Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast, brought to you by Mitre Brands University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sheri Conner and I am your host.
Good afternoon. We are here on the Clear Impact Podcast and. And we are talking about relationships. Mitre, the acronym, the R, stands for relationships. And so we wanted to highlight a couple of things about the ETP trip, and that is excellence through partnership.
And we've heard from some dealers who were able to attend last year, but we wanted to give an inside peek from our perspective. And so today in studio, we have Katie Fegan and Brian Covey. Welcome.
[00:00:53] Speaker C: Hello.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: Hi.
[00:00:54] Speaker C: Thanks for having us.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: Yeah, thanks for making time. I appreciate it.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: I'm excited to be here.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Yeah, thanks for making your way down. And so I'll let you guys introduce yourselves, talk a little bit about your current role and responsibilities and maybe like, how long you've been here. So, Katie, we'll start with you.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: Well, my name is Katie Feegan. I have been with PGT for seven years now. I started off as the executive assistant for the first six years, five and a half maybe, and then I transitioned into the marketing department. So I currently work as the marketing project manager.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: Nice.
And Brian, Brian Covey.
[00:01:28] Speaker C: Thank you for having me. I've been with PTT a little over 12 years. In my tenure with the company, it's always been in sales. Started as a regional manager and then worked myself to where I'm currently as a VP of sales for the state of Florida for all of the Mitre brands.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Okay. So I would like to just kind of focus on the ETP trip. And so, Katie, you've had your hand in that for a long time.
So can you tell us a little bit about, like, what that looks like for you?
[00:01:53] Speaker A: Sure. So the planning that goes into something of this size is incredibly detailed. Starts about a full year, if not more in advance. But I inherited this trip back in 2019, and we were planning the 2020 ETP trip, which is going to be in Costa Rica. So there was a lot of pivoting during the next few years. With COVID we had to do our 2020 recognition virtually.
So we had to get creative with that year's events. We even had a special mixology class for our diamond dealers. So we got to ship them out a box of goodies, all the fixings to make different style margaritas. So that was a fun experience. But that's one thing that you have to be prepared for as an event manager.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:02:33] Speaker A: Is just those last minute changes that are going to occur and how to deal with them.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: Yeah, but how fun. That's so creative.
[00:02:40] Speaker A: It was really fun. And then the following year in 2021, Covid was still pretty rampant, so we had to stay stateside. We found a beautiful resort down in the Florida Keys called Hawks Cay, that's on Ducky. But that was an August trip.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: August, yeah.
[00:02:55] Speaker A: Wouldn't you know it, right before that trip was supposed to happen and our guests were supposed to arrive, there was two hurricanes that were heading straight toward the Florida Keys.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Of course.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: Yeah. But by some miracle, they changed course last minute. I think one went into the Gulf, the other one went more east out into the Atlantic. So we ended up having an amazing time in Hawks Cay. I think that was the first event that I was on site for. So I got to see firsthand the amount of detail that goes into planning that trip. But then that was also one of the largest that they've had to date because that included all of the winners from 2019 who were supposed to go on the 2020 trip.
[00:03:31] Speaker B: Right.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: And then, you know, the 2020 winners. So it was a combination of two years. Oh, gosh. Of qualifiers. But then we finally got to travel to Costa Rica in 2022 after almost three years of planning.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: So when you're on these trips, you're probably not relaxing and enjoying. You're not laying by the pool at all. You're probably busy from before you go until after it's over, right?
[00:03:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I mean, maybe you.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Get a little bit of downtime here and there.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I get a little bit of downtime, but there is just a lot of coordination and things that are taking place, you know, behind the scenes, whether it's, you know, dealing with the flights or the arrivals, the ground transportation, the hotel rooms, the room drop offs with all of the gifting, and then, you know, just coordinating all of the events that are taking place on site throughout the week. So the different awards ceremonies that we're having, the different meetings, meals, you know, all of that stuff is being coordinated throughout the week. But, you know, I get to have a little bit of fun.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:04:32] Speaker A: But we do work very closely with an experienced travel professional. So that individual will handle everything from, you know, sourcing the destination and the venue, negotiating the contracts, handling a lot of the behind the scenes items. And then once on site, we partner with a destination management company, we call them a dmc. So they are the ones that are on the ground, ensuring that experience is really seamless, but also culturally immersive for our dealers. Because I Feel like that's important.
