The Mheda Journal

How many ears of corn grow on one giant stalk? Most people (myself included) think the answer is “a lot.” But if you said “one,” that means you’re either from Nebraska or you attended 2009 MHEDA President Duncan Murphy’s workshop at last week’s MHEDA Convention.

I want to revisit Duncan’s presentation before it gets too much further into the past. Not that the information would be any less timely…I just don’t want to forget to mention what I got out of it. I didn’t really have time to give it the attention it deserved at the time.

Duncan gave a presentation titled, “Strategic Planning: A Practical Application to Help Grow Your Business and Your Profits.” It was well-attended by distributors and suppliers alike, and I have no doubt that everyone left with some new information and tips to better run their businesses. As the title suggests, the session was about the importance of developing a strategic plan. I won’t go into the details of the strategic planning model used (it’s the same one MHEDA uses that has been presented at past conferences) but I do want to focus on the point of the corn analogy above.

One stalk only grows one ear of corn, but each ear of corn has 300 kernels, which are the seeds to grow a new stalk of corn. Duncan explained that the strategic planning process at your company can sprout the same way. He explained that a strong team of managers developed the plan (the ear) and then dispersed the message to all the employees (the kernels). Once the employees buy-in to the plan – which is a multi-step process that includes improved communication, measured results, goal setting, reviews and revisions, etc. — then the “kernels” can sprout. The employees will perform better, and they can be the basis for a new, improved company (the stalk).

I thought this was a really interesting concept. I assure you that Duncan explained it much more eloquently than I just did. (Downloads of presentation materials are available on MHEDA’s website.) All you really need to know is that by following the strategic plan he outlined in his presentation, Riekes Equipment Company was able to increase its profit despite a 18% drop in sales and earned 2009 “Top Dealer” awards from both Yale and Combilift. Not a bad year, all things considered. That’s the importance of a strategic plan.

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Made it back to the office today, and I have a lot of notes to go through. I will be diving into some of the topics I came across for the next several posts. First, I want to go back to a session I attended on Tuesday and make a few quick comments. 

I’m not in sales — and frankly have no real interest in being involved in sales – so I was surprised that I got so much out of Tom Reilly’s “Value-Added Selling” general session. I even had the chance to attend his breakout workshop, which he ran along with MHEDA Member Cary Roulet, VP/GM of Holt of California (Sacramento, CA), and picked up a few useful tidbits.

The official workshop title was “Crushing Price Objections,” and basically it featured tips and strategies for dealing with a customer who says “Your price is too high.” There was a list of about 16 different statements that salespeople hear from customers talking about price. One of Reilly’s biggest points was that most price objections aren’t really about price, they’re about the customer’s expectations. For instance, when a customer hears a price that he deems “too high,” he is probably not considering all the added value that comes with the product. He expects to hear a number that is close to what he has determined he is willing to pay, and if it is different, the natural response is to say, “Your price is too high.” The real problem, according to Reilly, is not necessarily with your prices but with what the customer is expecting.

I’m probably not explaining this very well since it’s not a situation that I run into every day. But it home when he said, “Money is a better conversation to have with customers than price.” I kind of considered them to be the same thing, bu they’re not.

Money is a bigger, long-term issue. Price is what you pay one time, a short term concept. Money is the total amount you spend, whcih includes the sales price, the service costs, warranty costs, etc. That, Reilly says, is how distributors can add value and drive profitabilty. The total cost of what distributors provide is really what matters. When explained well by your salespeople, no customer can argue with that. You’ll never hear, “Your value is too high.”

It goes to show that you never know what you’re going to pick up at a MHEDA Convention. Sometimes you find nuggets even when you’re not really expecting to.

Today was a long day. Breakfast was at 7:00 a.m. It’s now 11:00 p.m., and I’ve been “on” all day. I will say, though, that I came out of the seminars and workshops with a boatload of interesting blog topics. Stay tuned here for the next few days so that I can catch up on most of them.

