Systems

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Systems

Systems

Tonight brings us another guest post from Steve Day. Steve is discussing the importance of the systems we have within our businesses.

This is another topic that could probably take up an entire book and I am going to give it short shrift.  I am really only bringing it up because I think too many people blame their operating system for their inventory problems. I don’t buy the argument.  If your operating system can’t control inventory then you made a really bad investment decision.

I am a lot more optimistic.  Your operating system is probably better than you think.  If you have one of the more popular distributor operating systems that has hundreds of Constructions, Mining, Agriculture or OTR truck distributors using it, it probably does that thing you need it to do but don’t believe it can do.  You just haven’t asked the question correctly yet.

The last operating system I used was not perfect but it was pretty darn good.   We almost always figured out how to get the information out of it we wanted.  I took some evil pleasure in finding out the system would do something when an operational manager told me it would not.  Folks eventually learned to push the system because they grew tired of amusing me.  It was a very solid system.

Because of employee turnover at the systems provider, I have seen cases where they were not even aware of all of their systems capabilities.  Always send your Inventory Control Manager and when possible, the Inventory Control staff, to your systems providers training sessions and to their annual meetings.  It will pay off.

You may want to add on a reporting system like TARGIT if you have not already done so.  Microsoft also offers a system as do other companies.  I am simply more familiar with TARGIT because that is what we used.  It will allow you to have some great automated reports that tell you more than you can stand some times.    It also let us build these reports for our branch operating people on a dashboard that gives them all the reports we looked at but just for their operation.  Most of them updated daily.  I have found that most of my distributor buddies who have these types of reporting capabilities have found a real improvement in their managers understanding of operational imperatives.

For more information on our classes and assessments, please visit us at Learning Without Scars.

 

 

Creating Culture During a Pandemic

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Creating Culture During a Pandemic

Laura Love

Today’s guest blog is written by Colorado entrepreneur Laura Love. A passionate advocate for the culture of her companies, as well as her local community, Laura is joining us today to talk about all of the different ways we can work on creating culture during a pandemic. During a year that has brought numerous challenges to people around the world, this post offers a deeper perspective on the opportunities opening up to us through these times. As you will see when you read further, Laura teaches us what it means to run a business based upon relationships and connection with others. To connect with Laura, please reach out to her via her LinkedIn profile.

I often tell people that I have four children. Kirby, Jackson, Brooks and this pretty amazing baby that magically appeared on the scene when I decided that starting a business in my basement in the middle of a dot-com crash and months before 9/11 would be a stellar idea. This 4th child — GroundFloor Media (GFM) and its sister agency CenterTable which joined the “family” in 2016 – has been nothing short of a wonderful, wild ride these past two decades.

However, this year has challenged us unlike any other year in our 20-year history. Like many other businesses, we are managing the ups and downs of COVID-19, the fight for racial justice, the challenges of employing working parents who are being asked to juggle work while managing remote classrooms (I know first-hand that Google has the answers to everything a 4th grader – and his mom – should know).

When I woke up on Nov. 3, I nervously scanned all of my favorite newsfeeds in search of the latest political news, but I also encountered a silver lining –  we were named No. 2 on Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work for 2020. That honor marked the eighth consecutive year we were recognized in the Top 10 – the longest run of any company currently on the list.

This award is particularly meaningful this year. I have witnessed team members battling cancer, watching their loved ones pass away from this virus, coping with a spouse losing her job and a team member trying to be the cheerleader to his only child heading off to college in the midst of a not-so-normal freshman year. And each and every one of our team has shown up for one another and for our clients in very big and vulnerable ways.

Yes, I want to toot our own horn for winning this award because I am so proud of my colleagues who make our company such a special place. But more importantly, I want to use this forum to share with other business leaders because this can be a really scary time to be a leader. And if we can share ideas and best practices about how we have all gotten uber creative during these past nine months, we will be stronger together.

