The Customer’s View Motivates Us to Take Action
First in a series
The Challenge
It was mid-afternoon on a Wednesday when a potential National Millwork customer called their National Lumber representative for six windows that are not stocked items. In the customer’s view this was a critical situation—they needed those six windows quickly.
The Solution
At approximately 3:00pm Wednesday, National Lumber sales representative Paul Esposito called National Millwork requesting that six non-stock vinyl windows be delivered as quickly as possible to a customer in the Worcester market.
A typical window order requires a one week lead time going through the normal ordering process with our manufacturing partner, United Window & Door. However, this situation called for stepping outside of the typical ordering process to provide a higher level of customer service.
The owner of United Window was called directly by National Millwork management, briefing him on the situation so he clearly understood the high priority. The owner, with no questions, committed that the windows would be ready for pick-up in New Jersey at 10:00am the following morning (Thursday). Since United Window’s plant is a 5-hour drive from National Millwork’s location in Mansfield, Massachusetts, the millwork driver left directly from his home at 4:00am Thursday to arrive at United’s manufacturing plant by 9:00 am.
Less than 23 hours after the initial inquiry came in, at approximately 2:00 pm Thursday afternoon, the National Millwork driver was delivering the windows directly to the Massachusetts jobsite of a very pleased customer.
The Possibilities
This scenario absolutely speaks to the abilities of National Millwork.
Imagine:
- Every sales transaction being approached with the same energy and the same overriding objective of “customer service beyond expectations”!
- The reputation National Millwork is building in the market with service of this nature becoming standard practice.
- The expectations our customers have every time they order products.
- The standards our competitors have to meet just to compete with us.
- The confidence our sales team has, knowing their teammates are prepared every day to set new service level expectations.
- Our channel partner’s commitment to National Lumber knowing we continually raise the customer service bar, which will mean more business and market growth for them.
==========================
New Home Sales Up…
But Challenges Still Lie Ahead!
By United Window & Door
Sales of newly built, single-family homes surged 14.8% in April and single-family construction spending was up 31.2% in May, as the market reacted to the April 30th deadline for the Home Buyer Tax Credit. But, as anticipated, this surge to beat the deadline caused buyers to ‘buy forward’ and we have seen a recent decline in new home sales in June as a result. Although the market has been volatile, these ups and downs are a normal part of a correction. There are silver linings in this dark cloud. The surge helped to bring down inventory. Congress has extended the timeline for completing the deals signed before the deadline to September 30th. Case-Shiller reported in June that home prices in 20-metro markets, as measured by the Case-Shiller index, rose 0.8 percent in May and are now up by 3.8 percent from one year ago. Economists participating in the NAHB Construction Forecast Conference agreed that the housing market is on the road to recovery. Although there is much work still to be done, they feel that the market has found a bottom and that affordability, combined with pent up household formation demand, will create an upward trend in sales and home prices going forward.
As in past recoveries, it will be the middle and upper end of the market that recovers first. These middle to upper income buyers have the resources to get back into the market and have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for signs of a recovery to spur their interest. Competition for these buyers will be keen. The current trend of deep discounts will linger as builders have to compete with each other as well as existing home sales. We’re in a discount economy but unlike previous cycles, today’s buyers may want to pay less but they don’t want to get less. This “best for less” buyer demand presents a challenge for builders as they look for ways to offer products with upgraded features but at an affordable price.
One example of a great way to provide premium features and performance for less than traditional alternatives is United Window & Door’s Fully Cased Single and Double Hung Window. United’s unique, solid vinyl casing system offers the look of a fully cased, exterior clad, wood window but at a fraction of the cost. It offers the aesthetics of a classic wood window with the maintenance freedom, thermal efficiency and competitive pricing of a vinyl window. When you combine this with the fact that it comes in several style options, is a ready-to-install one piece unit and can even be offered with simulated divided lite glass, it’s easy to see that this window will have the curb appeal of others costing over twice as much!