I got a new calendar and each month begins with an inspirational quote. Leafing through it, September caught my eye: “Getting an idea should be like sitting down on a pin … It should make you jump up and do something.” – E.L. Simpson I get new ideas every day and I suppose everyone else does, […]

In a rare display of bipartisanship, Congress recently pulled together to pass the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (HR 5771), signed into law by President Obama on December 19. While the bill includes many provisions, door and window installers may want to note one in particular. Section 25C allows individuals to update the tax […]

Since the 1970s our Government has required car manufacturers to glue MPG stickers on every new car sold in the United States. They’re there to help us choose more fuel efficient vehicles that save us money on gas – or at least show a car buyer that one car will go further on a dollar […]

“Mark, you’re like a shark,” a client told me last week. I was surprised and a little hurt. Sharks have a notorious reputation. Sharks are thought of as predators who circle swimmers and boaters, killing and maiming the defenseless and unaware. The Great White’s portrayal in the movie “Jaws” strikes fear in a coastal community […]

Did you make a resolution to improve yourself this year? According to statistics, half of Americans make New Year resolutions and the top resolution for 2014 is the perennial favorite—losing weight. We all know diet and exercise are the keys to losing weight. Eat less, exercise more and you will lose weight. Executing this plan […]

Think of your website as the “Emerald City” in the movie the “Wizard of Oz.” Your Emerald City has a horse of a different color that makes you unique. You are trying to attract visitors on the yellow brick road called the Internet to your Emerald City so you can make them your customers. Think […]

 Fewer door and window customers are watching television commercials, hearing radio spots, reading print ads placed in newspapers, magazines and mailboxes, or looking in the yellow pages for phone numbers. If that is where most of a company’s advertising budget is still being spent, it is no surprise to find a diminishing return on advertising […]

Is it possible women hold less than one percent of the sales positions in the door and window industry? This is bound to change and women will become more involved in the sale and marketing of doors and windows, if only because it is good for business. After 30 years of dealing with hundreds of […]

Are your representatives helping your customers grow their business or aren’t they? Otherwise excellent companies can be adversely affected by a salesperson’s laziness. I wonder if lackluster sales representatives aren’t getting the training, guidelines, oversight or proper incentive to be ambitious. Maybe they aren’t lazy at all, but misguided by a manager who doesn’t recognize […]

Are you leaving opportunity waiting on the doorstep? Over the last few years Noubar Yeremian, founder of HMI Doors, has grown his door business because he had the audacity to believe the “Great Recession” was not financial ruin knocking at the door of his business, but opportunity. He recognizes opportunity at his threshold, even when […]