So, I will share a bit of our story. In 2019, we moved back into our Downtown Denver office after moving out for 11 months while we completely gutted the building in order to create a modern open-space concept. At the beginning of the pandemic, we once again shut the office down and added walls and glass to allow for proper social-distance practices for those who self-selected to work in the office. (We made the decision to utilize the office as a “mental health break” space for team members who need to work outside of their home occasionally, rather than moving forward with a full re-opening of the office.)

But it was so much more than remodeling our physical space. Our team member’s personal wellbeing is as important to us as their professional sanity and in an attempt to unwind and connect with one another, we’ve added “Get Connected to Stay Grounded” virtual sessions where we held classes including “Sip and Draw,” “Aroma Acupoint Therapy” sessions and a “Virtual Cocktail/Mocktail Class.”

We have always been focused on striving for a “work-life blend.” Our autonomous culture allows employees to work when, where and how it works best for their lifestyle (ski lifts and hiking trails included). That includes “Trusted Time Off” unlimited vacation days and mandatory meeting-free time “Zero-Entry Mondays” on Monday mornings before 11am. The advent of COVID-19 may have put a halt on most in-person gatherings, but our weekly (now virtual) beer club gatherings, $50 monthly “Active Lifestyle Allowance” and four hours per month paid time off for volunteering haven’t changed. Because this can be a really isolating and frustrating time, we encourage each member to take care of themselves by prioritizing times to get outside or stretch or meditate throughout the day.

Laura Love

As leaders in the company, we have tried to stay in front of team members with personalized check-ins, sending surprise and delight gifts of lasagna and wine from our friends at Attimo, allowing team members to Choose Their Own Online Adventure including offering a digitally interactive adventure camp for their kiddos through AVID4 or offering an online subscription to MasterClass for six months. We also provided a team of “resilience coaches” from Downstream Partners for all team members to utilize and organized “Pandemic Partners” as a buddy system for mental well-being and allowed team members to change their work status options (100%, 75%, 50% & contractor) based on changing family needs.

As an extension of GroundFloor Media and CenterTable’s Doing My Part Colorado effort, we launched a new podcast series, Good & Grounded, where Jim Licko and I work with our (kick-ass) producer Armand Piecuch to interview dynamic and passionate local Colorado leaders who are impacting our community during this time of uncertainty. I have always loved the quote by Winston Churchill – We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. The leaders whom we speak with are the ones making a huge difference in our state. Had the pandemic not hit, I am not sure we would have slowed down long enough to honor what these selfless leaders give to others during good and bad times.

We are not perfect. In fact, we make a lot of mistakes and the bottom line is this is just hard. But there are silver linings and when I see a ranking like the recent one from Outside, I know that it matters. It matters because it shows that our team members are valued, and that they consider themselves long-term partners at GroundFloor Media and CenterTable. That means that clients have access to our highly talented team members, and that team members with institutional knowledge remain part of their teams for years.

I would love to hear about the other innovative ways Colorado leaders are working to keep their teams connected and inspired. Maybe we can even interview those of you willing to share a few of your pandemic survival ideas with us on an upcoming Good & Grounded episode? If so, drop me a line at llove@groundfloormedia.com. Together, we can get through this.

Please visit us at Learning Without Scars for your employee development needs.

 

 

Sameness, Differentiation and Distinction

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Sameness, Differentiation, and Distinction

Sameness Differentiation and Distinction

Scott McKain’s recent book “Create Distinction” got and has kept my attention. He puts forward an interesting question. “What do you do when great isn’t good enough to grow your business?

As time has passed and markets matured, supply chains have become full of people doing much the same thing. There is a “Sameness” about all of them. This caused a lot of smart people and consultants to bring forward a fresh and new offering “Differentiation” to the market. You don’t want to be the same as everyone else, do you? You are different, you are better, you deliver same day service, you have the part in stock and you offer technical advice. To some degree these differentiators have become the same as well. Everything has become a “commodity.” Oh, I can get that anywhere.

So how do YOU become the “go to source” for your products or services?

McKain suggests you need to have “Distinction.”

