Let’s say you have a home improvement contractor who you truly love. You could look up “fine workmanship” in the homeowners bible and there would be a picture of your guy.But there’s one downside to working with him (nobody’s perfect). As wonderful as he is–so good, in fact, you almost hate to refer him because you’re afraid he’ll get so busy he won’t have time for you…But you want him to stay in business, so…But I digress.
As wonderful as he is, his only flaw is that he stays so busy and his work is so meticulous, he doesn’t have time to keep up with the latest trends and energy saving, green building products that you’ve been noodling around on your wish list.
So when you talk to him about these big ideas, he just kind of stares at you and waits for instruction. You’re not an expert on LEED, NAHB Green Building Guidlines, or the United States Green Building Council (USGBC)recommendations, but you kinda know what you want. You’d just like an expert to explain it all to you top to bottom and fill in all your gaps, so you can make the wisest decision for your home improvement investment.
That’s where Julius Krisanic and his Wholesale Siding Depot of St. Louis, MO, comes in. Julius welcomes almost 5,000 of the city’s top contractors to his showroom and encourages them to bring their clients to look around.
“Ninety-nine percent of all contractors don’t have their own showroom. So they either have to bring products to the homeowner or bring the homeowner to the products. We believe if we’re helpful and educate the contractor and the homeowner about all the new green exterior building products, both parties will make knowledgeable decisions and help us make a sale,” he says.
The Wholesale Siding Depot Showroom is where you and your contractor go, for example, to:
- Discover which replacement windows meet the Department of Energy’s Energy Star rating (Viwinco solid-vinyl windows). A thumbs-up from Energy Star qualifies home-improvement products for President Obama’s energy tax saving, and Julius’ company is the exclusive master distributor for the Viwinco vinyl window line in Missouri.
- Replace your deck with and learn about next-generation Azek “pro cell technology” made of PVC and vinyl that you heard “starves insects to death, and won’t absorb stains or bleed.
- “Green up” your home’s exterior with Certainteed Cedarboards Insulated solid-vinyl siding that’s HBA Green Building certified. It contains 60% recycled content, and no other siding qualifies as a green product, including standard fiber cement siding.
St. Louis may be the Gateway to the West, but it’s almost dead last in supporting the green movement, much to Julius’ disappointment. He estimates the State of Missouri is probably 45th out of the 48 contiguous states.
But his mission is to be St. Louis’ green building products leader, so he’s willing to take a longer view of success. Recently Wholesale Siding Depot held a seminar on green building products. His vendor said he’d be lucky to get 6 contractors to show up. The company hosted 32.
That was a signal to Julius that he’s positioning himself ahead of the curve with his commitment to continuous educational programming. “Homeowners want better products–they want products that are nice and that last. Going green needs to be more consumer-driven, if we’re going to make a difference,” he says. “But a lot of contractors care only about the price because they want the job. When you have a consumer and a contractor with that mindset, guess what? You’re not going to make a lot of progress.”
Julius has a 37-year history of taking the longer view, which started in 1972. He was the youngest-ever sales representative to achieve Reynolds Ambassador status at age 25 after selling $1 million in building products. He later opened and managed 4 distribution centers in the Midwest. Longevity ideals are evident in his client base, too, which is made up of at least 50 multi-generational customers who have remained customers for more than 30 years.
With so many people floundering in the building industry, Julius attributes much of his success to his home-grown, experienced staff which includes his brother (and partner), a nephew, and now his son, plus his philosophy of treating customers like family. “It sounds simple to say,” he says, “but not many do it.”
One of the perks of spending a day getting caught up on state-of-the-art building products and getting a 3-way dialog going between you, your contractor and a knowledgeable distributor like Wholesale Siding Depot is getting treated to the “bird feeder,” a continually replenished stash of M&Ms. Julius says they go through cases of them.
“When you’re getting ready to invest in a big home improvement project, “take your time,” Julius says. “Too many people don’t do their homework and end up with products they’re disatisfied with in 5 years. Good building products will last longer, improve your quality of life by reducing the aggrivation factor and, ultimately, pay for themselves.”
All this available knowledge, experience and chocolate in one showroom. Now you can really love your contractor for who he knows, too.
Originally posted 2009-06-11 09:00:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
