“I really felt it was time for me to turn a page and look for what I really want to do for the rest of my life,” says Fransko. “It was an underlying drive of me questioning myself for the last year. I have a lot of friends who have engaged in careers who have the attitude: ‘I can’t believe they’re paying me to do this.’ I want to get back to that spot in my life.”

Fransko says he also plans to focus on his personal life, spending more time with his wife and family as well as devoting time to his church.

“One of the things I want to do in the coming years is become more involved with my ministry and my church,” says Fransko. “It was a big part of the decision. My church is involved with a lot of outreach and I’d like to get more involved with it.”

While he still holds a soft spot for the window film industry, Fransko says he’s open to a variety of opportunities.

“Right now, when I turned in my resignation I didn’t have anything locked in … I knew within the industry and out of it there would be opportunities for me,” Fransko states. “I’m not opposed to staying in the industry but I’m also exploring opportunities outside of it. I felt strongly that I wanted to take the step that I did and I knew when I re-engaged there’d be opportunities there.

The automotive industry and cars are something I’m passionate about, so the car side of the business is something I like doing even when I’m not getting paid. [I like] automotive aftermarket—and that may or may not involve window film—but I’d like to end up in the automotive segment if that’s possible,” he adds.

“Some people have asked me if it was my choice to leave and the answer is absolutely. It came down to me saying that I was re-evaluating where I was in my life and turning the chapter,” says Fransko. “This industry has been awesome to me and I’ve met so many great people. More than anything I want to thank everyone for the support and friendship they’ve shown me over the years. Who knows? I may end up back in the industry. I have a spot in my heart for the industry and the people in it. I appreciate their support.”

He adds that the reaction he has received since his announcement has been overwhelming.

“I just can’t thank everybody enough. The level of support and the number of people who have reached out to me; I couldn’t have imagined the response I’d get,” he says. “It’s definitely a blessing to be friends as many [industry members]. Even past competitors have reached out to me with well wishes.”

Fransko says he plans to continue his involvement with the Window Film Professionals group as well as stay involved with the industry in some capacity.

According to Haytham ElZayn, CEO of SGD and Zola, “Patric was going to leave the company at the end of the month but we were surprised he chose to leave now. We are going to go in a different direction and we are no longer going to be distributing 3M films and he told me he is considering other ventures … he said he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be in the window film industry. We were sorry to see him leave and I know it was on good terms.

“We are staying in the window film business and the tool business,” adds ElZayn. “We are looking for and in discussion with various manufacturers to replace the 3M distribution. We are also doing other things we will soon announce to our dealers.”

In a formal statement, ElZayn says, “I would like to thank Patric for his service as the manager of SGD and wish him well in whatever endeavors he decides to pursue in the future.”

Earl Mangune has been appointed as manager pro tem for SGD and Zola. According to ElZayn, Steve Chambers, managing director of Pentagon Protection, will assume the role of COO for SGD and Zola.

“We’re looking forward to working with our dealers and providing them the same level of service that we have before and the same quality products as before,” adds ElZayn.

“It has been my distinct pleasure to work with many of you over the years and I wanted to thank you for all of the support and business you have sent my way,” said Fransko in a statement.

“In the coming weeks, I will be taking some time to explore my options and to see what my next steps might be,” he added. “I will be sure to let all of you know my plans once they are determined.”

Stay tuned to windowfilmmag.com for more information on this story.

Watch the video below to learn why this tool is so important.

CLICK HERE to read more about Patric’s tips for Twitter search.

I am positive that we have all had an experience where a pushy salesperson completely turned us off to a potential purchase. Those situations typically involve the offending party not taking the time to understand your particular needs and just attempting to “push” you toward the purchase they have pre-determined is best for you. Irritating, isn’t it? When you use social media to have a one-way conversation by continually pushing information without bothering to listen, you are being that pushy salesperson we all try to avoid.

So, if we all agree that behavior is undesirable, how should we use social media? Well, it is referred to as “social” media for a reason. There should be dialog occurring between your company and the community you are trying to serve. Spend time listening to the conversations on forums, Linked In groups, Facebook pages, etc. Understand the needs, concerns and interests of that community. Then, and only then, are you prepared to begin a dialog.

That being said, don’t just barge into every conversation that is relevant to your product announcing that you have the solution. Is that how you would act at a cocktail party or backyard BBQ? Do you walk in and immediately start handing business cards to everyone in the room? I hope the answer to that is no. Typically, you introduce yourself, and begin conversing about any number of topics that may be relevant. You talk about the weather, kids, politics, the news, etc. Over the course of a normal introductory conversation, the question of what you do for a living inevitably comes up. Once you share what you do, if there is additional interest, the other party “pulls” the additional information from you. At that point you may go more in depth and a potential business opportunity may arise.

That is how people conduct themselves every day in the “real” world. This behavior would be courteous and expected if you hope to forge any lasting relationships. So, why do so many completely lose their manners and become “pushy” tyrants when they operate in the social media world? The rules you would follow at the cocktail party are the same rules that apply online.
So, before you write that next blog, post that next update, create that next tweet, think about whether you are engaging your community with something that interests them or merely pushing your sales approach down their throat. Create content that makes people want to continue the conversation with you. People are pretty savvy these days. If they are listening to you, they already know what services/products you offer. If they are interested, they will ask or “pull” more information from you. Focus on building your relationship with the community and the sales will follow.

There is no doubt that people by the millions are becoming social media fanatics. Even my mother is very active on Facebook now and she is in her 70’s. With that kind of shift in the way that people are interacting with each other, a huge opportunity exists to interact with potential customers at this level in a way that resonates with them. However, most people still interact with traditional media outlets on a regular basis as well. We still read the newspaper, subscribe to magazines, watch television, etc. The one exception to this might be the yellow pages. Not to pick on this group, but who looks in the yellow pages to find information any longer? The only reason to still buy an ad is to get the online listing in my opinion.

Back to the point, with people today consuming their media in both traditional ways and over the internet, I feel that a sound marketing plan should ideally combine both of these elements as well. Traditional media is not dead, but it needs to be complimented with a strong strategy to reach people in their social graph. This is the reason that you are seeing more newspaper and magazine ads include a smart tag (or Quick Reader- check out Window Film magazine’s sister publication doing a demo).  These direct someone to a particular spot on the web where they can continue the story started in the ad. This is why you are starting to see television commercials that have a storyline that ends abruptly with a “see the rest of the story at…” What these retailers know, and you should too, is that moving forward the best strategy will integrate traditional media with web 2.0 to reach and engage potential customers in a way that was impossible several years ago.

So, is traditional marketing dead? Absolutely not! Is a social media presence and strategy a necessity? Frankly, no it is not. However, the smart business will look for ways to integrate these two together to create a marketing program that is superior in every way to one that solely uses one or the other.