At Learning Without Scars you have been reading articles over the past several months from special individuals who share their expertise and thinking on many subjects. From retired executives, to educators and consultants, and thought leaders in their fields. We are trying to create a “Place” that provides and produces thought provoking and thoughtful articles. This is but one of the steps that we have taken in our quest to become your “go to source” on all operational aspects of the parts, service, product support selling and parts and service marketing in the Capital Goods Industries of Construction, Agriculture, Material Handling, On Highway Transportation, Engine and Light Industrial Equipment to name a few.

In our quest for distinction we have also created comprehensive and objective job function assessments for most of the operational jobs in the operational aspect of the distribution channels we serve. These assessments have gained significant traction, even during the difficult year we are experiencing. They are used to improve success in hiring by having prospective employees take the assessment during the interviewing process. They are becoming more common in the annual performance reviews that are becoming a staple in best practice dealerships. They are becoming a significant part of employee development by understanding and addressing the skills gaps that exist with each individual employee. The assessments, eighteen of them, are available in English, Spanish and French.

What we believe is another source of distinction for us are our “Learning Paths.” After more than thirty years in front of classrooms and on webinars with tens of thousands of students we have developed specific classes to address four basic “Skill Levels” for each job function; Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert. At each level, within each job function we have identified specific classes that represent the subjects required to improve their individual employee skills. This is unique to Learning Without Scars in the Industry.

We are currently updating each of our ninety-four English classes to address the recent research that shows learning and retention provided by the traditional model of a fifty-minute class can be improved dramatically, by fifty percent, if the class is broken down into ten to twelve-minute increments, broken up with mini surveys and questions. As you can imagine with our pre-test, interactive video presentation of our classes with slides, audio tracks and film clips, this is a rather large undertaking. But we feel it is important enough to continue to keep us at the forefront of the training and learning offerings in our Industry.

Finally, we continue to seek accreditation from IACET, the International Association of Continuing Education and Training. This will allow our products to earn Continuous Education Units (CEU’s) which combined will earn credits at many Universities, Colleges, Junior Colleges, Vocational and Technical Schools worldwide.

With the knowledge we have gained over the past ten months about this virus, the testing, the therapeutics, and now the vaccines we believe that the end of this pandemic and its impact on our lives will soon be behind us. We want to be ready when everything starts to open up and your business returns to “normal.” I have always been a glass half full person and I don’t see any need for me to change from my optimistic viewpoint.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, our progress report.

The time is now.

For more information on creating distinction with us, visit us at Learning Without Scars.

Return It Now!

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Return It Now!

Return It Now!

Steve received a degree in Electrical Engineering and then served in the US Navy. He started with Komatsu America 1978. For the next twelve years Steve worked through various equipment sales positions before becoming the Vice President of Parts, Vice President of Service. During this period Steve sat on the board of a major distributor in the North east US as well as Hensley Industries. After twenty-five years Steve moved from the OEM side of the business to the Distribution side by joining Tractor and Equipment Company in 2003 as Vice President of Product Support.

Throughout his career Steve has learned the Industry from the ground up. This allowed him to have a very clear view of what was needed to support customers, employees and owners in their pursuit of excellence. Working at high levels in both the Manufacturing and the Distribution side of the business gave Steve some great learning opportunities and chances to develop insights.  Steve retired in January of 2020.  After spending 40 plus years in an industry we are very pleased to be able to share some of Steve’s insights with you and honored to consider Steve a friend.

Most manufacturers have several categories of parts in relation to their return classification.  It usually goes something like returnable, non-returnable and order-on-demand.  For our purposes we are only worried about non-returnable parts.  We can return the returnable parts and suppliers won’t take back order-on-demand parts if you threaten them with a gun.  Non-returnable parts usually have a loophole.  You can usually return them on an ordered-in-error claim with most manufacturers if you do it within their specified time window.  This is completely legitimate.  There might be a restock charge but you can return them.  Manufacturers want parts returned quickly so they have them for resale.

This is where I am going to suggest you need a hard, never to be broken rule.  You are going to return those parts every time and do it in the window.  No exceptions.  You will get lots of excuses and I am going to suggest you accept none of them. 

Your problem of non-compliance usually happens because of a lack of cooperation with the service department or poor management from the parts department.  Having reports will let you stay on top of this.

