Pro Installer May 2013 - Issue 02 | Page 60

60 MAY 2013 PRO INSTALLER PRO BUSINESS www.proinstaller.co.uk Your Smartphone Is Your Office Mike Piqeur, Managing Director of Roto Western Europe, tells PRO Installer how modern technology will ultimately empower the installer… The key to this portal is the QR code, a bar code icon that a smartphone can read and that will immediately direct you to a page on the Internet. Over the coming months Roto will begin to include these QR codes on advertisements and also use them on product labelling. That way, when the installer or salesperson out on the road sees an advert or product that they are interested in, they can scan the QR code with their smartphone and be instantly guided to the documents and pictures relating to that particular product on the Roto website portal, when ever and where ever. This is where a publication like PRO Installer can open up a whole new world of options to the installer. In future, with a clever use of QR codes and an installer’s smartphone, they will be able to find out about products that are relevant to them and that can generate more business. “Previously the installer has had very limited choice in terms of products and what is immediately available. In general they are signposted to what to use by their chosen fabricator, supplier or trade counter. But with the domination of the smartphone, an installer now has access to a global array of product options. The installer’s mobile phone has become their office and a portal to an international supply chain. Instead of being dictated to or restricted in terms of information available, the smartphone gives an installer the ability to search for product information and even present that information to a customer while they are sat with them. Going one step further, products can be purchased there and then and received within a couple of days. In order to make sure their products remain on an installer’s radar, manufacturers and suppliers need to develop their marketing strategy in line with new technology and in particular, the smartphone and the internet. This does not necessarily mean that traditional forms of advertising media become obsolete, on the contrary in fact. Print and electronic media can work together to great effect. At Roto we have an extremely developed website that was relaunched very recently. It is still a work in progress, as it always will be, to reflect the continuous advancements in technology. It has become a working portal, like the cockpit of a car, a functional tool for the whole of the industry. We have included pictures of every component we supply, along with every document from every company group relating to each component. This will also incorporate a search option, like Google, so that everything you need as a distributor or installer can be found in this portal. The result is a vital resource of information to our customers and something that can be accessed anytime, anywhere via the smartphone. For example, soft closers are already commonplace in the kitchen but often they are not included as standard by fabricators on windows and doors due cost, but it can be retrofit and an installer, with the right resources, can use it to generate more business by revisiting customers with this option or even include it as an enhancement on the products they buy in. In fact Roto offers a whole range of retrofit products such as soft closers and child locks, which are detailed on our website and can offer a totally new revenue stream. ‘At Roto we have an extremely developed website that was re-launched very recently. It is still a work in progress, as it always will be, to reflect the continuous advancements in technology’ Another aspect of Roto’s offering, which is beneficial to the installer and independent tradesperson, is our newly launched spare parts section of the website, once again opening up new business options of retrofit and revisits. Installers can order stock items from their nearest distributor with only their smartphone and where the item is not available they can be purchased by PayPal via our ecommerce website. Where before, an installer may have been bound to a very limited array of products, I see a real future for a newspaper like PRO Installer, the use of QR codes and the smartphones to empower them and open up new business opportunities and ways of finding out information and purchasing new products.” Roto Website UK Roto Webshop Visit the Roto website portal at http://ftt.roto-frank.com/en/