You really want to experience the destination that we're traveling to.
So we want our guests to experience something that they strive to work towards each year. But I just wanted to give a shout out to Mary Killian. She really knocked it out of the park by finding the Grand Vilas Resort in Los Cabos, which we just got back from not too long ago. But it was a beautiful setting. So Mary has been working with the MITRE team for many years on all of their internal events and smaller customer trips.
So she'll assist with sourcing the local destination management company and the travel management company who assists with the air travel. So we always try to make each year exceed our dealer expectations. But, I mean, it really does take a team of dedicated professionals to pull off something like this, and they deserve a huge shout out.
[00:05:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I was gonna say that would be a tremendous amount of work for one person.
And I think Mary Killian had her hands all over the CX event with which was in Scottsdale in December, and that was phenomenal.
I was thoroughly impressed with that. So if she's doing ETP as well, then yeah, it's gonna be amazing. So, Brian, tell us about your experience with ETP, because Katie just said she started like in 2019 helping with this. Was it happening before that?
[00:06:12] Speaker C: Yeah. So I've been going to ETP for a little over 12. I've been on 10 trips. You know, as Katie mentioned, there was some Covid time, but the first trip was really an eye opener for me. Taking a trip for a few days with your customer bas, I really didn't know what to expect, but I learned pretty quickly that not only did I get to spend time with our customers and the people I see in the office, but I also got to learn a little more about them personally. And that could be with spending time with them and their spouse. Diamond dealers get additional room where they bring a couple more people. And so there's additional touch points there in the amount of time that you're able to set and get to know somebody. Rather than a business meeting in an office that everybody's time is pretty critical and limited gave me the opportunity to really get to know our customers. And not only me, but my spouse. Everybody would tell you their favorite covey on the trip is Katie Covey.
So it was an amazing experience out the gate. And every year it continues to be so because I have an opportunity to strengthen additional relationships, I get the opportunity to meet new customers. And as Katie just mentioned, it'd be in a Mitre trip this year that we went on, I had the opportunity to get to know some of my Mitre people that I've worked with in different aspects of the business. It would be Milgard or mi, but I also got to meet their core customers and their partners as well.
So it's pretty cool to see how the trip has evolved.
[00:07:38] Speaker B: We are sharing our expertise around all topics relating to the window and door industry. Whether you are a customer selling our products or a homeowner doing research, the Clear Impact podcast provides helpful content that makes an impact. Subscribe today wherever you listen to podcasts.
Yeah, so did it start with. Because I know Rod is an avid fisherman and I'm actually friends with one of the captains in town that used to take him and the boys out. So is that kind of how it started with like back in the day when, like, hey, I'm gonna spoil my customers and take them out fishing? Is that. I'm kind of guessing here. I have no idea.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: Gosh. Yeah, I think back in the day, I don't know what year this trip actually started. Maybe in 2005, five or so. I think they used to get together at a resort, you know, in Central Florida, like in Orlando or somewhere even close by to Sarasota. And it was really just a one day overnight event. But gosh, it really has evolved over the years, not just in scale, but just also in how intentional we've become with the entire experience. It really started as just a small gesture of appreciation and it has grown into such a highly anticipated full scale experience for about, you know, 250 to 300 guests now.
[00:08:52] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:08:53] Speaker C: So Katie mentioned 2005. I heard the same thing. It's been over 20 years that we've been having a trip. Actually, the first event was called sun and Fun.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: Oh.
[00:09:03] Speaker C: Is what it started. So it was not excellence through partnership and it was a shorter event. I think the largest one they had was maybe three days, but most of the customers were out of state and so they bring them to Florida. And as you mentioned, they would stay at a local hotel and then there'd be a training event throughout the day and then there'd be a fun day, which would be, as you mentioned, the fishing. And then there was also golf, so you could have your choice of which one you wanted to sign up for. But back in the day, sun and Fun was the name of the trip.
[00:09:33] Speaker B: Oh my gosh. So Brian, how does a dealer get qualified to go on an ETP trip?
[00:09:40] Speaker C: Yeah, there's a handful of primary categories and Points that a dealer can earn points for the etp.
And we've simplified it, we've made it pretty straightforward. And the first is years of partnership. And so ETP is excellent through partnership. And so the first thing that's important to us is how long have you been a partner with us? And so there's a points awarded for that. There's also a big point total tied to sales growth and also total sales volume. And then the last item where you could earn some points is percentage of business. What share of wallet are you with Mitre Brands? The PGTI legacy products.
