Crown Equipment Corporation, one of the world’s leading forklift manufacturers, has announced one of its forklifts has been honored with the prestigious GOOD DESIGN™ Award. The award’s sponsor, The Chicago Athenaeum:
Friday, April 22, 2011
Crown Equipment Reach Truck Wins GOOD DESIGN Award
Flow-Rite Unveils Battery Electrolyte Monitor
Flow-Rite is proud to announce its latest innovation, Eagle Eye. Eagle Eye is the world’s most advanced battery electrolyte level monitor. Unlike previous indicators, it measures electrolyte levels without using a conductive metal probe. The plastic probe measures levels via the patent pending Capacitive Sensing Technology. This technology is found in many electronics, such as touch screen monitors and cell phones. The probe is specially designed to be acid resistant, thereby exempt from sulfating and corrosion. This indicator accurately monitors and displays the status of the cell with a solid green or red flashing light. The level light prevents false readings from splashing electrolyte by incorporating a 20 second delay for a proper reading. The sealed polycarbonate lens safeguards the LED and electronics from impacts and acid migration. It is the lowest profile light in the industry, while also being the brightest. There is a remote option to mount an additional light on the side of the battery for instances when the view of the monitor is obstructed.
ProStack Pallet Awarded Patent
The ProStack® Double Leg Ratchet Pallet has been awarded a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its unique, double leg ratchet design. Manufactured by Polymer Solutions International Inc., the pallet’s telescoping double leg design features a series of interlocking “teeth.” This ratchet-style construction secures the top deck to the base via the interlocking legs to yield a connection three times stronger than welded or snap pallet construction designs. The double leg construction forms nearly half an inch of damage protection, two to three times thicker than that of old style single leg pallets. With enhanced strength and rigidity engineered into the legs, the pallet offers superior resistance to potential damage caused by forklift and pallet jack impacts. Additionally, the pallet’s bottom deck is designed to prevent damage caused by pallet jack over-pumping. “Since 70% of pallet damage typically occurs in the leg and is caused by forklifts, our focus was to create a superior leg design in order to dramatically extend the usable life of the pallet,” explains Dan Kelly, President and CEO of Polymer Solutions International. “The patent further verifies the uniqueness of this design in the market. Getting a
Barcoding, Inc. Expands Central Regional Office
Barcoding, Inc. has announced the expansion of its central region office with the addition of Dean Cohen, Brenda Roberts and Matthew Cunningham to the company’s central region office as enterprise account managers. ”It has always been a priority for Barcoding to provide a high level of personalized service and support to our customers across the country,” said Shane Snyder, Barcoding vice president of sales. “With a customer base that has continued to grow over the past 10 years and an ever expanding industry presence, we felt it was imperative to grow our central region office. We are pleased to welcome these highly talented individuals to the Barcoding team.” Dean Cohen brings over 25 years of experience supporting national accounts to his role at Barcoding, including: The City of Atlanta, The State of Arizona, Disney, General Electric, NASA, Nestle, Orange County, the United Parcel Service and Winn-Dixie.
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Kardex Remstar Facility Registered to ISO9001 Standards
Kardex Remstar’s Lewistown, Maine plant underwent a thorough evaluation of the documented processes and corresponding work activities necessary to meet the requirements of the ISO9001: 2008 standard, and was registered by a third party registrar from Germany in October 2010. The ISO 9000 family of standards, published by the International Organization for Standardization, relates to quality management systems. The standards are designed to help organizations meet the quality and value needs of customers while eliminating redundancy and waste in manufacturing operations.
The 230,000 square foot Kardex Production manufacturing facility is located in the
Trelleborg's Acquisition of Watts Tyre Group Finalized
Trelleborg’s acquisition of Watts Tyre Group, a U.K.-company, has been finalized.
