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PRO INSTALLER MAY 2015
TRADE COUNTERS
@proinstaller1
Trade counter Spotlight:
Truemans
Overview
The only way is up at
Truemans at the moment
having just opened a new
trade counter in Sheffield
after outgrowing its previous
premises. The leading trade
supplier of PVCu windows,
doors and glass is also set
to expand to new areas later
in the year, opening a new
trade counter (at a mystery
location) and two more trade
counters next year.
Alongside its marketing
assistance for customers, new
staff and recent awards, by all
accounts, Truemans seems an
exciting place to be.
Location
Truemans currently has
three trade counters, Burnley, Doncaster and Sheffield,
covering Lancashire, Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Nottingham.
The business offers installers the opportunity to
receive on-site deliveries anywhere within an hour of its
showrooms, free of charge.
However, for those who
wish to collect their goods,
the company encourages
customers to take advantages of its skips to dispose
of their old windows and
doors. Going that extra mile
for its customers!
Nicola Stevens, Marketing
Support Manager Truemans,
comments: “Although we
enjoy meeting our customers
when they collect their products from one of our depots,
we understand that there
may be instances where
they need us to deliver their
products.
“For example, recently
a long-serving customer
who lived close by to one
of our showrooms moved
to Skegness. We continued
to deliver his goods when
needed and he has continued to order from us despite
the distance!”
Company
Background
Truemans was first
established 20 years ago
by Alan Trueman, manufacturing from Selecta
profile and installing in
and around Haslingden,
Lancashire.
Alan retired from the
company in 2010 and
handed over the reins of
the business to his son,
Joe. Six years ago, Truemans decided to stop
manufacturing and buy-in
windows and doors. Truemans now supply Rehau,
Halo, Assured, Residence
9 and Spectus profile
systems, along with Solidor
and Door Stop composite
doors, Global and Supalite
conservatory roofs, Smart
and Aspect Systems for bifolds, and timber alternative PVCu windows.
Today, Truemans is a
rapidly expanding trade
counter business overseen
by managing director Joe
Trueman and the hands-on
Truemans team.
Joe’s idea to develop the
trade counter side of the
business started seven
years ago.
Joe started making teas
and coffees for his father’s
workmen at the age of 14
and by the age of 16, he
was working as a fabricator, then a fitter, installing
windows and doors.
Now, as MD, he has
helped turn the company
in to a ‘One-stop shop’ for
tradesmen and not just on
the shop floor: Truemans
last year invested £75, 000
in an online ordering system that enables customers
to login, price and order
products.
Current Promotions
With the opening of Truemans new Sheffield branch,
the company are offering
customers the chance to
take advantage of its new
6,000sqm facilities, double
the size of its last premises and are now better
equipped to hold far more
products than before.
The company has a
comprehensive marketing
support package to assist
its customers with the sales
of its products to consumers. The package, which is
bespoke in design, includes
the customer’s brand, flyers,
homeowner guides and full
product brochures.
‘a young, vibrant
and extremely
exciting
company’
Accreditations
and Awards
Winner of the Publisher’s
Award at the 2015 Red Rose
Awards, the only award not
judged by panels, but by
Richard Slater, publisher of
Lancashire Business View.
Winner of the National
Fenestration Awards 2014:
Young Person Award and
PVC Company 2014 Award.
Trade Counter Focus
Sheffield is the company’s
busiest branch and this is
why the team needed to
relocate to bigger premises.
The new branch has five
full-time staff and two parttime, with two new starter’s
beginning in the branch in
May.
Nicola is very passionate
about the company and excited for the future Truemans
has ahead of it. She said: “I
think customers are going to
love our new branch in Sheffield. With the bigger space
and more hands-on staff to
accommodate our existing
and future customers, we
really have our customer’s
interests at heart.
“I love working here because it’s a young, vibrant
and extremely exciting company. There are lots of things
going on and every day for
me is different. There’s a
true sense of family here
at Truemans and we are all
genuinely friends. We all
work together to make our
customers lives easier and
help make their business
successful, we get a great
sense of achievement working here and I’m proud to be
part of this amazing team!”
Main Suppliers
Polyframe, Clayton Glass,
Solidor
Product Promotion
Truemans now supplies
four extra colour options
for its Rehau Edge profile.
These new colours include
White Woodgrain, Cream
Woodgrain, Black on White
and Anthracite Grey on
White.
Ash Warbuton, Group
Manager, said: “By listening to our customers needs
we now provide a range of
coloured foiled options in
Rehau on a five-day lead
time. Enabling our customers
to win more work, and carry
out installations on short
timescales that are now being demanded by homeowners! Truemans really are all
about choice, and we offer
a wide range of colours and
window systems.”
Company Ethos
Nicola continues: “We
try to help our customers sell more. If our
customers’ businesses
are growing, our business grows. We support
our customers with their
marketing and help to
generate leads for them
through our website and
that’s where our customer service really exceeds
the norm.
“Complimentary marketing literature is provided to all customers
who want it. We make
and print everything
in house; we can tailor
everything to our customers’ needs and likes.
I love sitting down with
a customer and working
alongside them to design
and create their marketing materials.” Nicola
adds.
In the free marketing
pack, Truemans customers get their very
own brochure, ten drop
card’s product guarantee
and a homeowner maintenance guide as well as
an energy certificate.
Nicola concludes, “This
is our customers’ showroom and it’s always
here if and when they
want it, however our
market