
They don’t have a preconception about what they
are going to pay.
“If we have to build in a little more because
something has gone up, we do. If they are
committed to buying new windows and doors, the
homeowner doesn’t really care...It just happens.”
As one of the key drivers of inflation, energy
prices have dominated the headlines throughout
the summer. Households are expected to see
average bills hit £3,500 from this month [OCT]
with annual energy bills rising to £4,650 from
January and £5,456 from April.
Thom argued that although suppressing elements
of the market, others will continue to spend, with
higher energy prices providing an incentive for
people to do so.
Thom Emerson is Sales Director of
Ideal Window Solutions
“People don’t want to follow us forever, they have
an interest in windows and doors for a period of
time and that’s it”
66 T I OCTOBER 2022 PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST