Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:04 Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast, brought to you by P G T I University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sherry Connor and I am your host. Good morning. We are here on the Clear Impact Podcast and today we are speaking with Sam Skelton, who is the director of West Florida on the sales side. And so welcome to the podcast, Sam. Happy
Speaker 2 00:00:29 To be here. Good morning. Good
Speaker 1 00:00:30 Morning. Thanks for making time outta your schedule to come and chat with me. And since you're new, tell us a little bit about you.
Speaker 2 00:00:36 Yeah, so I am a Florida native. True Floridian. Hard to come by. Yeah. And find from time to time, you know, spent and grew up in the Hillsborough County area. Went to college at U S F, so I am a U S F alum, so very excited about that. Continued to support the school and the athletic program. Very big in sports. I was big into baseball, big into football, so all right. Really enjoyed those and had a lot of fun once I started college and got into big box, you know, retail. So I got a lot of background in uh, working for the big box retail space. As I graduated college, uh, came around an opportunity to work for a window andor manufacturer, which I worked for them for about five and a half years. That's what really started my fenestration background. And then had the great opportunity to come over to P G T and started with P G T in around 2013 and been here ever since. Wow.
Speaker 1 00:01:27 And so you were recently promoted from regional to director. And so tell us about your roles, your responsibilities and like what does that look like now?
Speaker 2 00:01:40 Yeah, so now I'm responsible for sales for West Florida for P G T I sibu, um, responsibility. So I'll kind of go back a little bit and talk about my time just with the company 'cause I think it's neat, you know, I think it kind of is evolved and it's been nice to kind of gradually move in different areas with the company and hold different responsibilities. But obviously when I started I covered Central Florida in sales and spent, you know, four and a half years there. Really got to grow in my role and understanding the company and our products and then got to move into a different, you know, territory, which was Sarasota Bradenton Market. Got a chance to be involved in some different opportunities, projects a lot more different products, just being that it was more of an impact rated area. And then, you know, got time to then spend down south as a sales rep as well in the Fort Myers region.
Speaker 2 00:02:34 So I've really handled and covered a lot of different territories within the company from a sales standpoint. Back around 2020, I was able to move into the regional sales manager position down for Southwest Florida and that was wonderful. Had a great team down there. Got the opportunity to add to the team and build to the team, which was fantastic. And then since you know that opportunity, there was another one that opened its doors, uh, to become director of West Florida. So now it's just really seeing the growth that we have as a company, being able to work and help grow our team members, which is a great part of what we do. And just seeing the overall experience continue to get better and better.
Speaker 1 00:03:17 And so you're responsible like from Naples to the panhandle?
Speaker 2 00:03:21 Correct. And so we, we've kind of changed the way that we've divided the state up. We used to divide it up kind of more of a horizontally yet a northeast, northwest region. And then you had the southeast southwest region. Now we've vertically again and we have basically an east and the west region that we are responsible for.
Speaker 1 00:03:40 That's a lot of coastline. Yes. So within those territories that you and your team are covering, so what kind of trends are you seeing?
Speaker 2 00:03:48 Well, I can tell you that more and more people are starting to prepare, which is a nice thing to see. Last year Ian was pretty devastating to Southwest Florida and even, you know, Inglewood and Venice areas that are kind of our backyard here at P G T. And you know, those type of storms start to get people to think about what products to use and what to do to get ready for them before they come. So we're really starting to see a lot of folks really get out in front of it and purchase impact products, which is great. Um, love the fact of what they are meant to do, save lives, save assets, protect people, and it's great to see that, you know, those trends are starting, continuing to grow. Then you start to see trends with just the overall product itself and the looks and the colors that are available. Black is a huge trend right now. It's a finish that's being used not only in residential but also commercial. So we're seeing a lot of that Black finish is very popular. It kind of just puts off a different appeal to that, you know, envelope of that project.
Speaker 1 00:04:51 Yeah, it's a cleaner, sharper, almost classier look.
Speaker 2 00:04:55 Absolutely very contemporary at times. And it just fits well with our product mix and sight lines and everything and just goes really nice.
