Quality Windows or Marketing Trick?

I recently had a discussion with a young lady out in Portland who was about to make a big window decision. She was under a 36 hr. timeline (red flag #1) and wanted to spend $10,000 for seven windows (red flag #2), one a garden window, the rest average size windows.

The pitch had her convinced of the following features:

- 50 yrs of research and development in Europe finally reaching America
- pvcP, the second "p" for paintable vinyl
- metal reinforced frame
- "dual-sealed structural foam" spacer

She seemed so deeply snowed by the sales pitch, my instinct screamed "no" while wholly unable to verbalize "why".

Thirty minutes of research revealed the following:

- Said European wonder is actually manufactured in Spokane, Washington by another company of a different name whose website boasts windows with all the same features.
- said spacer is actually the Edgetech SuperSpacer, conceived in Canada and brought to fruition in the good ol' US.

It appears the european brand being sold in this scenario is nothing more than a trademark.

Now tell me, is this okay? Is this typical of the industry? How does one sort through the B.S.? Accurate information is hard enough to come by, "eh"? The windows themselves seem good enough on their own merits, why the "hard" sell?

Sounds like a good topic for a forum....What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

"Why the hard sell?"

It's obvious - because a lot of the time it works, and if you get someone to fall for the hard sell you make a lot more money.

Personally, the second any company says "this offer is only good for 24 hours" or "you get an extra 10% off if you sign now", the odds become 99+% that I am not going to use that company.

If you do your research by coming to sites like this, and find companies that don't work like this (they are out there), then you can ultimately get a good job done for a fair price, and have a reasonably pleasant experience in the process.

Not a pro, just a consumer trying to find my way to new windows for my house.

You are very correct, the vast majority of the companies out there use salesman. And i would say 99% of people are paid on commission. Now in any industry when you have salesman getting income only if they sell, you will get salesman that resort to extreme b.s to sell you a good window right there and then. Why? because if they go back to sign you up is going to cost them money in gas and time so their profit will go down the more they comeback to your house. Bottom line matters to them because again thats the only way they get paid....usually 10 % of the sale so the more that they can mark it up more money for them. This is not exclusive to windows it happens whenever there is a salesman that gets paid on comission.....some people will forget their principles to make a buck.

Not that their window is bad or good as much as their approach is bad.....a good salesman will get the sale because he has a great product, a great company behind him, and is honest and puts the customer needs before his. It is funny how a lot of crooks can not figure they would be more succesful by treating people fair.

As customers specially for home remodelings i suggest to check peoples records with you local and state agencies that govern contractors and do not be fooled by the "this offer is only good for tonight" load of bull.

Good luck.

E-z

wow e-z you really had me seeing red in your first paragraph. generalizing salesmen like that. then you kind of summed it up in a nutshell after that. i am now a salesman. i owned my own remodeling company for years and finally got tired of all the long hours that are required. i have no idea where salesmen get 10% of the job but if they are then i can see why they would hard sell. people buy because they are comfortable with the whole process, from sales to price to instalation. some people do buy at the time of demonstration. if they dont and call back a week or two later it is no big deal. what does it cost me $3.00 in gas and a little time? i sell windows at the same price if you are my best friend or someone who sits across the table and cusses at me for an hour. if you are in sales and you do not realize that integrity and honesty are absolutely required, then you will not be in sales long. the salesmen i know have all come from an instalation background and have sold all the major contractor brands before. i still personnally go to each of my installs although it is not required. up to 30% or more of my yearly income will come from referrals. you had better believe i will make those people happy.
just had to get that off my chest e-z i know you are a good guy have read most of your posts for a year and a half. i just hate to get grouped into a bucket with some of the others out there. dont get me wrong there are terrible salesmen out there and i could tell you stories of what people have been told before, however there are some that want to put a good product in someones house at a fair price.
i have seen absolutely butchered installs, but i also know there are plenty of guys that still take pride in their work. whew i'm done...

Hey WindowRep.....greetings

I am sorry i had you seeing red for a minute, i am very against bad salesmanship so i do get overzealous sometimes.

I do not mean to offend any salesman out there as much as i am to make sure people do not get suckered.

I own my small business and like you i am present at my installs and in fact do my own installations (i am 32 so i have a while to go before i completely leave the hammer alone) and embrace the philosophy of putting the customers need first as in the long run is more profitable.

You will get leads from them more that if you just plain rob people and only see them once.

There is a lot of good guys that share our philosophy Window Rep and i must say you get to sleep better at night too LOL.

Customers unfortunelly are left with the task of sorting out the bull.... Lucky there is boards like this one to make it easier..


E-z

right on e-z thanks