Speaker 1 00:00:05 Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast, brought to you by pg t I University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sherry Connor and I am your host.
Speaker 1 00:00:18 Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast. And we are being hosted this week by the amazing people at Western Windows Systems and just very spontaneously, we have invited a couple of wonderful people that I've met since I've been here to come in and chat. So we have Velvet Wall and Veronica, I don't even know your last name. Hernandez, Veronica Hernandez. So welcome ladies to our makeshift podcast studio. So we just met this week, although velvet and I have been corresponding via email around the details and particulars of the western content that we're working on for Windows and doors, obviously for the education, for the customers and the sales team. So I have some familiarity with Velvet and I was excited that you were gonna be here this week. And then Veronica was just this shining light at the front desk when I walked in yesterday and today. And so we've had some fashion conversations. Oh yes, we had some conversations about education and the importance of learning what you're doing and how complex windows and doors are. So with that, I'll just let you guys introduce yourselves, talk about what you do, what your role is here, and then we can just see where that goes from there. So we'll start with you.
Speaker 2 00:01:35 Yeah. So I am the marketing coordinator for Western Window Systems. I have my hands in a lot of different things. I basically do a lot of project management and I help keep the team on track. I schedule different photo shoots, I also write copy, do social media, edit, do stuff, the website. I'm just gonna do everything. Okay,
Speaker 1 00:01:58 Nice. And how long have you been here?
Speaker 2 00:02:00 I have been here since February of this year, so about eight months officially. And I previously interned here for five months.
Speaker 1 00:02:08 Nice. So the internship was a success because they said, Hey, come on back, we want you.
Speaker 2 00:02:13 Yes. I actually finished my internship and graduated from a S u and a spot opened up and the team was super excited to have me come back. They wrote a position specifically for me to play off of my strengths as well as introduce some new things like some admin work with the budget and then that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 00:02:33 Oh, nice.
Speaker 2 00:02:34 Yes.
Speaker 1 00:02:34 Well that's exciting. All right. And Veronica?
Speaker 3 00:02:38 I am the receptionist for the front desk here at Western Window Systems. I've been here for about, what'll be two years next week. I kind of have my hands in just about everything. I think I've helped each department with just about one thing or another. HR is mainly where my position falls, but I, I enjoy it. I've done different forms of secretary and receptionist work, but I think I love the aspect of the front desk because I do have my hands in just about everything. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I get the best of everything. So I get to do a lot of different things that makes the repetitiveness of some of the job kind of fun with some of the other stuff that I get tasked with or I get asked to do. So I've enjoyed it. Nice. Truly.
Speaker 1 00:03:26 And so you work for Jason Sealy who is kind of the director of customer experience, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and he thought it would be fun for us to sit down and chat. So I know one of the things you and I talked about yesterday was understanding the industry and understanding the product. And when you first come into windows and doors it's completely overwhelming. I mean there's just a lot. So did you have prior experience to windows and doors before you came in here?
Speaker 3 00:03:56 No. If you can believe it, no. <laugh> and I never thought twice about a window or a door till I got here. And then to see not only the magnitude of the operation and the field itself, but to watch just how big those windows and doors can be. Like even the pivot door that's our front door, I was like, whoa. Biggest door I've ever seen in my life. And then to see that they've kind of incorporated our showroom is our office. So you get to see those products moved, touched, opened and closed every day. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> all the time. When we say showroom, of course people are expecting like that room that just has the products, but it is like this whole office are our products. Right. So it's been interesting to learn not only the process with production, but just how many different variations of series we have and how different sometimes custom sales can be from volume program and the projects that they take on. So it's been kind of interesting, a very good experience, but interesting to see not only what happens when the order comes from the customer, but the production and then seeing 'em all the way through till delivery. So it's been kind of a wild ride, but I've enjoyed it. Nice.
Speaker 1 00:05:17 And what about you Val?
Speaker 2 00:05:19 Yeah, so coming into this, I did not have experience in the Windows industry. I didn't even really have experience in the marketing industry until I had the internship here. And so I have learned a ton about all of our products, especially because being on the marketing team, we work on covering the homes where our products are and these are huge homes that people pay a lot of money to get these massive doors that completely open up the home. They're like outside pavilions. So it's been super interesting. I find myself now, whenever I'm driving around and I see construction, I'm always like, okay, whose windows are there <laugh>? Um, or I see a bled door and I'm like, okay, is that our product? I never even thought about windows or doors, right. To be honest beforehand, but now I know the importance of them.
Speaker 1 00:06:16 So as fairly new to the industry, how do you feel like your best avenue for learning has been for those products? Like just as you're working or are you like digging into like doing online searches? Like what does that mean? Like what's been a good avenue for you so far?
