Speaker 0 00:00:05 Welcome to the clear impact podcast brought to you by PGT university. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sherry Conner and I am your host.
Speaker 1 00:00:20 I think that also shows in my work as well, especially at PGT when I started on the floor and here I am as a customer care manager, uh, in a matter of eight years, I was able to put my mind to it and get myself and, um, to where I need to be. And, you know, just achieving my dreams. Wonderful. That's inspiring. Our intro series on the clear impact podcast is switching gears and diving into another topic that we believe our dealers will find helpful. Today. We speak with Nina Smith, our customer care manager, Nina has such a heart for providing excellent service and that translates into how she leads her team of problem solvers. We learn where she gets her can-do attitude and how this benefits situations when things aren't always as perfect as we would like them to be. I hope you enjoy our chat with Nina today.
Speaker 1 00:01:10 We have a chance to talk with Nina Smith. Nina is the customer care manager. Is that right? It is welcome to our show. Thank you for having me. Yeah, I'm glad you could join us. Um, it's a beautiful day outside, but we're tucked away in a little podcast studio. Um, so Nina, I just met you today and I don't know anything about you. So can you tell us a little bit about yourself and then, um, we'll follow that with, how did you end up at PGT or in the fenestration industry as a whole? Yeah, absolutely. So a little bit about myself. I moved here to the United States when I was nine years old from Ukraine with my parents raised in north port and my parents started at PGT when, um, I think I was 10 in 2003. They've been here since, and I think I just heard the name PGT so often from my parents and everyone around.
Speaker 1 00:01:58 I just knew the name. I didn't know what it was about, but that was, uh, how I got introduced to PGT. Um, graduated high school here. I went to college, um, got married, changed my last name to a Smith, a lot easier to pronounce than, uh, my previous name, which was what Devin Kowski. Ah, yes, that's a big leap. It is. I tell him that I'm married to him for his last name. Nice. But, um, that's a little bit about me. Just nothing that thinks special move from the Ukraine. Been here since then, learned a lot, learn a new language, um, made friends and, uh, built my career PGT. Wonderful. And, uh, you told me on the ride over that you've been here about eight years. I have. And did you start in customer care? I did not. I actually started on the floor. Um, I was going to college and my retail job was not very, uh, it was not paying very well and I needed something a bit better.
Speaker 1 00:02:58 And my said, well, you know, you can always start at PGT. And my first response was, I don't want to work at PGT. I don't want to work in manufacturing. Didn't know what it was about. Actually started working there and I fell in love. I made great friends. I learned so much so while I was going to school, I was working on the floor in manufacturing building windows. Wow. Yes, that was difficult. I did that for about eight months and there's actually a position that opened up in customer care and I decided to apply. I said, why not give it a try? Um, it was a consumer affairs position. So homeowner calls, warranty claims, things like that was interviewed for that and got the position. Um, from there, I was in that role for about a year, moved over to service and I was a service processor for about a year from that.
Speaker 1 00:03:44 I moved into customer care and I was a customer care representative. Um, did that for about two years. And as I grew, just develop myself and learn about PGT. Uh, there was a role that opened up for a team lead and I went ahead and applied for that role. I was in that role for about two years. I think from there, I was able to, uh, there was an opportunity for a customer care manager and I applied for that. And that's how I got here today. Customer care manager, over consumer affairs, the retail team and service. Wow, that's a lot. It is. At what point would someone interact with a customer care representative? A customer care representative would be our customers, dealers. Um, they would, uh, they have an assigned rep to their account who then assist them with any kind of question related to service warranty, system questions, anything, and everything that they may need to reach out to them for to obtain answers.
Speaker 1 00:04:41 So a lot of troubleshooting, it is a lot of, they're probably not very happy when they call and maybe they're happier after they call. I would, I would hope so. I think so. In most cases, yes. And I think with our customer care representatives, they have that relationship with our dealers. They know them and they're their go-to person. Think it's more of a friendship at that point and obviously the assistance they need, they work together to help each other grow and develop and make each other's jobs a lot easier as well. 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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Speaker 1 00:05:30 So what do you love most about your role now? I think personally, um, working with my peers and helping them grow and developing them, I think a lot of the people that we have on our team have great talent and they can grow and become a lot better than what they are now. Not saying that they're bad, they're great, but personally growing them and professionally growing them, I think that is something I like to work to help them get to where they want to be to make sure that they are happy where they're at and make sure that, uh, if there's anything else that they are striving for, I'm there to support them and help them with that as well. That's awesome. Um, I know it's been said that most people will quit a job because they're not happy with their manager, not because they're unhappy with the job itself.
Speaker 1 00:06:17 So I think it's wonderful that in leadership, that's the prime focus. You kind of assume that everyone wants to do a good job and you just equip them and encourage them and support them so that they can, uh, nobody ever shows up to do a terrible job at their job. They, everybody wants to do a good job with their job. So I think that's awesome. Exactly. Okay. So one of the things that I want to share with our listeners today is about the service now system. And I don't know anything about this. Tell us a little bit more about service now and how that works. All right. So service now is a portal that our customers use to submit cases, um, anything really to field service. So let's say if a customer purchases a window, they have it installed and the window in some way, shape or form fails, whether the glass becomes foggy, the glass breaks, whatever it may be.
