End Results To help the company win the business of office or condominium owners, Gilkey Window often offers to install a sample unit. That way, says salesman Rick Young, clients see exactly what they’re getting. “It’s touch and feel,” he says. “This is the final product. The end result.”
By looking at what they’re actually going to get, building owners or architects can ask meaningful questions, Young points out.
What Gilkey Window is most likely to install are the vinyl windows it manufactures in its own plant. But depending on the building — office or condo — the company can install aluminum or wood windows, too. Residential windows, says Gilkey Commerical employee Ralph Sabbato, are typically double-hung or sliders. Windows in office buildings tend to be fixed glass.
Gilkey proposes a sample installation whenever it seems appropriate. Because the company’s often bidding against five or six other window installers, salespeople often suggest that clients ask other bidders to do a sample installation as well.
Large commercial roofing companies, Good points out, like the idea of diversifying into residential, where there’s more growth and more profit. Moreover, “in roofing, definitions of residential vs. commercial get kind of blurred.” Certain commercial buildings — churches, restaurants, banks — have steep slopes, like houses, although many homes are now being reroofed with typically commercial products. Scott Siegal, president of Maggio Roofing in Silver Spring, Md., says his company was 90% commercial in the early ‘90s but moved back toward high-end residential, including standing seam metal, “because, frankly, there aren’t that many professional residential contractors and we can really do well in that market.”
“Commercial roofing generally requires more capital investment,” Good points out. “More of a relationship with manufacturers and distributors. There’s more likely to be an architect or specifier involved. So it takes a different level of sophistication.”
And a different sales process. Mike Satran, owner of Interstate Roofing in Portland, Ore., a company doing residential and commercial, says that a high-pressure sales mentality doesn’t work for commercial at all. “Residential guys are good salesmen,” he says. “A lot of commercial guys are bid givers.” He advises residential roofers considering commercial to “start with apartment complexes and work your way up. And make sure you get progress payments. If you do a big job that doesn’t pay until the end, you’re screwed.”