Speaker 3 00:06:36 For me it's, it has been on the job. I've been lucky enough to be in a place where our sales team can be a fountain of knowledge and expertise. So a lot of times if I don't know the answer, they've kind of been the place where I've gone and it's everybody. Like it's really minuscule questions I have all the way up to like major things surrounding an order or things like that. So, um, it has been on the job, which has been interesting. I feel like I learned still even now, still learn something new every day. But they've been a big help in kind of distinguishing like not only what we do here, not only the products, but how they work and then how to use that to help customers as they call me here at the front desk and where to go with what they
Speaker 1 00:07:22 Need. Yeah, there's a lot to it. There's lots and lots and lots of details and layers and no matter how long you've been in it, I think that even people who've been tenured in the industry are still learning something every day. So, which is good, right? I think that keeps us healthy and vibrant and growing as people to not just be like, yeah, I know everything. I mean like five seconds later you'll be bored. Well at least I would be bored. Yes. Five seconds later. What about you?
Speaker 2 00:07:46 Yeah, so a lot of what I've learned is on the job I tend to research a lot when I see a phrase that I don't know. So you know, thermal performance or the different energy ratings, what are divided lights, that kind of stuff. Because you know, a lot of what I do is writing about it. And so I do my best to research and become more of an expert on it. Not as much as our sales team. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, of course. But yeah, a lot of what I do is deep diving into our products, trying to figure out what does it all mean and then how can I translate that so that an everyday person can understand that as
Speaker 1 00:08:27 Well. Right? That's kind of what the university has been doing in regards to our training. You know, I came in brand new less than two years ago and I was like, what? Okay, timeout. Like this is overwhelming. Like I don't know what any of this is. It's like foreign language. I've never done this before. And our product line is very different cuz I started, well obviously with the P G T product line, those products are very different than the Western products. And so just trying to wrap my hand around like I can't understand why a WINDGUARD 5,500 single hung is so great if I don't even know the difference between a vinyl and an aluminum window. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> or what an impact product is versus a non-impact or what the U factors mean or the solar heat gain coefficient or any of that. Like wait, what?
Speaker 1 00:09:13 It's like a laminated window. What is that? You know? So a lot of the content that I've helped develop has been around those brand new people coming into the industry or people who are the homeowners. Like nobody's gonna drop, well I mean some people, but a lot of people are not going to, you know, like you wouldn't go on to a car dealership lot and just for the first time be exploring like the difference between a V6 and a v8. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Like you're probably gonna go online and do some research before you get there. You're already gonna know which model the mileage, what features are important, which cars have the thing that you want, you know, so you're gonna come onto that lot, somewhat educated. And so that's kind of the goal of the podcast even is to do some education so that anybody can find this, they can stumble across it and they can learn for themselves a little bit and have at least a foundation. You know. So instead of spending three hours with a sales rep at a dealership, maybe they've cut that down to an hour and a half because they at least have a base.
Speaker 1 00:10:14 Be sure to tune in for upcoming episodes to help you understand the fest station 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 2 00:10:31 What I find interesting with Western Window Systems is our client base, there's two very different groups. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, we are B2B company, so majority of the people that we work with are architects or builders. And so when communicating with them, they already know what they want or have industry knowledge versus the homeowners that reach out to us and that we connect with who for the most part they might not know anything or they might have very little knowledge and experience. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So we are definitely in a unique position where not only do we have to make sure that we are reaching out to our audience that knows what we're talking about. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we also have to reach out to the homeowners. And I know that's a lot of who Veronica works with is homeowners. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:11:23 <affirmative>. Yeah. It's very different
Speaker 3 00:11:25 Usually. Typically normally with customers it's more of I know somebody who has them or I've seen them somewhere or even simply I just did a Google search, I'm looking for a door system and I came across your company. They don't have as much knowledge as like architects and stuff like that. Whenever they call, they know kind of the series they're looking for and what they're looking for are those details like the thermal details, what's the UV rating for them? Can they hold up up to the, you know, if this catastrophe happened. Versus customers like that are homeowners usually still worry about, especially like if they're in an area where they need something that's hurricane impact rated. Mm-hmm <affirmative> or a lot of times with California customers as homeowners, they'll talk about also the title 24 that they need to make sure that the door systems follow and fall into. So they'll know simple things like that. Like this is the door I'm looking for, this is what I'm imagining. Do you have what I'm looking for? Um, and of course architects, designers, general contractors are the ones that like get those customers that are like, this is my vision, help me follow through with it and get me what I need.
