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.
So good afternoon. We are here on the Clear Impact
[00:00:27] Speaker A: podcast and I have the great pleasure of sitting with Stephen Moore. Welcome to the podcast.
[00:00:32] Speaker C: Thank you. Glad to be here.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Thanks for coming to Tacoma. Because you're based, you said, in California.
[00:00:38] Speaker C: Yep. I was looking forward to this. This should be a fun event. So, yeah, I'm really excited about it.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: And so all of the players involved for Milgard are gathering this week for the pre launch party for the C700 and that is the new fiberglass line that is going to be rolling out soon.
So before we get into all of that, tell us a little bit about you.
[00:01:00] Speaker C: So I might be one of the longest tenured employees here at Milgard. Specifically came over to Mitre with the Milgard acquisition. So I've been with Milgard for about 31 years, so a long time.
[00:01:13] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:14] Speaker C: And holding varying capacities. Started in sales and I'm back in sales. But I've been in product development, I've been in operations. I've been in all different pieces of the business. But. But today I work with the three different brands in the west. So I work with Anlin, I work with Western and then the Milgard side.
[00:01:31] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: Wow. And so you're traveling a lot?
[00:01:34] Speaker C: I travel a lot.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:36] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: But it's all basically in the same time zone, give or take. Where Arizona is landing.
[00:01:41] Speaker C: Yeah, Arizona or Colorado. So it's Texas West.
[00:01:44] Speaker A: All right, well that's a good chunk of the country.
[00:01:46] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a good piece of business. I like it. Nice. It's fun. Yeah.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: So we're gonna talk about the C700 launch. And so what do you think about like, how this is really going to serve the markets?
[00:01:57] Speaker C: So fiberglass is not new to us, but updating fiberglass is.
So this has been a long time in coming in development. I think what I'm most excited about is the fact that we've included our customers along the way. And so I feel strongly about the likelihood of success. And you know, I guess what I'd tell you is fiberglass as exists today, touches in on all markets, all market segments, meaning new construction, replacement and even some light commercial, multifamily. So we hit all the markets. The intent is to follow that up with the product, the C700, to attack those same marketplaces. So we're going to participate in new construction, the custom home, high end custom home replacement. So replacement window dealers. And then we're going to touch on some commercial. So the Design of the C700 has some unique design to it where it allows us to go larger and configured in different ways.
And so with that, we can touch on the commercial piece as well.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: Okay. And so it's been in the works for several years, is my understanding. But really, the automation is the thing that really sets it apart.
[00:03:07] Speaker C: Design and automation, I'd say.
[00:03:09] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:10] Speaker C: Yeah. So for me, there was really two things that we were trying to address with the redesign. One was repeatability. So making sure that the quality was there, that every time somebody received windows from us, fiberglass windows that they could depend on, fit, finish, and the quality of the window that they were assuming they were getting.
And so as the C700 was being designed, it was all about fit and finish and repeatability. So when you look at manufacturing, this is probably our heaviest investment into automation, which is designed to give us that repeatability.
And if you look at some of the product that's coming off of it, we clearly think we've achieved that, so we feel good about that. The other piece was designed for value.
So the fiberglass window that we have today, the 650, has been around for a period of time and served us really well and our customers really well. But having said that, we've seen the styling in homes change to a little more contemporary or modern styling. We've seen windows get bigger in size.
We've seen the demand from designers for different configurations, joining windows together.
So all of that, that had to be taken into consideration with the new design of the C700.
And then there's always the fact that people got to be willing to pay for it too.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:29] Speaker C: So design value, so matching up the pricing and, you know, the designs that we're delivering with the C700. And I think we nailed it. Yeah. So we feel really good about it.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: We are sharing our expertise around all topics relating to the window and door industry.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: Whether you are a customer selling our
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[00:04:58] Speaker A: Tonight is the unveiling, the pre launch. So we'll get to put our eyes on it. Yeah, I know. I've already had a conversation this morning with Eric Ashcraft and Brent Wright, and we talked about some of the details around the manufacturing process. So I like to nerd out about that. And I'm excited for the plant tour tomorrow.
[00:05:19] Speaker C: There you go.
[00:05:19] Speaker A: And so how do you see this as a benefit to our dealer audience, the customers.
[00:05:26] Speaker C: So hitting on the repeatability, I think that helps them. So one of the things we ask our dealers to do is take care of that customer all the way through the process.
And so the less they've got to worry about that once the product's been received, the better experience everybody has with it. So our dealers benefit greatly from that. One of the other things that maybe not product related, but as we were working to launch the C700, we considered it a little bit of a whiteboard as we went to work on this. And what I mean by that is how could we prop up the customers that were really invested in our fiberglass product differently than the ones that were just carrying it? Because it was a me too product, it was a Milgard product. So we have customers that will invest in, you know, how they display the product within the showroom, the time they'll let their salespeople or push their salespeople to go to training, learn about our products.
