Speaker 1 00:00:04 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. Good morning. We are here on the Clear Impact Podcast and today we are in the series executive updates and today we are sitting with Christie Sackett. Welcome back. Thank
Speaker 2 00:00:27 You so much for having me. I'm
Speaker 1 00:00:29 Thrilled that you're here today and you are actually the first person to be on the podcast outside of my team. And I was so nervous the last time that we recorded and a lot has changed since then. So tell us a little bit about what's happening these days, especially around your role here at PPG T i. Oh
Speaker 2 00:00:48 Sure. But first, congratulations to the great success that this podcast has been and you have been instrumental in that. So I am delighted to be back. Thanks for having me. Oh, thank you. And what's been going on? Golly, I mean a lot, right? We don't sit still often. I was just thinking about how this year kicked off and we went to the International Builder Show and we were able to have a really large presence with our Western brands brought together and some of them there for the very first time. I cannot explain the energy and excitement. Not only was the show happen, but our booth was spectacular and the energy there from everyone that we spoke to was great. Yeah. And then we've rolled into right a whole nother year. Our job is to try to understand what our growth strategies are, what is marketing do to support those? What are some of the other things happening in the industry that we need to be mindful of to be able to progress our business forward? And so, yeah, we are hitting the year with the bang for sure.
Speaker 1 00:01:48 Well, and you have a much broader scope than you did before, so tell us a little bit
Speaker 2 00:01:53 About that. Yeah, so currently I'm overseeing marketing for the entire company. And so not only helping pg t Innovations position itself as being an industry and thought leader, and obviously you have some great things to talk about with our Corning partnership, um, later that you'll get to talk with Bob about. But also how are our brands connecting with all these different audiences that we serve? What are the tools that we're bringing them that helps them, you know, whether it's utilize our brands more effectively in our products or allows consumers to know who we are. And so there's always something moving and shaking because of the different number of brands, but also the different audiences that we have to serve. Right.
Speaker 1 00:02:38 It's getting a little crowded on the business card. I know
Speaker 2 00:02:40 <laugh>. Yeah, we joke. I mean because we know we're probably not slowing down on those acquisitions. And so we joke about, okay, well what's next? I mean, just when you think you can't fit another one, somehow it comes together. And then we're pretty sure we're gonna be double stacking though here very soon.
Speaker 1 00:02:54 I was gonna say you don't have a ton of space on there. But anyway, I wanted to bring you in because there's obviously a lot happening and I know that you have your hand on the pulse of all of that with marketing. So for our dealers, this will be airing about the same time that our showroom will be completely officially open. And that's here at our Venice location. So at the corporate but also pg t. So can you tell us a little bit about the showroom? What would you like our dealers to know about that?
Speaker 2 00:03:23 I would say come, we would love to have you see this as a space to not only bring yourselves, bring your team members, bring your potential clients, because the power of seeing those products in person and you get this chance to experience it from multiple of our brands. And the thing I've heard the most from those that have had a chance to come has been, I didn't know. Mm, I didn't know you're doing dynamic glass. I didn't know you had a pivot door. I didn't know you had a bifold. You know? And there's just this exploration and I think it's because we get thrown so much information and content and so it's a miss sometimes that the email didn't do it justice, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> or the photography and the brochure is just good, but not the power of scene in person. Right. And I also would say don't stop there.
Speaker 2 00:04:19 You happen to be on campus where we have a manufacturing facility that's manufacturing our pg t products, our window products. We also have an iLab and we have an incredible glass plant, which is really great. I mean in our industry. And everyone that goes is always like, oh my gosh, I never, I didn't know. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and I really would say, make this showroom your showroom and come and see what it's all about. And we would absolutely love our customers to come and try to and come experience it and see what all's new, not only in the showroom but also in our plants. Cuz there's been a lot of changes.
Speaker 1 00:04:56 Yeah, I know that's one of the things I get to do is lead plant tours and I've since been tapping onto some of the other folks who are much more in tune with exactly what's happening on the floor. Plus I'm only one person so I can't just be doing tours all the time. But those are by appointment. We don't do plant tours by walking up <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:05:15 Oh, thank you for the pleasure
Speaker 1 00:05:17 <laugh>. Just to, just to clarify that, but we do have an inside sales team here that is happy to answer questions and be available for people who do happen to stroll in. But it's always great to contact your sales rep and let them know and let them be a part of your experience here. But the tours are a really powerful experience. When people see the finished goods warehouse and just the magnitude of what we produce on a daily basis here, it suddenly puts their stuff in perspective and they're like, oh yes, I understand now. So it's a very cool experience to lead them through.
