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Guest Editorial

by Cliff Vrielink

Motorized window coverings make sense for your customers and for your business.

Those who attended the Window Coverings Expo in Baltimore last March saw the biggest development in the window coverings industry: motors. For those of us who have been promoting motorization for years, it was rewarding to see that interest has taken off. Motors have always been fun to watch, but why the sudden popularity? A lot of it has to do with promotional activity. Manufacturers have been promoting the benefits of motorization for more than a decade, but as more companies add motorized products to their lines, they promote motors as well. The real reason for this growing interest in motors, though, is that motors make sense. Benefits and Solutions Historically people thought motorization was nothing more than a luxury, but today people are discovering the practical benefits. How many of us wake up each morning and walk around the house, window to window, reaching over furniture to open blinds and curtains? Then at the end of the day we make this same circuit again. By motorizing window coverings, all the shades in a house can be opened or closed with a single remote control. Motorized systems also are the perfect solution for hard-to-reach windows. Upper-end homes often feature skylights, two-story windows and windows behind bathtubs. Each of these windows can make a house beautiful, but dangling cords make manual systems unsightly and can be dangerous. Motorizing, however, is the perfect solution. In the case of skylights, your customers might even want to operate the shades with a sun sensor. Motorized systems also make sense in several other applications. If your customer has purchased a home lighting control system, the owners can program different lighting configurations into wallpads and control panels. They already have purchased an expensive system to control artificial light. By recommending motorized window coverings, you now offer them the ability to control natural light also. Building Business The final reason motorization is growing so rapidly is that it allows you to increase the size of your sale. All of us are pushed to the limit every day, so increasing our customers or jobs by 300 percent is unrealistic. But what if you could increase your volume several fold, without having to increase the number of customers or jobs? That is exactly what motorization allows you to do. We motorize all types of window coverings every day, from draperies to blinds to the newest shading systems available. This means that without having to change what you sell, you simply can sell the added benefits of motors. Your volume and profit will increase dramatically, and by working with a company with top-notch support and trained dealers your workload will remain practically the same. Motorization is here to stay. As was evident in Baltimore, the trade now is taking notice and is using motors frequently. What we also have noticed is that consumers now are learning about the possibilities motorization provides. Motors not only can increase your profits and improve your reputation, but they also will lead to more satisfied customers. Cliff Vrielink is vice president and general manager of BTX Window Automation, Inc., Dallas, TX; (800) 422-8839; e-mail: mailbtx@aol.com.