[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.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Good morning. We are here on the Clear Impact podcast, and we are recording from the Double Tree in Orlando. We've been here for the last day and a half at a training event and have wrangled a couple of people into sitting at my podcast table. So we're going to introduce Josh and Keith. So I'll let you guys introduce yourselves and your company and just give us a little bit of how long you've been in this and what your role is.
[00:00:42] Speaker C: Right. Good day. Good morning. Happy to be here at the DoubleTree Orlando. Joshua Spieback's the name. Windows are the game doors, too. We're icon windows and doors. Been in this whole thing only for a couple months. New to the industry, but yeah, out of Melbourne, Florida, looking to help our communities protect their homes and make things better around us.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Melbourne is probably one of my only places I enjoy on the East Coast, to be honest, because it's chill. Like, so much of the East Coast is just crazy and hectic and stressful and congested. And Melbourne's got this vibe that's like, all right. It's kind of like Sarasota. It's got some artsy. It's got some charm. It's still not like at least the last time I was there, it didn't seem crazy.
[00:01:26] Speaker D: Fully agree with you.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Nice. So tell us about you, Keith. Yeah.
[00:01:30] Speaker D: So Keith Gallo, I am the owner and operator founder of Doors.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:01:38] Speaker D: But no doubt the greatest teammates on the team, or trying to be, because you've heard the statements before. It's lonely at the top.
Only a hero bump. So our whole entire philosophy of business is that we are in the people business. We just happen to offer Windows and Doors.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: Right.
[00:02:00] Speaker D: So we interact with our internal and external customer, which, Josh, I am so grateful. That's why we were up laughing so much last night, because I just met him, and it was kind of like I wanted to hire him on the spot. It was like he's kind of funny. He's quirky. I like it. He's great. He's dynamic. He's us. He's our core values, and he fits in perfectly. And he's done a fantastic job, by the way.
[00:02:25] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:02:25] Speaker D: So we've got a small team, but we started in the middle of the Pandemic in 2020.
[00:02:30] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:02:30] Speaker D: So that's another substory there. But it's been a journey for the last several years for me and my wife and our team. And so it's really a great thing to work together with who we work with.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Okay, so you had industry experience before you opened your own company?
[00:02:47] Speaker D: Yes, actually, my entire life has been in, really, construction and sales.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:02:53] Speaker D: They all merged about 17 years ago in Florida. Specifically, I had to learn the whole construction code all over again, and I was like, what's a flange. We don't have that in New Jersey. That's no offense. I'm just thinking, right? Like, what is going on in Florida? These people are kooky with these commodity windows sizes and all this. Anyway, I worked at a deal for a little while and wound up getting into manufacturing. Working for one of your competitors. Actually, I tell you, it's part of my journey, which was really a lot of fun. I was telling Josh when we were doing the plant tour, like, review on the slide, which we plan to come to your HQ.
[00:03:31] Speaker B: I've never been to please do. I'll give you a plant tour myself.
[00:03:34] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh.
[00:03:35] Speaker C: Let's go.
[00:03:35] Speaker D: I want to go to the ILAB so bad.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: Yeah, you'll get that, too.
[00:03:39] Speaker C: Isn't that here?
[00:03:40] Speaker B: No. The ILAB. So we have the ILAB, we have the Glass plant. We have the WinDoor manufacturing facility, and then we have the PGT manufacturing facility that you can tour all of that. If you come over for the whole day, you can get that all in.
[00:03:52] Speaker C: We're going.
[00:03:53] Speaker D: We're trying to plan it nice. So it's super exciting. But I did that for ten years.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:03:59] Speaker D: And helped them, really. I saw two trades happen and helped build that company. Really fun. And I was really just a lot of good memories, great people. Still know a lot of people there. That turned into moving back to Brevard County, where my wife grew up. And in a crazy way, like I said during the pandemic, we wound up starting with which I said I never wanted to get back into being on the dealer side of the business. And here we are, but really enjoying every month and the day. I don't you're going to know about it. It's just being back.