Speaker 1 00:12:31 Yeah. And further use the car analogy like I don't need to understand everything about the car, I don't need to understand the fuel injection system or like, don't bog me down with that kind of detail. Like can I get onto the on-ramp quickly without like feeling like my life is in danger in the morning. Yes, exactly. That's what I wanna know. How is this gonna work for me? Is this door gonna be too heavy for me to open when I have a bag of groceries in one hand and a two year old on my hip on the other? Mm-hmm <affirmative>, can I still maneuver this door? And so it's the practicality and those kinds of things that the end users really interested in. Yep. And that's where we get to be subject matter experts. Right. So any other thoughts or questions or things we should talk about while y'all are here? I know this is a very spontaneous like hey let's come in and chat. So,
Speaker 3 00:13:20 But it's been fun really. It's just been nice to kind of get a better feel for what we do as a whole as P G T I. Like it's crazy to think that like not only what Western does, but to think at the capacity that all of these companies are under this PPG t I like we all in one form another create a kind of product that like works mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So like if somebody calls for hurricane impact and we don't have it like PPG t I has it mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, we've got Alan that's starting to come into the fold. So it's been kind of interesting just to see just the magnitude of like these companies coming together and like being able to service pretty much just about any need somebody's looking for.
Speaker 1 00:14:06 Right. Well said.
Speaker 2 00:14:08 Yeah. One thing that's been super important to me since I've come to the company is making sure that customers, whether that be homeowners, architects, builders, have the resources to be able to contact, you know, members of our team, whether that be through social media, through calling and making sure that our team can help them the best that they can. Whether that be fixing a product or finding the right product for them or finding the correct dealer. And so that has been something that Veronica and I have tackled a lot of.
Speaker 1 00:14:43 Yeah. Like you don't have to know everything, you just have to know who knows everything. Yes. Or who knows that thing. So sometimes passing the buck is a better way, way to solve the problem. Like yes, let me have you talk to somebody that actually knows this forward and backward and inside and out.
Speaker 2 00:14:57 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then it does help Veronica and I learn more about the company and get to know all the sales people and get to know dealers and I get questions about will this classic door work and perform well in this environment or with the performance door. And then as we get these questions, we learn and so in the future when we get a similar question we can help them.
Speaker 1 00:15:21 Yeah. Well and that's how we learn, right? Is like hopefully you don't have to ask the same question five times before we know the answer. Right? Yes. Although sometimes I've been known to repeat question <laugh>. So one last question. I know we're probably over time, but there's no way that three of us could sit here and talk for less than 10 minutes. Like, sorry that I don't know who thought that was gonna happen. So with P D T I university being more of an enterprise-wide shared service now and with us adopting the Western content, how do you see that as a benefit to your customer experience for your customers having access to that content?
Speaker 3 00:15:58 Honestly, I think it's one of the biggest benefits that they'll see where we sit like as Western, like how they can contact us. I feel like there's not one avenue they can't go down where they've got the information. I think being able to have PG t I University, like our YouTube channel and things like that, a lot of times we do, I field a lot of calls from like builders and installers that are like on the job site trying to get the system put in. All they want is like further instruction or something, you know, a video. Something that they can watch mm-hmm. <affirmative> that can help them install or help them fix whatever's going on with the system. So I feel like, like our YouTube channel, you know, the podcast with the PGT University, I feel like it's not only giving people like me that are here in the job doing it, but there are plenty of customers in needs where they just need that extra added help. Whether it's they're on a job site installing or they just want more of that information because they've got a client or they've got projects lined up where they have people that want answers, you know, want this information. So I feel like even with a YouTube video like it, it's showing you realtime this is the product and this is how to do it. So I feel like there's a benefit to having now more than one avenue where they can go to get the help that they're looking for.
Speaker 1 00:17:17 Exactly.
Speaker 2 00:17:18 Yeah. It can definitely help with customers feeling like, you know, we care about them because we are providing them with the resources and the tools that they need. And it shows a lot more transparency from the company and so customers see that we care about them and we want to give them the resources that they need to succeed. So there's that aspect as well as with our training courses for internal employees. I definitely think that that's making sure that everybody is, is on the same page. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and we have all the updated product information so there's no back and forth wondering what's correct, you know? Mm-hmm <affirmative> what might not be as well as it gives people in P G T or other companies the ability to be able to learn about the other company's products and then if needed, potentially direct somebody to the proper company where they want to get there. Right. No products from.
Speaker 1 00:18:15 Exactly. Well we're thrilled to be here. It's been a great week. Yesterday was a lot of fun. Today is a lot of fun. And we fly out tomorrow. So anyway, thank you ladies for your time. It's been such a great pleasure to meet both of you and chat with you and uh, thanks for being willing to jump in like unscripted unprepared, like okay, we're just gonna go talk So <laugh>. Yes. And look, we did it <laugh>. Of course. It was fun. It was fun. Yeah. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 00:18:39 Have a thank you for having
Speaker 1 00:18:40 Us. Yeah, have a great day. You
Speaker 2 00:18:42 Too. Okay, you too.
Speaker 1 00:18:44 PG t i University is the customer education team for an entire family of brands. We began with the original Easy Breeze, porch and closure line, then became P G T, America's leading brand of impact resistant windows and doors. We then added cgi, CGI I C Window, Western Windows Systems, new South Windows, echo Windows and doors, and Len 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. PPG t I University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