“With the acquisition of Watts Tyre Group, we are taking our industrial tire operation to a new level. We will become stronger in the aftermarket and will, for example, have access to an advanced service concept that is marketed under the name Interfit. Watts Tyre Group also adds a geographic presence that strengthens and complements our existing business. The operation has sales to 60 countries and is a leader in many growth markets. The acquisition creates good conditions for expansion into growth markets in
CeMAT South America Concludes First Run in Sao Paulo
CeMAT South
Wolfgang Pech, vice president at Deutsche Messe, said, “We are very pleased with the first CeMAT South America. Together with our partners we staged a very diverse international showcase of the latest technologies and solutions, one that enabled visitors to experience first-hand the latest innovations on the international marketplace.” Peter Günther, materials handling and logistics systems director at VDMA, added, “With the launch of CeMAT South
How to Achieve Star Status By Dr. Rick Johnson
Being number one on your sales team just isn’t that difficult. Salesmanship is a learned skill. You can perfect that skill. Yes, it does help to have an outgoing personality, high self-esteem and an ego. But, these attributes alone won’t make you successful. Confidence in yourself, confidence in your products and confidence in your company is a key ingredient. The only way to gain this kind of ultimate confidence is by attaining knowledge. Study your products, understand your value propositions and understand what your competitive advantage is.
Value Propositions
Don’t blow this concept off as some sales training jargon. Value propositions are extremely important. You have one, your company has one and your products have them. What is it about you that create value for your customer? What is it about your company that creates value for your customer? What is it about your product that creates value for your customer? It’s not features and benefits. “Perceived Value drives customer expectations” “Performance value drives customer satisfaction”
Understanding is the Key
Understand yourself first. Determine your strengths. Recognize your weaknesses. Make a vow to work on improving those areas where you are weak. To excel at anything you must have confidence and confidence comes from experience and knowledge. Recognizing your weakness puts you in a position of strength because you become familiar with your limitations and what you need to do to overcome them. Personal understanding is critical to understanding your customers. And, if you don’t understand your customers it is extremely difficult to discover their pain.
Be Honest with Yourself
The road to success in sales requires a kind of personal honesty that not everyone is capable of exercising. That specifically is why we all can’t be superstars. Part of becoming a superstar in sales is understanding people so well that building relationship equity is almost automatic. A skill that becomes inherent to your personification. This can’t happen unless you understand yourself first. People grow and change, you grow and change so this concept of knowing yourself and really knowing your customers is a living changing thing that you must always be conscious of. The more your customers change, the more you must change and adjust. This requires a certain amount of intuitive judgment and a perspective on helping the customer solve their problems to such an extent that you can see the forest in spite of the trees.
You Can Change Yourself but You Can’t Change Your Customer
Selling is all about understanding your customers. Accepting your customers as they are while understanding their specific wants, needs and desires for what they are and not what you would like them to be. This puts you in a position of strength in building a personal relationship with the customer. Don’t succumb to the common trait called impatience if your customer has trouble identifying his real pain. Often times it is up to you to help him discover that pain and in turn recognize the value you and your company provide by eliminating that pain.
Sales is a Profession to be Proud Of
Learning your product, making a clear presentation to qualified prospects, and closing more sales will take a lot less time once you know your own capabilities and failings, and understand and care about the prospects you are calling upon. You must become a total solution provider regardless of the circumstance or situation. Sometimes solving a customer’s problem will have nothing to do with your product or your company. That doesn’t matter. Solving the problem builds relationship equity and relationships are still extremely important even in this century when a relationship is required to even get into the game. Selling occurs all around us all day long. Our mere existence is predicated upon selling something all the time. That something can be anything from a product to an idea, a concept or even a philosophy.
Anybody can sell to some degree and we all do it without exception. However, to be a professional sales person that reaches star status, accepting these concepts as truths is the starting point. Accepting the concepts described in this article will enable you to understand that salesmanship is not a born trait. Agreed, there are some personality traits that may help you create success quicker but true professional sales skills are learned.
An old sales buddy of mine once said; “You can send a gorilla out on the road and if he calls on enough people, if he doesn’t give up, sooner or later someone will pin an order to his chest and send him home.” Brian Williamson
Maybe you know some sales people like that. If you do rest assured they aren’t the professionals we are talking about. Sales is a profession that requires professionals. It’s a profession to be proud of. It requires persistence, tenacity, confidence and understanding. Study yourself, study people, do your homework and never forget the basics. Targeting, goal setting, action planning and follow-up never go out of fashion no matter how much of a star you become. Never forget where you came from and how you created the success you create. Getting up out of bed in the morning; doing what has to be done to excel in sales; keeping records, updating your materials; planning the direction of further sales efforts; and all the while increasing your own knowledge – all this definitely requires personal motivation, discipline, and energy. Being a professional sales person is not easy. It demands creativity and innovative thinking.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Shuttlelift Celebrates Anniversary of SB Series
Last year, Shuttlelift broke ground with the launch of a new series of cranes designed to provide state-of-the-art material handling solutions and a broad range of cost-saving benefits. The new SB Series rubber-tired gantry crane provides users with a highly economic solution in a competitive marketplace. Driven by superior engineering innovations and inspired by Shuttlelift customers, the company’s gantry cranes remain one of the premier lines in the machine handling industry. The newest SB series is no exception; offering additional lifting solutions proven to be effective in the fabrication’s SL and ISL mobile gantry crane series.
