2004 Most Progressive Distributor:
John Day Company

Location: Omaha, Neb.
No. branches: 3
No. employees: 90
Specialty: Industrial, agricultural, material handling, safety
Approx. sales: $25 million
Nominated by: David Reed, director, industrial product division, Columbus McKinnon Corp.
What sets them apart: Market planning

When it comes to developing marketing programs and strategic marketing plans, many distributors have good intentions. They talk a good game with suppliers but fail to follow through with efforts that generate measurable results. The John Day Company in Omaha, Neb., is among that rare breed of distributor that puts a great deal of thought and planning into its marketing activities and follows through on those plans.

It works closely with key suppliers to develop annual marketing plans and conduct joint sales calls targeting key customers and prospects. It holds end-user product training seminars and focus groups with suppliers. It promotes supplier products in multiple-page, full-color sales fliers published in MRO Today magazine, a national trade magazine that John Day mails to end-users in industrial facilities within its geographic market.

This year, the company will hold its first two-day Marketing Summit with key suppliers to establish marketing goals and objectives for 2005. The gathering will partner John Day salespeople and their sales managers with their counterparts from suppliers. Together, they will develop detailed plans for growing business with existing accounts and expanding sales with new customers.

Columbus McKinnon’s David Reed, who nominated John Day Company to receive the Most Progressive Distributor Award, says John Day Company is extremely focused on working with manufacturers. “He’s been very aggressive not only at marketing his company, but the products that he represents,” he says about company president John Fonda.

Fonda says all of these efforts are necessary for John Day Company to tout its capabilities to customers.

“In the past few years, a lot of customers have been feeling pain because their organizations were being downsized. People were multi-tasking so they didn’t have any time to make any trials. It was very difficult for salespeople to get in and speak to these people. Companies couldn’t afford to send people to trade shows. We felt we had to start doing some things to attract those customers to us. Our marketing efforts have been a way for us to differentiate ourselves from our competitors.”

Location: Sun Valley, Calif.
No. branches: 1
No. employees: 23
Specialty: General line
Approx. sales: $7.5 million
Nominated by: Patrick Kearl, national sales manager, Relton Corp.
What sets them apart: Networking

Running a successful business doesn’t mean you have to know all the answers to every problem that plagues companies today. But successful distributors know how to tap into the right resources for the information they need. General Industrial Tool & Supply in Sun Valley, Calif., partners with a variety of companies and organizations to stay in touch with the latest industry trends.

The company leans on suppliers for sales training support, uses Internet-based training from Tooling University to augment product knowledge, is an active participant in the marketing and buying group Affiliated Distributors and the Industrial Supply Association, and partners with the University of Nebraska at Kearney to recruit salespeople to make sure the company has a pipeline for fresh ideas and new talent.

Patrick Kearl, national sales manager for Relton Corporation, who nominated General Industrial Tool & Supply for the Most Progressive Distributor Award, says the company’s management team is at the forefront when it comes to capitalizing on industry trends and new ways of doing business.

“They think outside the box. They’re always looking for innovative ways to do business. They have their ear to the ground on what’s working and they’re always willing to try new things. They’re very active in every organization they participate in. They’re not just going through the motions, they’re very much involved,” says Kearl.

CEO Kathleen Durbin is chairperson of the ISA Partnership Enhancement and Awards committee and sits on the product committee for A-D. Company president Karen Boyle is an active participant in A-D and ISA, and vice president of sales and marketing Joan Hoppock sits on multiple supplier advisory councils. The three sisters believe their involvement with industry leaders on a national level helps make their company stronger.

“When we get involved and can identify a trend occurring somewhere outside of our trading area, we can be better prepared as a company and anticipate changes,” says Durbin. “We get back in spades what we put in on a volunteer level.”

2004 Most Progressive Distributor:
Horizon Solutions Corp.

Location: Rochester, N.Y.
No. branches: 9
No. employees: 300
Specialty: Electrical/Industrial
Approx. sales: $100 million
Nominated by: Glenn Warren, business unit manager, Titex/Prototyp Division, Sandvik
What sets them apart: Partnering with suppliers

Titex Tools knew it took a risk when it reduced its distribution base in the upper New York market from 14 distributors to two. Since naming Horizon Solutions Corp. of Rochester, N.Y., as one of its two distributor partners in March 2004, Titex never regretted the decision. Horizon immediately hired Jeff Gallahan, a former regional sales manager with Walter Waukesha, to become its new cutting tool specialist. It also sponsored two technical product seminars for end-users that were especially popular with customers.

“When you invite customers to an event, usually 10 percent of those that register don’t show up. We actually had more people come to our seminar than we planned on,” says director of marketing Scott Wilson.

The moves demonstrated Horizon’s commitment to a valued supplier and to customers.

“It’s paying big dividends for us,” says Glenn Warren, business unit manager for the Titex/Prototyp division of Sandvik, who nominated Horizon for the award.

“They have provided valuable time with their sales personnel at all their branches for product training and joint sales calls. They’ve installed additional reporting that allows us to look at their internal sales from each of their salesmen so we can track where growth is coming in our brand and know where to apply additional resources. They have stepped up to the plate and lived up to everything they said they’d do,” Warren says.

The change carried risks for Horizon also, which severed its relationship with one cutting tool supplier and had concerns about upsetting relationships with competing brands it still represents. Wilson believes it was important for Horizon to demonstrate its commitment to a valued supplier.

Location: Warwick, R.I.
No. branches: 1
No. employees: 7
Specialty: Abrasives
Approx. sales: $4.5 million
Nominated by: L. Michael Marshall, division sales manager, J. Walter Inc.
What sets them apart: Selling value

In today’s price-crazed business climate, the only thing customers seem to care about is finding the cheapest source of supply. Yet Massasoit Tool Company of Warwick, R.I., succeeds by clinging to a selling style that’s becoming a lost art.

“We always attempt to sell value rather than price. Where someone has been buying a low-end product, we’re not afraid to go in after business with a much higher priced product,” says company president Jim Jaques.

For example, this abrasive specialist convinced a manufacturer of metals used in the rotogravure printing process to switch to an abrasive belt that cost five times more than the product it previously used. But the higher priced belt also achieved superior performance, enabling the company to dramatically reduce its reject rate. The productivity gain far outweighed the cost of the belts.

“On an initial sales call, we say to a customer, ‘Tell me what your problem is. That’s what we want to focus on.’  When we can demonstrate our value doing that a few times, we end up with a pretty loyal customer,” Jaques says.

Mike Marshall, division sales manager for J. Walter Inc., nominated Massasoit Tool Company for the Most Progressive Distributor Award because it captures business by working harder than the competition, not by offering the cheapest price.

“They’re not just a procurement agent for the end-user,” he says. “They help their customers set new standards for quality and performance that increase their competitive advantage and lower the customer’s risk. They also demonstrate better than anyone else the ability to increase their customer’s profitability and lower their total costs.