Service managers are usually only worried about getting parts when they need them.  They are not too concerned about getting them back within a specific window.  This is actually understandable.  They fight fires everyday and returning parts falls pretty low on their emergency scale.  They like to tell a parts manager that they are going to need this part anyway in a few weeks so go ahead and put it into stock.  That has actually probably been true at least three times in the history of the business.  The rest of the time you got stuck with a part that will never move.  Your money is not sitting idle.  It is gone and you have just not acknowledged the fact yet.

We need to track the parts, warn the parties about an approaching deadline (let the report provide the warning) and if the service department fails to return it, we charge it to them.  There is an account that lets us track that issue.  We talk about that account.

There is really no good excuse for a parts manager not getting a part in their will- call bin legitimately billed to a customer and delivered.  One of my really great branch parts managers would call customers after a week to make sure they still needed it.  If the customer said yes, they asked when they could expect them to get it.  He gave the customer a date he had to return the part.  Nobody got mad.  It worked.  If you have a branch parts manager that can’t get this right then you need to look for somebody that can manage the branch inventory investment properly.  Once again, have an account that these parts are charged to for branch parts generated issues.

Parts managers usually were trained to avoid restocking charges at all costs.  At least that is my experience.  This can be a hard habit to break.  I put it on a white board for them.  I have a $100 non-returnable part that I return and it has a 25% restock fee.  I get a $75 credit which I reinvest in my good inventory that turns 8 times a year and has a 30% gross margin.  I get that fee back the second time I turn the money.

If I leave it in stock, I will lose the return opportunity.   In 3 or 4 years I will scrap it and get nothing and write off the total value of the part.  I will also have a lost opportunity cost of not turning the money over its time in inventory.  Today interest rates are very low but who know what the future holds.

Always send the part back when you can.  Track non-returnable parts every week and figure out how they got into your inventory.  Close off all the possible ways this can happen.  Controlling the cancer of a growing non-moving inventory will help your operations in all kinds of positive ways.  Make this a top priority.  Put up signs, get tattoos, talk about it every time you meet a branch parts manager.

How to Create Engagement and Empowerment in a Pandemic

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How to create engagement and empowerment in a Pandemic.

how to create engagement and empowerment during a pandemic

Sonya Law, of SL Human Resources Consulting, received her Human Resources Degree from Deakin University and completed her Teaching Degree with Monash University and recently Masters Business (MBA) in 2018, providing opportunities to work and study abroad in Europe and Asia.  Sonya has recruited 1,000’s of people and has a talent for getting the right people on the bus in the right seats and creating a positive inclusive workplace culture for many organization’s in the following industries, Telecommunications, Government, Pharmaceutical, Water Utilities, FMCG and more recently Mining and Construction for Sullair (Hitachi Group Company) where she achieved innovation award in 2020 for solving societies problems for social connectedness during the pandemic.  In 2020 Sonya has returned to consulting to spread her wings and pursue her passion for consulting, to assist companies to develop their human resources and achieve cultural and strategic alignment and high performing organizations. She writes from experience about how to create engagement and empowerment in a pandemic.

Sonya can be contacted on 0421 716 949 or direct message on LinkedIn Profile.

During the Spanish Flu back in the early 1900’s composers created the most beautiful music and artists the most exquisite masterpieces. During the pandemic people fell into two groups: negative doomsayers and those who took the opportunity to be creative, innovative with a journey of self-discovery.

As a Human Resources Manager, I fell into the second group: how do I create engagement and empowerment in a Pandemic?

Firstly, I started with a Pulse Survey, to ask the employees what they felt they needed to be connected and effective in their work. Overwhelmingly over 90% of employees wanted a refresh of the employee benefits and recognition program and the biggest challenge cited was the virtual office. With those working from home, ‘social connectedness’ was the missing link. We discovered as human beings, we are social animals and need to connect with other humans. We weren’t getting our hit of oxytocin the ‘love’ drug and the ‘safety’’ of social bonds. During the pandemic, there was also the financial impact on families with some going to a single income or reduction in earning capacity.