In today’s marketplace, components are getting longer and tandem picks are becoming more common. The Shuttlelift SB series offers an effective solution with several lifting scenarios from 15 to 100 ton cranes and is a productive alternative to overhead cranes, boom cranes, reach stackers, forklifts, crawler cranes or rough terrain cranes. It can also be used in conjunction with a customer’s existing conventional rubber-tired gantry crane, regardless of brand.
Southworth Platforms Lift Worker To Work
Southworth Products Corp. announces the availability of worker platforms that bring the worker to the work. For assembly or maintenance operations where large structures, such as aircraft or heavy equipment, must be accessed at elevated or varying heights, Southworth now offers custom-configured lifts that can be designed into most production lines. Offering more flexibility and safety than scaffolding or ladders, these worker platforms are also appropriate for stock picking from higher shelves, such as the vertically stacked compartments of storage carousels.
Southworth designs stable scissor lifts in stationary or movable configurations and in a multitude of platform sizes and lifting ranges, working with the customer to accommodate budgetary limitations as well as unique, application-specific requirements. Options include custom controls, soft start/stop, indexed lifting and lowering, slide-out sections that increase platform size when necessary, fold-down safety gates and handrails, custom deck treatments (non-skid, anti-static, etc.), and bellows skirting that keeps dust, debris, and moisture out of the lift mechanism.
Gateway Safety Publishes Spanish Version of Full-line Catalog
A Spanish-language version of the Gateway Safety full-line product catalog is now available as a downloadable pdf at http://www.gatewaysafety.com/downloads/pdf/GATCatalog_2011_SP.pdf.
Gateway Safety has published the new Spanish version of the catalog for the use of its sales force in Spanish-speaking areas of the
The 32-page, full-color catalog is a complete sourcing guide for more than 60 styles of safety eyewear, hearing, respiratory, head, and face protection products. The catalog includes seven product sections with comprehensive ordering information and two sections
on custom products and marketing tools. Many independently certified safety products are included.
Fuel Systems Reorganizes, Expands Management Team
Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. has expanded and reorganized its executive team with executives assuming regional operating responsibility in order to better capture the company's global growth opportunities. Effective immediately, Matthew Beale, President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary will become Co-President of Fuel Systems and Head of IMPCO Operations with primary responsibility for North America, and Roberto Olivo, Chief Operational Officer, will become Co-President of Fuel Systems and Head of BRC Operations with primary responsibility for
Also effective immediately, Beale will be succeeded as Chief Financial Officer by Pietro Bersani, 43, who joins Fuel Systems from Deloitte & Touche with over 14 years of financial and accounting experience. Beale will be succeeded in his role of secretary by Kevin Buckley, Fuel Systems director of compliance. Olivo's position as Chief Operational Officer will not be filled at this time.
Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association Elects New President
George Huber III, president of Industrial Kinetics, Inc., was elected president of the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) at the organization's recent annual meeting in La Quinta,
Founded in 1933, CEMA's mission is to promote the common interests of its members, while specifying and elevating design, manufacturing, application and safety standards in conveyor equipment and components. As president, Huber will work with the board of directors, committees and CEMA staff to create valuable business content and actively promote the capabilities of its members in
HILO-Yale Industrial Trucks Acquires Viccaro Equipment
Hyster® lift truck dealer Viccaro Equipment has been acquired by HILO-Yale Industrial Trucks. Named as an authorized Hyster dealer,
Headquartered in
Gasco Affiliates Receives ISO 9001:2008 Certification
Gasco Affiliates has received ISO 9001:2008 certification applicable to the production of precision gases used in the calibration of gas detection instrumentation, the company reported. The certification is an internationally recognized quality management standard. Certification was authorized by National Quality Assurance (NQA)
Thomas Hanway, president of Gasco Affiliates, said that the certification is an assurance to marketers and end-users that quality and safety are among the company’s highest priorities. "This is a significant achievement for Gasco, its marketers and its customers and a demonstration of our leadership characteristics. ISO 9001:2008 certification represents the attainment of a new milestone as we continue to innovate and grow our business operations,” Hanway said.
