Smart Homes Are Everywhere!

This special situation we've had to live through these past few years has had a direct impact on the way we live our lives and our homes. We could even say that our increased presence at home has increased the need for our homes to get ‘smart! This acceleration of connected technology within our households has also sped up from the increased work from home' policies and the fact that we've had to settle our offices within our homes.

Whether it be more intelligent security, connected media, and of course smart shades, these factors directly contributed to the fact that our homes are now smarter than ever!

Speaking of working from home, smart shades make for a great addition to your home office as they can provide you with the seamless and pre-programmed lighting comfort you've been looking for!

The Increasing Autonomy of Homes

Autonomy is also a word that reappears when talking about smart home trends. More and more homeowners are looking for their homes to «run themselves» and accentuate the comfort of living in a fully connected smart home.

Smart shades are an obvious choice for this particular trend as they can provide you with the comfort of not having to do anything!

Security & Smart Homes

As we've mentioned beforehand, home security and ease of mind are trends that have appeared over these past few years as a direct effect of the new Covid living! Homeowners are more aware than ever of the potential dangers that could impact your home.

A solution to this is the pre-programmable nature of our smart shades. You are easily able to program your shades to open and close (in your absence or with you and family still in the house) to emulate presence and scare any potential dangers right away!

STEPS

Ask yourself these questions : How many rooms do you want to put shades in and in which windows? Then make a list of rooms and identify the Type and Function of the space.

For Transparency Selection , always start with the bedrooms and choose Blackout or Privacy for sleeping in the dark. For the Bathroom, we recommend a 1% for privacy and light control. In the rest of the house, the living areas, you can choose in Translucent 3% / 5% / 10%. The higher numbers let in more light.

If you need privacy and ambiance, you can install dual shades that give you this option. (Blackout + 10%) For Color Selection, it's based on the budget of the client (Standard vs Designer fabric) and is influenced by the style of the place.

If you need privacy and ambiance, you can install dual shades that give you this option. (Blackout + 10%) For Color Selection, it's based on the budget of the client (Standard vs Designer fabric) and is influenced by the style of the place.

TIPS & TRICKS

1. ORIENTATION OF THE WINDOWS

South-facing windows see the most hours of sunlight during the day. We recommend fabrics with 3% translucency for these windows.

Choosing the right fabrics will help you to create a comfortable temperature and manage the energy consumption.

2. CREATING THE AMBIANCE

To create a cohesive blended look, choose the color as close as possible to the main neutral color of the space. For example, the color of the walls or the floors.(Example A)

If you want them to stand out, match with color of the biggest furniture in the space, for example matching with the bed colors in the bedroom (Example B)

3. WHITE DOES NO WRONG

If you want to avoid a wrong fabric selection, you can always go with white! (Example C)

OBJECTIVES

Over the last three decades expert has worked to reduce the risks posed by corded window coverings. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, the number of children dying from this preventable risk has remained too high at an average of one child per year.

To help eliminate this hazard, today, both Canadian and American Governments has published the new Corded Window Coverings Regulations to restrict the length of cords and the size of loops allowed on window coverings sold in North America, to avoid the possibility of their getting wrapped around a child's neck. The requirements for window coverings will apply to all products sold in Canada and USA, both custom-made and off the shelf.

SOLUTIONS

1. REPLACE

Strongly encouraged to replace existing corded window coverings with cordless options.

2. NO CORDS

The safest window coverings are ones that have no cords that you can see or touch.

3. MOTORIZED SHADES

Motorized shades are a perfect replacement in order to be able to have no cords in the window covering.

“The fact remains that cords kill kids. The changes announced today will better protect Canadians, particularly children, from injury or death from corded window coverings. This is another example of the Government of Canada prioritizing the health and safety of Canadians as we continue to prevent dangers that are posed by consumer products in Canada and ensure all consumer products sold in this country meet stringent safety requirements.”

Ginette Petitpas Taylor
Minister of Health

OUR GOAL WITH THE GENIUS SQUAD

The main objective we were thinking of when setting up the Genius Squad here at Clara Shades was to be able to bring power to our dealers. We want to provide our dealers with more control through information and expertise, to further help them understand our products, what their clients can gain from them, and how their business can grow from them.

What exactly do you need help with? Are you looking for a more detailed step-by-step walkthrough of the installation process? Are you interested in learning more about the integration features of our products? Want to know more about our Clara Shades Portal? All these answers, and more, can be found thanks to our very own Genius Squad! Which leads us to our next point: what exactly can our Genius Squad do for you and your business?

WHAT YOU CAN ACHIEVE BY BOOKING A MEETING WITH OUR GENIUS SQUAD

Book a meeting today with our Genius Squad to access all this expertise surrounding smart homes and motorized shades! By booking in advance, you can choose from the following list of topics to discuss with our squad:

• The Clara Shades Portal and the best ways to take advantage of its’ many features and advantages

• What kind of lead time and pricing you and your clients can expect

• Information on what kinds of wiring diagrams our products will have

• Everything that revolves around and concerns the hardware and installation process for both our indoor and outdoor shades

• What it looks like to program our Clara Shades

• Additional information about the integration of our products within a home automation system (Control4, Crestron, URC…)

If you’re not looking to discuss a specific topic in particular, booking a chat with our Genius Squad can also provide you with an introduction to Clara Shades.

