How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

You know her, the one with the waggily tail. If one of the world's most sung songs is about looking into a store front and hoping to be able to spend money, does that tell you something? You can make money helping people to make their storefronts more attractive to customers.

Joe's Baseball Card Shop calls you and wants information about putting in a new storefront that will give his business a more modern look, and get rid of all the water dripping on his cards displayed in the window. So you visit Joe and see a wooden framed front, with single glazed, clear, 1/4" annealed glass. He is on a busy street, with lots of foot traffic, being near a popular coffee shop. Joe is concerned with his energy costs, and of course, with the payback to your project. What are you going to tell him?

You think for a few minutes and maybe come up with the following: The frame should be thermally broken aluminum. Your choice of manufacturers and detail. Help Joe with this one...what color? Clear, bronze, or what? Well, baseball is most associated with green, for the grass it is played on. I would recommend a green front, which, would increase your sale too! Explain that the thermally broken front will save him energy dollars and help reduce condensation in the winter. Maybe, if the sizing is right, you make the opening shaped like home plate. This makes his front a direct ad for his business. Sounds corny, but so what...if you suggest it, the customer can always so "no". If you don't suggest it, you have no chance of the possible 'YES'.

Now for the glass--baseball cards are very sensitive to fading, so you definitely want a light of lami as the inboard lite on an IG Unit. Explain this to Joe and he will respect your knowledge of the technical side of glass, and help him solve a problem that he has, but didn't think to ask you about. Don't be afraid to up sell a little bit. Next, show Joe Starphire (tm) and clear float, and let Joe decide. Show Joe how much better his cards will look in low-iron glass. Either one can come with high-performance low-e.

You have solved Joe's moisture problem, his fading problem, which he didn't know could be fixed, and gave him a whole new look to draw in customers. It is a larger sale, but well worth the customer's interests...and Joe will thank you for suggesting ways to help his business.

Walk down the main shopping streets in your business area. You will find many retailers who need upgraded storefronts. Explain to them that this investment is needed now for them to improve their business. I know most businesses are not going to be spending money now, but what the heck; you're not busy anyway and all you need is one or two to say they are interested. You have to go out and drum up the business for your company. Don't wait for it to come to you.

PS. If Joe says he will pay you in baseball cards instead of cash, take it.

It's Time To Think About Christmas/Holiday Bonuses

Yep, it is that time already. How much can you give, to who, and most importantly why? If the why is "because you did it last year and the year before that," it is time to think twice. The rules of business have changed in the last twelve months. Companies are changing; if they are not, they are going out of business.

Giving a bonus should not be based on tradition, unless presented in an employee manual as part of yearly compensation, or as part of a negotiated contract. Deciding to give a bonus should be based on three factors:

1. Was the overall business successful. If the company lost money over the last twelve months, or had negative cash flow, it is hard to justify funds to cover bonuses.


2. Did the specific employee do his job as requested, or did she/he stand out from the crowd, doing more than expected.


3. Do you, as the owner/manager, feel strongly about giving a gift at this time of the year to some or all employees.

Let's look at one. If you made money, then by all means thank your employees. Thank them with your words, and your checkbook. A business that was profitable in the last year is indeed rare. Share with your employees as much as you can, for along with your leadership, they brought you to this profitable point.

On the other hand, if you lost money, or your cash flow is negative, it is time to consider not giving a bonus. Even though you have paid one for many years, this year is different; most employees know the economy has hurt business. Meet with your employees as early in the holiday schedule as you can, so they can predict their income and adjust their spending patterns. Any employee who vocally or publicly complains about no gift, is not a team player. Do what you may with this thought.

It is easy for me, sitting in my office to tell you not to pay a holiday bonus. Sure is. My only employee is my wife, Elaine. But, if you made little or no profit, you have to change the rules this year. Yes, it will hurt. But it will hurt less than going out of business in March when your cash is completely gone.

Tell your employees now there will be no bonus next month. Explain to them the facts of your business, and that you are equally upset as they are.

Make sure you didn't just buy a new truck or a car for yourself. Don't take a winter vacation this year either. Two weeks on a tropical island, even if it is your 25th anniversary blows all credibility you had. Don't take advantage of year-end planning by buying a ton of inventory.