[00:10:15] Speaker B: Okay, so it's not just you're the biggest dealer, it's your growth, it's how long you've been in business. And then are you selling a bunch of other things along with our products?
[00:10:25] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: Okay, so it does level the playing field. It's not just the people who've been around for the longest time.
[00:10:30] Speaker C: Yes, you're correct.
[00:10:31] Speaker B: Like how do people find out where they are? Tell us about that.
[00:10:34] Speaker C: Yeah, for the last month, the sales team's been out actively meeting with all of our dealers and going through what the criteria is. And then what's great right now is we have monthly updates to share where you are point total wise and be able to share your status, where you're at and how you're tracking to earn the trip to make sure you're there with us on our next ETP.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: So no panic calls.
[00:10:57] Speaker C: December 15th should not be any panic calls.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah, you want to avoid those. Awesome. Well, I know people work hard to, you know, to be excellent partners with us. And it's an amazing way that they get rewarded. And so I'm sure they're all going to work really hard to make it to that trip. So, Brian, why do you think Mitre decided to keep this and expand it rather than just say, we don't really need to do that.
[00:11:19] Speaker C: Yeah. You know, earlier you mentioned, you know, the acronym of MITRE and RB and relationships, but to kind of expand on that. M stands for manufacturing, I is innovation, T is trust, E is experiences, and R is the relationships. And so this trip is certainly about relationship. That was a big part of it. The Mitre team, it was a couple weeks after they acquired us that we had this trip. So it was really their first interaction not only with a lot of the employees, but also the first time with our customers that weren't currently selling mi. So unique customer legacy customers to the PGT Brands. And that's where that RN relationships came in. They saw the relationships that team members had. And a lot of that not only was built in the day to day and the yearly going to work and selling windows and doors, but a lot of relationships really became stronger through that event. And for the leadership team to come to this event, it would have taken them months, maybe a year plus to be able to meet all our key partners all in one setting and not only get to meet them, but to spend some time getting to know them was just incredible. And through that, I think it was pretty well decided even on the trip. Matt mentioned at the end that there will be a continuation of the trip.
[00:12:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I really do feel like this trip helps to offer kind of a deeper insight into the customers, businesses, their priorities or challenges. Conversations that don't usually happen in a traditional setting.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, you know, everybody likes to have more comfortable conversation over meals. So even just taking them to lunch can still feel rushed. Right. Two hour thing or even an afternoon of gol. It doesn't replace the extended time.
[00:13:04] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: Okay, so is there anything else that you would like to add about the ET trip?
[00:13:09] Speaker C: The only thing I would add is because we talked a lot about relationships is the relationships are not only between us and our partnerships and the customers, but it's also relationships with our end customers. They're able to network and get to know and find out other business strategies and what's going on in your market, what's working, what's not, and what was amazing this year, having it with Mitre Wide and all the different companies there. We had customers throughout the United States and so it was easier for somebody that was like in the lumber business to go talk to somebody else that's in a lumber business that's many, many states away and have an open conversation and hey, what are you seeing here and there and just really create network and long lasting relationships.
[00:13:52] Speaker B: Yeah, that's powerful. I mean, because where else can they do that? Right. Otherwise they're talking to their competitors and they're not going to do that. Right. So having those networks is really helpful, I'm sure.
[00:14:02] Speaker A: Yeah. And also, you know, allows the team members within Mitre brands to also connect and grow relationships across other departments within the company too.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: For those that are working hard this year for next year's trip, what can you share about that? Do you know like when and where and all of that yet?
[00:14:21] Speaker A: I do. So our 2026 trip is going to be taking place at the Four Seasons Resort in Nevis, West Indies. So it's just next to you. Sink it.
[00:14:31] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: The dates are February 3rd through 7th, but our diamond dealers are going to get to arrive in paradise a day earlier on February 2nd. So we can't wait to see some new and familiar faces and celebrate your accomplishments.
[00:14:45] Speaker B: Well, that sounds like an amazing time. There's nothing like being in a tropical place in February.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:14:50] Speaker B: Absolutely awesome. Thank you so much for making time to chat and have a great afternoon.
[00:14:56] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: All right, thanks.
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