As an authorized dealer of Universal Windows Direct, we've been serving the replacement window needs of Twin Cities residents for years. By providing high-quality, energy efficient replacement windows at competitive prices, we've built a strong reputation for superior services that our customers count on.
Read MoreMarketing Manager needed to work in our Bloomington, MN office.
Who we are:
We are a local, family – owned company with offices in Bloomington, MN.
Steve the Window Guy is a brand of our business. Universal Windows Direct is our company name, and ties us to a pretty awesome group of dealers and resources throughout the country.
We work hard, we take our work seriously, and we laugh a lot.
We love cheeseburgers & popcorn and some days we have a toddler in the office.
What we do:
We make homes warmer, cozier, and prettier.
We sell and install windows, siding, roofing, front doors, patio doors, and attic insulation
We do what we say we’re going to do and we take pride in our work.
We all pitch in. We all share ideas. We all work together to meet our goals.
What you’ll do:
You’ll make sure we have appointments in the books for our sales guys to run.
You’ll hire, train, and manage a small staff of people who will set appointments by
Working home shows and events
Marketing our products door to door
Working in a call center
You’ll work shows, you’ll market door to door, and you’ll make phone calls, too
You’ll work tirelessly to help the team meet our goals.
Your background will include:
College degree in business, management, marketing, or similar field.
2+ years in a customer service field;
1+ years supervising staff
1+ years working in a call center or canvassing preferred
Proficiency with Microsoft word, excel, and internet programs.
You will need to be able to lift 50-75 pounds.
You will need to be able to stand on your feet for up to 8 hours a day.
To apply: Send resume and letter of interest with salary requirements to Melissa at mbrager@universalwindowsdirect.com.
To learn more about us, please visit our website at www.SteveTheWindowGuy.com or www.UniversalWindowsMN.com
This blog gives a behind the scenes look at our life working home shows!
We survived.
The spring home show season for 2014 is officially over for us.
Some companies hire a staff of people who do nothing but work shows. We chose not to do that. Steve, Zach and I work most of them. We prefer to have people in our booth who know the product and can have an intelligent conversation with you. Zach, Dave, Joe, Sarah and Mike are all people we adore both personally and professionally. They are smart. They are helpful. They are knowledgeable. They are good people and we trusted them to represent our company. Having that level of trust made those big huge long shows very successful for us. More importantly, their help meant we didn't have to be there every minute.
Home shows are a lot of hours. Still, they are the best way to get our name out to the local communities. Are they the only way for us to personally connect with homeowners and potential customers? YES! Are they hands down the best way for a prospective customer to see the quality of our replacement windows and doors while comparing to the competition? ABSOLUTELY!
But is working a home show every weekend easy? NO!
While everyone else is winding down their Friday and calculating how much longer they have to pretend to work before Happy Hour , we are just getting started. We are loading the truck. We are printing our move-in instructions. We are gambling with rush hour traffic; trying to get a bit more done in the office before we go set up.
Have you ever seen a home show get set up? It’s like one of those little Chinese puzzles we used to get as kids at birthday parties. Everyone is jockeying for a spot by the door. Everyone is frantically unloading their stuff and dumping it into their booth so they can move the truck and the next guy can get in. It isn’t a calm process.
Then, once all of our displays are inside we arrange the booth. Do you think the booth would be easy to arrange every time? It isn’t! We have different set ups every single time based on the location and size of the booth, the number of corners the booth has, whether or not we’re on the end, and even what show it is. This means once everything is unloaded we do the whole scratching our head thing and start moving stuff until it feels right. (Not unlike when we moved into our home trying to decide the best spot for the sofa!)
We do our best. We make a list of what we forgot, and we head home. Do we stop for ice cream? Yes. Most days.
If we are both working, the “show prep” continues with prepping the babysitter for the next day. We try to clean the house so we don’t look like total slobs. We try to make sure there is food for the sitter and for the baby… and we usually do an okay job at it. Just like that our Friday night is shot.
