Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/245905
38 • FEBRUARY 2014 • WORLD FENCE NEWS BFT Americas will unveil latest gate automation technology at FENCETECH 2014 BOCA RATON, Fla. — BFT Americas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BFT S.p.A. Italy, will introduce the latest technology in their line of gate automation solutions at FenceTech 2014 in Las Vegas. Among the innovations to be shown are: Giotto S BT Barrier Systems – This 24 volt barrier is available in 10 foot, 16 foot and 20 foot models. The Giotto barrier can be utilized for extensive use operation and offers an op- Giotto S BT Barrier shown with demo arm. (BFT Americas photos) tional battery backup system as well as an optional blinking light system in the 10 foot and 16 foot models. The 10 foot barrier features an opening time of 2.5 seconds, while the 20 foot opening time is 5 seconds. Night and Day Barrier – This new barrier is available in 10 foot and 16 foot models. The Night and Day barrier is designed for continuous use operation. The Night and Day cycle time is 1.7 seconds for the 10 foot model and 3.8 seconds for the 16 foot model. The Night and Day offers an optional blinking light system with green and red LED lights for stop and go traffic commands. Grizzly Automatic Hydraulic Bollards – This hydraulic bollard system is available in a variety of sizes and ratings and can be used for high security and traffic applications. Optional flashing lights are available and can be controlled in up to sets of 4 bollards per control system. The bollard is fully independent from the motor, allowing the installer to prepare the site for installation. The Grizzly is rated at intensive use at 3,000 cycles per day, and features a stop and reverse Grizzly Automatic safety valve if Hydraulic Bollard obstructions are detected. It has a 5 second operation time. BFT Americas has been distribut- ing UL/CSA approved gate operators in North America for over 10 years. BFT Americas has an office in Boca Raton, Fla. where ample stock of all UL/CSA approved electromechanical, hydraulic operators and road barriers are stocked. BFT Americas distributes throughout the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean Islands through distribution partners. The U.S. office provides distributors with technical service, support and training as well as developing new products for the gate automation market. In March 2004, BFT was acquired by The SOMFY Group, worldwide leader in automation around the home and buildings. Somfy Systems, based in New Jersey, Florida and California, has been present in USA since 1977. For more information, visit www.bft-usa.com. Pelican Vinyl expands vinyl extrusion capacity EDENTON, N.C. — Pelican Vinyl Products announced that it has brought on line additional extrusion capacity at their extrusion plants in Edenton, N.C. and Bradenton, Fla. The increased capabilities at both plants will allow Pelican to further improve lead times as well as expand profile offerings in the coming months, according to John Gerber, plant manager at Edenton. Over the past two years, under new ownership, Pelican has been refining their extrusion operations with new tooling, upgraded power sources and changes in packaging. "We have been adding tooling and upgrading processes at the plants, with the goal of being a more effective source of supply in the eastern region," said Gerber. "Now, with all of the improvements coming together, we feel pretty good about the operations side being ready to move forward, with an improved service proposition for all of our customers in 2014." He added that Pelican Vinyl will be introducing additional profiles in 2014. Pelican Vinyl Products has been extruding fence and rail profiles in Edenton, N.C. for over 10 years. For more product information, contact Maria at Pelican Vinyl Products at 252-482-8448 or by e-mail at mgerber@pelicanvinyl.com. Visit the World Fence News Crew at FENCETECH 2014, Booth 708! Get your special WFN name tag lanyard! March 6–8, 2014 • Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center, Las Vegas Have you looked at your online reputation? The days of an angry customer only telling his friends and family about receiving bad service is over. Before the internet, an angry customer probably only told eight to 12 people about their bad experience. Now they can tell the entire world! If you have never seen what people are writing about your business, today is the day to start paying attention. There are literally thousands of places that a consumer can leave a review of your business. The good news is that most people leave their reviews in a handful of places. Yelp, Google+ Pages, Bing Listings, Yahoo Listings, Insider Search, City Search. RipOff Report and online yellow pages directories are the most common. Angies's List is another review site. However, you cannot see your reviews unless you are a member. There are several ways to find what is being written about your business. The first thing to do is to find your listings in the web sites mentioned above. The second way is to do a search online for your business. There are certain ways to perform searches in Google to make sure you are getting the most relevant results. First, use quotation symbols around your "search term." This method will show the most relevant results that contain the words you put in the quotes. The second way is to use brackets [search term]. This only brings back exact results of the search term in the brackets. You can try both; however, using quotation marks is the best method. To find reviews about your business, start off with your business name. Enter your name into the Google search box with quotes "Your Business Name" and hit search. If you have a common business name which is not unique and is used by many others, this method may not provide the results you are looking for. You can mix up this search with different versions. For example, "your business name and zip code", "your business name review", "your business name and city", etc. Next, search for your business phone number. Enter your phone number into Google with quotes – "555555-5555" and click search. Next search for your business address. Enter your address with quotes into Google – "123 Main St., Anywhere, State, Zip". Next, search for your domain name. Enter your domain name with quotes into Google as such – "DomainName.com". If you have no reviews online, it's time to get busy. Start calling past customers that you know were happy with the work you did for them. Ask them to do an online review for you. Better yet, e-mail them links to various places they can leave a review for you. If you do find reviews, it's also time to get busy. Regardless of whether the review was good or bad, you need to create an account at the various sites where a review has been posted. After you have created your account, you need to start responding to the reviews. Not all sites allow for a response from the owner of the business, but many do. If it is a positive review, thank them for the nice words. If it is a bad review try and figure out who it was and try to rectify the problem to get the negative review removed or at least amended. Or respond with your side of the story. Why is all of this important? People want to see businesses that are proactive online and committed to their reputation. Before making the final decision on whose bid to accept, a smart homeowner will do a search online by typing in "Your Business Name Review". What they find could make or break you getting the job. Finally, having lots of good reviews will lead to more calls and more jobs. The reason for this is your search result listing(s) will stand out due to the number of reviews. This will increase the click through to your website and thus lead to more calls. Matthew Allen is the nation's #1 expert in marketing and advertising for fence contractors and is one of the only marketing firms to stand by the service he offers with a money back guarantee. He is a 10 year veteran of marketing and advertising for small Matthew Allen businesses both online and offline. Schedule a free onehalf hour consultation by calling 541-324-8887. Visit his web site at FenceMarketing.Net. The Human Link continued from page 36 as beneficial. The point is to take a proactive position regarding this topic which can help you promote your company and quite frankly might even spin some business your way in the process. Although that might not be the motivation at this time, as always, it's hoped that one or more of these ideas in whole or part might prove helpful in the ongoing search for ideas that will help you to reinforce the idea that Profit Is Not A Dirty Word™.