Zig was right!

When I think of Zig Zigglar one quote always comes to my mind, “You can get anything out of life if you help other people get what they want out of life.” Brian Tracy teaches that to sell more you have to listen. Listening to people lets them know you care. If you don’t listen you miss the clues they give you as to what is holding up the sale.

I had a week that just couldn’t get off the ground. I had the dreaded after 50 year old test on Wednesday and had to get ready for that test on Tuesday. The rest of the day on Wednesday I was asleep and most of Thursday I didn’t care to sit at my desk and work. However, by the late night on Thursday I said. Mullender enough!!! I made my way to the desk and started answering mail. For a person in sales your first sale is the hardest and this week if it were not for online sales I would not have had that.

I processed that order and headed off to bed. I wrote in my face book the next day,
“Sure hope Friday is a good working day... “Oooops! I choose what kind of day I will have. I forgot.

As the day went on I did my prospect calls, had fun making follow-up call to some new people I had met the previous week and was saying to myself, "Jon, you can’t live off of $150.00 in sales for the week. I was getting a little down and then the phone rang. Hi Jon, I want the privacy fence and I am ready to order however I want you to take care of the details of getting it to Canada. Now for someone who is experienced in shipping through customs no big deal just like driving a car or riding a bike but for me it meant… Ahhhhhhhhhh!!! How am I going to pull this off? Of course I said sure give me a half hour and I will call you back with the details.

I called Misty at Adelphia trucking and said, "Will you do this..." We don’t do that here but here is a list of numbers that will help. Thanks. Hanging up the phone the first part was done. I had some numbers to call to find out how I was going to do it. I called the first number and heard the words no one ever wants to hear. “If you know your parties extension you may dial blah blah now followed by the # sign.” I did not know so I hit the famous 0. I am sorry but you dialed the wrong extension. Good bye.

Good bye. I haven’t said hello to anyone yet.

Undaunted I dialed the next number. Hello you have reached the offices of… If you know your parties extension you may dial it now. If not press 2 followed by the 0 which leads to the X factor followed by the G to get to the person you may want to talk to. So I pressed on. 2 followed by 0 then X and G. I did it!

I was met by another message. This is the office of so and so and if you want to talk to me please leave me you Name… Time you called… short message… your phone number, the middle initial of your mother’s great grandfather and your social security number. I will call you back sometime before hell freezes over. So I did and hung up the phone.

I could see my half hour slipping away. I had one more number to get the sale of the week. Arthritis was taking over my knuckles and my elbow was cramping up as I dialed the last number.

Hello this is Bill can I help you? My fingers were positioned over the number on my phone ready to follow the direction I was sure I was going to get. After a brief second it dawn on me that I was talking to a human being. There was a real live person talking to me with a friendly voice.

Within minutes I knew about:

• Customs brokers
• NAFTA certifications,
• GST’s
• Canadian taxes
• Exchange rates.

I called my customer back and said Brian, I would be happy to take care of it all. All I need to know is will this be MasterCard or Visa.

I was glad to help my new customer and friend get the resolution he expected and the privacy stone-like fence material he wanted before the Canadian bad weather set in. This is sales, listening to your customer and finding workable solution to help them get what they want.

Thanks Zig, any advice on getting through answer devices?

Jon "Your Fence Man on Wheels"
jon@summitfencesupply.com
summitfencesupply.com

People Buy from People they Like and Trust.

I was looking at pictures I received from a customer and realized that he was more than a customer he became a friend. Down in Baton Rouge there is a company named Chris' Speciality Meats owned by Chad and his wife. Chad wanted to put up a privacy fence around his house and contact Summit Fence Supply, LLC.

I remember getting the first phone call from him and instantly liking this man. He was fun to talk to and we really hit it off. Over the next few months we worked on his project using Simtek Stone-like fence. “Chad, when you are done send me some pictures I can put on my website. He said, “Sure will!”

Somehow over the process we became friends. He is not one to pay a penny more for something than is fair and I am not going to gouge a person to make a higher percentage. Some would call that not good business sense but I call it honesty. We have to like what we do and we have to like who we are after the job is done.

I went on to sell Chad gate operators, and even a key pad for his house. I still talk to Chad from time to time and when he calls I know the voice and I am glad to hear it on the other end of the phone.

What have I learned by owning a business?

• You are responsible for the business environment.
• You set the ground rules for your customer service. I worked for a company once that would not call people back because the customer might have a problem. That will never be the case with our company.
• The people you hire are a reflection of you and your philosophy. Make sure you hire people that follow your model and get rid of the ones that don’t.
• Sell only products that you would use in your house or business. If you can’t sell the best products and warranties get out of business.
• Factory representatives are people too. They have the right to be treated as friends.
  

I have been blessed to have my own business coming up on 3 years. I have met people from all over the United States, Mexico and Canada. I have shipped product to Main to Alaska and because of that I have friends all over the country.

Thanks Chad for the pictures.

Jon, Your Fence Man on Wheels
Summit Fence Supply, LLC
summitfencesupply.com

Some Gentle Thought...

School is starting and another year of educating the minds of American children is upon us. We got a package from my mother today with all kind of school supplies for my grandson. His mother is sewing patches of his school on new shirts. Soon moms will sigh a brief relief that they made it through vacation, summer camp, and swimming lessons.