So, given these two problems of social connectedness and financial impact, we engaged ‘Reward Gateway’ a company that works with companies too create a digital platform that connects people socially and provides shopping discounts to everyday purchases of groceries and petrol. Bolting on an e-card that recognized employees working from home, birthday’s and work anniversaries, shared social news, photos and wellness tool.  The employees were involved in look and feel of the wireframe, e-card design and naming of the platform – RAZZLE, connect, celebrate and reward.

The program was inclusive, all year round and benefited not only all employees but their families. Making it a positive story around the dinner table during an overload of bad news stories during the pandemic, employees spoke proudly of their workplace to friends and family and above all felt valued.

Managing Directors and CEO’s became panicked about productivity and performance and so presented the challenge to Human Resources Leaders, how do we ensure productivity doesn’t drop during the pandemic with employees now working from home?  The answer, is employee engagement, provide an environment where people feel safe, cared for emotionally and physically, as a leadership team, our role shifted to leading with empathy, kindness and compassion.  Emerged the empathetic listener, we educated our managers on “How to have a mental health conversation,” to be able to provide support, listen without judgement, encourage action and check in on employees during isolation and lockdown periods during the pandemic.

The Australian Institute of Management (AIM) polled participants in a workshop during the pandemic and interestingly 13% found it easier working from home, but majority found it harder 27% and 60% same but different, requiring them to adapt to new ways of working which was stressful for most. The arising issues were an ‘over attendance’ employee, who were working longer days, struggling to balance home and work life which blurred into literally ‘ground hog day’ for most.  It became evident to leaders the need to ask employees about their ‘self-care routine’ how are they going balancing their family and work commitments, are the getting quality sleep, are they better to have a ‘doona day’ (Aussie Speak for down day) a day off where they don’t have to show up on ZOOM, to rest and recover in what was a very busy and stressful period for employees.

Employers and leaders who recognized this and genuinely cared for their employees and found new ways of connecting virtually, won their people over in a wholistic sense. They weren’t just the worker bee, they were a human being, not just a number.  And they saw their manager in a new light, often appearing more casual in ZOOM meetings in their home environment which included guests’ appearances by family and their pets, helped employees to see their leaders as human just like them.

The senior leadership team, emerged with a new skill as the empathetic learner, people managers who listened to what their people needed to perform and supported them by removing roadblocks and trusting them in this process.  We’re being informed by the thinking and opinions of the people who matter most employees who need to be trusted to get the work done whilst balancing the business needs of the organization and navigating tricky conversations on the profitability to shareholders. Businesses who found new ways to connect virtually and developed their empathetic leadership style successfully navigated the pandemic whilst maintaining productivity at least to same level as last year, and for those who were opportunistic and quick to adapt, growth in some areas of business.

Some employees describe a sense of belonging, a renewed sense of commitment and purpose to the cause and empowered to make decisions impacting their work.  The pandemic hit the stop button for a lot of businesses but in doing so this reset and recalibration has given us new ways to collaborate and connect virtually and flexibility to working families whilst still achieving the strategic vision.

For more information on our learning programs, please visit us at Learning Without Scars.

 

Dealer Websites

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Dealer Websites

This week, we have a new guest blog from Mets Kramer.

Dealer Websites

In my last article, I discussed the difference between Billboard Digital Marketing and Engagement Digital Marketing. With the world and our industry becoming more digital everyday, I wanted to expand on the topic of websites and why it’s worth building your own site to engage your customers.

Websites are the easiest way to present your dealership and explain to visitors who you are, what you do and what sets you apart from the industry. Additionally, a custom domain, with emails to match, is a simple way to gain better control over your brand and manage your team. (i.e. Company name: Strategic Evolutions, email: mets.kramer@strategicevolutions.ca).

However, for equipment dealers, it is a little harder to present your company, your team, services and products. This is because our products, or inventory, are always changing. Our products tend to be serialized construction equipment, so listing your inventory requires a more complex website and should include an easy, quick way to update your information.

While this is a challenge, it is possible! It will give you better control over your digital presence and, also, help you build your brand, developing stronger relationships with your customers.

