[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.
Good morning.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: We are here on the Clear Impact podcast, and we are actually recording from Annlin today Bay. So that's Clovis, California, just outside of Fresno.
[00:00:28] Speaker C: So this is pretty exciting for us.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: We're our first trip out to Anlin, and we're getting to meet lots of people today. So our first brave person who decided she was going to do a recording with me is Tammy. And so, tammy, introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about your history here, maybe what you've done and what you're currently doing, and then we'll just kind of go from there. So welcome. Thanks for being a willing person today.
[00:00:53] Speaker D: Thank you for inviting me.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: Yeah, it's nice to have you. All right, so tell us about you.
[00:00:57] Speaker D: Let's see. The first thing I think is really important is that I have been with Annlin now going on 25 years.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:01:05] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: That's impressive.
[00:01:07] Speaker D: When I started here, let's see, my son was nine months old and is now 25. So that's when you realize how long you've been in one place.
[00:01:16] Speaker E: Right, right.
[00:01:17] Speaker D: So, pretty much raised my family here.
[00:01:19] Speaker E: Okay.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: And so over that time, you haven't had the same role. So tell us about your journey for the last 25 years. Maybe not, like, super detailed, but, like, high level overview.
[00:01:31] Speaker D: So I started in order entry and eventually transitioned into customer service. And so I was in that role for about 20 years. I was then asked to help launch and train our dealers on our new quoting software.
[00:01:46] Speaker E: So I did that for about two years.
[00:01:47] Speaker D: It was great. I had no desire at the time to do anything else. And then one day, I was reflecting on my time here at Anlin and felt that I needed to be challenged a little bit more. So I thought, what could I do? At that point, I went to my manager and asked if I could go into outside sales.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: That sounds like a big challenge.
[00:02:11] Speaker D: Big challenge. It was a little bit scary and exciting. I knew that I needed to be challenged. I needed to learn more and contribute to the success of the company, and not only just for the company, but for myself.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: And so how long have you been on the sales team?
[00:02:26] Speaker D: A little over two years now.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: And is it holding up to what.
[00:02:30] Speaker C: You thought it would be?
[00:02:31] Speaker D: It's even more than what I expected, I'll have to say. I have a newfound respect for my coworkers, the sales team, the dealers, partners out there, what they actually do.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it's not easy.
[00:02:44] Speaker D: No, it's not.
[00:02:45] Speaker B: That's amazing. And so I'm sure all of your time inside has really helped you succeed on the outside because you understand the business behind it.
[00:02:54] Speaker E: Right.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: And you've seen a lot of changes because Anlin was privately owned.
[00:02:58] Speaker E: Right.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: It was a family run organization. And then has it been about two years since PGT Innovations purchased you guys? And I know we were excited, like, oh, there's a brand near Yosemite. Awesome. Let's go.
[00:03:12] Speaker D: Right.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: So do you cover a specific area in your sales?
[00:03:15] Speaker D: Yes. So my territory is the Central Valley, which I cover down to Bakersfield and as far up north as Mantika.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: And so does that require, like, overnight travel for you, or is it just all a lot of day driving, or what does that look like for you?
[00:03:32] Speaker D: I'm pretty lucky to be home every night. A few times I may stay overnight, depending on what type of training or requests I get from our partners in that area. So if I know that I'm going to be there for a long time, takes about an hour, 45 to 2 hours, the furthest point, then I will stay the night before and not have to rush on my day with my customers.
[00:03:57] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:03:57] Speaker B: So kind of the home turf area. Nice. That's awesome. And so what is your favorite part about being on the sales side?
[00:04:05] Speaker D: The team we have learning from them and taking it outside, they are amazing, I have to say. And then I'd have to say our partners, just the interaction. I always say it's not like going to a store and you meet somebody for the first time. We spend most of our time with our partners. They're our family. That's how we look at it.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: That's nice. So you get to know people and have lunch with them and hang out. And how's your family? How was your vacation? That kind of stuff. And then you have the. Oh, yeah, how's that order coming?
[00:04:38] Speaker D: Right?
[00:04:38] Speaker B: Like, oh, yeah, we have to actually talk about work stuff.
[00:04:41] Speaker D: Exactly.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: Oh, that's nice.
[00:04:42] Speaker D: But that's what brings it all together, I think. And they know that we'll always be there for them, and what we get is you always pick up your phone and that's the most important, and you're here for us. So their success is our success.
[00:04:56] Speaker E: Right.
[00:04:57] Speaker D: Is how I look at it.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: And I think that aligns so beautifully with the rest of the organization because that's exactly the same attitude that PGT and CGI and Windor and all of our other brands feel about our customers and our dealer partners, that it very much is that partnership and that relationship and know we're here to help each other succeed, because if they're not selling, we're not producing, and if we're not producing, they're not selling. So we all have to work together, right?
[00:05:22] Speaker D: Correct.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: We went on a plant tour yesterday, and, man, it's impressive. Normally in Florida for sliding glass doors, we ship them knocked down, so the frames are separate, and then they're assembled on site. And so we're walking around like, whoa, these are not knocked down. These are all together. Like, dang, that's a huge door frame.
[00:05:42] Speaker E: Right?
[00:05:43] Speaker B: Because we don't see it that way. We just see the individual panels and just similar robotics, but the paint stations, that was different than we're used to seeing. It's just fun to see the comparison between the different product lines and how your market is a little different. Obviously, California is different than Florida by a lot of measures. There's a lot of big differences there. So it's just cool to kind of meet everybody. So one of the things I love to learn is I love quotes and advice and different things. So because you had these questions ahead of time, I'm not putting you on the spot with this. What's a valuable piece of advice that you've received over your time here?