Two. You have a couple of employees who worked their tails off, far and above what you would have expected. They were leaders and motivators of others and contributed heavily to holding the company together. You want to give them something to say thank you, and make a point of it to the others that those who worked hard will get a bonus. Sounds like a good idea....until you answer this question--"Do you have a valid employee review system that details the excellent work of some and the substandard work of others?" If not you really should not make this payment. Here is one possible scenario. The two great employees have green skin and brown hair, and the two weaker employees both happen to have blue skin with brown hair. Bet you a dollar to a donut, that the blue skin employees will file a discrimination complaint, and they will probably win. Even if they don't win, you will spend time and precious money defending what you thought was a nice gesture on your part.

If you still want to take care of your key people, understand that it will get out to the rest...it always does. The quietest way that I know is to give a VISA gift card, that the employee can use just as cash. Impress upon the employee not to mention this, and hope that works. At year-end, be sure to include the value of the card in their gross wages.

By far, the best system of giving bonuses is based on the actual work each employee does, not seniority. You will get a much bigger bank for the buck if you reward the people who deserve it. You MUST have an employee evaluation system in place to do this well, and to avoid problems. Start this now, so it is in place for next year. You will be well ahead of the game.

Have questions on employee review systems? Feel free to give me a phone call at 603-242-3521 and I will gladly answer your questions.

Three. If you want to give a gift at this time of the year, then do it. It is your money to distribute, and if it makes you feel good, then go ahead. Give it based on seniority, or equal amounts to various departments. Remember, if you give different amounts to similar employees, you should have a review program.

US Glass News---Oct. 27, 2019

Here is the what the glass news for, October 27, 2019, would look like if written by a blogger that has way too much time on his hands and a mind that wanders.

Singapore. CR Laurence, the sprawling Los Angeles based supplier of everything for the glass industry opened their 265th distribution center, located in Singapore. Don Friese, Chairman of CRL Worldwide, was on hand for the ribbon cutting. The famous CRL catalog is now available in 35 languages, serving the 54 different countries where CRL has a warehouse.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PPG denied the rumor, again, that the glass division is up for sale. The offer from the government of China was made public this week on the glass channel, a large industry-specific cable/satellite channel, available in over two billion homes across the world. PPG, the innovator of bio-luminescent paint has seen glass sales slip to 1% of their company's two and half trillion dollars of sales. The Chairman of PPG said, "Now that PPG Bio Paint is used in every home in the world, glass has slipped a little in focus, but we will not forget our past." Most outsiders agree that if the price were right, the glass division would be sold.

New York City, New York. The Freedom Tower has been given it's building permit by the City of New York. The Tower, clad in standard three-inch IG, made with Blast-Resistant, ninth generation Low-E, should be ready for occupancy by 2021, in time for the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack.

Owatonna, Minnesota. ViraArch has announced the purchase of the Grayson Glass Company from Cleveland. The new company will be called ViArGra. The officers of the new company have promised a hard effort to please their customers and stockholders.

Cleveland, Ohio. Speaking of Cleveland, the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is still made of glass, and that is the only news from Cleveland.

Toledo, Ohio. The Mayor of Toledo wants to know why we are speaking of Cleveland; isn't Toledo the glass capital of Ohio?

Midland, Michigan. Dow Corning has announced their newest silicone product. Each tube of Dow 34567 has three colors in each tube, so you never have the wrong silicone with you on the truck. Dow is working on a new name for the tri-colored silicone. VanChocStraw Silicone has already been passed over.

Dublin, Ireland. Oldcastle has announced that the glass division now makes up over 50% of the company's revenue. The purchase of the entire glass production of Japan has been credited with helping the glass division's growth.

Somewhere in New Mexico. The giant (249 sq mile) solar collector which will supply electricity to the Southwest US has continued its construction on schedule. With the glass front plate being delivered from Viet Nam, about 10,000 sq ft per day is being assembled. At this rate, it will only take 1,902 years to complete the installation. The owner's rep has commented that with the low costs of labor, the Vietnamese glass is cost effective for this type of job.

Garisonville, Virginia. US Glass Magazine has announced their participation in the ear chip program. This allows US Glass readers to have a computer chip embedded in their scalp to continuously receive the US Glass News, and highlights from the glass channel 24 hours a day, with limited commercial interruption. The chip will be free to qualified readers.

