[00:00:05] Speaker A: Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast, brought to you by PGTI University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sherry Connor, and I am your host.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: All right, so good afternoon. We are here on the Clear Impact podcast, and we are recording at the DoubleTree in Orlando because we've been doing a training camp this week, and I just kind of threw it out there and said, hey, if anybody wants to record a podcast with me, now's the time. And so I'm sitting here with Rod. Right?
[00:00:38] Speaker C: Rodney.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: Rodney. And so introduce yourself. Tell us who you are.
[00:00:41] Speaker C: Okay, I am Rodney O'Quinn from Melbourne, Florida. I work for Sunset view windows indoors.
[00:00:47] Speaker B: Okay. And what do you do for sunset? Windows and doors.
So is that people coming into the showroom, or is that you going into homes or what does that no, I.
[00:00:57] Speaker C: Have a certain amount of new construction customers I've been dealing with for years, but the bulk of what I do is replacement sales, so I'm meeting people fresh every month.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Okay. All right. And so how long have you been doing this?
[00:01:11] Speaker C: I have been in the window and door business 24 years. I've been selling PGT since six.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: Okay. So you got a few years on me, for sure. So you've had all this time and experience in PGT, yet you're here at a training. So what motivated that?
[00:01:26] Speaker C: Just a refresher, mainly because, like, the Clear quote tomorrow and then just the building code. I know there's some new changes coming up, so just kind of refresher.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Right. Stay current, and it feels good to go. Like, I know that. I know that. Yeah, right?
[00:01:41] Speaker C: It does.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, there's a lot to this industry, so there's lots of layers, and the.
[00:01:47] Speaker C: More nuanced, it's like an onion.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: Right.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: Got to keep peeling it back.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: Well, and that makes you a successful salesperson, because you do have that knowledge and have the confidence to then that translates to your customer. So they have a greater trust in you.
[00:02:02] Speaker C: Yeah. That's actually what you're selling. You get your foot in the door, you're selling yourself and selling the product. But it's that confidence and trust level you have that makes people feel comfortable making that job.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: Right. And that's hard to do if you're new or if you're not familiar with the product or if you don't know what you're talking about. People can smell that, right?
[00:02:21] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: So did you learn anything today?
[00:02:24] Speaker C: Actually, I did. I got a refresher because, like I was telling them, the bulk of what I sell is viable.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:02:30] Speaker C: It seems like half of the past ten years, that's 90% what I sell. But we came back around, and I was thinking on the casements just recently because of Sizing, I had to go back to the aluminum, and then all of a sudden, it's like it's an assembly tube. And that's when he reminded me it's like the assembly tube is basically, you can put two casements or a casement casement type picture window together with a fastening tube, but you don't have to flip it.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: And the measuring of the aluminum, especially if it's a flange.
[00:03:03] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, I definitely know that part of it.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Yeah. So we got to have a nice lunch break today, and so I got to learn something super interesting about you. So tell us what you also do in your spare time.
[00:03:14] Speaker C: Okay. Spare time. Spare time. It was like yeah, last year was, like, about 150 days.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Right.
[00:03:21] Speaker C: Traveling.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:03:22] Speaker C: As my joke is with customers, I point at myself and say, well, right here is Clark Kent. It's been? Actually, Superman?
I'm actually the touring bass player for the band Fog Hat.
[00:03:39] Speaker B: Right.
I've heard of them. I know that band. That's awesome. So you get to tap out of the window and door industry for a couple of days and then go play bass.
[00:03:51] Speaker C: Well, like I said, during the spring and summer is like, my busiest time, and fall starts to taper back off. Of course, winters chill.
[00:04:03] Speaker B: Right.
[00:04:03] Speaker C: But, yeah, like, I looked at it last year, by the time I factored in travel days, I actually traveled almost 140 days last year.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: That's a lot.
[00:04:14] Speaker C: Well, it's like this past week I was thursday, I was in Anchorage, Alaska. And then Saturday I was in New York.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: Oh, man, that is a lot of.
[00:04:23] Speaker C: Travel agent doesn't own a map.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: He's like, sure they'll do. It no problem.
