Transcript

All right, hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Marketing Panes the podcast where we talk with real window treatment and awning service providers and business owners about their successes and struggles related to marketing their business. Today, we are doing our Q4 review slash Q1 outlook for 2025 and excited to have two of the best window treatment dealers.

in the US on today and that’s a little bit of a play on words here. So we’ve got Josh Tixon, owner of Best Blinds and Sexy Shudders. Josh has a background in professional ballroom dancing. Josh brings precision, artistry and attention to detail to every window treatment project, making Best Blinds and Shudders a trusted name in the Arizona home improvement. And then we’ve got Vince Sturkey, owner of Best Blinds and Shudders.

Vince Sturkey owns Best Blinds and Shudders with a commitment to quality and trust, providing custom blind shades and shutters to homes across upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina. Guys, thanks so much for being on today.

Vince Sturkie (01:13 )
Thanks Will.

Will Hanke (01:15 )
Really appreciate you guys jumping on. So we’re going to get into a little bit of the Q4 and Q1 outlook kind of stuff. first, I have a personal question for each of you. Josh, I’m very intrigued by your journey from professional ballroom dancing to window treatments. How has that background and precision and artistry influenced your approach to the business?

Josh Tycksen (01:40 )
It’s interesting. I’ve never really thought about it that way. I just grew up doing it because it was a good hobby. It a good way to meet chicks. My mom said I had to be in either some form of dance or art or music and I liked movement and I like music. I’m a very energetic person. I look like I’m always on about 10 Dr. Peppers, but I don’t really drink a lot of caffeine actually. I just have a lot of natural energy, but the benefits coming from it though are I had to work with a lot of different people in a very intimate

Will Hanke (01:46 )
you

Josh Tycksen (02:09 )
setting, know, where like partnering with somebody, your hands are right on each other, on each other’s back or whatever, and you’re very close and these boundaries are very different. And in learning how to work with, you know, so many different partners and people in those settings, I think it set me up for a lot more success working with the different kinds of people that I encounter on a daily basis in our appointments. And I can read a lot of body language. I don’t even think about it. I just can see it and other people might.

not notice those same things, you know, yeah. And, know, and it just, yeah, a lot of attention to detail, cause that’s all you do. You practice some things and he says, Hey, that’s wrong. Do it again. Hey, that’s wrong. Do it again. It’s just the art of perfection. You’re just chasing over and over. And, the presentation at the end is something with the wow factor you’re really going for, where if you’re putting on a show or a performance that people want to be excited about it, and that’s what gets people come into your shows. And so I tend to have a same.

flair for our things where I like to show up at the end of installs if I’m not already part of it. And I like to get them so jacked about the products that we’re putting up by the time they’re done that they really do appreciate things that they might not otherwise know about them and kind of go through a little bit of care and, you know, just tutorial with them where we get them all excited. Cause then by the end they’re, you know, they’re like, wow, wow. I had no idea. And, I think that takes them over the top where we can then ask them for those reviews and stuff, you know, really kind of kind of.

rolls a cycle that just helps you grow and helps you stay busy.

Will Hanke (03:38 )
Yeah,

that’s a great strategy. I love the energy. I think that’s big piece, especially showing up at the end of the install and kind of hyping them up, right? That’s super cool.

Very good.

Josh Tycksen (03:51 )
Yeah,

I 100 % agree. Especially, mean, like our favorite thing to sell is automation because people want automation. A lot of people ask for it not having any idea what it costs. And they just are thinking about the wow factor part of it. So if you can get them over the price and have something that you know they can count on and love and then really go through and set it up for them, they get really excited about it. So it’s fun.

Will Hanke (04:13 )
Yeah.

Very cool. So Vince, question for you too. We were talking before we started today about Josh’s business being called Sexy Shudders. And your comment was around the North Carolina, South Carolina area being a little more conservative. How does that play into your sales approach?

Vince Sturkie (04:34 )
well you definitely got to you know check the room when you walk in every home here because you you know you could you know you don’t know so many people that are here came from somewhere else so you know when we’re here you know we we’re you know we’re country a lot of us are country boys from south carolina you know it’s more rural than it is urban and suburban here but you know we we’re we’re you know we walk in we see things you know you’re like okay what do i what hat do i need to wear today

when i’m dealing with these folks but you know people move here for a reason and you know generally they have something in common with the people that are already here and they want to be here with us and so we just kinda just it’s just business as usual really for every single home you know we just went through the election that was kind of political you know you had to you know be a little bit more balanced and careful because you never know what home you’re in

But at the end of the day, people are people. And they want to be helped with what they need. And they want you to treat them the way they want to be treated. And if you got all those bases covered, none of that’s going to matter. But it’s made for South Carolina to be a great place to do business right now.

Will Hanke (05:46 )
Nice. Yeah. Like Josh said, you kind of got to read the room, right? And see what’s going on when you walk in.

Vince Sturkie (05:54 )
Yes, absolutely. My installers can’t wear their Trump 24 hats on the job, right? I’m just like, keep it in the truck. But you know, we got a couple of different people here, so they’re all wearing different hats. But I just try to tell them that we’re here to love everybody, serve everybody, and everybody’s getting the same treatment with us.

Will Hanke (06:16 )
Yeah, yeah, that’s great. Thank you. So let’s jump in and talk about Q4, how it’s been. And I think the big thing here is what is the biggest surprising shift that you guys have seen in customer preferences for window treatments?

Josh Tycksen (06:35 )
Benz, you want to go first, you’re welcome to.