The most important take-away from my perspective is that choosing the right window and door package for your home or project requires balancing a surprisingly high number of variables. While it is not always the case that SolarGlass will offer the right solution for a given project, we will be a consistent, high-quality source of data and knowledge to facilitate your decision making.

The presentation will be available on the BGBG web site shortly and here once I get permission to upload files to my own site!!

I have met and am impressed with Brad Begin and Robert Clarke of Alpen. I look forward to sharing the BGBG brown bag with them. Moreover, I look forward to representing the collective knowledge and expertise of the SolarGlass team.

I will post the presentation content here and share my perspective of the conversation.

Stay tuned…

I stated that I thought about this on the drive home and while walking the dog. I asked myself – should I have taken our margin below my identified floor to win this opportunity. Certainly I recognize the long-term potential of working with the customer on his development initiatives.

While I was below my predetermined floor gross margin on the bid, I did have enough in the job to support the key principals for which I stand and that make the kind of difference in the building material supplies arena that underpin why I bought SolarGlass. I am betting the farm – literally – that service excellence is a long-term profit enhancer.

At SolarGlass, we have full-time service professional in each location. Our standard is to offer two years of labor warranty where our vendors and industry standards dictates just one year. We do post installation walk-through inspections to catch product or installation issues long before they cause a problem. Similarly, we do screen installations and final operating adjustments just as the project is turned over to the home owner, and without charge. This establishes SolarGlass as the first person called should anything crop up in the future – exactly where we want to be.

Beyond these policies, we look for opportunities to put service first. When our prospect identified a problem with a window and a door in his own home, we could have chosen to point him to the product manufacturer for resolution, consistent with the parameters of the warranties. Instead, it was an opportunity to walk the SolarGlass “walk”. We want to be at the center of the resolution and not the company that is unwilling to get engaged. When an architect had a problem caused by the predecessor company, we stepped up even though we would have been 100% right to state that the problem was not our responsibility. Just today, I waived a $300 charge to a customer because we did not provided the service level of which we could proud.

What I was trying to say is that when you buy SolarGlass, you buy our service model. You will find windows of acceptable quality priced lower that what we offer. They will be fine in many projects and a person would be justifiably proud of the end result. However, I don’t know of any company that prioritizes the service lifecycle the way we do. We are proud of our service model and understand that sometimes we loose business opportunities we absolutely covet in the pursuit of what we stand for.

What do you think – are we on the right track or does this not matter?

“Dad,
Your blog reads like a ‘Manifesto for the Eternally Corporate.” It is a lot fun to read though and I hope your customers are able to gain insight into your dedication to service and growth. Having your musings be accessible to anybody gives your corporate practice a unique sense of transparency – it makes it seem less like a ‘company’ (as is understood as an independent, faceless, and emotionless entity) and more like a labor of love shared by a group of committed individuals. I’m proud to see the dedication and commitment you demonstrate and look forward to reading the next post.
…

By the way, I think my childhood exposure to your consistent use of business speak (like the voice you use in your blog) is the reason why everybody thinks I’m always so serious.”

My son is right about the “voice” with which I speak. When I was consulting, I described this phenomenon as the “authenticity of voice.” I believe that whenever you speak from the heart, the truth of that is obvious, and it is the truth that employees, customers, and business partners must connect with in order to maximize trust and the value of the relationships.

Now as to the matter of whether my son needs extensive counseling after being subject to decades of my authenticity…

Gwenael

It means an unprecedented level of product, building code, and architectural knowledge.

It means a level of efficiency hone through years of working together

It means rich levels of personal interactions between long time customers and the SolarGlass team

More than all of this, it means I have inherited a special obligation to honor the team who make SolarGlass all that it is. I could attempt to “write” my way to what I mean, but perhaps one example among many will bring this to life. We have bookkeeper who, along with our purchasing czar, lead the charge to convert us to QuickBooks from a spreadsheet-based accounting system. They did this in the middle of our busy season without a whiff of complaint. In fact, our bookkeeper wanted to borrow my laptop so she could work at home on the conversion, this in addition to the additional hours she is putting in during the day.

I worry that I will fail to honor this level of commitment to the work of SolarGlass. I do take comfort in the fact that the team dynamics and the bonds between people are far larger than me and thus an obligation that is not mine alone.

