Garage door industry magazine for garage door dealers, garage door manufacturers, garage door distributors, garage door installers, loading docks, garage door operators and openers, gates, and tools for the door industry.
Issue link: https://idoi.epubxp.com/i/134362
DOORDEALERDIALOG (continued from page 21) "We still have people come in here, older folks, who will say, You know, I once went to school here!" A visionary change Michael credits a Door and Operator Dealers Association (DODA) show for a change that would not occur to most door dealers for another decade or more. As the area grew, housing development began to scatter the landscape. He recalls working long days for low margins and high collectables. But, it was the market, he recalls. Then, he attended a DODA conference in Orlando where he heard a speaker talk about business, and it sounded like he was speaking directly to Michael. He was talking about the builders' market and listing off all the problems associated with it. It sounded like I was the one up on the stage doing the talking, because everything he said was what I experienced. Then he started comparing costs and margins and problems and so on, and it became clear to me that half the time I was working for free. A new homeowner with a foundation problem might notice that the garage door wasn't plumb and square, so even though it had nothing to do with the door, guess who got called out? I realized I was giving away too much of our time and labor. After that seminar was over, I spoke with Chris about it and we agreed to turn our focus to retroft business. It was a big decision, but we knew that if Michael Whitacre 22 International Door & Operator Industry™ we really pursued it, we could do a lot better as a business by taking it one customer and one door at a time, and really being a customer-driven company. That decision proved years ahead of its time, but the company's culture ft the model. The one-customer-at-a-time approach, ft their philosophy perfectly. "We hold our customers' hands," Michael said. "We give them as much attention as they need, and we can afford to do that because we aren't try to install 40 doors at a razor-slim margin. We aren't the cheapest door company in town, but we don't want to be. We want to be the best door company around, and our customers tell their friends and neighbors that we are." Continued on page 25