|
Specialty
Windows Protect Your Order
Here are two simple facts on a collision course:
1.
Most homes built in the last 15 years have specialty shaped
windows in them.
2.
Most window fashion dealers NEVER sell specialty shaped windows.
Put
those two facts together and you should see opportunity. Your
ability to treat specialty windows can set you apart from most of
your competitors in an instant. Whether it's arches, angletops,
octagons, hexagons, or even skylights, your customers have real
problems from specialty windows and you can provide a
solution. Better still, the toll-free numbers, web sites and
even the price-cutting dealer across town don't even try for these
windows. Open up to the opportunities that specialty blinds
and shades open up to you. Specialty
blinds and shades are more profitable on their own than other
shades, but you should also remember they can serve a bigger role,
too. If you are handling these "problem" windows,
you're far m ore
likely to sell the standard rectangular windows in the rest of the
house.
Start
With An Angletop. It's Easy — Really!
If you want an easy place to get
started in specialty windows, start with an angletop. In some
areas angletop windows are the most prevalent of specialty shapes.
In other places they are second only to arches. It shouldn't
be hard to find an angletop window that's causing trouble for a
homeowner. Glare, faded furnishings and heat transfer are the
big three problems. Make sure to talk to your customers with
angled windows about these. Since the window is at an angle, it
needs a pitch. When you get the order, you'll learn is that the part
that every dealer fears most, the installation, is incredibly easy.
In fact, for most products the techniques for installing are
identical to the techniques for installing standard blinds or
shades.
Never
Lose Your Temper When You Tamper With A Template...
So if they're so darned easy to install, what stops most dealers
from covering angles? It's those two magic little words,
"Template required." Templates mean it's a little
extra work to get your money, but it's a little extra money for your
work, too. Of all specialty window templates, angles are the
easiest to make because you are working with simple geometric shapes
that can be easily recreated away from the window, then cut and
placed into the window for
 verification.
Templates
may look a little more difficult in the Hunter Douglas Reference
& Price Guide than they need to be. The picture on the
left, shows a technique that would require far more aligning and
cutting than you really need to do.
Here's
a better technique that allows you to make a template with just
three measurements and two straight line cuts for a window that has
the high side on the right. Simply reverse it if the high side
is on the left.
 Start
with a piece of template paper that is straight on the bottom and on
both sides. Take your width measurement from the base of the
window and measure in from the left edge of the paper at the bottom
to mark the width. If the paper is cut straight there is no
need to draw a line. Take your height measurement from the high side
of the window and, again measuring in from the left edge of the
template paper, from the window and mark where the width and height
intersect. On the left edge, measure up to the left side
height and make a mark. Use a straight edge to draw a line up to
show the right side and again to draw a line from the high point of
the left side to the high point of the right. Keep in mind
that this can be done on a floor or a table, it doesn't have to be
done on a ladder high up in the window. Then cut it out as
shown here. It really only needs two cuts. After it has
been cut, place it into the window to verify the fit and adjust it
for any irregularities. Be sure to mark the room side and the
top of the template right away. If it isn't marked, you may
get a blind or shade built in the wrong direction. You should
also mark the measurements, the
order number and the customer name.
Covering
Angles will Give You A New Slant On These Products
Hunter Douglas
offers a wide variety of products for angletop windows. While not
all products are available in angletops, Hunter Douglas offers the
widest range of products available anywhere for specialty shaped
windows. Designer Blinds makes most Hunter Douglas
specialty applications in our own facility. Here's a look at some of
the best applications.
 What
the heck, let's start at the top. That's where most angles are
anyway, right? Silhouette® Window Shadings offer
reduction of glare, filtering of ultraviolet light and often a way
to coordinate perfectly with the Silhouette shadings you'll find in
the rest of the room. For angled applications, the vanes of
Silhouette shadings are in a fixed
position and the shade cannot be raised or lowered. Silhouette
shadings provide an exceptional look, but they are also an exception
to the aforementioned rule about standard installation
techniques. Silhouette angles are installed in a very
different way than standard Silhouette shadings. It isn't
hard, it's just different. The fabric is suspended with special
clips from a flexible track that is installed along the angled
header.
If
there is a product that can be referred to as the "Mother Of
All Specialties" it has to be Duette® Honeycomb Shades.
Get familiar with what Duette shades can do for specialty windows
and your profits will raise at a steeper slope than any angled
window. Installation is no more complicated than standard
shades. Just snap it in to the appropriate number of standard
brackets. One really nice feature of honeycomb shades in
angled windows is that they can actually be pulled to a fully
stacked position, as shown below, to permit the angled window to
maintain its shape and the full view it exposes.
One
really nice feature of honeycomb shades in angled windows is that
they can actually be pulled to a fully stacked position, as shown
above. This permits the angled window to maintain the
integrity of its shape and the full view it exposes. Duette
shades provide the widest variety of colors, fabrics and more.
If price is an issue, Applause® honeycomb shades are also available
in angle tops.
 Provenance™
Woven Wood Shades, one of the newest products in the Hunter
Douglas line, provides a beautiful option for angletop windows with
natural shades that provide a rich and more traditional
appearance.
Like
most angled shades, Provenance will lift to the upper horizontal
plane, but these shades are anything but plain.
The
valance hangs down to neatly and discreetly conceal the raised
shade.
In
addition to these, Country Woods wood blinds, Brilliance Pleated
Shades and InnerStyle™ Vertical Blinds and aluminum horizontal
blinds all provide options for angletop windows.
Set
aside some time to study angletop applications in the Hunter
Douglas Reference & Price Guide. It's the kind of knowledge
that can help to "tilt" every sales opportunity in your
favor.
BACK TO TOP OF PAGE
INDEX OF ARTICLES PREVIOUS TIP
|