Our Genius Squad is also open to discussing pre-sales help with our dealers. Providing them with tips and tricks of the trade to help them with selling Clara Shades products to their clients. Our squad has valuable information that could very easily help your sales strategies!

You can even book in advance to have one of our technicians help you out with your first deployment onsite! We are entirely dedicated to providing you with as much information as possible to ensure that your dealer experience goes smoothly and runs like clockwork.

HOW TO GET IN CONTACT WITH OUR GENIUS SQUAD TODAY

After all these facts, you might be wondering how to get in contact with our Genius Squad. The answer is really simple! Directly from our Dealer Portal, our dealers simply choose a date (up to one month in advance), a time, and a topic. A Genius will then get in contact with them and work on a solution together!

For more information on our Genius Squad or on becoming an official Clara Shades dealer, feel free to visit our website or by contacting us directly at this number: 1-844-992-5272.

PRESENTATION OF THE OUTDOOR COLLECTION

These signature Clara Shades Outdoor Shades will provide you with privacy in your outdoor open spaces while protecting you, your family, and your friends from the weather. Strong protection from the sun, wind, rain, and even insects, guaranteed! Allowing you to easily adapt your outdoor living spaces to the weather and the season.

They are built to allow you to make the most out of your open-air spaces without compromising on style or comfort.

Offering a diverse collection of shade fabrics, each with distinct advantages and intended uses, empowers your clients to customize their shades precisely to their liking, creating a seamless addition to their homes. They can choose between an Enclosed or Open Roll configuration, both with hardware that has an exterior graded powder-coated finish. You also have flexibility when it comes to installing the shades through adjustable inner rails which opens opportunities to install in out-of-square areas.

If you’re interested in our outdoor shade fabrics, feel free to have a look on our website where you can find each of our individual fabrics (www.clarashades.com/fabrics-catalogue).

STATE-OF-THE-ART PROTECTION SECURITY

Our outdoor shades use a mix of unique technology features including Zip-Fed and Ultra-Lock. We believe that security and protection features are more important than ever when talking about outdoor shades. Your clients need to know that their outdoor fabrics can be resistant and can make it difficult for anyone to remove the shades from their locked position.

This tech, partnered with our heavy-duty weight bars that offer outstanding performance over large spans, can guarantee this protection! They lock the system into place, keeping the fabrics secure and ensuring no one can easily remove the shades from the outside.

Another feature that comes with our outdoor shades is the fabric tensioning system from Ultra-Lock technology. To learn more about this technology, let’s take a look at the following short video demonstrating its features:

This heavy-duty and strong latching pin, when matched with an integrated design, ensures total reliability.

While the Ultra-Lock system ensures total reliability thanks to its heavy-duty latching pin and integrated design, the Zip-fed technology also acts as a pillar in the strength of our products. This technology is concealed on the inside of the side rails and securely holds the fabric in position, creating a strong streamlined finish with zeros gaps and effortless operation.

Clara Shades Outdoor Shades’ motorization solutions also come with Impact Detection, which stops the shade when it encounters an obstacle, preventing any unwanted surprises when they are closing. When the shade detects an obstacle hitting the weight bar, the shade will automatically move up just above the obstruction.

For more information on our Clara Shades Outdoor Shades, please visit our website at www.clarashades.com/outdoor-shades or contact us directly at support@clarashades.com or 1-844-992-5272.

OUR OWN EXPERIENCE AS DEALERS

Our journey begins with 15 years of experience as smart home dealers where we became one of the largest C4 dealers in Canada and in the world. These many years of working on various smart home projects have allowed us to develop an expertise in the industry. It also allowed us to make key discoveries concerning shades and motorized shades in particular!

Through these many projects, we understood that the most profitable projects were (and still are) the ones that include shades. This is down to many factors, for example, the fact that shades account for the least tech support of all home automation services. In fact, we discovered that you can double your opportunities and sales with Motorized shades!

Another factor to take into account is the fact that a new regulation concerning corded chains is coming soon, boosting the opportunities for Motorized shades even further! This new regulation is committed to providing consumer products that are safe, and to protect children from potential harm. You can read more about this in our article here.

It is for these reasons that we have doubled down on smart shades with Clara Shades. We know the potential and the opportunities that these smart, motorized shades have in the smart home world!

HOW WE’VE USED THIS EXPERIENCE TO IMPROVE YOURS

After our many years as dealers, gaining experience and an expertise in smart shades, we were able to put this experience to good use! Following are all examples of how we used this experience for the benefit of our dealers and our products:

The Portal was developed as a tool to make the process as quick and easy as possible for dealers to get quotes and manage their orders. It was designed to make every consultation successful and every project effortless, offering the following features:

• Simulator integration tool - See what our shades look like in context.

• Quick quote - Get a clear idea of pricing.

• Learning platform - Get answers to specific questions and guidance through the entire process with our library of educational videos and insightful content.

• Expert access - Connect with on-staff integrators who can help you make the right decisions.

Our years of working on smart home projects have also made us understand the importance of the process, and how simplicity is a necessity. This, matched with our team of industry experts with a combined 100+ years of hands-on field experience, leads to the whole installation, programming, and integration process being quick and effortless!

If you’re interested in opening up your business to new opportunities and new revenue streams, book a time slot with our Genius Squad today! They are here to answer any questions you may have about our business, our products, our processes, or the smart home industry overall.