[00:04:30] Speaker B: Right. I mean, if you can't have fun, what's the I mean, because every thing comes at a price. Like, at the end of the day, it's still how you spent your day. You still need to be able to look back and smile and feel like you did a good job and you worked well with the people that you work with and that you served your customer base and maybe hopefully turn to profit while doing it.
[00:04:50] Speaker D: People for sure.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: Profit, though, is otherwise, it's just a really expensive hobby.
[00:04:55] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:04:57] Speaker D: I have Hobies, man. We'll keep that for a different right.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: So you guys committed two days out of your work week. I mean, even though there's a major storm going on and not everybody's fully operational, this week, you committed to, hey, I'm coming to this training in Orlando. Josh, obviously, you're new to the industry, so you're probably like a sponge in this thing, just, like, soaking it all up. What has been a big takeaway for you this week?
[00:05:22] Speaker C: Yeah. So we committed to coming here because we want to level up. We want to serve the people we get to serve well.
[00:05:29] Speaker D: Right.
[00:05:29] Speaker C: And since we're representing PGT out in the field, we want to know everything there is to know. And yeah, I am a sponge. One thing that Keith and I were talking about as we look at the products PGT has to offer is we kind of touched on it before this vinyl versus aluminum situation and how we can help our customer base the best way. So one thing that I've taken away from this and I'm starting to really think about and consider is first I start with myself. What do I want in my house? Why do I want it in my house?
[00:05:58] Speaker D: Right?
[00:05:59] Speaker C: And so I'm having this internal battle saying, wait a second, what are the benefits of aluminum? Right? And then we'll hold on. Inside the vinyl is what? Aluminum?
[00:06:09] Speaker B: Right.
[00:06:10] Speaker C: You guessed it, aluminum.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: Right.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: So one big takeaway, and this may seem simple, people really already understand this. Being in the fenestration industry is unless I really need some sort of insulated glass or I care more about the U factors or those sorts of things, then yeah, I could see going with vinyl. But if that's not a big deal to me and I'm really just looking for that impact solution, I can go with aluminum and that's fine. And I think really talking about that with the customer and understanding what their actual needs are and making sure they understand the product they're going to be receiving.
[00:06:49] Speaker D: Sure, yeah.
[00:06:50] Speaker C: That's what I've taken away from this.
[00:06:52] Speaker B: What about you, Keith? So you've been in the industry for a while and yet obviously you're supporting your team. But to tap out for two full days as a business owner, that's a huge commitment. And so for learning for you, what's something that you've taken away?
[00:07:06] Speaker D: So I'm going to add a little flavor to this because on a week that we're getting a hurricane on Monday, let me say this. We showed up and our office power was off. We were told it was going to be on like 2 hours.
Our whole team is going, I don't know what we're going to do. So I'm like get mobile. So we did and we went and attacked and him and I went out and closed the job with your product for just a tick under $100,000.
[00:07:35] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:07:37] Speaker D: We said, you know what? Because we believe when we don't like our environment, we move, we change, we create the reality we want.
[00:07:44] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:07:45] Speaker D: And we take ownership. Absolutely. That's what we do.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: Right.
[00:07:48] Speaker D: And that's who we are. That's why we love what we do and the people we do it.
[00:07:53] Speaker B: Oh, that's awesome.
[00:07:54] Speaker D: Yeah, it's fun. Are we still talking about window?
[00:07:55] Speaker C: Well, actually we are. But even with that family, we had the discussion about vinyl and aluminum.
[00:08:02] Speaker D: Yes, we did. Right there at the table with, you know, this came as a referral because most of our business is referral. That's how we got started. People knew who I was they know who I am. I have a lot of good relationships. In fact, my wife and I went to Las Vegas.
I've known Tom Adams, actually for like 17 years, like, forever. When I moved to Florida, I first met him, right? So I always use that in people like him when I'm dealing with clients. Let me give you a couple, and this is real data. I've known this individual that's trust, and then we build that trust interaction as we negotiate with the client at all costs. We're professionals at what we do because we believe in what we did.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: Right?