Saturday Mornings are crazy. We are busy getting up and ready to go. We need a big breakfast. We need to pack a lunch. We spend what time we can with our daughter. We greet the babysitter and give her last minute instructions, then we race off to buy the caffeine we’ll need for the day and then race to the show. Often we stop at the office to grab something. More often then I’d like to admit, we stop at the grocery store to buy food for lunch. And a doughnut. (our nutrition suffers).
By the time the show opens we are ready to go and we work. We talk to hundreds of people every day. We demo our replacement windows. We show the quality of our steel and fiberglass entry doors. We talk about the benefit of being a preferred contractor with Owens Corning for our roofing. We talk until we cannot talk any more. Then we ride home in silence. Exhausted.
The next day we repeat the whole routine.. with the added bonus of tear down. At the end of the show we tear it all down, pack it all up, re-load the truck, jockey for loading space in the back of the show space and then take it all home. And unload it all back in to the warehouse. Sunday night is usually a late night.
Then on Monday morning the week starts all over again. The phone keeps ringing, orders keep getting placed, jobs keep getting installed, and our sales guys keep running appointments. We look ahead to the next weekend and what we need to do to get ready.
For us, home show season starts at the end of January and goes until mid-April. We have a few weekends off, but for the most part we are working every weekend. It is necessary. It is beneficial. It is tiring. It is exhausting.
If you talked to us at a show this year, thank you very much. We appreciate your time and consideration. We love our company. We believe in our products and we strive to do the best possible job for you and your family.
Next weekend we have a weekend. This is going to feel new to us. And it is going to feel so very GOOD. I can’t wait.
Meanwhile, if you or someone you know is in the market for replacement windows, doors, siding or roofing, please contact us for a free quote.
Steve The Window Guy sells more than just windows in MN!
Author: Melissa Brager
Related Articles:
Why you should go to a Home Show
This blog gives an update on our week at the Seminar and shares some plans for 2014!
Universal Windows Direct is ready for an AWESOME New Year! Are you?
At Universal Windows Direct we are very excited about 2014 and having our best year ever. Our goal is a lofty one, but we know that with the help of an amazing staff, awesome installers, and people like you we can do it!
Last week we were fortunate to attend the 2014 Universal Windows Direct Success Seminar. We were happy to escape the 30 below MN weather to go to the beautiful Marriot Hotel in Downtown Cleveland Ohio – where it was a balmy 20 degrees! For several days we enjoyed numerous seminars on business growth, advertising, marketing, and sales. Not only that, but we benefitted greatly from listening to the stories of our dealer partners from around the country. It is amazing how so many people with different experiences and different backgrounds can come together and help each other grow. We walked away from the meeting exhausted, but ready to put plans into action!
Now THAT is factory direct!
The last day of the seminar was a factory tour at Polaris. There is something very very cool about being in the factory and actually watching all of the men and women who work there building the product that we sell. There is an enormous amount of pride there, and we love that our business is part of what keeps them busy. We were super impressed at not only the cleanliness of the factory but the efficiency of the process. Perhaps the highlight of the tour was noticing our most recent order of window completed, and ready to be loaded. This window will be installed within the next 2 weeks!
How did Tessie do? She rocked. Our little jellyfish spent 5 days and nights with 5 different people, in 5 different houses and sleeping in 5 different beds. Playing cousins, demanding kisses every second and loving every minute of it.. She even went to a huge family birthday party so she literally spent time with everyone! Have I mentioned our blessed we are? Thank you a million times over to our community of family members who will take her in, love her and play with her until she reaches exhaustion! We missed her like crazy but we know she had fun. So here we are. Back in the office prepping for our move, consolidating our notes, and poised to put our plans in to action. Get ready to see a lot more of Universal Windows Direct, Twin Cities in the coming year. Our office is nearing completion, we are planning a job fair and we excited at the possibilities.
Last but not least, if you or anyone you know is considering replacing their windows, siding, entry doors, patio doors, roofing or attic insulation give us a call! Quotes are always free and we will provide you with the information you need to make a decision along with a same day – in writing – estimate of the job. Contact us today at through our website at www.universalwindowsmn.com , email us at twincities@universalwindowsdirect.com, or call us in the office at (612) 866-2888.
Chat soon!