Miami, Florida. Max Perilstein's two hour, daily, show on the glass channel has received the award for excellence from the Florida ASPCA, for Max's in-depth story on how some Florida Marlins lived through a vicious attack by some Pirates from the Pittsburgh area. We know Max's love of fish stories.

Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. Paul Bieber's glass blog continues to hit new lows with bad jokes and weird columns. This has been an ongoing trend for many years, and looks likely to continue.

Why Did Bieber the Blogger Go To Cooperstown?

Why did Bieber the Blogger go to Cooperstown?

I am here to tell the glass universe that there is indeed glass in the Baseball Hall Of Fame. This is a pure research mission in my quest to learn more about the uses of our great product.

And, if you believe that....

My wonderful wife, Elaine, gave me a three day trip here as a gift for a recent birthday. I feel like a kid in a candy shop. Just about everyone who know me knows that I enjoy baseball, and since Cooperstown is the center of the universe, here we are.

Elaine and I arrived here this morning, spent the day looking at old baseballs and uniforms, and I can tell you, it just doesn't get better than this.

So, since this is supposed to be a glass blog, here is what I have to report:

• Not a darn thing!

I'll catch you next week with a real column about glass; until then, Elaine and I are on vacation. See you soon.

Lyle Hill Should Have Won The Nobel Peace Prize

He's from Chicago; people read what he writes; he has negotiated a peaceful settlement with the all the union trades in the glass industry; he was disappointed when the Olympics went south; who is this super man?

It is really Lyle Hill who should have won the Nobel Prize.

The comments after the announcement could fit either man to a "T":

"Why Him?"
"Maybe he will do more in the future."
"It was done with smoke and mirrors."

I have learned that Lyle's cadre of fiendish friends stuffed the ballot box in Oslo. You know who they are--led by the Mooch. They went by the hundreds to vote for Lyle. They even had his name written down on their shirt sleeves so they wouldn't forget it. They sneaked into the room with the ballot box and opened the ballots. That's when the panic ensued. Lyle's name was not on the ballot, and there was no room for a write-in. They looked at each other and said that since President Obama was from Chicago, that would be close enough. Everyone would know that if someone from Chicago won, people would know it really would be Lyle. So they voted for President Obama.

The right-wingers have all complained about the President getting the prize, but not a one of them has suggested an alternative. We have to start a "Substitute Lyle For Oslo" campaign. We need to put this on billboards along Lake Michigan, and shout it from the top of the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier. Every email you send should include the "Substitute Lyle" mantra.

If you rearrange the letters in Rush Limbaugh's name, it spells: "Lyle Hill is the best guy to ever come out of Chicago and he deserves the prize." (Rush has a long middle name that not many know!)

During the last century, at a Cubs game, Lyle bought some Cracker Jacks, and pulled a prize with two parts. It was his first 2-piece prize, and ever since then, he knew this Oslo based thing was his destiny.

Let us all come together to support a peaceful man, in our peaceful industry, from the non-partisan city of Chicago.

P.S. If Lyle does win, he gets $1,400,000 as a gift from the Nobel Institute. I hope that Lyle will donate this to the new owners of the Chicago Cubs to help them sign pitching. Thanks, Lyle.

Author's Note: I am very proud that our American President was honored by the Nobel Committee. The world hopes that President Obama will lead us to a more peaceful earth.

There Is Always Next Year

I am a Mets fan. I have been a Mets fan. I will continue to be a Mets fan. "There is always next year" is my mantra. With the season ending on Sunday, I have spoken these words yet again. It's easy to speak these five words for a baseball fan; a glass shop owner can't say them. You don't get an off season to regroup and practice. Next year starts when the alarm clock goes off tomorrow morning. So, let's look at some easy and quick ideas to start turning things around.

Scenario: Your accountant just told you that you lost money during the last quarter.

Buck up and say thank you to the accountant. You can't recapture the money, so moping around won't do any good. Have the accountant tell you where you lost the money...was it selling too low, was labor too high, was your overhead climbing too fast? A good accountant will be able to see this easily. Then, sit down that evening and look at why the problem area occurred and make a list of ten or more possible solutions to the problem. Now, go to sleep. In the morning, look back at your list with a fresh focus, and you will see that three or four ideas are just plain silly, one or two will cost more than they save, and one or two may just work. That's your target.

If you don't have any ideas, reach out to your second in command at the shop, sharing the problem and asking for solutions. Ask your accountant, your lawyer or any business advisor you have. Maybe another glass shop across town will be glad to talk with you.

