Unit 2
HO 2-4 (continued)
Capsule 1-2
Gabler Corporation
Gabler Corporation
isone of many air-conditioning and heating
companies located
in Moline, Illinoi.,. The company has dlstin
guished itself over the
lost seventeen years as a dependable
installer of
furnaces and air conditioners.
Lee Gabler, owner of Gabler Corporation, recently
devel
oped a strong interest in
selling a reiatively new energy saving
product--an electric vent damper-for
furnaces. Although Go
bier was attempting to identify
a product that would capitalize
on the growing
popularity of energy conservation,
a number of
associates questioned
whether vent dcumpers were
the answer.
Lee felt vent dampers
were a natural since they
were add
ons that would complement
the furnace business. Furthermore,
he argued
that vent dampers would result in
energy savings of
at least twenty
percent for buyers. Thus, given their
cost, this
would make them an attractive option for
energy conscious con
sumers. Lee's
associates didn't doubt the energy saving
potential
of vent dampers.
However, they were concerned that
customers
would have a difficult time understanding
the operation and func
tion
of these dampers. Product awareness was further confused
b",the fact that customers
couldn't see the damper in )peration.
The unit geard
to the thermostat to open and close, prevents
heated air from escaping
up the chimney when the fumace i;
shut oft. Critics argued
that given its complexity, energy-con
scious consumers would opt for
more traditional techniques (in
sulation, storm windows, and
wood burning stoves), ov!-r the
vent
damper. Consequently they believed that the dampers would
never really catch on, that a definite growing
market would be
a long time coming, if it arrived at
all. Even industry experts
agreed, noting that dampers would be in
the introductory stage
of the life cycle for a number of years. They
too were somewhat
pessimisfic about any meaningful growth
ever occurring.
Undcanted, Lee moved aggresively into the vent
dampers
area. He established
a damper division of the corporation, and
moved many of the businr.ss' r'2sources
away from traditional
product !;nes and
into the damper division. He committed his
personal energies almost exclusively to the sale of
vent dampers.
Through phone-call introductions
ond follow-up, in. home dem
onstrations Lee
moved aggressively to educote and convince Ihe
public of
the tremendous potential that dampers offered. Over
a three-month period, Lee mace over 400 telephone
contacts
and handled nearly 250 in-home demonstiations
(lasting twenty
to thirty minutes
each). These demonstrations were followed by
phone calls if no
sale was made.
31
Chapter One Environmental Analysis
174