Author: Melissa Brager
Recent Articles: 2013 in Review
Hello friends!
It's been a busy few weeks for everyone as we wind down October. Here is some of our great content you may have missed!
Universal Windows Direct works Fall Home ShowsHome Improvement & Remodeling Show Pictures
Did you see us at the Convention Center?
Replace your windows - just a few at a time!
Community Involvement - Pinewood Phantom Fun Run
Me and my helper at the Pinewood Fun Run
Fall Pasta Recipe: Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage
We're on Pinterest! Let your obsession continue by checking out our boards!
Also, don't forget to visit our Facebook page to see what we're up to every day! Thanks so much for checking out our blog and enjoy this beautiful fall weekend and Happy November everybody!!
Author: Melissa Brager
It's Fall Home Improvement Show time! Ready to start that project you've been putting off? You aren't alone! Every fall when the weather cools down homeowners all over the Twin Cities get serious about their home projects like window replacement, door replacement, and home remodeling. Stop out and visit with our reps at any of these upcoming Fall Home Improvement shows: Home Improvement and Design Expo:
October 20-21 at the Minneapolis Convention Center
October 27 at the National Sports Center in Blaine
November 3 at the Maple Grove Community Center
These shows offer a unique opportunity to visit with Home Improvement Companies and Remodelers to showcase their work, demonstrate their product, and answer your questions. If you are ready to start a project, or just want a chance to pre-shop quality of products, this is the place for you. Not only that, but the promoter of these shows, MediaMax, has filled the show with vendors, attractions, seminars, and all sorts of cool stuff.
Stop by and see Steve!
Stop out and visit the Universal Windows Direct booth and take advantage of our free triple pane upgrade as well as additional show discounts!
You like free, right? Please visit our booth at any of these shows as our guest. You can print free tickets at http://www.mediamaxevents.com/vip
See you there!
Author: Melissa Brager
Tips for Visiting Companies at a Home Improvement Show
It's been a month, dear reader. Sadly we have allowed ourselves to get behind in our blogging but do not worry, we did not forget about you! We are back at it and ready to get caught up. Business has been good, our personal lives have been good, we've just been running like crazy.
We have successfully finished our summer show and event season. Gone are the days of hanging in the tent, hoping for good weather overnight, and searching out our next great meal from a food truck. I think that Taco Cielo from the Dakota County Fair was my favorite this year! Mmmmmm!!!
Our fall and spring home show season gets underway soon and we have all of our dates finalized. Sometimes I feel like we're a rock bank booking our next great tour. We always have free or discounted tickets for shows so definitely check our website or call us if you're interested in enjoying a home show and vising your favorite window company!
Speaking of home shows, we are moving forward with some awesome new displays for our larger products. They will debut in 2012!
New product options! Our UniShield siding has come out with new colors to provide you with even more options for customizing your home and creating the look you've dreamed of. Our UniShield fiberglass entry doors have just release new styles that include 3/4 glass on the front. A nice way to get the look on the front of your home "just right".
We are growing! We have brought on another installer and are currently looking to grow our sales department. If you know anyone looking to get some sales experience, send them our way.
All work and no play? No way!! We have a vacation scheduled in December and are looking forward to our annual sales meeting in January. Not only that, but with fall TV underway, we are glad to "see" all of our old friends. Hey, there is nothing wrong with some quality couch time, right?
Beyond all of that, we are happily selling high quality, energy efficient windows, siding, and doors at factory direct prices to homeowners all across the Twin Cities. To learn more about our products or to schedule a free, no obligation estimate, contact us today.
Thanks for checking us out! Like what you see? Share it with your friends.
Review our open schedule times and schedule on your own. We’ll call you to confirm it when it comes through. Easy!
We believe it’s ok to smile - even when talking with a window guy!
We are an exterior re-modeler focusing on replacing windows, siding,
entry doors, sliding glass patio doors, roofing, gutters, gutter
protection and attic insulation.
We are a MN licensed contractor working throughout the Twin Cities Metro.
MN License # BC635019
Brager Remodeling, LLC DBA Universal Windows Direct, Twin Cities DBA Steve the Window Guy