This is Jon Becker blogging in from Tamarindo Costa Rica. I’m here with my 16 year old son Jorin, who is having a change of scene, attending high school in an exotic new setting. Despite my being on the underground side these days, one of his school teachers decided that i might know something, and she’s asked me to do an energy unit for her 12th grade science class (or she just wanted to get out of a day of teaching?). Now i’m always thinking about energy, because i know without it matter doesn’t go anywhere or do anything. Even though I’ve been a little more focused recently on energy issues such as wave height and frequency, and solar concerns have included SPF 30 vs. 40, it was easy and fun to jump on the net and put together some links that cover a broad and important range of energy thoughts. So I welcome the Senior Class of Guanacaste Country Day School in Brasilito Costa Rica Click here: Country Day International School in Costa Rica. Boarding schools in Costa Rica (Central America). Top boarding sch

and all of my old (or new?) SolarGlass friends and colleagues, to follow some of these pathways, see what makes sense or seems totally loco, and maybe even share back with me (and us) some of your experiences.

EL MUNDO DE ENERGIA

the electromagnetic spectrum chart. i love this way of looking at energy, from gamma rays through the solar spectrum, down through tv/fm/am/microwaves, sound, all part of a continuum. you don’t have to be a surfer to love wave theory (although it helps): Click here: Electromagnetic Spectrum

here’s the solar radiation spectrum, it’s more than just what you see (isn’t life like that?). notice to planet earth - this is your income. and as your banker will tell you, either you live within your income, or the repo man will come see you: Click here: Solar radiation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

from the cold hard facts department. it’s obvious that many of our political and business leaders haven’t read or understood this. note disparities between u.s. and the rest of the world. that’s just one of the reasons why the u.s. needs to lead on this, even if our leaders don’t get it: Click here: U S Energy and World Energy Statistics

a look at the smaller, more manageable costa rican energy and resources picture. impressive levels of renewable use (in electricity generation), but the typical dependence on oil for transportation, all of it imported, and sharply increasing use despite holding steady on per capita and unit of GNP basis. why is that? increasing population - another area we need to work on: Click here: http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/ene_cou_188.pdf

another graphic on costa rica energy mix, showing 30+ years of evolution: Click here: http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/ene_cou_188.pdf

NRDC’s write up and recommendations re: costa rica’s very exciting national energy plan, with target of being the world’s first carbon neutral nation. are you listening u.s.a.?: Click here: http://www.nrdc.org/international/costa.pdf

more energy facts, with an eye to the future, from our friends at Solar Energy International in Carbondale Colorado: Click here: SEI: Energy Facts

an article by and an interview of amory lovins of rocky mountain institute in colorado. for 30 years now one of the most sane voices talking about energy and resources and the future, so of course considered to be nuts by much (though an increasingly smaller subset) of the power establishment: Click here: http://www.rmi.org/images/PDFs/Energy/E06-08_GettingOffOil_World2007.pdf

Click here: Alternative Energy Guru Reflects on Policy, Fuels

So there you have it kids. Your assignment - check it out, follow your instincts, THINK!! And then if you feel like it, let us know what you think.

As we say here, PURA VIDA (Costa Rican for “it’s great to be alive”)!!! Jon

My top of mind take on our Hedgehog Concept:

World Class: Fitting windows and doors that meet the owners / architect / builder objectives, optimizes the tradeoff between performance, aesthetics, and price, and saves time and money buy getting the details right the first time.

Economic Model: Profit per order

Passion: Improving how a home or a commercial building “feels” to live in or experience

It’s a start, but not crisp enough nor does it do a great job of conveying our passion

Thoughts?

Maybe the customer is being reasonable, maybe they are not. It does not matter. What matters is the effort, the principal and purpose behind the effort, and whether your actions match your rhetoric.

From my perspective, the litmus test is the drive home. Do I feel sick that we missed our goal of customer delight? Am I unable to find something we should have done but did not? Am I still willing to “look the customer in the eye” and tell them we have done everything that is consistent with our passionate commitment to the service agenda?

The questions are simple to write – even simplistic and self righteous. The answers are messy and there are no absolutes. I can’t prove that service excellence drives me and my stewardship of this company. However, I am undeterred. I believe service is our obligation. We earn or money only if we respect this truth.