I am often asked if getting involved in industry organizations are worth it. This isn’t just a simple yes or no answer. First, you have to decide what’s important to your business. There are many organizations that can be of value to you and your business. From the local chamber of commerce to manufacturers’ consortiums [...]

During challenging economic times like we have experienced over the past few years, often the first thing cut is sales training or the sales trainer. Many companies don’t invest in a full time trainer, but often times, training for a day, sales training calls, etc., are either reduced or eliminated. “We need to be out [...]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the new draft proposal for Energy Star in 2014. In my opinion, the “biggest” news about the draft is having a U-value of a .27 for northern climates. Having worked with the EPA and the Department of Energy (DOE) for many years, there has been a strong emphasis [...]

Great news! I read another report saying that the window industry can expect a modest recovery at the end of this year and into next year. There is even more optimism that in the next couple of years we will return to our pre-recession sales heights. It’s great to see these types of numbers, again… [...]

How many of you are guilty of trying to do a few different things at one time, including having a telephone conversation, and then you get ‘caught’ by the person you are talking with? I am raising my hand – guilty here. In the ever growing field of ‘gadgets,’ and with so many bits of [...]

So we are in the midst of the summer, and I want to know: have your sales plateaued? Over my years in the industry, summer always indicated a time where sales leveled off. But of course, much of that experience was when we could accurately forecast trends and seasonality! Have we just come to expect [...]

There has been some recent movement on the EPA’s LRRP rules regarding lead paint with the introduction of bill H.R. 5911, The Lead Exposure Reduction Amendments Act of 2012. This has been something many of us have been extremely passionate about (myself included). It would seem that common sense could finally prevail and the “opt [...]

How does that old saying go … Insanity is defined as ‘doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.’ Over the past couple of years, many of us have gotten away from marketing differentiation and focused primarily on price point marketing. A perfect example is when the .30/.30 energy tax [...]

How important is networking for your business and for yourself? Let me put it another way, if you are selling a window package to someone, are your chances better with someone who knows you or someone that is meeting you for the first time? I have found over the years that networking is a real [...]

You might ask, “What does the Presidential race have to do with selling replacement windows?” The answer in the past has been “plenty.” Presidential candidates typically pay the highest media rates for TV, radio, and other media outlets. For home improvement companies and remodelers that generate these types of media leads, the fall season tends [...]