Marketing Panes

Window Treatment Marketing Pros
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Marketing Interviews & Tips for Window Treatment and Awning Companies

  1. 5D AGO

    How Better Measurement Systems Help Window Companies Scale with Nathan Eldridge

    Guest Profile: Nathan Eldridge Nathan Eldridge is the CEO of Franchise Support Services (FSS), Nathan has leveraged his extensive background in technology and executive management to bring transformative solutions to the industry. His entrepreneurial journey began with the launch of two successful window treatment franchises in Dallas and Houston, where he quickly identified the industry’s need for more efficient and accurate measuring tools. Nathan’s most notable contribution is the development of the FSS Window Pro™ app, a groundbreaking tool that has revolutionized the window treatment consultation process. By integrating Bluetooth laser and tape measure measuring technology with cloud-based data management, Nathan has addressed one of the industry’s most persistent challenges: measurement accuracy. The app has significantly reduced errors, saved costs, and improved the speed of consultations, directly impacting the bottom line of businesses in the sector. This innovation demonstrates Nathan’s commitment to not only his own success but to the advancement of the entire window coverings industry. Beyond his technological contributions, Nathan’s launch of the Commercial Takeoff service further showcases his dedication to empowering small retailers to expand into larger commercial projects. By simplifying the complexities of project bidding, he is enabling more businesses to grow and thrive. Nathan Eldridge is a visionary leader who is actively reshaping the window treatment industry. Other Notes/Links: Websites: Franchise Support Services pssst…. want to be a guest on the show? Listen to other episodes Subscribe to Marketing Panes for more expert insights, strategies, and real stories from across the window treatment and awning industry. Spotify: https://bit.ly/4j20C49 ApplePodcast: https://bit.ly/4c2VN8s Video https://youtu.be/P-Fl6yWv4JU?si=NExbpwY1f8Nw6RVu Click here to display Transcript TRANSCRIPT William Hanke (00:00) Hey, welcome to another episode of Marketing Panes the podcast where we talk with real window treatment and awning professionals about what’s working in marketing, what’s changing in the industry, and how to grow smarter. Today, we’re joined by the founder of Franchise Support Services and a long-time leader in the window treatment space, Nathan Eldridge. Nathan comes from a deep background in engineering and tech. And after running successful franchises in Dallas and Houston, he shifted his focus to helping businesses improve accuracy, workflow and field operations. His work centers on solving real measurement and training challenges that every window treatment and awning company deals with. Welcome to the show, Nathan. Nathan Eldridge (00:47) Thank you very much, Will. Glad to be here. William Hanke (00:49) Yeah, glad to have you here today. know we’ve been friends for a while now, so ⁓ it’s exciting to have you on to kind of talk about what you’re up to. Yeah. So for anyone who hasn’t met you, how did your career in window treatments begin and how hands-on were you with the measurements and installs early on? Nathan Eldridge (01:11) My journey into the window treatment world was very interesting. in 2018, 2019, I started to look at franchises. I knew I wanted to buy a franchise. And I probably looked at, you know, probably 80 businesses. And when I came across the window treatment business, I looked at it and I realized like an epiphany, like window treatments is what my wife would love to do. And it took us about 18 months of exploring and looking at FDBs, but we bought our first franchise in 2021. And that was with Gotcha covered. It was for my wife to run full time. I kept my corporate job in the backend and I was going to help with systems and processes because that’s what I’ve done for my career. It took us about four months getting into the business and constantly telling our family about how exciting it was and talking with the window treatments and my wife just gravitated to the design side and the fabrics and all those different types of products. My sister looked at it and said, wow, this looks awesome. I want to do the same thing. so within about four or five months, I partnered with my sister. opened a second franchise. And then within one year we expanded to four territories. And so it was quick, fast and furious kind of growth into it. know, anyone that knows me, I don’t sit still very well. And so the growth and the explosion into it, I was there building the systems, the processes, and kind of looking at what we were doing. measurements quickly rose to the top of my focus list for my sister and my wife about how to optimize. And ⁓ what started as just trying to fix something for my family turned into a new product for the industry. William Hanke (02:52) Very good, and that product is the FSS Window Pro, right? Nathan Eldridge (02:58) That’s it, yep. So the FSS Window Pro is the app that we launched. When we first created it, it was really just something that was putting there for us. Being part of a franchise, we have 160 other best friends that are franchise owners and we started to show it to some of them and they started to ask, well, how do we get this? We want this in our business. And so we kind of went down a path of just being something we were gonna use internally to, okay, let’s open it and try to get it to where other franchises can use it, our friends. And then they would tell people and people started coming to us and saying, well, how do we get access to it? We’re not part of the franchise. so it just kind of bloomed in 2023 into something that we put open to the market. And it’s kind of grown word of mouth since then. William Hanke (03:39) I love it. ⁓ That’s awesome. the FSS Window Pro was even an idea, what were some of those biggest frustrations that you were seeing out in the field? Nathan Eldridge (03:50) Man, so measurements were dependent on the person. So you could have one person that could do it really well, one person that did terrible at it. Tape measures, they’re error-prone in real-world conditions, right? You’re at the end of the day, you’re tired, you’re having to bend over, or you’re on a ladder reaching up. My wife is very short, so everything that was above her head was a challenge. You also, it’s independent on rounding decisions. So it’s very inconsistent from person to person, how they read it, what they round to. In our industry, doing inside mount. and rounding down is very important. ⁓ Then that came down to writing the measurement. introducing the human error, was that a 5 8s or a 3 8s, reading the handwriting later, transcribing it ⁓ wrong, were the top pain points. Those five were top pain points for us. William Hanke (04:38) Yeah, and as a systems guy, human error is like the bane of your existence, right? You the whole reason you build these things. Nathan Eldridge (04:45) Yeah, yeah, you know, a good system should have no human error. The process should be so robust that anyone can use it, right? You don’t need super humans to run your business. William Hanke (04:55) Yeah. Right. Yeah. And you’ve mentioned before that those processes and not the people are often the root of the mistakes. So can you unpack that a little bit more? Nathan Eldridge (05:08) Yeah. So coming from my corporate background, you know, at multiple degrees in engineering, lean is embedded in everything that I’ve done my whole career. And, you know, errors when they do happen, it’s not human. The human nature is we go, why did you make that mistake? And you focus on the person, you know, a really basic tool that, you know, people learn early on in lean is five Y’s, right? So when you ask why five times, so if you took a measurement that’s wrong and you asked, why was it wrong? It’s wrong because someone wrote it down incorrectly. Why do they get written down incorrectly? Because the rep was rushing, relying on their memory. Why were they rushing? Because there wasn’t a standard workflow, no validation. Why was there no validation? Because the process was never designed to catch errors. And by time you get down to the fifth, you’re no longer talking about the installer, the sales rep, you’re talking about what’s missing in the standards or a lack of a tool. And so it’s really just about bringing that into a workflow and trying to make it where it’s optimized, where everyone can succeed at the same level. William Hanke (05:57) Right? Yeah. Yeah. And so that’s awesome. You took that kind of you drilled down into what the real issue was, tried to start solving for that, which would obviously then work its way back up the chain. What was what kind of surprised you the most on the tech side training gap, even resistance to change? Nathan Eldridge (06:27) So the first stage was with my sister and my wife and their adaption to new technology was good. I brought them the solution and they were eager to remove problems and so the adaption was easy. When we went to the next step, we kind of expanded it to franchises. I found that people really had a hard time of, this is how I’ve always done it. I’ve always used tape measures. I’ve always done a notepad with a pen and paper. ⁓ Somewhere in the journey into launching it into the full market, I heard enough customer feedback that people maybe didn’t trust lasers. They bought a laser 10 years ago and they tried it and they had accuracy problems. And a lot of the times if you, fly, why did they have accuracy problems on a laser? They treated it like it was a hammer. They threw it in a tool bag. You got thrown in the back of the truck when most of these lasers need to be treated like a cell phone, right? You don’t just throw it in a bag and throw it somewhere. You put it in your pocket. It’s taken care of. ⁓ But one of the thin