Speaker 2 00:05:52 I think they also see ideas that they can take back to their shop and I don't know if you, when you have a chance to talk to Eric, maybe you can talk a little bit about the our R F I D technology Oh yeah. That we've been doing in the plant and then ultimately our goals of how to be able to let customers leverage that technology to making their businesses more efficient. So
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Speaker 1 00:06:30 Yeah, we talk about that on the tour a little bit. And I know that Jeff Challenger and Christie Meadows did an episode with me last year about that and about planning out your orders and just being really efficient with how to manage the warehouse and how to manage the shipping and how to manage the receiving and all of that. So I don't know the episode number on that, but it's in the history. So one of the things that I know has been a buzz on the inside, I don't think our dealers will know about this quite yet as we're recording this in April, there's a new look for P G T coming. Yes,
Speaker 2 00:07:04 It's coming. May 1st.
Speaker 1 00:07:05 May 1st. Okay. So it'll be happening by the time this airs. So what inspired this and how does this impact our dealers?
Speaker 2 00:07:12 I was thinking about this and the fact that it was a year and a half to two years ago that we started down the journey of exploring P G T and this branding. And with all those journeys, anytime that we're gonna take on a project like this, our first job is to go out and gain feedback from our key stakeholders. So we went and did a bunch of different interviews and we bring that feedback back to ourselves and let that help inform our decision forward and what we do. And really we came to the conclusion of doing this because not only did we kind of feel like it was time, there was some stagnants, you know, if you will. And it was time, but also we felt the need to really broaden the positioning of P G T and its brand. Okay. So it's certainly known for its protection from hurricanes, right?
Speaker 2 00:08:08 But there are so many other lifestyle advantages that the products provide that we weren't doing enough justice highlighting and talking about and all of our materials, whether that was photography or messaging or all the content. And so we wanted to show how our products are solution based. So not only is this hurricane protection, but there's home security, energy savings, peace of mind that's always on. And that's the freedom of pg t. And we didn't roll this out yet because we knew we had to make sure we had listened and responded to what our dealers were saying was the most important work on improving your quality work on getting your product out right. And it was important for us to make sure that we chose the timing to do this and we feel so good about the timing of it and all of the different elements that will come to life and the strong advertising plan that's gonna come with it. I'm so excited for everyone to see it and for all of those assets to also become tools for our dealers to be able to use. The photography is richer, more product centric. The claims are bold and powerful for consumers to understand these benefits that our products provide beyond hurricane protection and how that protection's always on to whatever they need in their life. It's a
Speaker 1 00:09:36 Lot of work for your team and a lot of work for, you know, just changing out logos and changing out. It's like a massive undertaking and it
Speaker 2 00:09:44 Will honestly be a journey of a lifetime. There is no way that we can always update the logo and every little thing that it's present on. And of course we're starting with like the most important elements our website that has one of the most powerful tools that we have to not only offer to our dealers, but also to our homeowners and then our materials, our literature. Um, some of our bigger brochures will go first and some of the other ones will come behind that. So yeah, you're right. Our hair is on fire right now and I have an incredible team back at the office that's all grinding away on that right now. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:10:16 I started looking through how many courses we have with the P G T logo and went Mm, those are gonna get refreshed
Speaker 2 00:10:24 In time. In time.
Speaker 1 00:10:26 <laugh>. Yes ma'am. As we are putting our hands on some product updates, like this week I'm updating this sliding glass door seven 80. Okay. I can't quite put the new logo on there yet, but soon, soon, soon, soon, soon. Okay. So that's exciting. Still the same brand but new and improved and refreshed and ready to tackle the challenges ahead. So I like it. Are there any other topics we need to talk about today? There
Speaker 2 00:10:49 Were a couple of things that came to mind about just having this opportunity to share with our dealers and the first thing that came to mind was that we have tools to help you. So whether you are trying to tackle refreshing your showroom and you need displays or you need signage, we have support to help you. And it could also be that you need help advertising and you don't even know where to begin. We actually can be a great resource for you and connect you with a partner that we trust that can build a plan that is specific to your needs at your budget. And even if you are advertising, we actually have assets that you can utilize. So we've tried to get into the habit of providing our video content, our social content, and giving assets to our dealers that they can leverage themselves, even our blog posts that allow them to utilize and then create engagement with the followers that they have.
