Go commercial: doors & windows

outside salesman may work with the builders or occasionally an area may have a local builders exchange, where architects display their plans and anyone can examine them and deliver his bid.

"But one thing is essential," says M. Scott Whiddon, vice president and assistant general manager of Causeway Lumber Co., Fort Lauderdale, Fl. "You've got to go around and see the people. It's hard to do it over the phone or to have them come into your store. Large projects are project-oriented, and they're used to having people come to them. They're so large they don't have to go around and shop."

Causeway thinks commercial builders often choose them because they have it all, offering five commodities: lumber, reinforcing steel, roof trusses. millwork and commercial hardware. Similarly, others want- ing to sell doors and windows to commerical accounts, may begin by expanding their line of structural materials to attract the buyers in the first place.

To gain an edge over the competition, Causeway also offers installation as part of the price for their doors, and also has a separate builders hardware department, stocking a wide array of commercial merchandise.

A new program is a complete catalog of millwork and hardware items designed for and distributed specially to architects. "We're trying to influence the specifrcation process," says Whiddon. "We hope to influence the architect to influence the builder to use our materials."

Dealers agree the commercial market for doors and windows is one worth pursuing, but it takes work and motivation.