Alright enough… Why is this motorcycle parked in this handicapped unload zone. HELLO Mister… some wheelchair vans need that area for their ramps to come down and allow their passengers room to get out. I guess it is a new form of education. This poor fellow decided that while he was doing a week of remodeling at his home he would park his car in this spot day and night, night and day. I understand that it may not be known to all people that the stripped areas beside handicapped spots look odd. This individual said, “No one uses this spot so I may as well leave my motorcycle here for a week or so. How nice of this place to provide this spot just for me!”

Okay Jon...Enough of that! Take a deeeeeep breath … inhale... exhale...

Yes, this is the time of year for the trees to start to hear the call of fall (I still can’t figure out why he parked there!) and the evenings too have a touch of chill in the air. (Some people! How am I going to get my morning, or afternoon Starbucks coffee…? Or for that matter my evening decaf coffee?) Friday night football games will begin in a week and band member are practicing their tunes. (Hope he gets a ticket. Maybe it will get towed) I love this time of year.

School is never over in life is it!

How Much Fence Do I Need?

Over the last 12 years of fencing one question keeps coming back. “How do I know how much fence material I will need?”

Since I quote out fence all day long Monday through Friday I thought I would help the DYI guy or gal that would like to get an idea what they need in order to install either an aluminum fence or a vinyl fence.

1. You need to know your layout. What do you want to contain or protect? Do you want to put a fence up around your entire property or just a small area around a swimming pool?

2. Lay out the area for your fence. I would just take some stakes and place them at the corners all around the area.

3. With a tape measure or wheel measure the distances between stakes in feet. Always round up to the next foot. For example if you have a run that is 4ft 7 inches on your paper write down 5 feet. (see diagram)

4. I would also put stakes where you want your walk gates or drive gates. When doing gates try to always think ID (inside dimensions). The most common gate opening is 4 foot. That allows most commercial lawn mowers access to the yard.

5. Depending on the type of fence you are using, you need to identify the number of posts you will need and sections. Find out from the supplier the width of the sections you are installing. It will usually be 6 or 8 foot depending on the style of fence you are installing.

6. If the length of your line is 50 feet and you are using a 6 foot section you would divide the length (50) by the length of the section 6. Remember to round up. Your number of sections would be 9 sections. If that is the case you would need 8 line posts and 2 corners or 2 ends. Depending on your layout.

7. After you do this for each line your list will look something like this.
20 Fence section
4 corner posts
16 lines posts
2 gate posts
1 - 4 foot walk gate

That is all you need to do to find out how much material you will need for your fence project.

Remember, you can always call us at summitfencesupply.com with a layout and we will figure it out for you. If you want to purchase from us GREAT if not you will have a great list to go shopping.

Jon Mullender
President Summit Fence Supply, LLC
jon@summitfencesupply.com
find us on the web at summitfencesupply.com

Visit with Nick

I love to serve and Nick of Highland Hts wanted to replace his fence. However there were problem using the normal section.

Memories

If it is true that we are the sum of our past experience tonight reminded me of how blessed my life has been. At the corner of Park and Second, in the little town of Barberton Ohio a group of old high school friends gathered to drink a little, eat a little and enjoy being with one another a lot. How blessed I was to see people I went to school with. The girls are just as beautiful and the guys just as fun loving as ever. We laugh, told stories of our lives and just had fun.

It has been 39 years since I said goodbye to high school and 39 years since I have seen these dear friends. Yes my life’s course was set in motion my senior year at Coventry when a cute little girl tripped over my crutch at a basketball game and Mr. Lee tossed me out of the gym. From that brief moment the stars lined up the angles sang and love bloomed, the same love that flowered into a friendship, a marriage, a son, and a grandson.

Will I ever go back to the corner of Park and Second? Time will tell for this old guy… But one more time I have to say:

Hail to thee, our Alma Mater,
True we'll always be.
Praise thy name with reverent voices,
For each memory.
For our high school raise your voices,
Speed them on the gale! (Never did understand that line)
Ever stand, our Alma Mater.
Coventry High, all hail!

Oh Kathy, I still say she said she married and 85 year old. You go Carol!

Breadloaf Railing:

What is a deck with out a railing? However you do not have to have a wooden railing on a wooden deck. Why not try aluminum railing… Here are some 5 reason to use aluminum railing

1. No splinters
2. No maintenance
3. Strength/Safety
4. Ease of installation
5. Will give a richer look to your patio or deck.
   
   Imagine having friends over for a cookout and having Little Billy running his little red car on the top of your wooden rail. All of the sudden you hear this loud cry. Little Billy’s mom runs over to see what is happening to her little baby and notices a big sliver of wood sticking out of his hand. She pulls it out and the evening events are continued but a little tense for some time. Three week later you hear that your friend had a party at their house however, you were not invited? Did the accident have to happen? Not with aluminum hand rail from Summit Fence Supply.
   
   Send us your drawing and we will assist you in laying out your beautiful handrail help you lay out exactly what you want.
   
   What would you like to know about fence? Email me at jon@summitfencesupply.com and I will include it in a future video conversation.