WDDA Priorities for 2012

When we established the Window & Door Dealers Alliance two years ago, we could not have predicted the impact we would have in such a short time. The continued support of our members has made our success possible. In 2011, we were able to: turn back the EPA’s lead clearance testing rule, secure favorable language in the HomeScore Energy program, and successfully hold the 2nd Annual Window & Door Dealers Forum.

In 2012, we are committed to fostering a positive image for our industry by providing our members with the best service possible. Ken Mariotti, a member of our Advisory Committee, outlined the WDDA 2012 Priorities in the January/February 2012 issue of Window & Door. This is what we are committed to in 2012:

• Launching the first-ever national benchmark service. This new financial information network and benchmarking service will help WDDA members analyze industry trends.
• Involving more window and door dealers in our efforts to steer the debate and advance legislative and regulatory policy. With more member engagement, we can achieve even more.
• Reaching out to the industry and raising our visibility at the local level by participating in dealer appreciation days, home expos, open houses, and sales meetings.
• Expanding our services to give members an even greater return on investment, including a series of webinars. We will also host our 3rd Annual Window & Door Dealers Forum September 2012 in Las Vegas.
• Increasing WDDA brand awareness through advertising, improved marketing, and earned media.
• Unveiling a national volunteerism program to raise the bar for our industry and extend our focus on best practices.

With the leadership of our committees and our members, we can achieve even more in 2012. We need your active engagement, your ideas, and your feedback to ensure that we are focusing on the priorities that mean the most to you. Visit our web site to learn more about your WDDA membership: www.wddalliance.org or contact us at membership@wddalliance.org if you have feedback that will help us serve you.

Together, We Are the Glass Industry

As your association, the NGA strives to continually evolve to support your business needs. We work every day to make sure we offer the programs, services, and information that helps our members run a successful business in the glass industry. In 2012, we are striving to offer our members even more value. Here are just a couple of the services you need to know about: 

• Benchmarking Service: We will be rolling-out a benchmarking service in the Fall. This service will be available to NGA members only.
• Free NGA Webinars: The NGA’s webinar series is designed to help make your business successful. Topics include marketing, customer service, and business strategy. Recordings will be made available so you access – and learn – at your convenience.
• Member Services: More companies than ever before are saving with our members-only services: from shipping discounts, marketing and public relations services, customer service and business consulting, to name a few.
• Online Training: New content is continually added to MyGlassClass.com. All Auto Glass courses were updated in 2011, and all Flat Glass courses will be updated in 2012.
• Publications: Glass Magazine and Window & Door continue to be the best in the industry, and the weekly editions share breaking news and information.
• GlassBuild America: The Glass, Window & Door Expo: This year’s event, September 12-14, 2012 in Las Vegas, includes a world-class line-up of exhibitors and educational programs.

We will be showcasing our programs at events throughout 2012, including at Auto Glass Week and GlassBuild America. Visit www.glass.org to learn more about your NGA membership, or contact us at membership@glass.org if you have feedback that will help us serve you even more. Thank you for your commitment to the NGA.

Together, we are the glass industry.

Review Action Plans Periodically

It’s not too late to establish company Top Priorities and employee Action Plans for 2012. A common mistake is establishing company Top Priorities and employee Action Plans, which are then set aside until the end of the year to see what has been accomplished. By then, it’s too late to do anything about anything!

Do review your Action Plans periodically…..once a year is not enough, quarterly is not too often, set pre-scheduled review dates and conduct personal face-to-face review meetings. 
 
One of the most important guidelines in establishing Action Plans is to strive to make sure the Action Plan states “how” the Action Plan is to be accomplished. By far, this is the best way to make it happen and to ensure success.
 
Remember to ask “how” the Action Plan will be accomplished and incorporate the “how” into the Action Plan, too.

• Action Plans state “how” objectives will be accomplished.
• Don’t assume the approach to accomplishing the Action Plan is obvious.
• A step-by-step approach of saying “how” is always best; especially, with inexperienced employees.