[00:04:31] Speaker C: Now, all this really transpired around seven when the industry was starting to kind of tank, and I started playing with a guy, a Canadian guitar player named Pat Travers. And we ended up finding the balance of me bouncing in and out because I can do all my quoting online. I could deal with people by phone and email. We found that it kind of took the pressure off of them worrying about me having money during the crisis. But then as things started picking back up, we found out it's like, it still works. Now, me, I have found that having the balance, even though it tires me out in the summertime, all the traveling and still working, because I feel obligated to take appointments, days that I'm in.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:05:13] Speaker C: I find that it just still keeps me fresh and engaged.
[00:05:16] Speaker B: Right.
[00:05:16] Speaker C: Because it's just not like, oh, this is all I have an outlet.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: So does that mean that you also have your bass at the office so you can keep fresh on your bass while you're working?
[00:05:24] Speaker C: No, the weird thing is, actually, when I'm off the road, I don't even listen to music. I don't play, nothing.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: Really?
[00:05:32] Speaker C: Yeah. I unplug from it.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:05:34] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:35] Speaker B: All right.
[00:05:35] Speaker C: So I bounce back and forth.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: That makes sense. Well, I would imagine it's tough to like, we were talking about at lunch, like, supporting a family and meeting financial responsibilities when you're a part time musician versus I have a real job.
[00:05:48] Speaker C: Well, I'm one of the lucky guys right now. I actually make really good play. But the pandemic proved why I always kept my foot in the other door.
Because when the pandemic hit, I literally overnight had 60 dates drop off my calendar.
[00:06:05] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:06:05] Speaker C: And I didn't play for 16 months.
[00:06:07] Speaker B: Oh, gosh.
[00:06:08] Speaker C: But the building business took off because in Florida, it was deemed essential.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. And everybody was moving here like crazy, and the people who were already here were upgrading and remodeling, and they were stuck at home looking at their old windows and said, hey, we should probably do something.
[00:06:24] Speaker C: I can't take a vacation, so I'll get new windows.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: That was the motto, right?
[00:06:29] Speaker C: It was.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: We noticed that as well. So are you coming back tomorrow?
[00:06:32] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm going to come back tomorrow. Tomorrow is actually the day of the stuff that I really wanted to be here for.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: Okay, but you got a nice lunch? We had bagels.
[00:06:40] Speaker C: Had great lunch, great conversation.
[00:06:42] Speaker B: Yeah. Got to hang out with the sales team. Got to hang out with some people. Got to meet some folks.
[00:06:47] Speaker C: Got a few new friends.
[00:06:49] Speaker B: Nice. Awesome. Well, I appreciate you taking the time to chat with me.
[00:06:52] Speaker C: Anytime, anytime.
[00:06:54] Speaker B: All right, have a great afternoon, and we'll see you tomorrow.
[00:06:56] Speaker C: All right, same to you.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: All right, take care.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: Be sure to tune in for upcoming episodes to help you understand the Fenestration industry, what you need to know when buying windows and doors and other related topics. You can find out more about
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[00:07:17] Speaker B: All right. Good morning. We are here on the Clear Impact podcast, and we are recording from the DoubleTree in Orlando. We've had a training event all day yesterday and getting ready to kick off again today. And I'm sitting with Mike from Sunset View. Windows and doors. And so, Mike, thanks for being a brave soul and sitting down to record with me this morning.
[00:07:37] Speaker D: You're welcome. Good morning.
[00:07:38] Speaker B: Good morning. So tell us a little bit about you. Tell us about your history and how long you've been in the business and a little bit about what you do for your company.
[00:07:45] Speaker D: I do outside sales, in home sales. I've been in the business now about ten years.
[00:07:51] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:07:52] Speaker D: Worked for a big box retailer for a while where I came to these guys love the area. It's Brevard County, which is on the east coast of Florida, kind of east of Orlando. Pretty big area that we cover, but absolutely love it. Love dealing with people and finding out about their stories and helping out get their impact windows.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: And so even with ten years under your belt, you still decided to dedicate a couple of days to come over for a training event.
[00:08:18] Speaker D: Absolutely. You can always learn something, and I did learn quite a bit yesterday.
[00:08:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:22] Speaker D: You know enough. But there's always more that you can learn and understand and give that information to the customer. So the more that you're informed, you can give the customer their information so they feel comfortable in their decisions.
[00:08:33] Speaker B: Yeah, because we don't necessarily want to go with the rookie. We want to know the person that's taking care of us knows what they're talking about.