Right now, after a 16-hour day, I’m a little tired and not sure how much sense I’ll be making. So let me just retire tonight with a few quick bullet points before hitting a more in-depth topic tomorrow:

• Major props to Edward Fanning of Wells Fargo Financial, who plays a wicked harmonica.
• I was very impressed with the improv comedy performance of Laughing Stock at the closing party, who took the time to learn some material handling terminology (Maybe they used wikiMHEDA?) to pepper throughout their performance.
• Speaking of, the MHEDA Board “volunteers” were exceptional. Like they said, “They were making it up as they go along, like you all do every day.” Your improv skills were great.
• The Internet search tools shared by Sam Richter were awesome. I was scared to think about what might be out there on me in the “invisible Web.” Luckily, I didn’t have to find out in front of a crowd, like some Board members did.
• Interesting discussion from my fellow lunch table folk, about Internet security issues. Sam Richter definitely gave us all a lot to think about.
• Even though I’m not in sales, I found Tom Reilly’s general session and workshop extremely interesting. Value-added selling always seemed to be one of those nebulous concepts, like “better service,” but he and Cary Roulet provided real, practical examples.
• Finally, kudos once again to the MHEDA staff and board, who produced one of the best Conventions I’ve been a part of. It flew by, but I learned a lot. After 7 years of coming here, that’s notnecessarily easy to do.
• To all the new faces in the crowd, thanks for coming. New perspectives are one of the reasons that I was able to learn so much.
• Thanks to everyone who was willing to participate in the MHEDA Convention Connection, whether in videos, quotes or photos. We couldn’t produce what we do without you. Great job by everyone.

And with that, it’s off to bed. Stay classy, MHEDA.

This afternoon, I participated in a Roundtable Discussion. The topic was Manufacturer-Distributor Relations for Industrial Trucks. The group was composed of two lift truck distributors and four manufacturers of forklifts and forklift parts.

It was a lively discussion. I found the most interesting parts to be about the change in mindset of end-user customers. Both distributors indicated that price has become the number one concern of end-users, when as recently as two years ago, quality or availability were ahead of price in the why-I-want-to-buy-your-product scale. In a down economy, low price trumps all. While the viability of that strategy can be debated at another time, my point revolves around what that mentality has meant for where distributors get their parts.

Often, a forklift OEM buys its parts from a third-party provider, and the OEM sells the part to the distributor. By the time the distributor sells that part to the customer, it’ goes through three markups, meaning a higher price for the end-user. This forces the distributor to make a decision in order to satisfy his customer. Remain loyal to the OEM, or find a separate source for those parts.

In today’s environment, the decision is increasingly becoming option B, and that often means heading to the source where the OEM gets the part in the first place. Obviously, this can cause some consternation for the OEM, who, like a distributor, makes much of its profit on parts. But as long a customer knows that a distributor can get a part cheaper somewhere else, he’ll demand it be done that way. It’s up to the distributor to either work out a better arrangement with his manufacturer, lose a customer or anger its supplier. Not a great set of options. What do you think? What’s the best course of action?

After an outdoor breakfast, attendees at MHEDA’s 55^th Annual Convention & Exhibitors’ Showcase filed back into the Palms Ballroom for the opening business meeting. 2010 MHEDA President Greg Morrison gave an update on the association’s financials, saying, “MHEDA was able to finish 2009 in the black thanks to sound financial management, avoiding a hefty hotel room penalty and a tight budget.” Morrison then presented last year’s president, Duncan Murphy, with the traditional Past President’s green jacket. Murphy took the mike and gave a challenge to the members for everyone in attendance to recruit one new member in 2010.

Dr. Lowell Catlett, an economist, gave a humorous twist to the current economic situation, basically saying that we’ve had 14 recessions in the past 80 years, and the U.S. GDP continues to rise every time, so we need to have confidence that it will do the same this time. His message resonated with several members, who were glad to have a positive outlook, without being sugar-coated. It was sound advice.

His outlook was echoed later in the day by Michael Marks, who predicted a quick recovery for the material handling industry and outlined ways for business executives to do business differently. “Success in this economy is about doing new things, not doing the same things better,” he said. I thought that was a very succinct way to say what The MHEDA Journal has been trying to say all quarter: The Rules Have Changed, and material handling distributors (and suppliers) must adapt.

In between was the always popular Exhibitors’ Showcase. A lot of new faces, particularly new exhibiting companies, made for a great opportunity for networking. See tomorrow’s MHEDA Convention Connection for comments from attendees.

Finally, wanted to give two quick shout-outs. First, to Barbara Morrison, the first lady of MEHDA, who turned 50 today. Happy birthday! Second, to the students and faculty – Dr. Malini, Chase Ubernosky and Carl Gerken – from Texas A&M, who unlike in past years when MHEDA paid their way to Convention, paid their own way because of the value they received from the experience in previous years. Nice to meet you and I hope you found value once again!