As a suggestion, establish Quarterly Action Plan Review Meetings as a normal course of the firm’s planned activities for the year and pre-schedule the dates at the beginning of each year. If you need assistance, please call on me.

Richard Voreis Consulting Collaborative

January 2012 News and Links

Happy New Year!  News and Links for January 2012. 

1. Wooster Glass Company is NGA’s January 2012 Member of the Month.
2. ABE Doors and Windows is the WDDA Member of the Month.
3. The top 10 most-clicked news stories on GlassMagazine.com from 2011.
4. All new NGA members in 2012 qualify for a free subscription to MyGlassClass.com! Take advantage of either Auto Glass or Glass Installer training - a $350.00 value! 
5. Start planning for GlassBuild 2012!  View the 2012 floor plan and Exhibitor list and sign-up to exhibit today!
6. NGA members can attend the 2012 Member Webinar series for free. The First webinar is February 6. Sign up today!
7. Explore Call Recording and Sales Success with ContactPoint.
8. Download the free Glass Magazine app for iPad or Android today.
9. Get a tablet for the holidays?  Download the free Window & Door app for iPad or Android today.
10. Prepare for your AGRSS Auto glass Certification exam with the NGA 2011 Auto Glass Technician Reference Manual or training on MyGlassClass.com.
11. NGA and WDDA members can save up to 26% off UPS Express air and international shipments and a minimum 70% discount with UPS Freight on qualifying LTL (Less-Than-Truckload) shipments.
12. The 2012 Industry Pulse: Survey reveals dealers, distributors and manufacturers are extremely cautious about business outlook.
13. WDDA establishes 2012 priorities.  We are committed to achieving our vision of fostering a positive image for our industry through continuous improvement and a commitment to best practices.
14. Embracing the Reality of 2012: With more realistic expectations for the coming year, window and door companies focus on opportunities that exist.
15. Reward your employees with industry best training on MyWindowClass.com.
16. The Talk at Window & Door: Will Smart Home Technology Encompass Windows and Doors?
17. Welcome new WDDA members and new NGA members!

Call Recording and Sales Success

Most people are afraid of being held accountable for their actual performance.

People are terrified of being held accountable for their actions. They are terrified of their performance being dissected and critiqued. They are terrified of the truth.

Perhaps, this is why some people bristle at the idea of having their sales call recorded. Perhaps, this is why some industries struggle with the concept of recording sales conversations.

Perhaps they don't want to be held accountable for their actions. Perhaps they don't want their bosses or their colleagues to hear them in action.

Call recording is a naked sales call. The rep can't hide what's really happening. There's no way to 'dress up' a call recording. There's no way to hide the truth. If your sales call has a big gut and love handles, call recording will reveal that. You can't hide anything when the call is being recorded.

That's perhaps, why some reps don't want their calls recorded. The thought of their manager hearing their occasional failures is simply too much to bear. It's too hard to deal with.

Here's the truth: people who think like that are wussies (and they probably shouldn't be selling anyway).

If someone is adament that they don't want their sales conversations recorded, you have to ask a simple question: what are they hiding? Are they hiding their utter lack of skill on the phone? Are they hiding their inability to close the deal or ask open-ended questions? What is their problem? What are they hiding?

Call recording has massive benefits for any business that employs it. We've written about '26 Ways to Use Call Recording at Your Business.' We've also spoken about the benefits of cheap call recording. Watch those videos here.

ContactPoint NGA WDDA

Wooster Glass is the NGA Member of the Month

Wooster Glass of Wooster, Ohio is the NGA's first Member of the Month!  Wooster Glass has been providing quality service since 1947 and has been a member of the National Glass Association since September 1, 1961.  As a 50 year NGA member, they pride themselves in their dedication to quality workmanship and customer service. 
To celebrate their anniversary, we'd like to share the story of Wooster Glass and founder Ralph Jones.

Ralph Jones came to Wooster in 1947 equipped with little more than a glasscutter, a pair of overalls and a desire to succeed. Raised in the “Old Brooklyn” area of Cleveland, Ralph learned the value of hard work during the depression by delivering 200 daily newspapers each morning before going to school. Following his graduation from James Rhodes High School in 1935, he started work as a glazier following the advice of his uncle who was in the trade.