[00:08:51] Speaker D: I want to say one thing, back to your need, because need is a big I mean, if there's no need, why are we here? What are we doing?
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Right?
[00:08:58] Speaker D: Like, are we getting the job? Are we not? We're wasting our time or not? Are you wasting your time or not? Need is a big thing, sir. So we run the play on a form, which I encourage. Listening to this, hopefully you are. Every business needs a playbook. I can go off on that for a minute. But we have formalized our sales process as a small business because you have to have the franchise. So we're running that play, and we're finding it to be very successful. When you're listening for the cues of why are we here? And we have taken a very large stance just recently because we're building what's called a story narrative. And people have this deep need of why am I getting the business? Kind of scared I don't live there.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Because we have snowbirds, right?
[00:09:46] Speaker D: They're like, well, that says to me, you want to maximize security on the envelope of your home. So we have said we've actually now turned down business when people want non impact windows because we believe that we know it's the best solution for our community.
[00:10:05] 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
[email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook and LinkedIn.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: Well, and for snowbirds, know Patrick had it in the slide deck. Like, hey, yeah, I'll put your shutters up, but, oh, I only had an hour. So guess what? You lose, I win. I'm putting shutters on my house and not your house. And I'm impressed that anybody could do that in an hour anyway, because that's a very that's a crazy task. If no one's ever put up hurricane shutters, they have no idea. It's a major, major task. Even if you have everything pre drilled, even if you have all the pieces and parts in the right place, it's still a mess. It's not a fun job.
[00:10:54] Speaker D: And then done that before, put shutters on.
[00:10:57] Speaker C: So, like I was talking about earlier, we want to serve our community. I think that's a really big deal. So for the last couple of years to Keith's question, any single family, like parents or people that needed I and I'm not bragging here, just proud that I would go out and help people put their shutters up and we'd be on second stories and I'd be like, I've done it a lot. And what's crazy is I would always put up everyone's shutters before mine. And then when it came time to storm showing up, I'm rushing back home to put my shutters up. Which actually funny story, led me to buy accordion shutters, which I regret because they're not very pretty on the outside of my house. They don't offer the same benefit as a full impact window. And in terms of sound and protection, they're definitely not as strong. So like looking back, had I known about that before to circle back, yes, I've done it.
[00:11:56] Speaker D: And I wish I would have put.
[00:11:57] Speaker C: Impact glass on my own house instead of shutters.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: Yeah, but live and learn, right?
[00:12:03] Speaker C: Live and learn. I remember pretty distinctively thinking, wow, impact glass is a lot more expensive.
[00:12:09] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:12:10] Speaker C: But I will say I did not do diligence when I was getting my pricing. I called one place, got one number and was like, whoa, that's what windows cost. I'm not doing that. And I ended up going with the guy down the street who installed shutters.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:27] Speaker C: So it wasn't fair. And I'm saying that with know, if you're in the Brevard County area, we want to do everything we can to earn your business and your trust. And so that means working with price. That means finding the best products for you. That means really looking into the situation and uncovering the need.
[00:12:44] Speaker D: Include your budget as well and budget.
[00:12:46] Speaker C: And so I've learned that just in this situation, all of those things are.
[00:12:51] Speaker B: Important well, and to know the product and to understand the product, because not everything is created equal. But when you take into account warranty, you take into account the customer service, the field service, all of the different extras that we provide to our dealers. We've prop people up as much as we can for success, but it is yours. You get to decide how you want to operate and how you want to position yourselves in the market.
