Over Five Decades of Offering Quality Products and Exceptional Service at Lloyd Scott Enterprises
Over 40 years ago, Rick Scott joined the Alma, Ontario based family business and has remained the expert on the windows and doors side of Lloyd Scott Enterprises since then. Rick says that his father Lloyd originally started out in the siding business in 1969, then in the mid ‘70’s they added an insulation side to the company portfolio. Later, a move into windows would just complement the siding division nicely. “Back then, aluminum storm windows were the most popular option being offered as vinyl windows were not yet available. Aluminum storm doors were also an option and a great addition to the siding side of the business. In the early ‘80’s, vinyl window Inserts (as they were referred to) became popular; the technology was that they would fit into the existing frame. In many cases, around us anyway, it was pretty much all farms that had the old aluminum ‘storms’ on with a wood window on the inside. We would remove the storm and the wood window and replace it with the vinyl Insert. It was early in the ‘80’s when we started in the vinyl window business. Although at that time people weren’t talking about replacing doors, steel doors were becoming much more popular, so much so, that later on in the 1980’s, we moved into insulated steel door changes. It was around this time too, that we were getting away from inserts and beginning to do full replacements and by doing so we were ahead of a lot of our competitors. We also had the advantage of having the woodworking/kitchen cabinet shop on-site as well; with the tooling and the skillset to do all of the interior trimming that was required for the full replacements, that now make up the largest part of what we do today!”
I asked Rick whether he did any pre-marketing before launching the window side of the business?
“Not really, it fit so nicely into the skillset of our employees that it was a natural transition. Dad (Lloyd Scott), worked hard at the window business and on weekends he would go to the local Fergus market where he would display the windows. He spent some long weeks promoting our windows, but it had to be done as back then people weren’t that aware of the window options that were available. It was a great deal of hard work by dad, that helped to get the Lloyd Scott Enterprises name out there.”
And what are some of the selling points of Lloyd Scott Enterprises’ windows?
“What we constantly promote most of all is the quality of our installation; our installers are not sub-contractors, they are our employees who take the extra care and time necessary to do a proper installation. I believe that this is the big selling point for our company, we do a consistent installation every time because they are employees of Lloyd Scott Enterprises. The manufacturers that we use produce a premium product with an excellent warranty. There are many more options for the customer now, including exterior and interior colours, where before everything was just white. We can offer 25 standard colours today and on some styles of windows you can have different colours on the outside than what is on the inside.”
When Rick has his sales cap on, what does he talk about the most when making a window sale?
“I promote quality, we aren’t going to be the least expensive quote, we want to be somewhere in the middle, which is where we usually are!”
Currently the company’s market is a 45 minute radius around the town of Alma. “We do receive a lot of ‘word of mouth’ referrals and friends telling friends, this is where most of our business comes from. We also advertise in local publications such as this one.”
Finally Rick, what do you attribute over 50 years of successful business to?
“Obviously dad’s work ethic which he has passed down to the company and everyone involved, but I think as a company you need to be able to adapt. In our case, Lloyd Scott Enterprises has branched out in many different directions over the years which is very important if you want to have a successful business. I like to say ‘You keep your ears open and see what opportunities might present themselves’. It’s never boring here and I think that’s what makes the days fun. Being a family business and seeing dad still popping in on a daily basis, makes it just that much better!”
WRITTEN BY: LARRY SIMPSON | RESOURCES: LLOYD SCOTT ENTERPRISES LTD
