Getting Glass Right: How the Right Advice Changed the Brief
Technical support at Ecoglass has always been about more than specifications and data sheets. It's about understanding what a customer is actually trying to achieve and making sure the advice they receive serves the end user just as well as it serves them.
A good example of this came through a conversation with one of our fabricator and installer customers. They were providing a homeowner with a large patio door installation. The homeowner's concern was straightforward: they had invested in quality furniture and were worried about sun damage from a significant expanse of new glazing. They wanted to know if anything could be done about it.
Understanding the Full Picture
Ian Snow, Estimating and Technical Support Manager at Ecoglass, worked through the full context of the installation with the customer before making any recommendations. A large patio door isn't just an aesthetic consideration; the size, application and position of the glazing carry implications for safety, security and acoustic performance that are equally important and sometimes overlooked when the conversation starts with a single concern.
Ian's recommendation was laminated glass. It is constructed from two or more glass layers bonded together with a durable interlayer, which holds the glass firmly in place if broken. For a large patio door, laminated glass is a sensible and considered choice from a safety and security standpoint alone, but the benefits extend to providing significant protection against harmful UV rays, making it extremely well-suited to spaces with large areas of glazing where sunlight exposure is high throughout the day, protecting expensive furniture and fittings. Laminated glass has the additional benefit of acoustic control, reducing external noise and improving the overall comfort of the space.
What the homeowner needed for furniture protection, they could access through a single product upgrade that also addressed safety, security and acoustic performance; these were benefits they hadn't initially considered, but ones that were genuinely valuable to them and to the integrity of the installation.
What the Customer Was Able to Do
Where the installer had come to us with one concern, they left the conversation equipped to have a much fuller discussion with their homeowner. Rather than simply quoting for a standard product, they were able to present laminated glass as a considered recommendation that addressed the homeowner's immediate worry and introduced a range of additional benefits that added real, long-term value to the project.
The price difference between laminated glass and a standard alternative is modest when set against the combined benefits of UV protection for furnishings, improved security, safety compliance appropriate to the size and type of glazing involved, and a quieter, more comfortable living space.
The Bigger Point
This is what Ian is here for. Not to hand over a data sheet and leave a customer to draw their own conclusions, but to ask the right questions, understand the application in full and make sure that the guidance given reflects what the end customer actually needs, not just what they initially asked for.
That kind of support is available to every Ecoglass customer, at no additional cost, and it's the sort of conversation we'd encourage customers to have earlier rather than later in the quoting process.
To speak with Ian about a current or upcoming project, call +44 (0) 1603 415 400 and dial 2 for technical support.