    47 min

  2. JAN 27

    Building Skills, Confidence, and Community in the Workroom Industry with Ceil DiGuglielmo

    Guest Profile: Ceil DiGuglielmo Ceil DiGuglielmo is the owner of The Curtains and Soft Furnishings Resource Library, the industry’s largest collection of educational resources for Custom Home Furnishings Professionals. She is also the owner of Learn to Choose Window Coverings an online course for window treatment professionals created by Linda Erlam.Ceil has owned a to the trade workroom since 2005. Ceil is passionate about education and technology in the window coverings and soft home furnishings industry. She has taught at the Custom Workroom Conference and has done presentations for several Window Coverings Association of America chapters. Ceil is the producer and Host of The Sew Much More Podcast, an interview-style podcast sharing the stories of the people in the custom home furnishings industry. Ceil also produces and co-hosts 30 Minutes with Workroom Tech with Susan Woodcock, offering workroom education. Other Notes/Links: Websites: The Sew Much More Podcast The Curtains and Soft Furnishings Resource Library Learn to Choose Window Coverings pssst…. want to be a guest on the show? Listen to other episodes Subscribe to Marketing Panes for more expert insights, strategies, and real stories from across the window treatment and awning industry. Spotify: https://bit.ly/4j20C49 ApplePodcast: https://bit.ly/4c2VN8s Video https://youtu.be/Fb98Tcf4LtQ Click here to display Transcript TRANSCRIPT William Hanke (00:00) Welcome back to Marketing Panes where we talk with real window treatment professionals, business owners and service providers about what’s working in marketing and what’s changing in the industry. Today’s guest is Ceil DiGuglielmo a longtime workroom pro turned educator and the current steward of the Curtains and Soft Furnishings Resource Library. one of the most comprehensive collections of training and tools in the industry. She spent years helping fabricators and designers not only level up their skills, but build confidence and community along the way. We’ll talk about. what today’s workroom professionals need most, what’s shifting and how people learn the trade, and why education and support can’t be one size fits all. Let’s get into it. Ceil, first of all, thank you so much for being on the show today. Ceil (00:55) Well, thank you. It’s my pleasure. William Hanke (00:58) Glad to have you on. ⁓ How did you first get into this industry? Ceil (01:04) Well, it’s interesting. Well, I think especially for people my age who are in the industry, it started out as I chose to stay home when my oldest daughter was born. And a few months into that, I was like, this isn’t quite what I expected. And I also needed to make some more money. And I had some skills. I knew how to sell. My very first business was making bridal headpieces. And I literally would make a headpiece, photograph it, take it apart, make another headpiece, actually, my husband photographed He was a photographer at the time. And I put together a book and then I started advertising locally. And I did that for a couple years, but I had been in business. I worked for a retail, large retailer in the Philadelphia area. I just did not know how to run a business. And I ended up going to a SCORE meeting for female entrepreneurs. And they are the service core of retired executives if people don’t know who they are. William Hanke (01:57) Okay. Ceil (02:02) It was eye-opening and I learned a lot about how to run my business. I got myself a score mentor and I met two interior designers there who were looking for someone to make soft furnishings and window treatments for them. And it was like the perfect alignment. ⁓ I was able to work with them. And since they were new, I could say to them, I have no idea how to make that, but I will find out. And it was, I wasn’t embarrassed or trying to prove myself. They were new. There were things they didn’t know. So it was a great start. And then I sort of fell into, I found out about other people in the industry through a conference that was advertised. And I went. William Hanke (02:34) Yeah. Ceil (02:46) and I sat down in my first class and it was like, ⁓ these are my people. Like this is what I want to be doing. And I realized it was in fact a business that fabricating window treatments could be a career for me. And it could be something I could work around my family schedule when I needed to and grow it as my family grew. William Hanke (02:59) Yeah. Yeah, I love that you say this could be a business. I remember that as well. Like, ⁓ I could probably do this. This could be a thing, right? Yeah, that’s awesome. So you’ve worked in several corners of the trade now. What experiences shaped that approach? Ceil (03:20) Yes, it’s gonna be a thing. Well, we talk a lot about learning to say no, but it’s also important to say yes. And I said yes to a lot of odd things. And one of the things that I said yes to was doing my own podcast. I had been listening to a podcast that was actually meant for crafters. And I say this very respectfully, I’m really not a crafter. William Hanke (03:58) Sure. Ceil (03:59) I need to make something that has a purpose. I mean, I knit and I do some other things, but I never really saw myself as a crafter and I don’t, can’t tell you why I used to listen to this podcast, except that the woman who did it did such a brilliant job of asking questions. Her name is Abby Glassenberg. And I kept listening to it and thinking, oh, somebody in our industry should do this. William Hanke (04:10) you Ceil (04:24) somebody in our industry should do this. And then one day I figured like, well, I’m somebody and I can go to YouTube and figure out how to run, you know, do a podcast. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. As you well know, there was a whole lot more to it. But I said yes to it. I started to do it. And then when Janelle Deck, who was a previous owner of the Curtains and Soft Furnishings Resource Library was William Hanke (04:38) Sure. Ceil (04:52) realizing it no longer connected to what she was trying to build. She and I sat down and talked about it and actually the anniversary is coming up very soon. On January 17th of 2017, we signed the papers and I took over running the Curtains and Soft Furnishings Resource Library. William Hanke (05:12) Wow. Wow. Ceil (05:14) So again, I said yes, but I didn’t quite know everything I was getting myself into. But I had been a member of the library and I understood what having a place to go to and look for information, but also having a community. At that point, Facebook groups were becoming very popular, but sometimes I’d look and there’d be like 3000 members on a Facebook group. And I had no way of knowing whether they were professionals or whether the questions that were being answered were the best way to do things or the most recognized. right way. I know there’s no one right way to do everything, but I would get too many answers for things. Inside the library, it’s a smaller group. It is professionals. It’s people who have been helping other people for years. We have some people who are retired from the business and still continue to come into the library and answer questions and help people. So I loved what the library stood for and it was a great ⁓ William Hanke (06:12) Love you. Yeah. Ceil (06:18) It was a great combination of the podcast and the library. I did not realize that I would have so little time and I started to cut back on the fabrication. So in the past maybe two or three years, I’ve cut back to maybe just one or two clients that I work with. And that’s more to keep myself in the workroom once in a while than anything else. So the focus now is on running the library, doing the podcast. And part of the library is also a digital digest, which is a magazine geared towards workrooms. William Hanke (06:45) Yeah. ⁓ that’s awesome. You’ve basically you mentioned score earlier on. You’ve basically built a version of score specifically for this industry, right? Ceil (06:57) Thank You know, I hadn’t thought about that, but yes, based on the fact that so many people within the library are seasoned fabricators and willing to answer questions. the content of the library, Will, it’s grown over the years. Some of it is, William Hanke (07:08) Yeah. Ceil (07:26) Recorded webinars from the old custom home furnishings Academy some of it is courses that people put together sold for a little while and then realized that the content was important but not as Up to date so they would donate it to the library and also have a great working relationship with the workroom channel and a lot of our industry teachers record courses on there. So yeah, yeah, you’re right. I had not thought about that, but it is kind of like score for window treatment fabricators. William Hanke (07:59) Yeah, yeah. And for listeners that aren’t familiar with score, we’ll put a link in the show notes for sure, because I used score when I first got started. What an amazing organization to really, you I love to hear success stories like yours, where you had a mentor that helped you just, you know, just explain that, yes, this can be a thing. And this is the way to get there. Ceil (08:08) Okay. And what I loved about ScoreWill was that it was people with, at one point I had one mentor and then for a little while I was meeting with two or three people. During the pandemic, we were only meeting on Zoom. So ⁓ like three of them would jump on and they would give me different perspectives from their industries. So it was just, and just really helped me keep on task about running the business end of things. William Hanke (08:43) Yeah. Ceil (08:50) not just being creative and this is pretty, I want to make this. I really had to focus on that part of it too. William Hanke (08:51) Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Creat

