College of Business students conduct crucial marketing study for Pella Direct

For local shoppers, Pella may mean only windows and doors. But for 11 students in Randy Steger’s undergraduate marketing class, Pella meant an opportunity this spring semester to conduct real-world marketing research and business analysis before entering the workplace.

 

Pella Direct, a distributor of Pella brand windows and doors, wanted to collaborate with a local university this spring to obtain real-life market research and analysis. Pella officers contacted Lipscomb University because of its quality reputation. 

 

Turney Stevens, dean of the College of Business turned to Steger, professor of marketing, and Darrell Duncan, Lipscomb’s associate vice president of finance, to collaborate with students through an undergraduate marketing project providing an experience more typical of a graduate level MBA course.

 

“Unlike a traditional MBA case study where the outcome has already been determined, Lipscomb’s undergraduate marketing students were creating outcomes and deliverables in the real world that previously did not exist,” Duncan said.

 

Pella Direct presented the task of completing a market study focusing on the remodeling and replacement window market with the goal to better understand how to identify and meet this specific market's needs, said Mary Wise, a senior marketing major from Nashville.

 

Most of Pella’s business in the past was in the new housing market, where they have won many awards on the quality of their windows, said Steger. “Pella wanted to understand a new market and study contractors who do window replacement and remodeling. The class conducted several surveys at a trade show and by phone and did a mystery shopper study at window suppliers,” he said.

 

Wise participated in the mystery shopping project, edited the group’s final research paper, and conducted interviews with local remodelers at the Pella Pro Expo.

 

“I learned countless things about the real world of business. Most of the time, there is not just one solution. You have to fix a hundred small things before you make a difference,” she said. “Working with people like Anthony (Bolton, Pella Direct general manager) is great because they can teach you real-life lessons that textbooks can't. Working in a real business environment keeps you interested in the project and striving to find the best solution.”

 

“The experience I gained from working with real businesspeople was so important to me. Individuals at Pella were extremely helpful and easy to work with. Real businesspeople have a plethora of knowledge concerning certain business practices that can be very beneficial,” said Patrick Saunders, a senior in marketing from Nashville.

At the conclusion of the project, Bolton and Pella Direct officials were also pleased with the outcomes. “Everyone involved on the Lipscomb student marketing team was very engaged from day one and provided Pella the unique insight we needed to help us improve our “go-to market” strategy in this segment of our business,” Bolton said.  “The students showed a genuine interest in our company’s success, as demonstrated by their exhaustive research conducted as a part of this project.

 

“We are so appreciative of the students, the university, and its faculty.  Engaging in this project with Lipscomb was a blessing for our company that will positively affect all of us for years to come,” he said.

 

David Helms, another executive at Pella, said that the project with Lipscomb students was a “huge success.”

 

Students who participated in this marketing project were: Wise, Saunders, Libby Barker, Matthew Bowling, Taylor Fenimore, Justin Harris, Bryce King, Samantha Little, Reid Mayo, Evan McKee, James Murrell and Tyler Wilson.