2018 is a big year for the Smart-Builder team! We will be attending the following trade shows:

• Glass Australia, Gold Coast, 29-30 August 2018
• GlassBuild America, Las Vegas, 12-14 September 2018
• Glasstec, Düsseldorf, 23-26 October 2018

2017 is almost at an end and now is a great time to start reflecting on what your glazing business's goals are for the upcoming year.

The technology focus in the glass industry in 2017 has very much been on increased automation and Industry 4.0 and we don't see these trends slowing down any time soon. If you haven't thought about how to incorporate these ideas into your glazing business for 2018, it's time to start doing your research and figuring out where these new developments fit within your company.

Here we are again — December already! We hope 2017 has been a successful year for your glass business and you're heading into 2018 with a positive outlook.

An email marketing platform is a system used for sending out emails to a mailing list — whether that be your customers, prospects, suppliers or anyone else. There are so many services to choose from we thought it would be helpful to break down a few of the popular platforms and things to consider when choosing a system.

If you're not doing any email marketing, now is a great time to start. The holiday season is the perfect opportunity to send a friendly end-of-year message to your customers to remind them you exist and foster a positive relationship.

The sales funnel is the concept of having a wide pool of prospective customers at the beginning of the sales process which then decreases in size but increases in quality as they move closer towards buying. It's important to consider how you communicate with prospects at the 'top of the funnel' versus prospects at the 'bottom of the funnel' as their requirements have evolved and this is particularly critical if you are selling big ticket items like shower installations or pool railings.

Glass Magazine recently published an article called Rise in Productivity, Capital Investment for Glass Manufacturers, detailing trends in both productivity and investment since 1990. While there was naturally a noticeable drop during the recession, recovery has been strong and investment is increasingly on the rise — particularly for glass software.

The Smart-Builder team were excited to exhibit at GlassBuild again after last year's successful trip to Las Vegas. GlassBuild 2017 was held in Atlanta and it was a great opportunity to meet some of our US customers in person, as well as introduce Smart-Toolbox and Smart-Glass for Fabricators to a new audience. Both were well received and visitors to our stand particularly praised their innovation and ease of use.

One of the big trends at GlassBuild and in the glass industry as a whole is 'Industry 4.0'. While the hype around Industry 4.0 has been mainly targeted at glass fabricators, it's important for glass installers to keep up with industry developments as they will inevitably affect glazing businesses in the not-too-distant future if they aren't already.

Hopefully your glazing business already has a website but if you don't, or your business is just getting off the ground, Google's My Business website tool is a great starting point for you. It's a free tool and has limitations but it's a good way to start building your web presence, especially if your business is new.

Day one at GlassBuild was a great success for the Smart-Builder team. Despite the remnants of Hurricane Irma affecting flights into Atlanta and disrupting travel plans, lots of delegates have made it to Atlanta for the show and more continue to arrive.