    51 min

  3. JAN 13

    Adapting a 50-Year Window Treatment Business for Today's Homeowners with Brandon Moss

    Guest Profile: Brandon Moss Brandon Moss, CEOBrandon Moss is the son of founder Mike Moss and now leads a nearly 50-year-old window treatment business as CEO. He carries forward his father’s commitment to quality and customer service while guiding the company through the changing expectations of today’s Florida homeowners. Under Brandon’s leadership, the business continues to evolve by modernizing systems, adapting marketing strategies, and embracing innovation, all while staying rooted in affordability, trust, and service excellence. Brandon brings a valuable perspective on generational leadership, balancing tradition with change, and running a mature business in a competitive, fast-moving market. Other Notes/Links: Website: Blinds & Shutters by Discount Mike pssst…. want to be a guest on the show? Listen to other episodes Subscribe to Marketing Panes for more expert insights, strategies, and real stories from across the window treatment and awning industry. Spotify: https://bit.ly/4j20C49 ApplePodcast: https://bit.ly/4c2VN8s Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3CwKC48lHg Click here to display Transcript TRANSCRIPT William Hanke (00:01) Welcome to another episode of Marketing Panes. Today’s conversation is part of our quarterly series where we step back and talk about what’s happening right now in the window treatment industry, what’s changing and what business owners should be paying attention to this quarter. My name is Will Hanke and today I’m joined with Brandon Moss, CEO of a nearly 50 year old window treatment business. Brandon represents the next generation of leadership. balancing longstanding values with realities of today’s homeowners and modern marketing. In this episode, we’ll dig into how legacy businesses adapt, what Brandon is seeing in the market right now, and the lessons other owners can take into the rest of this year. Brandon, thank you for being on today. Brandon (00:51) Hey, Will good to see you, you handsome little fellow, you. William Hanke (00:54) I appreciate that. ⁓ Fantastic having you on. I always enjoy our conversations. Tell me what it was like stepping into a leadership role in a business that your father built. Brandon (00:59) Yes. So a little about my background for the listeners. My wife and I own a manufacturing company. We are in the dairy manufacturing and we manufacture ice cream. I’m not really at liberty to tell you the companies that we sell to, but they’re very large. There’s a lot of quality control and safety issues that go into that. I expect the manufacturers of window treatments to follow those same quality issues. about five years ago, my father had suddenly passed away. He started this blinds company in 1979. I grew up in it. I was literally playing in the basement on Graber G71 tracks. These were my toys. William Hanke (01:31) you you Brandon (01:48) My brother and I built forts with them and I would install on Saturdays. When I went off to college, my father bought me a pickup truck, a toolbox and said, while you’re studying, sell blinds. And that’s what I did. ⁓ At some point after college, I went back down to South Florida, worked with my father and his store for a little bit and decided, you know what? William Hanke (02:04) nice. Brandon (02:13) I don’t want to do this. Let me get out of this business. I came back to central Florida and my wife and I built this factory that makes ice cream. So when my father had passed away, we were closing things up, tying up loose ends and I just fit into it like an old sock, an old glove. It felt comfortable. And my wife took over the ice cream business and I’m rebuilding and relearning this window treatment industry. William Hanke (02:40) Nice, nice. So it was always there, but kind of out of mind, I guess. And now. Brandon (02:46) Yeah, I left the industry just as there was consolidation from regional fabricators. And the major brands like Hunter Douglas and Graber were taking over fabrication at their own factories or overseas or, you know, over the borders, whatever they’re doing now. William Hanke (03:04) Yeah. What part of the the business that you’re now that you’ve been thrown into maybe voluntarily? What was kind of the hardest part to take ownership on early on? Brandon (03:17) I think the pricing strategy has been a real struggle for me. The name of our company is Blinds and Shutters by Discount Mike. And I think that worked in the late 70s and 80s, maybe even going into the 90s. But I think now, unless you want to do high volume on low margin products, there’s not a lot of money in discounting. I think the consumer is not educated on what a window treatment is, what the product is, what the difference is between a premium brand or an off brand. I argue that 90 % of my customers don’t know the difference between Graber, Hunter Douglas, or ABC Blind Regional Manufacturer. And it means nothing to them. You have to demonstrate it to them. I think… William Hanke (03:59) Right. Brandon (04:06) You know, I was going off of some advice from some of my father’s old friends and people in the industry. And we had set some pretty high margins. We were losing sales, then we lowered it. And we’re trying to find a happy medium between, you know, 48 % and 60 % for every job, which is difficult sometimes. And you have to walk away. But I’d rather do quality jobs than a whole lot of little junk. I also personally don’t want to repair things. William Hanke (04:30) Yeah, that’s great. Right. Yeah. I’d say probably 85 90 % of our clients don’t compete on price. We do have some that that is what they stand on is that will beat all the competition. But for the most part they are clients don’t want to compete on price. Brandon (04:51) Yeah, you’d rather do quality. I agree with that. I think another big challenge that I had was, ⁓ William Hanke (04:56) Yeah. Brandon (05:02) and I didn’t realize this, but it became abundantly clear to me that there’s only so many fabric manufacturers on the planet and everybody basically has the same. the larger manufacturers, I believe they’re all dropping the ball. I really do. I think the I’ve come across a couple of regional manufacturers here in Florida that are doing a really great job. They’re providing good customer service. They’re available to answer questions. The challenge is they use different components. And what happens if they disappear? What happens if they have bad management with their money and they go bankrupt? Their lifetime warranty isn’t worth anything. William Hanke (05:45) Right. Yeah, definitely makes sense. think along those lines, your dad started this in 1979, you said. What were some of the biggest things like pricing and like finding different manufacturers? What were some of the things that you found you needed to modernize along the way? Brandon (06:03) So my father was paper and pencil, know, carbon copy invoices went to a customer’s house and had the book, opened it up and sat on their table and went line by line. know, seeing that my father was in business for, you know, 15, 20 years just in central Florida where I am, I’m coming across repeat customers. They call, I go to their house. We sit down at the kitchen table and they tell me about the conversations they had with my father. your father said this and he did that. My father was very, very entertaining. ⁓ William Hanke (06:35) Okay. Brandon (06:41) My father made friends and joined that sit down. Trust was developed because we’re selling. Trust me, I’m going to take your deposit and I’m actually going to return. William Hanke (06:51) Right. Brandon (06:52) Join that period. There’s trust. So there’s something to be said about the old charts where you open up the binder and you find the fabric and you come down and you pick it out and then you add the options to it and have your little calculator and add it all up because that’s the time period where you’re developing the trust. So now that I’ve switched to using the tablet and I’m using ⁓ software that has the pricing built in, I’m losing that. that natural period to have a face-to-face, eye-to-eye conversation with somebody. So I’m finding myself having to stop and find, I love your dog, your dog is cute, and connect with the client to build that trust. William Hanke (07:36) Yeah, yeah, I can see that everything’s a lot faster and more automated, more optimized, but at the same time, you’re missing a piece. Brandon (07:40) Bye. Right. Yeah. I think the technology is fantastic. I embrace it. I’m looking forward to the next wave of technology. I think the consumer is changing. The baby boomers are slowly becoming a consumer that they’re done renovating their homes. at the tail end of their lives. Fixed incomes, they don’t want to spend the money. Generation X, where you and I come from. William Hanke (07:48) Yeah. Brandon (08:14) We’re now starting to think about retirement and where we’re spending money, but you have the millennials and the newer generations that were built on do it yourself, learn how to do it. And they’re going onto Amazon and they’re finding a shade for $150. And they, when you say the same size windows, 400, 500, 600, they don’t want to buy. William Hanke (08:37) Yeah. Definitely makes sense the different markets or segments out there. then trying to, again, trying to build trust with all of them, but definitely in different ways. Brandon (08:42) Correct. Yeah, you have to bring a value. If somebody is calling you to do an estimate and it’s just a discovery, you’re not going to walk away with the sale unless they’re an impulse buyer. If they’re cautious about their budget and they really want to know, it doesn’t matter. You come in there with a $5,000 quote, if that’s a thousand or $2,000 too high

