Blogs

Do you know where any particular client enters into your sales funnel? Are they at the bottom, moments away from a buying decision? Or are they further up the funnel, where they are gathering data and information in order to make a go/no go decision for their project?

Understanding where your buyer is when they enter your sales funnel is critical for two reasons. First, it creates a powerful marketing machine that converts clients into buyers. And, it sets appropriate expectations and cadences for your sales process.

This week is the National Association of Women in Construction’s Women in Construction Week, an annual event the first week of March that aims to promote women as a viable component of the industry. Although women comprise about 47 percent of the total U.S. workforce, construction is made up of only 9 percent women, with just 3 percent being in the actual trades, according to NAWIC.

The path to the top of local search rankings used to be so much easier—professionally written content wasn’t a necessity. And, frankly, content didn’t even really need to be all that great. Getting ranked in local search was as simple as posting copy packed with a ton of keywords about a particular industry, plus some images and a few videos showing off inventory.

The editorial staff at Window & Door is excited to head to Las Vegas next week for GlassBuild America: The Glass, Window & Door Expo, where the who’s who of fenestration professionals will gather for the biggest event for the industry. In addition to tips on how to navigate the show floor and get the most out of the event, we also asked longtime exhibitors and attendees about what not to do.

The combination of indoor and outdoor living spaces within the high-end residential market has been trending for a few years now. Large openings, made possible by oversized residential windows and doors, have attracted many a homebuilder and renovator.

I really enjoyed the recent blog written by American Architectural Manufacturers Association’s Rich Rinka. In it, he retraces some of the most important evolutions of the window industry over the past few decades, from when significant heat loss in American homes was just “accepted as the nature of things,” to California’s goal of all new residential buildings becoming energy neutral by 2020.

Many manufacturers, distributors and window and door retailers face an ongoing challenge: disposing of surplus inventory. Many practice discounting, liquidating and auctioning unwanted merchandise, but this labor-intensive work can yield little profit. 

Another idea is to donate products to charity, also known as product philanthropy or gifts-in-kind donations. This practice has financial advantages, too, thanks to a little-known tax break in IRC Section 170(e) (3). 

A home’s windows, doors and skylights exist for a number of reasons—to provide ingress and egress, sunlight and fresh air are some of the most obvious. But today’s savvy homeowners want more than just some panes of glass to let light in, or a panel that swings open to allow entry. Modern consumers want to: minimize the costs of heating and cooling their homes; increase daylighting; stay green; be protected from the elements; add an element of beauty and style; and ensure a long-lasting product. All of this, while staying within their budget.

A few weeks ago, I returned from International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas—where there had been a bit of snow, as you might have heard. Wild weather aside, IBS coincides with the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show to make up Design & Construction Week, and it’s always a nice snapshot of the current home industry.

Pay-per-click advertising campaigns—in particular, Google’s PPC ads—offer a lot of benefits to window and door retailers. Many love the cost-effectiveness, as well as how PPC ads display the company prominently at the top of search engine results pages. The fact that PPC advertisers can tweak ad copy on the fly and make it go live almost immediately is also a plus.