A Pittsburgh Dealer Says There's One Thing to Blame for Slow Sales: You

If your sales for solar control film took a plunge in November when compared to previous years, the economic recession may not be solely to blame. It could be, in part, the weather.

Consumers' minds begin to turn away from products such as solar control film as the temperatures plummet. And according to Weather Trends International, national temperatures for November were the coldest in years. The Eastern U.S. had the coldest trends, with the Northeast experiencing the coldest in six years and the Southeast-Middle Atlantic region witnessing the coldest in eleven years. The East and Great Lakes regions experienced twice as much snow compared to last year.

Of course, if your company is experiencing slower than usual sales, it's possible that there's yet another to blame. The problem could be—you.

At least one Pittsburgh dealer says economic recession and cold weather aside, his company plans for success.

"Here's how we look at it," explains Ryan Eichhorn, president of AutoEffects in Pittsburgh. "Let's say you are a business that does $3- or $4-million in business [per year], working within a $10 million window film market with a number of other competitors. If it drops to $6 million because of the economy and the fact that people are spending less, there's still $6 million out there. There's still enough demand to generate your usual level of business and even more."

Eichhorn says window film dealers will have to think outside of the box and perhaps work outside of their usual comfort zones in order to flourish in the current economy. His company made a decision in recent years to increase winter sales by putting down the squeegees and installing remote car starters until the sun returns each year.

"We started out as a window tint business back in 2000," Eichhorn explains. "We were a $100,000 to $200,000 business. I mean, how much tint can you do in an area that experiences winter four months out of the year? So we expanded our business into remote car starters."

Eichhorn says his business has now reached the multi-million level and he credits much of this success to his company's decision to diversify.

"We are window tinters," he assures. "And I have three installers working for me, but they will all become remote start installers as soon as the weather fully changes."

Eichhorn says his company is not suffering from economic changes. But he says that there ways, other than diversifying, for window film dealers to stay alive. "You have to make sure that you're advertising is up to snuff and you've got to stay out in the public eye where your customers are," he explains. And that applies to his customers as well. Through customizations, his company helps others find ways to increase advertising and even income.

"We recently showed a limousine business how to increase its business," he says. "The limousine business basically bases its income on two days a week-Friday and Saturday, when all wedding and events take place. We recently created a [rental] vehicle that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week." Eichhorn says not only does this vehicle serve as an advertisement for the parent company, but by utilizing digital screens mounted to the vehicle, its owner also has the option of renting additional advertising space to other companies. Exposure is created when people rent the vehicle for tailgate parties and display it at around-town events.

"You hit a button and the entire back of the vehicle turns into a tailgating machine," he explains. "A grill motorizes out and a television motors up into the air."

Eichhorn says his company plans to thrive in this economy and he advises his fellow window film dealers to dust off their business plans and do the same.

"You have to plan for success," he says. "And the first thing you have to plan for? Advertising."