Ralph served in the United States Army, 6th Infantry Division during WWII and was involved in the Pacific Theater on the Islands of New Guinea and the Philippines. After his tour of duty was completed in 1945, he married Grace Blosser of Jefferson City, Missouri and returned to Cleveland to resume his trade as a glazier.

In 1947, Ralph and Grace identified Wooster as an ideal community to start a glass company. At first Ralph stayed in the American Hotel on East Liberty Street for $3.00 per week while Grace continued to reside and work in Cleveland. After two years, Ralph was able to have Grace join him and they worked together to build Wooster Glass Company.

Behind his desk hung a picture of the first Wooster Glass building and a young Ralph Jones loading glass on his first truck. “Whenever I would think I was getting too big for my britches, or whenever I got discouraged, I would turn my chair around and look at that picture. It gives me a lot of pride when I see what Grace and I have accomplished since we moved to Wooster in 1947.”

Today the company has grown to 30 employees with offices in Wooster and Medina. In 2002, Wooster Glass Company was recognized by the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce as Business of the Year.

Join us in congratulating Wooster Glass on their anniversary!

ABE Doors and Windows is the WDDA Member of the Month

Jim Lett: Dealer, Installer, Industry Leader –and WDDA Member of the Month

Jim Lett’s sense that window and door dealers nationwide needed a coherent voice made him an early participant in the project that became the Window and Door Dealers Alliance. And it’s his belief today that the alliance – of which his company, ABE Doors and Windows, is a proud charter member – has provided that unified voice and much more. It’s appropriate that the Allentown, Pa. company has been named the first WDDA Member of the Month.

“WDDA fills a need that went unmet for years before it was organized,” Lett said. “It’s a great source for relevant information and a terrific forum where dealers can exchange views and experiences. We believe no other organization is really looking out for the interests of dealers in our industry in this way, and we at ABE Doors & Windows support it strongly.”

Doing it on your own – up to a point
Like so many fellow WDDA members, Lett is an independent soul, accustomed to making things happen on his own. ABE Doors & Windows started off immediately after Lett finished college as a company that installed steel cellar doors. “I put an ad in the local paper, and the business took off right away,” he said. As time went by, he acquired new skills and new lines. Before long, his growing firm was handling garage doors, entrance doors and a wide variety of windows – in short, a full line of attractive, high-quality products. In the process, ABE Doors & Windows had grown to be a top regional dealer and installer.

Serving homeowners, institutional users and commercial enterprises since 1974, the company today fields an experienced team, working with customers to select products appropriate to their budgets and project requirements. The team constantly evaluates product lines and their features such as energy savings, appearance, maintenance, and security. Prompt, reliable installation and repairs by in-house crews are essential elements of the A.B.E. Doors and Windows services package.

But there’s only so much any one company, no matter how capable and energetic, can do by itself. Lett saw the importance of an industry organization providing new strength, reach and capabilities that would benefit every member. As such, he was an enthusiastic early participant in WDDA.

Strength in numbers
As a prime example of the alliance’s value to its members, Lett cites its work concerning safe work practices for lead paint. He’s a firm believer in the importance of EPA’s continuing dedication to lead safety. ”We all want everyone to be safe,” he said. “I think it’s also important that EPA should able to enforce these regulations in a fair way, so that everyone is able to compete on a level playing field.” He believes that the WDDA’s efforts in this field contribute to helping promote true competitive balance.

Beyond representing member interests in legislative and rule-making situations, Lett says, WDDA helps make dealers’ work easier and more successful in many other ways. He values the alliance’s development of training and educational resources, and enthusiastically supports its work around meetings, trade shows, seminars and publications. In all these ways, he believes, WDDA is helping shape the professional character of the door and window industry, making it better not only for dealers and installers, but also for vendors and end users.

“It’s a special honor to be chosen WDDA member of the month,” said Lett. ”This organization does important work on many fronts. I couldn’t be prouder to be recognized as someone who’s contributed to its efforts.”