[00:06:21] Speaker D: Just in general, one thing that I always thought of was what my grandfather told me, okay. He said, a human is like a rake. If you put it down, it rusts. Keep using it, it won't rest. So to keep your mind sharp and your body, you're always learning. And the need to learn is to keep yourself going. He may have said it differently, but I believe that.
[00:06:49] 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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[00:07:07] Speaker B: Well, that's the aging ray to keep everything fresh. There's somebody said not too long ago, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. And I'm like, well, that's only if the old dog doesn't want to learn new tricks.
[00:07:19] Speaker D: Right? Exactly.
[00:07:20] Speaker B: I think the willingness to learn and the humility to, especially as we do get older and there's more and more technology and more and more new things that are coming out, and not to be afraid of those and to say, okay, I don't have to be an expert in this, but I do need to know how to use it and how amazing.
There's so much that's easier now than it used to be.
[00:07:40] Speaker D: Yes, exactly.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: Yeah, that's awesome. All right, so one last question. So you just today heard about the university and what we do, and we're going to be launching some content for Annlin products. And you'll be able to start using that probably by the time this airs. So how do you see that PGTI University becoming an asset to you and to your teams?
[00:08:00] Speaker D: Something I always thought about was having the tools to sharpen your knowledge. Right. It provides a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses. It helps with organization and minimizes weak points. I believe something to have at their fingertips. Most of the sales, they're out in the field, they're stuck with a question. They don't want to sit on hold for 510 minutes, even 1 minute. Right. They need that answer right then and there. That's just one of the reasons why I think being able to use this PGTI university, it's at their fingertips, right. They want those answers right away. They don't want to have to wait. They don't want to wait for a call or an email. And I always thought of it this way when I worked with the team inside and even teams outside our partners, you can ask a question, you get the answer. Most of the time it goes in one ear and out the other.
[00:08:54] Speaker E: Right.
[00:08:55] Speaker D: But if you have this amazing training where they can learn by watching it, listening, taking it in, they can go back to it again.
[00:09:05] Speaker E: Right.
[00:09:05] Speaker D: It's always going to be, that tool is going to be there for them to use. Another thing I think is amazing is that if for some reason we can't get the entire team together, a lot of times you have 510 people, sales, inside office staff, the receptionist.
[00:09:21] Speaker E: Right.
[00:09:22] Speaker D: They're all learning. If you can't get them all together at their leisure, they can go on to this PGTI university and take the courses or learn.
[00:09:30] Speaker E: Right.
[00:09:30] Speaker D: Instead of having to wait for us to come back to do the PK trainings.
[00:09:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's a supplement.
[00:09:36] Speaker E: Right.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: So it doesn't necessarily mean that you're never going to do trainings again.
[00:09:39] Speaker E: Right.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: Like you said, the relationship is valuable and time with them is valuable and making sure they really understand it and then how to apply that knowledge in those conversations with their homeowners, making sure they do understand some of the differences between this product line and that product line. But this at least covers a lot of the bases so that you don't have to repeat yourself over and over and over and over. And over. Correct. And we do have certifications for that. So they can earn a certified product associate little badge and print out a certificate on their wall. So they can, depending on which lines that they are most promoting, they can get to be an expert in those spaces. And it's a tremendous value for the dealers. We found with the other brands that we've done this with in that those dealers don't have to spend the time onboarding their employees in every little nook and cranny because the industry is deep.
[00:10:33] Speaker E: Right.
[00:10:34] Speaker B: There's a lot to it, and it can be overwhelming for someone who's brand new. And so there's some intro courses, there's glass courses, and then the product courses themselves. So it's going to be a pretty cool library when you guys really get your hands in it. And we're excited to see what you guys do with it.
[00:10:50] Speaker D: I'm very excited. And I think it's also going to help additional PK and to be able to have that dialogue back and forth about what they learned, brush up with questions. I just think all around it's going to be an amazing tool for our dealers, our partners to be able to use. I mean, we don't just go in there and do trainings on the products with the sales team. You have your office staff that, like you said, are brand new to the industry. Windows 101. I mean, who would have thought how many components there are to a window, right? It's not just a frame and a piece of glass.
[00:11:24] Speaker E: Right.
[00:11:24] Speaker D: And that's what's so amazing about it. I guess you can say, they call us window nerds, being amazed at what an actual window is.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Patrick says, know, four sticks of wood and a piece of, like, no, not quite. And we're in partnership with our dealers and our sales teams. So when you're out there and you're saying, wow, it'd be really great if there was a course about this. Or, you know, what would be really helpful is if we could explain this a little bit more in depth. We'll develop that. We don't know your line as well as you do, so obviously we pull it from the resources that we have access to, but you guys are the experts. And so as you become acquainted with the material, if there's things that are missing or things that would enhance the training even further, let us know and we'll create it. So it's just kind of a fun space to be like, yeah, we love solving problems and helping people be successful.
[00:12:15] Speaker C: So this is great.
[00:12:16] Speaker B: I'm excited and I really appreciate your time today. I know you've got a lot going on and you're a busy lady, so we'll wrap it up. But any last thoughts or questions for us?
[00:12:24] Speaker D: I'm just excited to see the material and be able to offer this to our partners.
[00:12:29] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: And it's coming soon.
[00:12:31] Speaker D: Thank you for inviting me. Yeah.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: Tammy, thank you so much. It's been a great conversation.
[00:12:35] Speaker E: All right, take care.
[00:12:36] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:12:37] Speaker C: 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, Andlin 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.