    36 min

  4. 12/09/2025

    Skylight Shades for Window Treatment Dealers: Easy Upsells, Solar Technology, and Untapped Revenue with Wayne Feltman

    Guest Profile: Wayne Feltman Wayne Feltman is an accomplished sales management professional that has built a long-term career with VELUX Skylights, the world’s leading Skylight and Roof Window Manufacturer. Wayne started his career with VELUX as a territory sales representative and served in this capacity for about 4 years before advancing into a District Sales Management role overseeing the Eastern Great Lakes District for more than 20 years and most recently moved into a Business Development Management role responsible for the growth and development of the company’s Skylight Specialist Program across a 15-state area comprised of the greater Midwest. Prior to VELUX, Wayne grew up working alongside his father in the family’s retail hardware business but also spent some summer months working for his grandfather, a residential homebuilder. Wayne graduated from Ball State University with a Bachelor of Science from the university’s nationally ranked Business Management and Entrepreneurship Program and while in college, had co-founded and operated a Landscape Management Company giving him a combination of academic and a first-hand real-world experience on what it takes to start and run a successful small business. Through some early exposure to skylights, Wayne developed a passion for Skylights and Sun Tunnels due to their unique ability to transform space and bring an abundance of daylight and fresh air into the built environment where people live, work and play. Other Notes/Links: Velux Website: VeluxUSA.com Contact: Reach out through the Velux website to connect with your local representative. pssst…. want to be a guest on the show? Listen to other episodes Subscribe to Marketing Panes for more expert insights, strategies, and real stories from across the window treatment and awning industry. Spotify: https://bit.ly/4j20C49 ApplePodcast: https://bit.ly/4c2VN8s Video https://youtu.be/cmQdFuX4C08 Click here to display Transcript TRANSCRIPT Will Hanke (00:00) Welcome to another episode of Marketing Panes, the podcast where we talk with real window treatment and awning service providers or business owners about their successes and struggles related to marketing their business. I’m your host, Will Hanke. Today we’re exploring a powerful but often overlooked opportunity, Skylight Shades. If you’ve ever thought skylights were just an architectural feature or dismissed shades as a niche product, you’ll want to stick around. My guest today is Wayne Feltman, a seasoned sales management professional with deep expertise in new business development, sales training, and residential construction. With a strong background in roofing materials, skylights, and solar hot water systems, he now leads efforts to expand the reach of Velux, skylights, and sun tunnels. In his current role, Wayne is passionate about empowering entrepreneurial minded individuals and build businesses that transform homes and lives with daylight and fresh air through a franchise like program that delivers turnkey success without the fees. Wayne, thank you so much for being on the show today. Wayne Feltman (01:08) Will, great to be here. Thanks for having us. Will Hanke (01:10) Yeah, I really appreciate it. So Wayne, could you start by giving the listeners a quick introduction and how, tell us how you got started in the industry. Wayne Feltman (01:18) Sure, absolutely. So I probably should start by just saying I’m based out of Indianapolis, Indiana, born and raised. I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. My dad owned hardware stores. So kind of grew up doing the retail hardware thing. And through that, we interacted with a lot of trades. My grandfather was a builder and spent some summers working with him, kind of being the runner and the clean up guy. that did lead to me getting into landscaping. My brother and I had started and ran a landscaping business for a number of years. I tried that, but ⁓ ultimately I had decided I wanted to go to college to be an architect. Initially went to school to be an architect, quickly found out in early 90s that a lot of those guys were struggling to find jobs. So changed my major. I was going to try to get a minor in business anyway, but ended up switching to going full-time business and entrepreneurship and management. Finished with my business degree. I continued to run the landscape management business part-time with my brother for a bit, but tried a few different things. Just to give you an idea, the diversity of my background was a stockbroker financial advisor for about a year, then got into computer system sales for about two to three years. And I was chasing the almighty dollar like a lot of us do coming out of college and just wasn’t happy, wasn’t enjoying what I was doing. And through some early experiences, with Skylights through my parents who had built or renovated a few homes where we incorporated Skylights. I knew a little bit about Velux and Skylights and saw that they were hiring a territory representative, applied for that position and had to do a pretty hard sales job on that. The hiring manager asked why a stockbroker turned computer sales guy turned landscaper wanted to sell Skylights for a living, but he took a chance on a kid. and hired me on and I was the Indiana Kentucky sales and territory rep for about four years. So that was kind of my ⁓ humble beginnings in terms of how I came to Velux and the rest is history as they say. Will Hanke (03:15) Wow, it’s always interesting to hear people’s backstories about the random things they did that really had nothing to do with where they landed. Love that. Wayne Feltman (03:22) For sure, for sure. But it really was some early exposures though. mean, had it not been, my parents had built a, well, the first exposure really was a lakeside condo, a real narrow kind of three story condo that we had built back in the 80s, early 80s actually. And they incorporated some skylights, vending skylights. And this was just a summer getaway for my parents. We didn’t vacation, that was our vacation, so to speak. Cause when you’re in retail, you’re seven, 24 seven. Will Hanke (03:49) Yeah Wayne Feltman (03:52) But we’d go up there and you know dad would have us go upstairs and open up the skylights to cool the place down because in the summer when we’d head up there be really hot ⁓ So that was my first kind of all-cott exposure at the time. You know, didn’t realize how relevant that would be in my life ⁓ And then several years later, we acquired a log cabin in southern, Indiana That was my grandfather something he had built back in the 60s And my mom wanted to always wanted to add a sunroom off to the back of it. So we hired a contractor And to his credit, he said, once we had this sunroom off the back of this house, we’re going to cut off the vertical windows going into that kitchen and dining area. And it’s going to get really dark. And to his credit, he said, I highly recommend we add some skylights not only over the kitchen area, but into the sunroom. And of course, we were pretty much on board with it because of our previous experience with skylights. But it was with that remodeling project that I really came to understand the value and power of skylights. it totally, and this is a dark log cabin. And it just totally transformed the space. ⁓ And we went on to add skylights to the boathouse, to a gazebo, to a detached garage. I definitely live and breathe it these days, and we practice what we preach. Will Hanke (04:59) Yeah, so you’ve been with the company more than two decades. What’s kept you excited about Skylights all these years? Wayne Feltman (05:05) Yeah, you know, when I first hired on, like I said, I was a territory rep for Indiana and Kentucky and really enjoyed the job, moved up into a district management role for about 20 years. And then here the last few years, I’ve been in a business development role across the greater Midwest. So I went from a state and a half to six states as a district manager to now about 15, 16 states. So with those roles comes a different focus. But really, it’s just the variety of what we do. We interact with every type of trade. So we interact with roofers, builders, architects, remodelers. ⁓ So when you’re doing that variety of interactions, it just never gets boring, quite honestly. And then Velux, the company, I mean, every few years we’re bringing something new to market. It’s a very innovative company, builds quality products. ⁓ So just as you think you got your head around everything that we make and sell, they throw a curveball at us and introduce something new. I think for all those reasons, know, it’s been 26 years, but I’ll be honest, some of my earlier career or jobs, I should say, seem like they were a lot longer than my 26 years at velux despite only being a year or two. Will Hanke (06:20) Yeah. For dealers that are not familiar, what does ventilation and light really mean in practice? Wayne Feltman (06:27) Yeah, no, great question. Actually, it’s fundamental to our company and our founding. So actually the name Velux is the root of two Latin words, V-E for ventilation, LUX, the Latin word for light. And just to give you a quick snapshot of the background of the company, mean, our founder was actually a glazing engineer by training and was given the task of converting attic spaces to classrooms. So this was back in 1941. There was a war going on. We’re based in Denmark. We’re a Northern European company. And they were trying to utilize all the attic space. A lot of buildings were destroyed. But anyway, he was given the task of converting some attic space to classrooms. And at the time, materials were scarce. Resources were scarce. ⁓ And so he came up with an ingenious way of putting a piece of glass ⁓ in the plane of the roof that would pivot and rotate and ventil

    48 min

  5. 11/11/2025

    The Leadership Advantage: How Graig Weiss Inspires Growth Through People and Purpose