Here are 4 reasons why you should build your own website:

  1. Present your dealership and team the way you want. Focus on the strengths and values that you feel are important. Add content that brings value to your clients, expand on the services you offer and present your inventory in the style you feel has the greatest impact. Just like you design your dealership lobby to focus on your customer’s experience, a website is a digital representation of your company’s “face” and its physical building.

When creating your website from scratch, focus on engaging the customer, drawing them in.  Then, present your value proposition or promotions.  Consider metrics like bounce rate, time on site and pages viewed as a measure of engagement.

 

  1. Add a blog, picture gallery and of course, VIDEOS. These features are great to post on social media using Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn. Each social media post links visitors back to your website. Increasing the links and traffic to your site helps you rise to the top of internet searches when people are looking for equipment or services. Additionally, this type of content improves your content score, also improving your search position.

To understand this better, assess your own online experience.  Do you use TikTok, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook?  What do you prefer to view?  Research shows visitors engage more often and longer with video content more than pictures.

 

  1. Present your inventory without directing customers to an external advertising site. Capturing customers and their engagement is the name of the game. Once you have people looking at your equipment, hold them there and answer their questions. Throughout this year, digital presence and selling has become that much more important. Current research suggests customers are doing 90% of their research PRIOR to contacting any dealers about a machine. Make sure your inventory is presented well and contains all the information your customers would initially ask for. You want to provide everything they need so picking up the phone is easy!

When you build your own site, present your inventory with video, images, detailed descriptions, links to specs and any support documentation you have to prove to visitors “This is the machine you want!”.

Building your own site prevents them from ending up on an advertising platform where other options are presented to them.  FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a REAL thing! It has been shown to motivate people out of fear to keep clicking, if they weren’t satisfied by what they found.

  1. Analytics Systems. Take advantage of the market’s best analytics from either the website platform, Google or others. Understand who’s visiting your site, where they came from, what they saw, and how long they stayed. Understand how to improve your Bounce Rate (Users that leave without clicking anything on the site) and Conversion Rate (Users that act by clicking a contact button). Understanding this aspect of Digital Marketing helps you change and update your site to improve your visitor engagement.

A website visitor is the equivalent to a person visiting your dealership.   During an in-person visit, it’s communication and addressing their needs that closes the sale, so use the same approach for your website. Engage!

For more information on our training programs, please visit us at Learning Without Scars.

For more information about Mets Kramer, please visit his website at Strategic Evolutions.

 

 

Help! I’m in CRM Hell!

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Help! I’m in CRM Hell!

Help! I'm in CRM Hell!

Don Buttrey is the president of Sales Professional Training Inc., a company that offers in-depth skill development for sales professionals and sales support. He has trained thousands of salespeople over 25 years and clearly understands the selling environment of equipment dealers and manufacturers. His curriculum is comprehensive and proven! Don is also the author of “The SELL Process”, a foundational how-to book on effective sales interactions. He is beginning a series on Customer Relationship Management with “Help, I’m in CRM Hell!”

Don can be reached at (937) 427-1717 or email donbuttrey@salesprofessionaltraining.com. 

Check out this website link salesprofessionaltraining.com  for more information – or to purchase online sales training.

Help! I’m in CRM Hell!

For the next few weeks, we will discuss Customer Relationship Management. This has become a real hot button particularly with the current pandemic and economic conditions.

What does it mean to be trapped in CRM Hell?

I come front and center with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) issues with every construction equipment dealer I train. I personally have not researched or compiled any conclusive data as to which products are most used or which are best suited for construction equipment dealers. I have observed however, that every dealer has their own unique goals, budget, size/scope and ‘people culture’ to consider. The product options are there, and it takes research and careful consideration to select a product or CRM service that is the right fit.

The dealers that address the core issues first (noted in this blog) – and that involve all levels and departments in the CRM vendor selection process seem to be the most successful.  Conversely, those that invest in a CRM system without a broad involvement and buy-in, and then demand conformance to its use, have the lowest adoption rate and effectiveness – from my observations.