[00:13:16] Speaker D: That's the thing that fires me about you guys. I was telling this then because he's new to like you have no idea. I was like head to head competition. I knew being a CWS sales rep and also worked with helping them develop parts of their service protocol and it was always fighting against PGT kind of thing. And it's like I was a bit upset because I started looking closer at the product and I was like, these people are doing something really well. And it's continued to happen, right? And I am so proud, I truly am. My wife and I, if she was sitting here with us, she's funny, goofy as well. And so is his wife, actually brave, but we're very proud to be able to carry the PGT collection of brands. Meeting the leadership team, chad, Mike and others in Las Vegas this year really just lit the fuse for us and our company to do just what you said, to be the first and to be able to offer we can go to the highest height with what you guys offer. Right. And we just sold our first set of bifolding doors with Weepal. Nice. And we're quoting more and more pivot door. It's like amazing how much we're now because we already were doing that kind of work, but now we have a turnkey fully just a greenhouse of sorts brand that we can say this works and we can leverage it and get great success with our clients.
[00:14:54] Speaker C: We're even looking at garage doors.
[00:14:56] Speaker D: Yeah, that's true. He's doing I'm like, we don't do garage.
[00:15:01] Speaker B: Why not?
[00:15:03] Speaker D: That's what I'm thinking, but why not?
[00:15:04] Speaker C: I'm sending the emails.
I'm sending the emails and I lab like, hey, I need a full view. So glass garage door impact. Can we do that?
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll let them handle that. They know what those ramifications are. But yeah, and that is the beautiful thing. They look really hard to say yes. They don't want to say no to anybody. I mean, people come up with crazy ideas all the time and they're like, well, let's figure out how to say yes on this. What can we do? How can we meet this need? How can we satisfy this customer's request? Because we have that ability. We've got a full team of engineers. We've got the ILAB where they can try something, do a one off. They can run it around the corner and do the test, lab on it, test it out and make sure it's going to withstand and it's going to hold up. So it's a pretty cool company to work. Far, I'm not going to lie.
[00:15:51] Speaker D: Things don't work out over here for me and Josh. We're going to come back. We're going to come find you guys and be like, yo, Tom, you need.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: Anybody on your route? Yeah. So, like this afternoon we have the Clear Quote training. So is there anything in there that you're hoping to learn today?
[00:16:05] Speaker C: I would love to stay, but we.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: Have to rob, you got to go.
[00:16:08] Speaker C: After this podcast, the Clear Quote tool actually has come to be my favorite tool to use once I figured it out. Right now, coming from someone who's completely green, not knowing much about the industry and then learning, I actually really like it because there's a lot of options and now I understand those options. Right, okay. So leading up to this day, I was becoming more familiar, but just having them explained even in the other little pieces before we got to that part of the training, this was still really helpful. Like, I understand anchor groups better.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:16:44] Speaker C: I understand the upgrades, the stainless steel options, how the glass, the different thickness. And so also, it helps me understand how to accurately price or give someone a quote and help them understand why we are where we are. Because before, I'm like, hey, I love the energy, max low E. But why?
[00:17:03] Speaker B: Yeah, great.
[00:17:04] Speaker C: What does that mean? Right. So now it was explained, and I can understand that, and I can relay that information to somebody. So I know. Long winded answer there. I think the clear quote thing is great.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: All right, guys. Well, this has been a great conversation.
[00:17:16] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:17:16] Speaker B: I'm so glad that you were able to jump in and you weren't afraid to sit down and podcast with me. I think it can be an intimidating space for some.
[00:17:23] Speaker C: I got to say one more remark. I know we're ending this. The two days here has really helped me. It solidified the way I think about PGT good. In a really positive way, because I'm being fed as a newbie in this industry, why someone else is the best, but I'm responsible for my own thoughts, right? So I'm like, hey, what would I put in my home? And I'm leaning more and more towards PGT's products.
[00:17:50] Speaker B: Awesome. Perfect. Wait, while the storm is making an impact, you are making an impact.
[00:17:56] Speaker C: Yeah, that's true. There it is. See, Sherry, you got nice.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: Okay. All right, guys, this has been fun.
[00:18:01] Speaker D: Thank you so much.
[00:18:02] Speaker B: All right. Yeah. Take care.
[00:18:03] Speaker C: Take care.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Okay, bye.
[00:18:05] 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 window, 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 indoor products.
