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Editorial
And Now for Something a Bit Different...
Business in general, and the window coverings industry in particular, has never been at a loss for ideas on how to do things better, or how to do them right in the first place—how to sell more, how to approach customers, a better way to install, a better way to make products.
This is good. The alternative would be an industry that just plows along continuing to do things the way they always have been done. It would be an industry lacking passion, because that’s where the incentive to improve things and help others lies.
For the last 26 years at Draperies & Window Coverings we’ve been very fortunate to work with a number of people with this passion. They want the industry to be better; they want the people in it to succeed; and they want to help.
Two of these people, columnists Steve Bursten and Mary Ann Plumlee, have stepped up and agreed to do something extraordinary, and maybe just a bit risky, but certainly very interesting and fun, too! They’ve agreed, from time to time, to look at the same topic and approach it from their own perspectives. The two haven’t always seen things the same way. “Steve has no idea how many debates his typed words and I have been engaged in,” Plumlee wrote in her introductory column last January. But, she also admitted, “Just as often, his words were right on target.”
Bursten’s and Plumlee’s credentials speak for themselves. Bursten is the retired founder of Decorating Den Interiors and author of “Bootstrap Entrepreneur.” He currently is president of CustEmers.com and the force behind Exciting Windows! Plumlee is the owner of a retail and wholesale workroom in Texas, having started as a single-person shop with a home sewing machine and expanding it to include a showroom, 12 employees and two locations. She, too, penned a book, “The Adventures of Curtain Lady,” and she teaches classes and seminars as well.
The first of these encounters, what we’re calling “He Said, She Said,” appears this month on page 64. The topic: Closing Ratios.
Which viewpoint you will agree with, or which one makes the most sense to your business depends on where you are in the industry and where you see yourself going. You’ll probably find things you’ll agree with (and disagree with) in both viewpoints. Readers’ comments are always welcome! At the very least, we’ll get you thinking.
Howard Shingle
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