Write a program that fixes your problem, based on the two ideas that you kept. Sleep on it again, and if it still looks good, then you start to implement.

Great words, Paul, but what are the possible fixes if you lost money last quarter? Most of the people I have been talking with have their payroll as low as it can go. People have time to shop around, so you are probably buying at good prices. The most common thing I hear is that selling prices are so low that no one is making any money. How then, can you raise prices when the market is soft?

Bid on work that can go to any bidder, not jobs that are required by law to go to the lowest bidder. This may cause a change in your business plan, and that is OK, the economy has changed, and you can change with it.

Give your potential customer, Sam Geecee, greater value. When you give a bid, list all of the extra points your company will include:

• Washing every window you install;
• Do the work on the evenings in an office building so they won't be displaced from their normal work effort;
• Eat any small extras, up to a preset value, telling Sam that you are a service company;
• Stress all of the warranties you are passing through from your vendors, give a warranty of a year or two on all of your work;
• Stress the high quality of the materials you use for sealants, piggyback on the good will of the name brands, avoiding the bargain stuff;
• Explain how your glass and metal is energy efficient, assist Sam with understanding LEED points, show how much Sam will save in energy costs;
• Build a small mock-up, when Sam didn't ask for one, to make sure everyone is on the same page;
• Always look clean and neat in every contact with your potential customer, sure you have work clothes on but your shirt is tucked in, your hair neat, and your paperwork doesn't have coffee stains;
• Take them on a tour of your glass fabricator's plant, if nearby, showing the quality of the product you will be installing;
• Promise Sam his punch list will be done promptly, and then do it promptly--this is what you will be remembered by;
• Offer to take Sam around to other similar installations you have done to verify your skills;
• Promise that your employees will always look presentable on the customer's job site

OK, here are a few great ideas, and a few that are a real stretch---that is exactly the point. Some you throw out, some you implement.

This can help raise your selling prices by maybe a point or two, so, let's try it.

Glass Show Seminars I Would Like To See

The big show is coming to Atlanta. I was looking over the list of seminars, and while they looked very interesting and informative, there were some I thought were missing. Since I can see the future, here are some seminars from a glass show of the future:

• How To Read The Calendar (Section I)--For Glass Shops---learn how to smudge dates on purchase orders; how to prove your fabricator was late and can be back charged; discover why your vendor's payment terms of 30 days really equals 75.

• How To Read The Calendar (Section II)--For Fabricators---learn how to easily add a week for delivery and keep most of your customers happy; Why does saying Monday really mean Tuesday, in English and Spanish; How to blame: a) the fax machine b) the clerk you fired yesterday; 10 surefire excuses for missing delivery dates

• How To Order Chinese Glass--It Is Easier Than You Think---Pick a building owner planning to sell the building within six months, eliminating concern with impossible re-orders; prepare a press release saying you believe in the international economy for all peoples; Have the glass delivered at night in plain, unmarked crates

• A Seminar On The Many Uses For Failed IG Units---Our speaker told us he had nothing to discuss...we will reschedule this for next year

• A First Timer's Look At Tempered Shower Doors---They are so easy that any glazier can do them; Why the phrase "out-of-square" means nothing; How to measure doors to a 1/4" tolerance; How to order a Mickey Mouse notch without out the need for the Goofy drawings; 5 ways to place your own tempered logo on annealed glass

• A Presentation on Sexist and Racist Jokes That Are Acceptable In Every Glass Shop---Our presenter will tell you how to offend everyone without breaking the law; Why sexist jokes work better with props; Telling racist jokes in multiple languages

• How Smoking Pot On The Job Will Help You Lift Those Heavy IG Units---(There is an additional $20 fee for the hands-on section of this seminar) Smoking pot gives you super-human feelings...How to channel this energy to productive work; Sharing the good stuff so every one can work at the same pace; The timing of giving pot to your customers...before the final inspection or with the presentation of the invoice; Discover the list of employers who don't drug test

• Fashions Of The Glass Worker---10 different blue jean styles that will show the top of your butt; Wearing T-shirts with foul language and obscene pictures actually makes you feel better; Why changing your clothes at least once a week will be good for business

• Why The Wage And Hour Laws Don't Apply To You---Paying taxes restricts your rights; Overtime laws are for sissies; The proper amounts to offer as bribes for various situations