    Guest Profile: Graig Weiss Graig Weiss brings over 20 years of leadership experience and a people-first mindset that has shaped everything from public schools to personalized service calls. Before entering the window treatment industry, he led Foundation Academies in Trenton, taught in the South Bronx and the Dominican Republic, founded a school in Punta Cana, and consulted with Cambridge Associates. Now, he’s the hands-on owner and operator of Bloomin’ Blinds of BuxMont, managing everything from sales consultations to installations — bringing the same passion and impact to home transformations as he once did to education. Under his leadership, Bloomin’ Blinds of BuxMont was named 2024 Franchise Owner of the Year, earned top national sales awards, and became one of the brand’s highest-performing and most recognized franchises. With a degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh, two master’s degrees, and a life full of family, travel, and skiing, Graig blends heart, hustle, and hands-on leadership. Other Notes/Links: pssst…. want to be a guest on the show? Listen to other episodes Subscribe to Marketing Panes for more expert insights, strategies, and real stories from across the window treatment and awning industry. Spotify: https://bit.ly/4j20C49 ApplePodcast: https://bit.ly/4c2VN8s Video https://youtu.be/KPqir3eVOwk Click here to display Transcript TRANSCRIPT Will Hanke (00:00) Welcome back to Marketing Panes the podcast where we dive into real marketing strategies, stories, and shifts happening in the window treatment and awning world. The guest joining us today brings over 20 years of leadership experience and a people first mindset that has shaped everything from public schools to personalized service calls. Before diving into the world of blinds, he led foundation academies in Trenton. taught in the South Bronx and Dominican Republic, founded a school in Punta Cana, and consulted with Cambridge Associates. Now he’s the hands-on owner and operator of Bloomin’ Blinds of Buxmont, where he manages everything from sales consultations to installations, bringing the same passion and impact to home transformations as he once did to education. Under his leadership, Bloomin’ Blinds of Buxmont was named the 2025 Franchise Owner of the Year, earned top national sales awards across multiple categories, and became one of the brand’s highest performing and most recognized franchises. With two master’s degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and a life full of family, travel, and skiing, he’s a guy who blends heart, hustle, and hands-on leadership. Welcome to the show, Graig Weiss Graig Weiss (01:23) All right, thank you so much. Great to be here. Will Hanke (01:25) Yeah, I appreciate it. So quick disclaimer before we just jump into the questions, Graig is a client of ours and has been probably for two years or so now. So we’ve been doing his marketing and just wanted to clear the air there and make sure everybody knew about that before we started. All right, so Graig, thanks for being on the show. Why don’t you give me the 10,000 foot view of what you’ve got going on currently with the business. Graig Weiss (01:51) Yeah, so as Will said, know, Bloomin’ Blinds, Buxmont, we’re up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, just outside of Philadelphia. We cover most, pretty much anywhere within an hour of where I live. Mobile-based business, Bloomin’ Blinds is a franchise system, like a lot of others. and mobile base, mobile showroom. We go out to the customers, we can do consultations in their home and install high-end window treatments. Will Hanke (02:26) Awesome. And you’re located in Pennsylvania. Graig Weiss (02:29) Yes, just outside Philadelphia and in Pennsylvania, we also get over a little bit into New Jersey, over into the Princeton area of New Jersey, but mainly the surrounding suburbs of Philadelphia. Will Hanke (02:41) Awesome, awesome. So what drew you to the window treatment business and what drew you to Bloomin’ Blinds in particular? Graig Weiss (02:49) Yeah, so it’s a great question. If you would have told me five years ago that I’d be doing window treatments, I would have never believed you. I’m a former school administrator. I was running a charter school in Trenton, New Jersey. And after the pandemic, I knew I just needed to do something a little different. I needed to get away from school administration and started researching franchises. And there were a lot of things that I liked about Bloomin’ Blinds and window treatments in general. And that was about three years ago and took the leap and have been growing it ever since. And I think the thing that surprised me most about it is how much I actually enjoy it. Originally it was going to be a side business for me and I was going to hire somebody just to kind of run it. And at the encouragement of the brothers that own Bloomin’ Blinds they were like, you got to get in the van, you got to learn the business. And I was very reluctant, got in the van and then decided, you know what, this is great. You get out there and meet some wonderful people. You know, you make your own schedule. There’s a sense of accomplishment when you do projects and whatnot. And so it’s been a fun ride and we’re continuing to grow it. Will Hanke (04:00) That’s awesome. Now, coming from the education side, how has that background influenced how you’re running your business right now? Graig Weiss (04:08) Yeah, it’s, you know, lot of it, you know, kind of carries over. mean, one of the things that I would say is like, it’s all people first. You know, having run an organization, you’re always focused on the people and our customers are no different. We’re focused on what they need and listening to them and their needs and really delivering a service and a product that are really second to none. That’s the goal overall. Will Hanke (04:35) How do you think customers see Bloomin’ Blinds in your area and how do you want them to see it? Graig Weiss (04:42) Yeah, I mean, I guess the first thing is we want them to see it because, you know, I mean, that’s that’s marketing, getting getting them out there. And it starts with the pink shirts and the pink vans and, ⁓ you know, really just getting that brand recognition out there. ⁓ I think window treatments overall is it’s ⁓ it’s not it’s not an industry that’s necessarily that visible. I know before I got into the the industry, the only place is I kind of. thought of were like, know, blinds.com and, you know, maybe blinds to go because they have their big, you know, red buildings. And maybe walk down an aisle at Home Depot. There are a lot of other, you know, great vendors out there. And so I think that’s that’s first and foremost. But I think, you know, Bloom Blinds in particular, I always try to put myself in the customer’s shoes and what what would I want as a potential customer? And like really just treating our customers that way, showing up on time, doing what we’re say we’re gonna do, delivering a perfect product, non pushy sales, all those things I think contribute to ⁓ what we’re trying to convey to all of our customers. Will Hanke (05:58) Cool, thank you for that. So I want to talk a little bit about customer experience since we’re kind of on that train. ⁓ What does it actually look like in your business beyond even the install? Graig Weiss (06:11) Yeah, so I mean, you know, I would start with first that like 95 % of the customers that we have are really great people. And that’s one of the things I love about this business overall. You get out there and you meet some really great people that would probably have never otherwise encountered in our lives. you know, so the experience is actually, it comes naturally. Like we don’t have to fake it. You you’re going out there, you’re listening to customers, listening to… you know, what their needs are, what are they trying to accomplish? Because window treatments should be both beautiful and functional. And so we’re really trying to listen for and ask the right questions as far as what do they need and want their home to, what do they want their home to look like and what do they want their window treatments to be able to do? And then it’s, you know, basically steering them in the direction and exploring different options. I’m not a believer, we don’t have favorite window treatments. They all have their pros and cons and that’s really what we’re trying to go through and really trying to ⁓ just match up what a customer wants and what’s gonna work best for them. Will Hanke (07:23) I love that I actually had that experience a month or two ago. We had a company come out to do ours and my wife was thinking of Roman Shades and after having a great conversation and getting some consultation, we ended up with Shutter. So totally different than what we thought we wanted. But that consultation piece is really huge. Graig Weiss (07:44) Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, we find that often. you know, sometimes people call away something that they think they, you know, they saw on Pinterest that they think is going to work really well. And maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t. And so we’re just kind of like laying out the pros and cons in order to make sure that they’re happy customers. Will Hanke (07:46) Yeah, that’s. Yeah, definitely makes for a better experience. Can you tell me about a time when some sort of customer interaction turned into a great marketing win? Graig Weiss (08:12) Yeah, so we often do, I one of the things that’s really unique about Bloomin’ Blinds is we do repairs as well. And we do repairs not because it’s the highest, you know, profit margins or, you know, anything like that. We do it as a courtesy to the customer because if you have, let’s sa