[00:08:40] Speaker D: Absolutely. And people know that. They know if you know what you're talking about, they know that you know your product. And since we just only offer PGT CGI, it makes life a little bit easier to be able to talk to them confidently and tell them about the product and really understand what they're offering so that you can give that to the customer so they have an informed decision.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: So what is maybe one or two takeaways from yesterday?
[00:09:03] Speaker D: Well, a big thing I learned I've been in Florida now since 2008, came from the northern area. The design pressures and how things are tested, you know, a little bit, but not enough or sometimes you know enough to be dangerous. So when you learn out what the design pressures are plus and the minus and how it's tested and things like that, you can give your more informed information to customers and it gives them better comfort zone than what they're purchasing.
[00:09:29] Speaker B: Right? Yeah, I mean, I'm fairly new to the industry, and when I heard the term design pressure, I was like, that's how I feel after watching Chip and Gaines.
[00:09:37] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: Like, now I'm feeling pressure to go home and redecorate my house or whatever. That's not the design pressure that we're talking about.
[00:09:44] Speaker D: No. A little bit different design pressure and whether people believe in global warming, whatever it is. But our storms are getting a little bit stronger each year and they got a little bit more punch to it, and so people are a little more concerned. And we got just a boat full of people moving to Florida. So not knowing what a storm does and what the pressure is and things like that, but also giving them the opportunity to know that there's energy efficiency to it. It's not just the hurricane protection that they're getting, but it's actually the energy efficiency they're getting, the safety that they're getting in the home. So there's more advantage to an impact window than just the storm itself.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: And so one of the things we were chatting about just a few minutes ago before our session starts today, we were talking about the MySafe Florida program. So tell us about that.
[00:10:27] Speaker D: So My Safe Florida is a program that obviously the state offers. You spend $2 and they give you one dollars. So it's up to $10,000 towards impact windows and some other impact stuff for your house to upgrade. They're trying to protect your home so that when a storm does come through, it's not getting damaged. So that money goes towards, obviously, impact windows and you have to be an approved contractor, which we are. And it's a great program. It's good for the homeowner. If the state is going to give you $10,000 and it's not a loan you have to pay back, then why not take advantage of it? So it's a great program, a little bit of time consuming on the homeowner end, but it really is worth it. And every customer that we've ever sold to has absolutely loved the program in itself.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Awesome. So you've had a lot of good response from that.
[00:11:13] Speaker D: Excellent, positive response. Yeah. I would say over half of our appointments on a weekly basis are from MySafe, Florida.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: That's impressive.
[00:11:20] Speaker D: It is. Yeah. We had, as a contractor, we had to go on and get approved. They just want to make sure you're in good standings with the Better Business Bureau and things like that, that you're not just a fly by night company. And we've been approved, and we've been a blessing for us.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:11:32] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: I mean, are there fly by night companies in Florida?
[00:11:37] Speaker D: Unfortunately, there are a few, yes.
[00:11:38] Speaker B: Especially in the roofing.
[00:11:40] Speaker D: Yes, yes. And then when storms happen, they come out of the working.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: Right.
[00:11:44] Speaker D: It gives the contractors a bad name. But looking for a good contractor in good standings with a Better Business Bureau, we're an A plus company that really helps also make an informed decision to the customer they're going to spend that kind of money.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: Anything else you'd like to throw in?
[00:11:59] Speaker D: I don't think so. I'm ready to get going to learn some more stuff today.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Yeah, well, we've got Patrick Jameson in the house today to share with us all the stuff that he knows, and he's like a walking encyclopedia.
[00:12:09] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: That guy knows everything.
[00:12:11] Speaker D: Yeah, he is.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: I'm glad I've got him on speed dial.
He helps me keep things straight, so I appreciate working with him. And he's a lot of fun.
[00:12:20] Speaker D: He is. And very entertaining to listen to. It makes learning a lot easier, sir.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: Yeah, well, if you can't have fun, what's the point?
[00:12:26] Speaker D: Exactly. Yep. Absolutely.
[00:12:28] Speaker B: That's how we see it. All right, well, thanks for taking some time to chat.
[00:12:31] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:12:31] Speaker B: Thanks.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: PGTI University is the customer education team for an entire family of brands. We began with the original Easy Breeze Porch Enclosure line, then became PGT, america's leading brand of impact resistant windows and doors. We then added CGI. CGIC Windor Western Window Systems, new South Windows, Echo Windows and Doors, Anlin 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. PGTI University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
