An uncertain trading climate can lead some businesses to scale back on investments into operations and support to partners. Not so at Endurance Doors, as Scott Foster, sales and marketing director at the business explains.

Endurance Doors ended 2024 on something of a high. In the final quarter of the year, we saw sales of our solid, secure and stylish composite doors reach a new high with back-to-back record months.

Despite this success, we know the current market is far from buoyant for everyone. Consumer confidence, whilst growing, remains fragile after years of economic uncertainty and homeowners are being more discerning than ever about how they spend their money.

They want to maximise any expenditure, including on home improvement products, by buying the best products they can and from the most professional and trustworthy companies.

On top of this, the autumn budget has thrown additional challenges into the mix including an increased tax burden for most companies.

Faced with these less than ideal trading conditions, Endurance firmly advocates the need for installers to work with the right manufacturing partner.

There will be some manufacturers who, given the current climate, will adopt a ‘batten down the hatches’ approach, reducing their investment into activity like marketing and installer support.

At Endurance, our entrepreneurial and innovative approach means we’re doing quite the opposite.

Maximising the market

To ensure our success and that of our installer partners in the current market, Endurance is continuing to invest into activity that can deliver growth by maximising sales.

There is still demand for composite doors and especially at the premium end of the home improvements market where Endurance and its installer partners operate. Our focus is on ensuring we can capitalise on that demand.

Reflecting this, we continue to build on our already comprehensive programme of installer support.

As a prime example, 2024 saw us invest into our biggest ever brochure to date, redouble our digital and social media marketing efforts, and unveil our first ever TV advertisement.

All of this helps to create awareness and interest, adding to the thousands of warm leads we distribute every month to installer partners who are local to the source of the enquiry.

We’ve also continued our investment into ensuring an exceptional online reputation. In the digital age and given the more discerning nature of today’s homeowner, many buying journeys now start online with consumers researching the experiences of their peers on review sites.

It’s for this reason that we attach significant importance to our presence on sites like Trustpilot where we enjoy 2,884 reviews of which 87% award us five stars, giving us an overall rating of ‘Excellent’.

We are the only large composite door manufacturer to have such a rating.

Products, people and processes

When people pay for a premium product, it’s only natural that they expect premium service and support to accompany it. To ensure we exceed this expectation, Endurance has also made further investments other areas of our operations.

Last year, we made a number of senior and strategic appointments to enhance our capabilities, efficiency and offer. These hires included James Hayes who is our first ever, dedicated head of customer experience.

As his title suggests, James’ role is to ensure the delivery of an exceptional experience across every touchpoint of a homeowner’s journey with us – from the moment they research and order a door to its installation and any aftersales support.

Of course, this focus on providing customer service excellence doesn’t just benefit us. It also benefits our installer partners and reflects positively on their businesses.

In addition, we are close to completing a six figure investment that will have a transformative effect on our production processes.

It entails the implementation of cutting-edge technology and advanced manufacturing principles that will enable us to reduce order lead times as well as optimise order accuracy.

The net result will be that our installer partners can complete more jobs with fewer issues, maximising their productivity and homeowner satisfaction.

This project will come to fruition in early 2025. Throughout the year, we’ll also be announcing further developments as we continue to invest into our success and the success of our installer partners.