    35 min

  6. 10/21/2025

    The Future Is Smart: Joe Estrada on Innovation, Modularity, and Dealer Growth

    Guest Profile: Joe Estrada Joe Estrada, Account Manager at Coulisse Distribution, serving the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S. Joe partners with custom window shade fabricators to deliver innovative, high-quality solutions—especially in smart shading technology through MotionBlinds. With a focus on responsive service, long-term relationships, and empowering trade professionals, Joe helps clients stay competitive in a fast-evolving industry Special Invite to Sun Shading Expo 2025 Heading to the Sun Shading Expo in Indianapolis this November 5–7? We’ve got you covered! Use code SSENA25WTMP when registering to claim your FREE admission ticket. Don’t miss this chance to connect with top industry leaders, see the latest innovations, and experience hands-on demos — all at no cost with our exclusive listener code. Other Notes/Links: pssst…. want to be a guest on the show? Listen to other episodes Subscribe to Marketing Panes for more expert insights, strategies, and real stories from across the window treatment and awning industry. Spotify: https://bit.ly/4j20C49 ApplePodcast: https://bit.ly/4c2VN8s Sun Shading Expo: Visit Website Video https://youtu.be/Z08Ym54aw3E Click here to display Transcript TRANSCRIPT Will Hanke (00:00) Welcome to another episode of marketing panes the podcast where we talk with real window treatment and awning professionals about their marketing, innovation and business growth. I’m your host, Will Hanke. And today we’re diving into the world of smart shading and innovation with guests who knows this space in and out. Our guest today is Joe Estrada, account manager at Coulisse distribution, serving the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U S. Joe partners with custom windows shade fabricators to deliver innovative, high quality solutions, especially in smart shading through technology called MotionBlinds, which we’re gonna dig into a little bit today. With a focus on responsive service, long-term relationships, and empowering trade professionals, Joe helps clients stay competitive in a fast evolving industry. We’ll be talking about how technology is reshaping the market and the evolution of modular systems, and what’s next for dealers and fabricators in the smart shade era. Joe, thanks for being on the show today. Joe Estrada (01:07) Absolutely. Thanks for having me Will. Will Hanke (01:09) Yeah, glad to have you. So for listeners who don’t know yet, can you share a little bit about your background and what you do at Coulisse Distribution? Joe Estrada (01:19) Yeah, yeah, so you touched on it. So I’m a sales rep for Coulisse . I’ve been with the company just a little over a year and a half, coming up on almost two years now, serving primarily the Midwest and parts of the Northeast. So our team, we have coverage throughout the whole country here in the U.S. as well as Canada, and then making our way down to Central America and South America as well. So we have local representation in kind of every corner of the country. and my portion is the Midwest and a few accounts of the Northeast as well. Will Hanke (01:50) Nice. I heard a rumor this was your first podcast. Joe Estrada (01:54) It is, it is. think I was joking with you. I, I’m about a daily listener of some kind of a podcast, especially when I’m traveling. but this is the first one that I’m on. So you’re you’re kind of like an adult Santa Claus, you know, Santa Claus for adults making my, little dream come true here. So thanks again. Will Hanke (02:08) ⁓ too funny. What made you say yes for joining us today? Joe Estrada (02:12) Yeah, so ⁓ obviously having the opportunity to share some of the exciting things that we’re doing at Coulisse , especially in evolving landscape in our industry right now. And you guys, the R+T group, you yourself, have always been really, really ⁓ kind to us at Coulisse So when the opportunity presented itself, we felt we had to jump on top of it. I guess you guys are stuck with me. So. Will Hanke (02:35) Yeah. Well, it’s great having you here today. So let’s talk a little bit about Coulisse . I’d love to know what sets Coulisse apart from the other component and fabric suppliers in the window treatment space. Joe Estrada (02:49) Yeah, yeah, so I would say one thing that’s kind of unique about us is we are a global one-stop shop. So whether it’s components, hardware, our collections, and our own motors, we are a true, we sell a true system. So obviously you can take the parts that you like if you don’t want or need the full system, but really the beauty in what Coulisse offers is our system approach. ⁓ And we’re going to dive a little bit deeper into that, but I would say that’s something that’s unique. and then I think our look, our feel kind of our marketing, our branding is a little unique to us. I’m obviously a little biased, but I think we do that part of, the business really, really well. so yeah, a few things that we offer that are unique in that sense. Will Hanke (03:30) Yeah, as a marketing guy, always paying attention to that and I see you guys everywhere. So you’re doing a great job there. Yeah, yeah, very good. Well, let’s jump in. I want to talk about the absolute roller. What is it? How does it serve as the foundation for your product lineup? Joe Estrada (03:35) Yeah. Yep. Thank you. Yes, so we are absolute roller 2.0 system. That is it’s a modular concept, right? So the terms that our engineers like to use is it’s kind of like working with Legos. So interchangeable components and hardware. You don’t have a right and left bracket, for example. And you can go from our essentially what, you know, for lack of a better term, our dumbest system, our chain manual operated system to our smartest motorized. motion blind system just by removing the mechanism, the chain clutch mechanism or what some people would call a clutch and replacing it with our motor. So the tube sizes are the same, the deduction sizes are all the same. ⁓ So obviously that’s handy if you’re upgrading a shade that maybe somebody bought years ago or maybe they’re going to buy now if they’d like to upgrade at some point in the future. But it really makes it easy for the manufacturers to work with as well. So a lot less SKUS and components to work with. ⁓ And obviously we have different sizes, whether it’s a small, medium, large size, depending on the configuration and the control. ⁓ But the modular concept of it makes it user friendly, not only for the fabricators or the manufacturers, but also the installers and then eventually the end users as well, especially when you’re talking motionblinds. Will Hanke (05:04) Yeah, and I can assume with that modular approach, the inventory management side of things is easier as well. Joe Estrada (05:10) Yep, yep. actually an introduction into our space last year, I got an opportunity to work on a bid for a company and they sent me the existing system that they were using and had said, hey, here’s all the components and hardware and everything that we buy, tell me what your equivalent would be and kind of how that would look differently. And that’s when I really, the advantage of the modular concept kind of sunk in for me because we talk about it a lot internally. But when you’re looking at a list of you know hundreds of components and SKUs and I’m using the same 30 40 50 SKUs essentially for the whole thing That’s when it really sunk into me like wow if I was owning the fabrication business ⁓ Especially everybody has a limit on space some some really big some small But everybody’s trying to make the most of the space that they have and they’re in their facility That’s a real big advantage to using a modular concept like what Coulisse offers Will Hanke (06:04) That’s great. What are the benefits for like dealers and workrooms when it comes to the system? Joe Estrada (06:11) Yeah, very similar. for dealers, it’s easy to install. So if the dealers are paired with the installers or have their own installers, our hardware is very, very easy to use. Again, you’re not worried about a right versus a left and having any errors or issues there that you have to fix. ⁓ For workrooms, it’s similar to a fabricator, right? Depending on where the workroom gets it or starts working at it on the product in the process. Again, fewer SKUs. the tube sizes are all the same. ⁓ so yeah, you don’t have to familiarize yourself with a bunch of different series or systems all under our umbrella. You get used to that system and it’s a little bit easier to work with from there. Will Hanke (06:54) that’s great. I love that approach. I think it’s a lot easier for the end users, as you said, when it comes to figuring out what they need. And you’re probably cutting down on the amount of things that they have to order as well. Joe Estrada (07:05) Absolutely. Yep, just because there’s fewer SKUs ⁓ and then yeah, you really notice it with our motorized products because we have a QR code kind of system to set them up. So you don’t have to familiarize yourself with these elaborate, you know, softwares or apps. So if you’re not super techie, as long as you know how to use the camera on your phone and a QR code, which most people by now are pretty familiar with. Will Hanke (07:30) Yeah. Joe Estrada (07:31) You should be okay setting them up yourselves if you choose to do so. Obviously any installer that has a little bit of experience in our industry, it’s going to be easy for them too. So yeah. Will Hanke (07:42) That’s awesome. I’d love to kind of jump into the motorization since you mentioned that ⁓ it’s tech that’s turning heads across the industry, especially the motionblinds. So tell me a little bit about those. Joe Estrada (07:56) so anywhere you see Motion, it’s funny, so my first introduction