Toyota Honors Top Dealers with President's Award
Toyota Material Handling U.S.A., Inc. (TMHU) recently announced the 2010 winners of its prestigious President's Award. TMHU selects its top dealers each year from a nationwide network of 68 dealers and 188 dealership locations, recognizing them for demonstrating excellence in parts, service and equipment sales, customer satisfaction and overall dealership operations. This year, 15 winners earned the coveted award and were acknowledged at
"During a year of gradual economic recovery, Toyota dealers focused on providing superior customer service, sales support and comprehensive material handling solutions for customers," said Brett Wood, president of TMHU. "Year after year, our dealer network continues to set the bar for industry excellence."
The President's Award, TMHU's highest honor, has been awarded to select dealers since its inception in 1990 to acknowledge their outstanding business accomplishments.
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How Do You Define Success? By: Dr. Linda Seger
We all seem to want it. We all seem to seek it. “Success” seems to be the magic word for what we chase after, prepare for, choose, desire. It’s how we often define our lives. Money, fame, and power are often what we have been told make up success. If we don’t get it, we’re consumed with envy of those who do. Some who feel they have lost this golden ring have mental breakdowns, mid-life crises, and get ill just thinking about it. Others give up, and decide that success isn’t all that important; what is important is simply having a job and keeping food on the table. Some, at the end of their lives, suddenly realize they blew it, and what they thought they had, they never had at all.
Worldview Definitions of Success
Americans tend to define success by money, and by what money can buy. We are known around the world as a rather materialistic country, always striving after things and defining success by the accoutrements that money can buy – such as our snazzy cars, the size of our homes and designer clothes. And that’s just what we get – more things. This doesn’t mean more fulfillment or contributing to make the world better in some way. It simply means more things.
Other countries define success more in terms of whether their work supports their family life. If they enjoy their work, and if it gives them an opportunity to spend time with their family and have a balanced life, they’d consider themselves successful. For example an Israeli screenwriter was asked if she had plans to come to
Success and Effectiveness
For some, success is defined by effectiveness. The question is: “Are they making things happen? Are they achieving project goals? Are they contributing in a way that adds value to the project?” Success for them means the project becomes better as a result of their participation. They can see the results, and feel fulfilled by their work, but also know their work fulfills others, either because the product they make is useful, or because the service they provide is helpful.
Success and Joy
Some define success by whether their job suits them and by how much joy they have as a result of their work. They define it by the joy they feel when they do the work; the joy they feel when they’ve finished the work; and by the joy that others feel as a result of their work. If their work doesn’t add to their sense of happiness and joy of themselves and others, then no matter how much money they’ve earned or how many accolades they receive, they don’t feel successful.
This joy not only comes from their own work, but from the collaboration with other talented people who not only bring their skills to the project, but also bring harmony to the working relationship. Nobody wants to work among discord. For many, if those work relationships aren’t fulfilling and harmonious, they don’t feel good about their work, themselves, or about others.
Success and Balance
Some define success by the sense of balance they have between their work lives and the rest of their lives. For them, work is not what success is about. They believe that life needs to be balanced, and that work is not meant to be the only thing in our lives. John Woolman, an early American abolitionist, cut back on his successful work as a tailor because he wanted to be “free of cumber.” When his work was getting so cumbersome it was controlling him and left him no time for other things of value in his life, he did not consider himself successful.
If a job is driving someone, demanding all their time, and giving them no balance between their work, physical exercise, time with their family and other relationships, and time for spiritual growth, then the balance is off and many would consider this is not living a successful life. This can lead to a frenetic lifestyle, as well as illness, family problems, and not paying attention to the values that make a good life.
Making a Difference
Ultimately, many define success by how their lives will be summed up at their funeral. Will attendees be talking about how much money the person made or perhaps even say “good riddance” to a failure as a human being? Or will they be talking about this person’s contributions and how blessed they feel to have known this person as a friend or co-worker? For most, success is ultimately defined by the Good that has been contributed, and by what is remembered about someone who has finished the work. Has the person made a good difference?