For more information about our training programs, please visit us at Learning Without Scars.

Embarrassed Not to Have Parts

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Embarrassed not to have Parts (ENTH)

Goals and Targets

Clearly these are the parts you are embarrassed not to have when your customer comes calling.  They include: filters, fluids, hardware, o-rings, GET for machines you sold, hoses (a subject of its own), keys, and any part for a machine you sold that your customer can get today at Walmart, NAPA or the local farm store.  If you don’t have a part that he can get TODAY from somebody local, you have probably lost that customer for that part forever.  Think automobile dealers.

Virtually every machine we sell has lots of hydraulics and thus lots of hoses.  You can’t stock all the hoses for a machine.  They age poorly and have very erratic sales.  Most manufacturers make hoses non-returnable.  When a customer blows a hose, it is the kind of repair he can do quickly.  He is not going to wait three days for a hose.  I like hose shops in my branches.  It requires lots of management focus to pull off effectively since you will be competing with people who do this type of thing exclusively.  It is worth it if you can devote the time.  Throw away your turn criteria here for fittings.  Your perceived availability will go way up in the customers’ mind.  This is very hard to pull off without lots of top management focus.

I include new product introduction parts in the ENTH category.  Make sure that your branches, central inventory control and equipment sales are communicating.  You don’t want to have somebody who just purchased a machine from you to come in and you don’t have his GET or filter.

Almost all ENTH parts have very good turns so don’t be afraid to have a little safety stock here.  Run reports on these parts to make sure you are hitting your target.  I think anything less than 99.9% availability is unacceptable here.

Your customer doesn’t really expect you to be stocking an engine or sheet metal and certainly not at the branch level.  He fully expects you to have ENTH parts.  He will be mad and disappointed if you fail in this area.  He won’t forget.  He will tell his friends.  Your Inventory group should spend lots of time getting this right.

For more information on how we can help you excel at Inventory Management, please visit us at Learning Without Scars.

The Return on Investment

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The Return on Investment

This week brings our fourth blog post from Don Shilling.

Don Shilling

As we continue the discussion on “Growing Your Own” employees probably one of the most asked questions I get is if our company invests in a tuition reimbursement program for a sponsored future employee or in an Apprenticeship or Mentorship Program what is my return on investment (ROI)?

Business logic tells us that there is a defined cost in everything we do and the better we are at recovering those costs the better the chances are we can show a profit in what we do. Everyone’s formula for this calculation might be different so I would like to answer this a little more generically

ROI In this situation is hard to measure because every situation is different. But I usually answer the question with a question. What does turnover cost you? For every position that is measurable. When you lose an experienced employee, the costs associated with that ranges today from 1/2 of that position annual salary or more. Today filling a skilled position can take 3 months or more. Then after recruitment costs, placement fees and On Boarding and Training expense it can really cost you much more than that 1/2 years annual salary projection.

For our companies skilled positions we fill with either an apprenticeship or tuition reimbursed positions we see direct costs of the entry level salary, the cost of the pay back on the tuition reimbursement or the apprenticeship mentoring. These costs are significant there is no doubt, so typically we amortized these costs over a 3 to 5-year period.

Because these positions start as “entry level” we see an initial lower salary cost but it is important to continue wage reviews and increases with these individuals as their skill levels increase. Typically, by the end of the three to five year pay back on the tuition or apprenticeship periods this employee is at a salary level equal to market value for their skill level. This is important, keeping this employee is critical, also showing this employee he has value by doing wage reviews as they progression of their education adds to that since of pride or accomplishment for each individual.

On revenue side we of course cannot charge customers full charge rates on apprentice or school to work employees but we can recover some of their costs. Typically, that is 10 to 20% initially and steadily increasing as the employee’s skill levels increases. If you graph this out the lines between the salary cost and recovery probably intersect about 1.5 to 2.0 years into the process and usually by the third or fourth year the revenue and profit generated by that employee has normalized. That of course is good news.