    44 min

  7. 10/15/2025

    I Spoke to Over 250 Window Treatment Pros This Year — Here Are Their Top Questions

    Guest Profile: Will Hanke Will Hanke has two passions: supporting our US veterans and helping window treatment and awning businesses tell their story online – providing them with increased exposure, more customers, and higher revenues. For over twenty-seven years he has helped mom & pops, startups, and multi-million dollar companies with their digital marketing strategies. Will hosts monthly online training events and has spoken at conferences across the US on a wide variety of topics from analytics to lead generation through his company, Window Treatment Marketing Pros. Special Invite to Sun Shading Expo 2025 Heading to the Sun Shading Expo in Indianapolis this November 5–7? We’ve got you covered! Use code SSENA25WTMP when registering to claim your FREE admission ticket. Don’t miss this chance to connect with top industry leaders, see the latest innovations, and experience hands-on demos — all at no cost with our exclusive listener code. Other Notes/Links: pssst…. want to be a guest on the show? Listen to other episodes Subscribe to Marketing Panes for more expert insights, strategies, and real stories from across the window treatment and awning industry. Spotify: https://bit.ly/4j20C49 ApplePodcast: https://bit.ly/4c2VN8s Sun Shading Expo: Visit Website Video https://youtu.be/1QKpW0qHuJQ?si=RNktQVGug-43YXaf Click here to display Transcript TRANSCRIPT William Hanke (00:00.046) Today, I’ve got a bowl full of questions. I’m going to pull them out one by one and we’ll talk through them. It’s time for another episode of marketing pains. The podcast about marketing for window treatment and awning companies. Hey everyone. Welcome to Marketing Panes. The podcast where we dive into real marketing conversations for window treatment and awning pros. I’m Will Hanke and today we’re doing something a little different. So instead of a guest, I’m pulling questions straight out of real conversations I’ve had this year. Some came up during discovery calls, others from pros who are following along and just trying to figure out their marketing. These are real things people want to know whether they’re about to hire or they’re still running things themselves. So today I’ve got a bowl full of questions. I’m going to pull them out one by one and we’ll talk through them. So, all right, I’ve got my fancy Home Depot bucket here, paint bucket. I were remodeling the bathroom downstairs. So I just thought I’d use this before I filled it with paint. So what I want to do is obviously just pull out some different questions and see what they are, answer them lives. By the way, I’ve got 27 different questions in here that we’ve identified over the course of this entire year that are the most common questions. So, all right, let me just pull one out. See what we got here. How should I deal with negative or low star reviews? All right. Throw that in the trash. So low star reviews. The first thing that I would do is not reply. So I would write a reply to a one or two star review, but don’t publish it. You need some time to kind of chill and relax and get over that initial anger. So we tend to tell our clients, take a day or two to relax, write the review. And then after those 48 hours or so, go back and rewrite it. And maybe even consider using chat GPT to help you make it a little bit less angry and a little bit more factual. I think people respond well to one star reviews if a very good reply comes along with it. So listen, people understand we’re running a business and sometimes customers just aren’t great. But if you have a great written review, a reply after that, then William Hanke (02:23.885) A lot of times that makes people think you’re more real, more legit. And I’ve even heard people comment that 0.8 stars is better than five only because it makes you look more like a real company. So we all have those customers. We all get those kinds of one-star reviews from time to time. Take some time before you reply. Make sure you craft a reply and make sure you do reply for sure, but just, you know, don’t do it fully in anger. Do it very factual. And hopefully that will actually help your business down the road. All right, let’s grab another one out of here. Put that down. Can I spend $10 a day on Google ads? Sure. I wouldn’t recommend it. That is $300 a month. For our clients, we recommend that they start at $1,500 a month, which is what? 50 bucks a day. Um, the reason is a couple of things. $300 a month is going to get you one or maybe two leads in a new Google ad campaign. You should expect to pay between 160 and $210 per lead. So by recommending 1500 as a starting point, you should expect to get seven or so leads out of that money out of that spend. If you’re decent at sales and you close four of those seven. If the average job is, let’s say four grand, that’s about the average for, for a room that’s a $16,000 in revenue for $1,500 spend. Pretty nice return. If you’re spending $300 a day, one of the problems is early on in a Google ad campaign, Google puts you into a learning phase and that learning phase is learning who is going to engage with your ads. Who’s going to convert into an actual customer. And at $300 a month, when you are getting, let’s just say $200 cost per lead, that one lead per month is not enough for Google. There’s not enough meat on the bone for Google to really do a good job of getting you in front of the right people. If you only want to spend $10 a day, I would probably recommend doing some good SEO on your site, the best you can. We’ve got a great SEO masterclass that you can go through for free. William Hanke (04:47.053) and then run Facebook retargeting ads. So basically people that have already been exposed to your brand in some way, you can follow them around on Facebook, probably have a hard time spending $10 a day on retargeting ads on Facebook. That’s probably where I would put my money. if you want to do Google ads, you’re going to need to be spending closer to that 40, $50 a month or a day, which sounds horrible, but. Listen, if you can put a dollar in and $10 comes out, how many dollars do you want to put in? Now the other piece to that is the cost per lead doesn’t stay at that 160 to 210. If we can drive that cost per lead down to 150, 140, even a hundred dollars or lower, that would be fantastic, right? We’re not asking you to spend more money, but you’re getting more leads for the same spend. So that’s a better approach. Than just trying to spend a couple hundred bucks a month on Google ads probably save that money and put it elsewhere Alright next question. Is it better to do SEO or ads first? So good aunt good question the Correct way to do this is you need to start on SEO right away And I saw one of the other questions in the bucket that was how long does SEO take SEO can take eight months nine months twelve months to really start to gain momentum And depending on how many other people in your town are also doing SEO, you know, that could really stretch out. So you have to run ads while you’re working on your SEO. Both of these have to work in tandem. Ads are going to get the phone to ring now. SEO is going to get the phone to ring later. The idea is as your SEO really starts to gain momentum, maybe you can pull some of that ad budget back. or divert some of that ad budget to next door or Facebook or Instagram, some of these other places and just really start to increase that momentum as things go on. But they really need to work together. All right. Let’s grab another question. Let’s see what we got here. How much time do I need to invest each month into a valuable marketing campaign? William Hanke (07:01.299) So this depends on if you’re able to hire a company to do it. If you’re able to hire a company like mine to do your ongoing marketing, you don’t have to spend a whole lot of time working with the marketing company monthly strategy calls or quarterly strategy calls. Make sure that everybody is working in the same direction is always a great thing. after initial onboarding and sign up, which can get a little time intensive, ongoing can be pretty small. Now, if you’re not able to hire a marketing company, then it really just comes down to how much time can you put in? You’re busy running a business, which takes a lot of your time. Do you also have time to do the marketing piece of that as well? We provide a lot of resources to help people with that so that you can get to the point where you can actually hire a marketing company like us. But early on, it’s a lot of guerrilla marketing. getting out there and pounding the pavement, optimizing your site, getting a well-built ad library going. There’s a lot of moving pieces to it, but it is very possible to do yourself. It’s just going to require a lot of time outside of actually running your business as well. It just depends on what that trade-off is. Is it better to spend that money and have somebody doing that? If you have that revenue, obviously, if you don’t have that revenue, then it’s a pretty much a no brainers. All right, let’s grab another one. this is a short one. What is geofencing? So geofencing is basically drawing a fence around a specific physical area on the globe and showing ads to that area. An example could be, let’s say you got a budget blinds in town and you want to run ads to people that are in their parking lot. Is it the best use of your spend? Probably not because if somebody has already gone to budget and decided that’s where they’re going to go or Home Depot or Costco or wherever, most likely that’s where they’re going to make their decision, right? If they suddenly see an ad for ABC blinds in town, they’re probably not going to engage with that business. So maybe not the best use of your money, b

    23 min

  8. 09/30/2025

    Buzzing Into Business: Joseph Cloute on Franchising & Finding Fast Wins in Year 1

