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A lot of little boys will tell you they want to be just like dad when they grow up. But few will go as far as to do their science projects about window efficiency as a way to learn more about their father’s trade.
Chris Cardillo did just that.

Cardillo grew up watching his father, Chris Cardillo Sr., capitalize on the opportunity to go from successful sales rep at the original Castle Windows in Pennsylvania to opening his own Castle franchise in New Jersey. He opened the New Jersey location in 1991 and worked 364 days a year — only taking off for Christmas Day — to build a $14 million company.

And Cardillo would ride along on sales calls with his father — knowing one day he would work in his father’s business, Mount Laurel-based Castle Windows.

In 2001, Cardillo and his brother, current Castle Vice President Nick Cardillo, opened a Castle location in New York for their dad. It was a way for a father to test his sons’ mettle.

In 2005, the pair took over the family business. They have since grown it into the $75 million business it is today.

“We were reverse franchising,” Cardillo said. “We were gobbling up all the Castle franchises. In some cases, we bought companies that were not Castle and either turned them into a Castle location or continue to run them as a sister company.”

Three years after taking over, the Cardillos’ mettle was tested again by the recession.

“Before 2008, when the economy collapsed, our biggest challenge was that everybody sold windows and the market was saturated,” Cardillo said. “But when the economy was down, so many guys in the window business were washed out.”

Cardillo said 60 percent of their business was financed and, almost overnight, the banks stopped lending to his clients. And without the loans, they couldn’t buy windows.

“If we sold you windows and you needed money from the bank, we would go out and procure you that loan,” Cardillo said. “In 2008, the number of banks willing to lend went from 15 to 1. If you didn’t have a credit score of 700-plus, you were not getting approved — end of story.

“We would sit up nights Googling lenders, and if we found an organization that lent money, they were getting a call from us. Selling product wasn’t a problem at all, especially since so many competitors were going out of business. But going out to get the clients the money was a difficult process.”

The brothers seized another opportunity presented by competitors going out of business. They hired talent.

“So many good people in the industry were losing their job, so, between 2008 and 2011, we hired a lot of people who were very good at what they did and found stuff for them to do while we waited out the economic storm,” Cardillo said. “That allowed us to grow because we already have the people in place to take charge of areas we wanted to expand into.”

In addition to finding an upside to a downturn, Cardillo attributes Castle’s growth to innovation.

Chris Cardillo Sr. was always very process-oriented and implemented systems into his business. His sons have kept on that tradition.

“Our computer software is all handwritten for us with by our in-house developers,” Cardillo said. “We’ll spend $100,000 per year on our programming of our system, and, for a home improvement company, that is not normal. Our computer programs are based around a series of checks and balances.

“Basically, all the things a sales manager should be looking out for, the computer tracks.”

While Cardillo has had a love of windows since childhood, he pursued a degree in marketing from Rowan University. Today, he not only uses those skills to drum up revenue for Castle, but he also rents out that talent to competitors and other home improvement companies.

What is actually a series of math equations over dozens of spreadsheets, Cardillo calls his “magic pixie dust.”

“We handle (all aspects of the marketing) up until the job is sold,” Cardillo said.

“First, I figure out the maximum amount of business that can be done in a particular market. What is the market share possible before diminishing returns? Then, I go to the client company and say, ‘Here is what is possible — what is your goal?’”

“Nick and I look through what they are currently doing and we’ll change ad design and frequency, but the main thing we do is micromanage the buy. I built equations that say what needs to be done. It’s mathematics of efficiency.”

The brothers set rooms and staff them with call center reps and a manager who tracks all the sales reps’ results. They constantly gather information and manipulate the marketing program.

“All the incoming calls are diverted into rooms we set up for each company,” Cardillo said. “We dispatch those appointments. We talk to representatives and manage schedules. Their reps report back to our room and analytics are run. Everything is outsourced to us until the job is sold.”

Both Chris and Nick Cardillo said that being brothers as well as business partners has been essential to achieving the kind of growth they have.

“We could have never done all of this without the kind of trust we have for each other,” Cardillo said. “Nick oversees all the compliance, accounting, bookkeeping, legal and assurance. I focus on generating revenue. When you have full trust in someone, it allows you to do twice as much of what you are focused on.

“For me, I can bring in more revenue or expand quicker because I have complete trust that Nick has got the other operations under control. And it’s the same for him.”

When asked about the challenges of a family business, Nick Cardillo said he only has one.

“If I had to pick a challenge to working with family, it would be that I can’t just sit down on the holidays and talk about football,” he said. “And even that is really a positive, because you run your business better if you are immersed in it all the time.”

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