By Sara Gilbert Frederick
Special to The Free Press
MADISON LAKE — About a year ago, the phones at Ron Boelter Window & Siding stopped ringing. As the economy worsened, the Madison Lake-based home improvement business found that fewer clients were willing to call and commit to costly projects. “Everybody was worried,” says John Larsen, a vice president with the company. “People were very cautious.”
People are still cautious. But thanks to the stimulus-related energy-efficiency tax credits, a slowly turning economy and a commitment to quality products and customer service, Boelter’s phones are ringing again.
“Things are getting better,” Ron Boelter, the company president, says. “We’ve had a fair amount of sales this year. Things are starting to come around.”
Right now, Boelter’s siding crews are booked into March. Jobs have been pushed back far enough that he recently started looking for new installers to join the company — a decision that weighed heavily on him. Bringing in extra people will help work through the backlog of jobs faster than currently possible, but it may also mean that cuts have to be made when the work is done. “We have jobs scheduled so far out that we’re starting to stretch the patience of our clients,” Boelter admits. “But we didn’t want to hire two people and then let go of four.”
Even in the worst of the recession, Boelter was able to avoid letting any of his 23 full-time employees go. Some of those have been with him since he first started hiring help in 1994; others have been with the company seven, eight or nine years. His commitment to preserving their livelihoods is what’s kept him from bringing in extra help already. But with December, January and February — traditionally the toughest months of the year — already so busy, the time is right.
“We do need more people to help out now,” Boelter says.
Busy from the beginning
Ron Boelter went into business for himself in 1990. At the time, he worked alone, primarily installing windows. In 1994, he bought the United States Seamless steel siding franchise rights for southern Minnesota; that same year, he hired his first employees. “Business took off with bang that year,” Boelter remembers. “I think I probably hired between 10 and 12 full-time employees that summer.”
Soon, Boelter had added gutters and gutter guards (namely, the Gutter Shutter brand) to his services, which also included roofing. Then came decks and sunrooms, which also led to selling hot tubs and spas as well. By 2001, he had moved the business out of his family’s home in rural Madison Lake and into a new showroom in town. Four years later, however, he decided to sell that building and to get out of the spa business.
Now Boelter is back in business at the home he’s shared with his wife for more than 30 years. His offices are in the addition he built in 1997, but sales meetings usually take place at the kitchen table — within arm’s reach of the family coffee pot. Occasionally customers come here as well; it’s the closest thing Boelter, who redid his own windows, has to a showroom now.
But most often, Boelter and the four other members of his sales team (including his son-in-law, John Larsen) meet with prospective clients in their own homes. “One thing we’re particularly good at is bringing our showroom to the homeowner,” Larsen says. “Our showroom is your house; we bring window, door and siding samples to you.”
Sometimes the products sell themselves. Boelter prides himself on selecting and sticking with high-quality products, including the line of Great Lakes windows that he has carried since starting the business. He takes similar care in hiring employees. He wants his crews to be both the best-trained and well-mannered installers working in the area. All siders and roofers are factory trained, he explains, and many of his workers are sent to four separate trainings. But as much as he expects them to do their jobs well, he also expects them to do it respectfully.
“We want our people to have respect for our clients, for their property and for their money,” Boelter says. “We want them to be personable.”
Extra credit
Such personal service has helped Boelter secure clients even in the midst of the recession. But the energy efficiency tax credits that came along as part of the federal stimulus package last year helped, too. “That helped a lot of people get off the fence about getting new windows,” Boelter says.
The focus on energy efficiency has made Boelter’s line of Great Lake windows even more attractive to homeowners this year. The insulated windows are available in styles between four and 10 times more energy efficient than regular glass; they also come with a lifetime warranty. “I honestly believe that we have the best product, the most energy efficient product out there,” Boelter says. “And I also think that people are beginning to realize that if you’re going to spend the money on it, you ought to spend it the right way.”
Boelter and Larsen laugh that the lifetime guarantee on the windows means that they’ll have few repeat customers. But neither of them are concerned they’ll run out of window to replace in the near future.
“Right now, we’re replacing a lot of windows in homes that were built in the 1980s and ’90s,” Boelter says. “But there are so many older homes, and newer homes as well, that need new windows. When I drive around, I definitely still see homes that need new windows. So I don’t think we’ll ever run out of windows to replace.”