So present the product in the right way.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:06:22] Speaker C: And so part of what we're doing is we're eliminating most of our current distribution.
So we're focused in on those that are really committed to us.
And the intent there is that they'll have less competition that'll help their pricing.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Right.
[00:06:39] Speaker C: But in return, what we get is a better experience all the way around so that it's shown. When a consumer or builder wants to see the windows, they'll be able to go into any of the dealers that are car carrying it and be able to see nice displays of it. And the experience from well trained salespeople will be much better. So we're trying to improve the experience for them. And I think the less competition and because of their willingness to invest that they come out ahead because of the limited distribution that we're gonna put forth.
[00:07:09] Speaker A: Yeah, that makes so much sense.
[00:07:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:11] Speaker A: You know, less is more.
[00:07:12] Speaker C: Yeah, hopefully that's the plan.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: Well, and you've already had enough experience with the fiberglass market with the C650. So you really know who's into it, who's not, who's gonna take the extra effort to upsell it.
[00:07:26] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:07:27] Speaker A: Because is fiberglass generally more expensive than a vinyl product?
[00:07:30] Speaker C: It's our premium product. So it's 20 to 30% more expensive than our premium vinyl. Yeah. So it is more expensive, but it
[00:07:36] Speaker A: has the benefits of it lasts longer, it's stronger. You have maybe different ways of providing the color options. I know there's six different colors on the C700. And so, yeah, we don't have fiberglass in Florida, so it's a new product for me, but I'm learning.
[00:07:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:50] Speaker A: Which is what we're supposed to do, right?
[00:07:52] Speaker C: Yeah. It's a great product from the marketplace. They look at fiberglass and see it as, you know, it fits in the engineered material category, which is the premium category. And so because of all the things you just said, you can build bigger units, larger sizes, which makes those designers happy and the consumer's happy. They protect their views. The paint finishes on a fiberglass, which is a much more dependable material. So it doesn't move as much. Your finishes last longer. They look better.
So there's a lot of different things that can come with fiberglass you can't do with some other material, which we like.
[00:08:27] Speaker A: And because it's something that is actually produced in house, it's a vertical integration. We're not gonna be subject to things like tariffs that are out of our control, obviously. So that's amazing.
[00:08:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: So I think that kind of covers it for the C7, which is why we're here. But I've been excited to ask this question, especially of leadership, about the Mitre DNA.
And obviously, it was new for us as pgt. It's maybe a little newer for you guys, too, as Milgard. Which one of the Mitre DNA statements is your favorite?
[00:09:01] Speaker C: So I like a lot of them. But I did relate, since we were talking about C700, I did relate it to that. Okay. Yeah. So for me, if you think about product development. And so, by the way, I did do a little stint in product development, which I really enjoyed. But what I found is most of your success comes from when you involve your customer along the way. And so we listen twice as much as we talk is a big one for me from the Mitre DNA. And it is really applicable when you start to think about product development and involving your customer. You can watch a customer who's been involved in the whole design, so three to four years, and the people that'll be up here tonight are those people.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: And.
[00:09:44] Speaker C: And you'll see personal ownership. They'll say, hey, that's something I told them they needed, and it's on the window. You know, that type of thing.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:09:51] Speaker C: So when you can get that connection, you can really have some good success.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: Yeah, that's amazing.
[00:09:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:57] Speaker A: That's a common phrase amongst the sales leadership.
[00:09:59] Speaker C: Is that right?
[00:10:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Also, we're comfortable being uncomfortable. You know, sometimes sales and salespeople. Yeah, sometimes it lends itself to that. You know, you have to have hard conversations or deal with problems every now and then, but yeah, that's a tough one amongst the sales team. Oh, good.
[00:10:14] Speaker C: So I'm not original, but I think it works. No.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: Well, I think you're original in the fact that you've 31 years. 32 years.
[00:10:21] Speaker C: 31 years, yeah.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: That's a lot. That's amazing.
[00:10:24] Speaker C: It is.
[00:10:25] Speaker A: I think I met someone else who had a lot of tenure, but I think he was an MI guy. Mike Olin.
[00:10:31] Speaker C: Mike Olin.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: He just retired. He just retired, but he had a
[00:10:34] Speaker C: ton of 30 something years. Stan Sullivan.
[00:10:37] Speaker A: Stan Sullivan.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: Jerry. Ton of years.
[00:10:41] Speaker A: Yes. I did a podcast with Stan and Jerry at the CX event last year and that was fun. Well, Steve, I'm going to let you get to it. I know you have a lot going on. We've got a busy night, so looking forward to seeing you tonight at the event. And thanks for making time to chat with me.
[00:10:55] Speaker C: Thanks for having me.
[00:10:56] Speaker A: All right, take care.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: The Clear Impact podcast is brought to you by Mitre Brands University.
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