    Guest Profile: Joseph Cloute Joseph Cloute is the owner of Bumble Bee Blinds of Madison, Wisconsin, bringing over 20 years of customer service and hospitality experience to the window covering industry. Known for his people-first approach, Joseph is passionate about delivering a seamless, worry-free experience from consultation to installation. With a background inspired by his father’s craftsmanship and a deep love for design, he’s committed to quality, integrity, and helping people love where they live. Whether you’re in the window treatment & awning industry, exploring franchise ownership, or just curious about what it takes to build a business from zero, Joseph’s story is packed with insights and inspiration. Special Invite to Sun Shading Expo 2025 Heading to the Sun Shading Expo in Indianapolis this November 5–7? We’ve got you covered! Use code SSENA25WTMP when registering to claim your FREE admission ticket. Don’t miss this chance to connect with top industry leaders, see the latest innovations, and experience hands-on demos — all at no cost with our exclusive listener code. Other Notes/Links: pssst…. want to be a guest on the show? Listen to other episodes Subscribe to Marketing Panes for more expert insights, strategies, and real stories from across the window treatment and awning industry. Spotify: https://bit.ly/4j20C49 ApplePodcast: https://bit.ly/4c2VN8s Sun Shading Expo: Visit Website Books Mentioned The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara The Road Less Stupid by Keith J. Cunningham Outgrow by Alex Goldfayn Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzdtqDDIQyk Click here to display Transcript TRANSCRIPT Will Hanke (00:00) Welcome to another episode of marketing panes the podcast where we talk with real window treatment and awning service providers or business owners about their successes and struggles related to marketing their business. I’m your host, Will Hanke. And today we’re talking with someone that brings a fresh perspective and a whole lot of range from biotech labs to culinary kitchens, to building a business from scratch. His career is anything but typical. He’s now the owner, operator of Bumble Bee Blinds in Madison, Wisconsin. We’ll talk about what made him choose to be in the window treatment niche, why he bet on a franchise, and how he’s approaching growth in a saturated market with a brand new name and a ton of drive. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to start from zero and build fast, this one’s for you. My guest today is Joseph Cloute He’s the owner of Bumble Bee Blinds. He brings a strong background in project management, operations, and customer success to the window covering industry. With a proven track record in driving efficiency, fostering client relationships, and leading teams to exceed expectations, Joseph combines operational excellence with a passion for delivering outstanding results for his customers. Joseph, thank you for being on today. Joseph Cloute (01:21) Will thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here today. Will Hanke (01:25) Yeah, no problem. So as I mentioned in the intro, you started kind of in the biotech world. Let’s start with that story. How has somebody who’s a microbiology grad and a chef, from what I understand, end up in window treatments? Joseph Cloute (01:42) That’s the question I continue to answer in every networking group, et cetera. One of my answers is always, well, the guidance counselor in high school didn’t quite have window treatments franchises, like one of the options that you pick, right? So here we are. Will Hanke (01:46) You Joseph Cloute (02:02) at the age of 44 starting a business. I’ve had 26 jobs throughout my lifetime. Yeah, and so… you know, kind of what led to this was just not quite being fulfilled in each of those circumstances. And so this was, you know, not only a venture that I took to try to integrate myself and be more a part of the community, but I’m also looking for that fulfillment. And part of that is through serving others and serving others through providing them window treatments and window covering solutions. Will Hanke (02:37) I like that I had a similar path. No matter how many jobs you take, you feel like there’s just something out there. I ended up reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and that’s really what kind of spurred me into action to, okay, how can I actually quit my job and start this thing for real? ⁓ Yeah, good stuff. Joseph Cloute (02:47) Tim Ferriss, absolutely. You’re after my heart when you start talking about, you know, reading books, continuing to discover yourself, finding, you know, your skill set and what personality traits, you know, you can utilize to the best to serve others, right? Will Hanke (03:12) Yeah, for sure. I’ll have to ask you at the end about your favorite books or the ones you’re reading lately. So we’ll do that. ⁓ So tell me what attracted you to Bumble Bee specifically. There’s a lot of different franchise options out there. ⁓ How did you land there versus all the other ones? Joseph Cloute (03:29) Yeah, ⁓ was an interesting journey that started with the Entrepreneur Source. So they reached out to me and I actually utilized them and we looked at a number of franchises and part of that journey is some personality tests, some like… get to know you with your coach and stuff like that. And I won’t lie to you, the first three that he put on my discovery center, one of the first ones was Bumble Bee Blinds and I just looked at him and I was like, I thought we got to know each other. ⁓ You put blinds on here? Like, what are we doing? And he’s like, trust the process, be curious. ask questions and be open to new opportunities. And honestly, the more I learned about each franchise and their model and, you know, what the franchisor, you know, is doing with you and the partnership that they were creating, this just made more and more sense. And, you know, on the day that I signed the franchise agreement, Dwayne called me and he was just like, so do you trust me now? You Will Hanke (04:46) great. I love that. ⁓ You mentioned this was your fourth career out of 26 jobs. What lessons from those past lives are helping you now? Joseph Cloute (04:51) Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I would say the… Finding control in the chaos of being a chef and working in kitchens It has been a big one because things get a little chaotic and you know I will never forget being at training with Bumble Bee and they were like, you know, all right Are you ready for this like journey? And you know, they’re trying to prep people who have like, you know lived in corporate life and lived in this you know, little bubble that they create in corporate and I was like Yeah, so like I was a chef for seven years and they’re like you’re gonna be fine. We don’t think you’re gonna be gonna struggle here at all. So you know that was a big part of it and with working in customer service whether it was in project management or whether it was in the culinary you know that level of hospitality right culinary school they were like if you are you gonna choose to be a cook or you’re gonna choose to be a culinary? Like, you gonna be a master of your craft or are just gonna come here and put in the time and collect a paycheck? And that is my approach to my business now. It is, I wanna be master of my craft. I wanna be the go-to person who knows not only the systems, but the products and the operations and any of the, you know, accounting and business portion and how to network, how to grow, all of the things just full circle. I want to be a master of it all and you know part of that is that background that came from through kitchens and through project management as well. Will Hanke (06:38) while you’ve had a pretty wild ride, if your next move wasn’t blinds, what would it have been? Joseph Cloute (06:45) Great question. I think about that often. ⁓ I would say it would be my 27th job, which would have probably led to my 28th job, which would have led to my 29th job. So I was happy to find this. Will Hanke (06:53) Great. Yeah, makes sense. So I know that you just recently started with the Bumble bee franchise. How far are you into that? Joseph Cloute (07:08) Yeah, we just celebrated 100 days. Will Hanke (07:11) 100 days, okay. So how’s it going so far? Any surprises, anything that you didn’t expect? Joseph Cloute (07:19) ⁓ I think Bumble bee Blinds set us up ⁓ with at least expectations. Has there been surprises? Well, well. ⁓ I don’t know if you’ve lived in America since January, but there’s been a couple of surprises that have occurred. ⁓ So those were unexpected. ⁓ I signed paperwork on January 6th. Will Hanke (07:32) you tell me more. Joseph Cloute (07:43) I don’t know that any of us could have predicted some of the economic and tariff volatility that we’ve had. ⁓ I would say unprecedented, but you’ve been in the business longer than me, so maybe you can chime in on that one. Will Hanke (07:57) There’s always ups and downs in the world of pricing. hahaha More ups than downs. Joseph Cloute (07:59) That’s a good blanket statement. like that. ⁓ But yeah, I would say outside of that, ⁓ the biggest surprises would be, you know, firing ⁓ my design consultant on day one and taking over that role, ⁓ learning a bit about myself and the fact that I can execute. as a salesman at a high level. ⁓ That was unexpected to me. ⁓ Even my family when I’m like, yeah, so I do all the sales and they’re like, okay, and how’s that going? And I’m like, actually, it’s awesome. I like, I really enjoy it. It’s one of my favorite parts of the business is being out there with t

    45 min
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About

Marketing Interviews & Tips for Window Treatment and Awning Companies

Information

  • Creator
    Window Treatment Marketing Pros
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    59
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Marketing Panes