Better news is the fact you have taken a potential employee and turned them into a skilled employee who has been integrated into your system, bought into your company culture, is a loyal employee, has spent three to five years becoming part of the “family” and understands that he or she has chosen a career that is meaningful and rewarding. Bottom line the turnover we have experienced with these “Grow Your Own” employees has been very low. Thus, we enjoy savings for many years of not have to fill and re-fill those positions. It adds stability to the employee base plus with less turnover being able to grow your business because of this stability is critical and well worth the effort.

Bottom line is the ROI is gradual but worth the time and efforts. Again, sighting our company, where we engage a lot in promoting from within, we really know these individuals we understand their strengths and their loyalty is undiminished. We are engaged in Filling Careers not just Filling Positions.

I grew up in a construction family and worked for my Dad several summers during and after high school. Then while working on my degree at North Dakota State University I was hired by a construction equipment dealership. I started in their service department part time until I finished college. Then full-time service employment for a couple of years then transitioned into sales management. During the recession of the early 1980’s myself and three other managers started General Equipment & Supplies, Inc.

First as Sales Manager and eventually as President we grew our business from one location and 20 employees to 10 locations in four states and two Canadian Provinces and over 250 employees. Along the way we developed relationships with area Technical Colleges and created a College Tuition Reimbursement Program where today we Recruit a handful of new technicians annually into that program. Our company has also developed two Department of Labor Certified Apprenticeship Programs to fill hard to find skilled positions. I am currently semi-retired as Chairman of the Board.

For more information on how we can help with your employee development, please visit us at Learning Without Scars.

 

 

Know When to Walk Away

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Know When to Walk Away

Don Buttrey is the president of Sales Professional Training Inc., a company that offers in-depth skill development for sales professionals and sales support. He has trained thousands of salespeople over 25 years and clearly understands the selling environment of equipment dealers and manufacturers. His curriculum is comprehensive and proven! Don is also the author of “The SELL Process”, a foundational how-to book on effective sales interactions. Today, he answers another tough question: how do you know when to walk away?

Don can be reached at (937) 427-1717  or email donbuttrey@salesprofessionaltraining.com. Check out this website link salesprofessionaltraining.com  for more information – or to purchase online sales training.

QUESTION 4: If a customer is not honest with you on a regular basis and they continue to buy on price only. . . at what point do we walk away from the relationship?

 Don Buttrey: First let me establish the fact that there can be a time to walk away from an account. However, it must be decided strategically with input from the sales professional, sales managers, and appropriate leaders. Many things should be considered: the market situation/economy, other opportunities you have available, inventory levels, how this account might distract us or use up resources we could spend on better business, strength of the competition, if we want the competition to get the volume, etc.

Tactically, before doing anything radical, the salesperson must pre-call plan and set up a good face-to-face with the customer and ask some well-crafted open-ended questions to verify the real situation versus just what it appears on the surface. Ask the hard questions and face the honesty issue head on –but do not argue or accuse. Just get the customer talking and be firm in waiting for answers instead of filling any silence with a bunch of rhetoric or nervous chatter. Ask and shut up. If you have assessed the risk and decided it was worth stirring up the hornet’s nest–ask some blunt, to-the-point questions (but do it in a non-emotional, non-threatening way).

Have a minimum objective for the success of the call based on your decisive strategy. If the customer will not agree to that objective, or refuses to talk and interact honestly (after given plenty of chances to do so), then it may be a good management decision to walk away and not waste your time. Walk from this deal and run to others (prospecting) —-BUT– do not burn any bridges –just back off your sales effort in that account. Mark your calendar for 6-12 months to check in again. Things change. Buyers quit or leave. New owners and leaders come into place.

Note: If, in your strategy, you know there is someone over their head that may be a better contact – devise a plan to call on them. If you decided that you will walk anyway – this may be a good option. Just do it carefully — and you better pre-plan what you will say and how you will say it! Here is another idea: Sometimes having your company’s sales manager (or even the president) call on the customer’s top management is a great way to go over their head without it looking like the salesperson is out of bounds. This will confirm whether it is one person who is not honest –or if it is the culture or way of doing business for the entire customer organization.

To learn more about how to maintain productive relationships with your customers, visit us at Learning Without Scars.