 |
|
|
|
COVER PAGE |
|
|
|
|
|
IBT |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ISG |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IMT |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MATERIAL HANDLING |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PT |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FLUID POWER |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GENERAL INDUSTRIAL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IBT MEDIA |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LEAN SIX SIGMA |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ELECTRICAL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RUBBER |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TRAINING |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SAFETY |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TECH X 500 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Making It Happen
By Chris Sharp
IBT Sales Representative
As an outside sales rep for IBT in Greater Kansas City, Chris Sharp has had great success at selling engineering projects. In 2006, he closed sales for nine of the fourteen projects he had quoted, which represented 78 percent of the proposed dollar volume. Sharp's success is no accident. He shares some of his techniques and his thinking.
I find it interesting to work with my customers on big system projects. I get excited about the elaborate nature of the work, the professional challenges and, most importantly, about the potential impact these projects have on the customers' operations.
Developing the levels of mutual trust and confidence that allows me to work with them is not something that happened overnight. I have had to work at getting there, but I have been eager to do it.
It requires hard work. To penetrate a customer's organization, I have to get to know and develop substantial relationships with people at many layers in the company. I work with maintenance, operating management, engineering, plant management, sometimes even at higher, corporate levels.
We develop mutual respect. I get to understand the objectives and challenges they are working with. They get to realize that I have a sincere interest in what they are doing and that I am there to assist them.
When a potential opportunity develops, I am in a position that allows me to give them knowledgeable advice and qualified information.
Sure, I am interested in making sales – and engineering projects are big sales. But, I have a bigger objective and a longer term picture in mind.
Systems often present challenges. They are, after all, complex by nature. Sometimes, the process, from information gathering, through quoting, construction, installation, start up and commissioning, doesn't go exactly as planned. Problems can occur on both the IBT side and the customer side.
This is where, I have found, the IBT engineering team shines. The team – and IBT as a company – are committed to getting it right, making it right and keeping it right.
IBT views a system project as a long term relationship. We are interested in this system and the next one and the ones after that.
I am fully confident of what IBT can do, because I have great respect for the engineering department. Bruce Loyd and his team have come through for me time after time. They are solid, smart, hardworking people.
Of course, I have a strong sense of what they need in the way of input, information, access and follow up. And, I am willing to invest myself heavily into making sure that everything is in order. They can't do their work without the right information. I can't sell their work if it is not based on complete understanding of the customer's situation.
So, I do what I think is needed and it seems to be working for my customers, for me and for IBT as a whole. And, I am sure that the engineers would rather have too much information, if the choice is between too much and not nearly enough.
Recently, a colleague asked me if, by concentrating on "big stuff," I missed the bread and butter business, motors, bearings, rubber goods, etc.
My answer was, "Absolutely not."
By being involved with my customers in such a way as to know and understand their operations and needs at a system level, I also have their trust and loyalty for the routine things. After all, if they are willing to trust IBT and our engineering team for projects averaging as much as $ 75 or $ 100 thousand or more, they are certainly going to buy our regular MRO items.
My experience has reinforced one of the principles I learned at IBT in my earliest days with the company: "Take care of your customers. If you do, your customers will take care of you."
It was true when I learned it, and it is just as true today. So, I work hard at taking care of my customers. And, I am proud to say that the IBT Engineering Services team works just as hard with me in making it happen.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
To learn more about sales opportunities with IBT, contact us today!
|
|
 |
|