Speaker 1 00:05:02 And so how do we help our customers meet the demands of these markets? I tell
Speaker 2 00:05:08 You what we're seeing now is, you know, operations has done a fantastic job of getting us ready to meet the demands with all the people and the building that's going on and people that are coming into the state of Florida and moving here. Um, operationally we are producing at a very, you know, nice rate. So lead times are really down and we're able to perform the way that the market, I think expects, you know, a supply chain partner to perform for them. And I think that's where we really benefit the most. The performance of our products I think speak for themselves, but being able to deliver the way that our partners expect us to does not go unnoticed.
Speaker 1 00:05:46 Yeah, I think I heard, I it was yesterday or somebody was talking about like the average is 2000 people a day are moving to Florida.
Speaker 2 00:05:56 Yeah, it is. Oh
Speaker 1 00:05:57 My god, it's unreal. Like can we hang a no vacancy sign at the border? <laugh>? No, just kidding. No, Florida's an amazing place to live and I'm grateful to be here. I've been a Floridian, I wasn't a native, I'm not a native, but as soon as I was old enough to move to Florida, I did. So I've been here over 30 years now and I love it. I
Speaker 2 00:06:13 Don't hold it against you. It's okay.
Speaker 1 00:06:15 Okay. <laugh>, I didn't have any choice about all that, you know, but anyways. So within your areas of responsibility, how is the work of the university, my team making an impact for your customers? Are you seeing any trends there?
Speaker 2 00:06:29 We are just being accessible. I mean, your team has been accessible to all of our dealers. Being open and willing and creating new ways for them to learn, I think is phenomenal. You know, our team has to make sure to get that message out, continue to keep pushing and making sure that our customers understand what resources are available to them. Again, previous to my time at P G T, I've been around other manufacturers and it's not something that you see that's offered a lot and this is a resource I think that's appreciated, especially with the challenges of finding good people and then finding people that are used to working in this space can be difficult at times. So for someone to be able to offer other tools and resources to help bring their team members up to speed in a timely manner, I think is really beneficial.
Speaker 1 00:07:16 Is there anything more that you think we could be doing to help them succeed?
Speaker 2 00:07:20 I tell you, it's hard. It's hard to continue to keep pushing that envelope. I think that we're always looking for different ways to be of use, but you know, with YouTube and obviously the podcast and the learning management system itself, so people can do tutorials and not have to always drive into our facility to get, um, trained on products and different processes. You know, just come up with ways, I think to continue to look at the breadth of products that we offer and to make sure that people are aware. Obviously we have our iLab and that creates different products and the market I think is looking for and just making sure that those are accessible and you know, maybe there's tutorials for those products that people can learn about and just are made aware that they're available to them. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:08:04 We're scrambling to keep up. Sometimes we find out about things the same time as our dealers and we're like, oh yeah, we need to update those courses. But for the most part we try to stay on top of it. And I know, you know, we're a small team, we're limited to what we can do as far as in-person training, but we do offer, you know, training camps in various areas. I know Patrick's got something on the books for the panhandle later this year. And so, you know, your team will get to fill those seats for us. And you know, in the meantime everything's online and you can check out, you know, just, uh, hey, I'm busy between one and two o'clock, I'm gonna take this, you know, building code refresher course, or I'm gonna learn more about water infiltration or whatever it is. So we're trying, we appreciate the support we get from the team. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:08:44 And Sherry, I'd tell you, and I'd add to that, I mean, again, you, you just mentioned, you know, roadshows and you know, having events in certain locations and again, just being accessible. The feedback that I get from our customers is that they can't thank us enough for providing, again, resources and tools that can help them be more successful in their roles. So I think we're doing a phenomenal job. I think we're just scratching the surface of what we've created here and I'm excited to see what's to come. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:09:11 Me too. Well, Sam, this has been a great conversation. I really appreciate your time today and we'll look forward to another one.
Speaker 2 00:09:17 Thank you. Appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 00:09:18 All right. Take care. Bye. P G T I University is the customer education team for an entire family of brands. We began with the original Easy Breeze, porch enclosure line then became P G t, America's leading brand of impact resistant windows and doors. We then added C G I C G I C window, Western Window Systems, new South Windows, echo windows, and doors and land, windows and doors, and our latest acquisition Martin Garage doors. We create products built to withstand major storms, keeping people safe, secure, and prepared. Our exceptional brands give you the protection you need without compromising design or functionality. P G T I University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
