Dennis Drinkwater says the key to taking his local company regional is giving back.

When Dennis Drinkwater opened his first Giant Glass location in Lawrence, Mass. in 1978, he had one installer and a receptionist. His dream was to grow the business throughout New England—and that is exactly what he did. Today, Giant Glass’ crew of 70 installers serve Massachusetts from Worcester to Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket; New Hampshire; southern Maine; and northern Rhode Island.

According to Drinkwater, the company, which was named after his favorite football team—the New York Giants—made $450,000 in its first year with the help of a small but growing network of insurance agents. In 2007, with locations in Lawrence, Weymouth, Worcester, Peabody, and North Andover, Mass., the company’s revenues hit $20 million.

Over the years, Drinkwater has taken a calculated approach to growth. “We like to reinvest so that the business nurtures itself. We don’t try to bite off too much. A lot of CEOs think, ‘We’re doing well. Let’s open up 20 locations,’ but they don’t necessarily have the resources to do it well,” he said. Due to this philosophy, Giant Glass has never fallen out of the black.

Dennis Drinkwater

More than a jingle
Although Giant Glass has 10 salespeople to maintain relationships with more than 3,000 insurance agents, the CEO has never taken himself out of the game. In fact, on a monthly basis, he takes a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket to catch up on business. “We’ve spent the last 30 years developing relationships with agents in the hope they will call on Giant Glass as opposed to the competition,” said Drinkwater.

Giant Glass was built one customer at a time, but in 1988, the company jumped on the marketing bandwagon. Back then, Drinkwater explained, a windshield replacement was a windshield replacement—no one stood out in the industry. But a representative from Wilmington, Mass.-based Media Results created the 1-800-54GIANT jingle, which has the potential to get stuck in the heads of New Englanders for days at a time. And when asked, “Who do you call when your windshield’s busted?” locals know the answer: call Giant Glass.

“The term ‘busted’ has spawned many phone calls from English teachers and grammarians, but we have to explain that it’s just a jingle, and it works,” said Drinkwater, adding that the company’s marketing program includes print, television, and radio spots. Prior to advertising, a mere 4% of Giant Glass’ business was direct, meaning 96% of customers went through an insurance agent. Today, Drinkwater estimates that 50% of customers call Giant Glass directly.

However, no marketing campaign spreads the word faster than quality service. “You can know the jingle, you can know our salespeople, but if you don’t know our workmanship, our marketing is for nothing,” said the CEO, noting that great workmanship stems from a core team of individuals who have been with the company anywhere from 15 to nearly 30 years and is what enables Giant Glass to guarantee its work for the life of the vehicle. “This isn’t the kind of business where you clean out and start over every five years. These folks are phenomenal—they are the engine driving this company forward.”

Drinkwater said that giving back, with monetary and social rewards as well as personal recognition, is the key to retaining employees. “You look them in the eye and let them know that you appreciate what they do every day. When you have so many people who make coming to work a pleasure, you want them to know you’re aware of that,” he said.

Home sweet home
But Drinkwater doesn’t just give back to his employees. He generously donates to the community that has made Giant Glass so successful. The company routinely holds charity events to support organizations such as the Jimmy Fund and the Red Sox Foundation (a testament to Drinkwater’s undying love of baseball). Giant Glass takes great pleasure participating in the Hot Dog Safari, an annual event touting all the guilt-free hot dogs you can eat as all proceeds are donated to the Joey Fund, which works in conjunction with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Although no charity outweighs any other in importance, Giant Glass has done extensive work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New England, granting more than 110 wishes to date.

Giant Glass also generously donates to the Fish House Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed in 1997 that awards scholarships to New Hampshire students. Twelve to 15 scholarships in the amount of $2,000 are awarded each year based on community work, grades, and involvement in school programs and are renewable for four years. “These kids are amazing. They work in soup kitchens or help build houses down South. It’s a pleasure to sit on the board of the Fish House Foundation,” said Drinkwater.

“It sounds like a marketing ploy, but we enjoy doing great work for the good of our community. New England has done so much for us, and it is a wonderful place to live, we just have to give back.”