Speaker 1 00:07:06 Um, the customer's able to log into that service now portal and submit a case. Once the case is submitted, a, uh, service work order is opened that allows the service tech to understand what the issue is and allows the service processors to reorder any parts that are needed in order to correct that issue. That system is used to be able to, um, manage what's going on and, uh, coordinate for both the service tech and the processor to work simultaneously and resolve the issue. Um, at the home parts are being ordered. The service tech is then this batched and they're out there with the parts and correcting that issue throughout the whole process. The dealer can log on and keep track of anything that is happening with that service, whether it's an update of, um, have the parts been ordered, have the parts been shipped, uh, when is the tech planning on being out there?
Speaker 1 00:07:58 Has the service been scheduled once the service tech goes out there, they'll update the notes in that service to provide any kind of information or give a brief description of what occurred when they were out there correcting that issue. Um, that helps us identify if there's potentially any quality issues that need to be addressed. We have trackability of that. We can pull that information and catch things and make sure that they're addressed, um, before they, you know, become an issue or, uh, happened to multiple people. Mm that's so smart. Yes. So if there was a balance issue with maybe the double hungs or something along those lines, and you saw it repeatedly, then you would be able to track like, Hey, who else has these windows? Maybe we need to, um, be a little bit more proactive around it and try to keep it from happening again, or track it down and at least prevent it exactly.
Speaker 1 00:08:52 And because we sell to such a large range of customers all over the place, it's good to have that central location to view these things and be able to track them down and identify what's going on and who it's happening to. Yeah, that's a big system. I would imagine is most cases I would say services requested within the first year, because once the product is purchased and installed issues, manufacturing issues, or any type of product issue is identified right away. So when the dealers out there installing the product, if they're able to identify any issues, they're able to just log in and quickly submit that service to give the address of the location. Uh, let us know what the issue is, what type of product provide us with that identifying sales order number. So we know exactly what order was on what window, the specs about that window and anything that we need to know to be able to identify that product and reorder anything that is needed for that specific price.
Speaker 1 00:09:45 That's a great service to be able to provide to our customers. And I'm sure that that helps them feel more confident when they're installing our products. That if there is an issue that they're not just getting routed to some phone bank and having to press one or press three or whatever, that they can just go online, uh, submit the information and then they're going to get service and attention right away. And not only the focus from the system, but there's also the processors on the backend as well, that are continuously monitoring the orders or the service requests and, um, making sure that everything is flowing as it should be. And if there's any other support that is needed when the dealer calls in, they're able to pull that same information up and provide updates or see what's going on with the case. Um, it's wonderful to just face those kinds of things head on instead of, you know, so often it's easier just to pretend that things are always great and that there's never any problems and everything is perfect.
Speaker 1 00:10:43 You know, one of the things I've noticed about the team here at PGT is that everyone has an amazing sense of humility, that we know that we're people and that people make mistakes. And sometimes that shows up in our work and sometimes that shows up on a product. Um, but we're willing to own it. We're willing to look at it, we're willing to fix it, correct. It apologize, make it right. And I think that's what really builds those relationships over time is that you can handle the problems when they come along. I think that that lends so much credibility to our name and to our reputation. Um, and I'm sure our dealers find comfort in that as well. Yes, exactly. Our dealers and the end customers as well, because like you said, yes, uh, mistakes happen and things can go out and not to the, the, uh, standards that we would want.
Speaker 1 00:11:33 And I think it, um, assures the customers that yes, um, we are aware that there's an issue and we are absolutely correcting it. And I think them knowing and having them that assurance definitely helps them and gives them more of a trust with us and the fact that we will be able to go out there and fix that issue for them, whatever that issue that they may have. I know some of our dealers have been selling our products for years. And so that's probably one of the reasons why they're still doing business with us because we do take great efforts to make things. Right. Exactly. And so I'm asking all of my guests, this question, um, what is a person or an event that has had a major impact in your life? As far as an event? I would say the biggest one so far is moving from one country to another.
Speaker 1 00:12:18 It was a culture shock. It was a lot to get used to. Um, even at nine years old, it was, you know, leaving all my friends behind and starting a new life, leaving my family behind because it was just me and my parents and my brother. But I think, um, having that experience allowed me to grow myself and be more open to new situations and better react when I am in new situations and maybe think quickly on my feet too, because like I said, is a big culture shock coming over here, not knowing the language, not being able to communicate with anyone, but your family learning those new things. I think it allowed me to become a better person and develop myself personally and professionally, and to have that work ethic of, Hey, when I was nine years old, I was able to learn a new language, go to school and graduate from school, go to college and get myself where I am today.
Speaker 1 00:13:07 That's so cool. Yeah. Um, well, I am really glad that we had a chance to talk today. Um, thank you so much, Nina for, uh, taking a few minutes out of your day today to chat with us. And I hope the rest of your day goes well. Thank you. Well, thank you for having me. And, uh, it was nice chatting with you. PGT university is the customer education team for an entire family of brands. We began with the original, easy breeze, ports and closure lie then became PGT. America's leading brand of impact resistant windows and doors. We then added CGI CGIC WinDoor, Western windows, new south windows and echo windows and 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. PGT. A university is here to educate you our listener so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door
Speaker 0 00:14:03 Products.