Speaker 2 00:11:42 I would be remissed if I didn't talk about leads. We have twice as many leads at this time this year than we did at the same time last year. Wow. When we look at first quarter and our goal is to connect those interested parties with somebody that they can buy through mm-hmm <affirmative> as quickly as possible. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so if you wanna learn more about lead match and how this tool is an asset that you can leverage to be able to get access to those leads, please contact your sales rep because we have so many people that are interested in our products and we've also found you've gotta be ready to act on 'em. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, the dealers that are winning, that are leveraging our leads through lead match are the ones that are picking up the phone fast. Because when you're at the point you're doing that, you're anxious for an answer back. And so whoever's first to get that phone call in oftentimes is able to make further progress with that homeowner. And so yes, I just would love any of our dealers that are interested in receiving leads from us to make sure that they're letting their reps know. We
Speaker 1 00:12:45 Actually have a course on our platform on the L m s that Josh put together and then I decided to invite him into my world and I asked him to write assessments to write the assessment questions around the lead match course because we do assessments on everything. And he was like, oh my gosh, that was a terrifying thing. I'm like, well you want people to understand and you want people to know this is how you reinforce learning. So that's actually part of our certification plans on the product side for the higher levels. Yeah. So, and I know Josh won't take any calls unless they've already taken the course. So he's being really wise with his time and like take the course, answer the questions if you still need help, of course I'm happy to help, but I don't have the bandwidth to hold your hand through the entire process. That's what the sales team does. But if you need more assistance than is available through them or through our learning platform, then he's happy to engage with them. So
Speaker 2 00:13:36 Wonderful.
Speaker 1 00:13:37 We promote Lead Match a lot. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:13:38 <laugh>. Well thank you <laugh>. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:13:40 Yeah. What else?
Speaker 2 00:13:41 We recently did what we call dealer partnership council meetings and we bring together a group of about 12 to 15 dealers in select markets across the state. And it's opportunity for us to learn about things that, you know, we could be improving on their feedback on products or different services that they need from us. One of the things that was really interesting that came up often was not all of our partners were aware that we have CAD files available for our products. And so I just wanted to kind of do a reminder that if you are in need of accessing our products and CAD files or BIM files comes in multiple file types that hopefully will service your needs, should be able to find those on the resource tab on any of our brand websites. Or you can get there directly just by going to cad details.com.
Speaker 2 00:14:28 I found that was something that people were not quite aware of and could find a lot of value in using. And one more thing, uh, just to talk about that's kind of exciting and new that's coming. We know that homeowners are staying in their houses a lot longer right now cuz those mortgage interest rates are brutal. And it's important for us to make sure that they know if they wanna make improvements into their home by purchasing windows and doors, that they have the ability to do that with a financing program that's gonna be flexible enough to their needs. And so with a lot of great help from Rick Tyson organizationally, we have gone through a discovery process and asked our carp partners also about what they were looking for in a financing program. And we're on the cusp of getting ready to roll out a brand new financing program from PGT Innovations. And so there'll be more. I know, I thought you would love the plug to the next thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so there'll be a lot more information coming very soon about that. We're really excited about something that we think is not only good for homeowners that need to purchase, but also for our dealers and that we have spent a lot of time making sure it was gonna be a program that was advantageous for both.
Speaker 1 00:15:43 Yeah. He actually hinted at that a little bit. He and Brad West just did a series. So Brad and I designed a series together around financial wellness. Yes. And so he and Rick came in and he hinted at that, but hadn't landed on anything. So I'll have to, somebody needs to keep me posted so we can do a podcast about that when it's all ready to go.
Speaker 2 00:16:01 Of course we will.
Speaker 1 00:16:02 Nice. Oh, this was a jam packed session. Thank you. Um, look forward to hearing more. And anyway, I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Thank
Speaker 2 00:16:10 You. All right,
Speaker 1 00:16:11 Have a great day. 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, C G I C window, Western Windows Systems, new South Windows, echo windows, and doors and land, 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.