Friday, April 8, 2011
Reflections that can Improve Sales Performance By Dr. Rick Johnson
How time flies. I remember back in the mid 1970's when professional selling was easy and a whole lot of fun. We were Lone Wolfs back then. We controlled everything, we were professionals, we owned a patch of dirt. All we had to do to maintain ownership was to produce sales. We had our tools, a company car, trunk files, brochures, samples and a calendar/card file. As time passed, some of us even got car phones. Sure, we did call reports and had sales meetings, but make no mistake, we were pros. We owned that patch of dirt and most of the customers who were on it. If we chose to leave for greener pastures, most of our customers went with us. We had respect. Everything focused on relationships. I mentioned how I even remember my first sales training seminar, "Needs Satisfaction Selling." I was a rookie and having the time of my life. In fact, being a rookie was part of my strategy (although back then I didn't know I had a strategy) to develop relationships, especially with new accounts:
"Mr. Customer, I'm kind of new at this. I'm learning a lot. Can you help me understand some things about your business?"
I called myself a rookie well past my fifth anniversary as a sales representative. Most purchasing agents felt sorry for me. They wanted to help. They wanted to teach. And, what better way to begin a relationship than to be the recipient of advice and counsel?
Words of wisdom
Everyone needs a mentor to become really good in sales. Sure, I treated my customers and potential customers as mentors. It made them feel good and it helped me build that relationship that was key to success in the 70's and 80's. But, we all have one or two special individuals in our lives that make a difference in our success as sales representatives: a former boss, colleague or professor, someone who turns the light on in our head and keeps it burning.
Those of us who have been successful in sales could probably write a book on lessons learned from our mentors. But, there are generally a few comments that stick with us for a lifetime. When it comes to relationship selling, two have stuck with me over the past 30 years:
"Establish a relationship with your customer, Rick. Build his trust, gain his respect and he'll tell you how to do business with him."
That's what relationship selling was all about. It worked. Cocktail lunches, ball games, golf, fishing trips and visits to a hunting lodge were all part of our repertoire. These were tools of the trade, relationship builders.
Getting to know your customer as a person, that's what it was all about. He became your friend. To do that, you couldn't spend most of your time talking about features and benefits or doing little product demos. No, you asked questions, questions about them, and then you shut up and listened. Another tidbit of advice from my mentor that stuck with me through the years emphasized that very thought:
"If you spend one hour with a customer and you talk for 45 minutes making a presentation about features and benefits, your company and God knows what else and the customer only talks for 15 minutes, you're a dead man. You'll walk out of there and your customer is not going to think much of you as a sales person, no matter how good your pitch was. But, listen to me, son, if you spend an hour with that customer, you ask a few questions and let him talk for 45 minutes about himself, the sale is 75% made. You'll walk away and the customer will think you are the greatest thing since peanut butter. You made a great sales call. How can he not think that when he spent 45 minutes telling you all about himself, his company, his family, and his problems? You alone have the control."
Change is the only guarantee in life
Things have changed in the last 20-30 years. We have gone through an evolutionary process in the world of professional sales. We cannot be Lone Wolves anymore. We cannot control every piece of data, every contact with our customer, or be in command of the total customer relationship. To succeed and grow as a professional in sales today we cannot afford to "own" the account. Buyers are more sophisticated today. Selling is more complex. It isn't good enough to just have product knowledge. We must have industry knowledge, market knowledge and, more importantly, we have to understand our customers' customers. To excel in sales today we have to educate our customers and help them make money. We must become total solution providers.
If we are going to grow as professionals and make the transition from being a Lone Wolf sales person to a Lead Wolf sales star then we must humble ourselves. We must be willing to give up total control, to share credit and develop teamwork within our selling organization. We can learn from each other.
We can learn from reflections of our past or the reflections of some of our more experienced peers. Don’t be afraid to approach that silver haired experienced sales person in your organization and get them to engage in a discussion about the evolution of sales in your industry. Chances are they will be more than willing to share their personal experiences. Listen intently because you can learn a lot. And, if you happen to be one of those long term experienced professional sales people, consider it an obligation to your profession to share your experiences and give advice to those young potential super stars that come to you for advice.