Check back later for a more in-depth update.

After an early start this morning, Day 2 of MHEDA’s 55th Annual Convention got the ball rolling, so to speak, with the Newcomers Reception and a rousing Opening Party. 

There was some skepticism from a few attendees about not going to an off-site location for the opening party, but those who were willing to give the “MHEDA Zone” a try had smiles on their faces. Whether it was the basketball pop-a-shot, pool tables, dartboards, air hockey table, arcade-style racing and jet-ski games, putting green, football toss or extra-large screen Wii games, there was a sport for all to try. The DJ got everyone else even more involved with some off-the-wall games involving hula hoops, some waist-attached basketball contraption, and a few scavenger hunts. Some of us may never recover from seeing the gyrations of some MHEDA board members trying to get that ball in the hole!

Even though this is my seventh MHEDA Convention (yes, it’s really that many), I still learned a lot at the Newcomers Reception. My fellow Twix-bar lovers included table moderator and MHEDA Director Brad Baker, 2008 MHEDA President Jack Phelan and 3 first-time attendees: Tim Combs of Associated Material Handling, Bob Karim of Unique Industrial Products and JH Ryder CFO Danny Fatigati. Phelan summed up the feeling of a lot of longtime MHEDA Convention attendees by saying, “I always get a tip from somebody.” There’s no such thing as knowing it all, as any active MHEDA member knows.

One of my favorite exchanges of the evening was between Phelan, Baker and Fatigati, who were talking about how the material handling industry helps make people more efficient. I’m not sure who said it, but someone said, “Humans are inherently lazy and always want to find a way to work more efficient. Why work harder if you don’t have to?” I never really thought of the industry, or human nature for that matter, in those terms, but I suppose there is some truth to it. Calling it laziness may be a little harsh – I prefer practicality – but the fact remains that the material handling industry exists as long as people are seeking to do their jobs better and smarter.  A point to ponder.

It was great to meet everyone out there. See you all at the Exhibitors’ Showcase tomorrow. Stop by the wikiMHEDA booth on MHEDA Row!

One of the highlights of every MHEDA Convention is the golf torunament. This year was no different, with about 80 golfers making the trek out to the Rookery golf club in Naples for a morning of ball-striking, wild animal sighting and, most important, networking.

While making the rounds taking photographs of each foursome, my colleague Dan Vest and I saw more than one alligator, all kinds of unfamilar waterfowl (including one dive from about 100 feet in the air and come up with a fish), and other things we don’t see every day. One thing we didn’t see was a MHEDA Member on the course not enjoying the camaraderie and networking opportunity the course provided. That was especially true for the group that included Past MHEDA Presidents Tim Hilton, CEO of Carolina Handling (Charlotte, NC), and Duncan Murphy, president of Riekes Equipment Company (Omaha, NE), and Jeff Long and Robert  Edwards of EnerSys.

Despite the size of the smiles, it’s not all fun and games out there. Business is being done and discussed, too. For instance, Louis Coleman, sales and marketing manager at Autoquip, told me that sales are rebounding since his company’s acquisition of American Lifts last year.

After the golf tournament, we came back to the hotel, checked out the set up for tomorrow’s Exhibitors’ Showcase and filmed a few more videos for the MHEDA Convention Connection. It’s time for the Newcomers Reception, President’s welcome and then off to “get in the zone” for the Opening Party. Check back later for more!

Since my last post, we had a nice, relaxing dinner at a local restaurant called CJ’s on the Bay. Decent food, good atmosphere…if you’re looking for a place to get away from the hotel for a meal, it’s not a bad choice.

Interesting fact of the day: Did you know that it takes more than a year to plan a MHEDA Convention? As soon as last year’s event in Palm Desert, CA, ended, the MHEDA staff began planning this year’s. We knew it was slated to be in Marco a couple of years ago, but none of the details were nailed down until last May and June. As MHEDA staffer Cindy Thoren describes it, the site inspection that takes place immediately following that year’s meeting is for “overall big picture of possibilities of what can be done.” Then, a few board and staff meetings later, those big picture possibilities are smoothed down to a narrow, more precise theme, which is used to choose speakers, plan events and develop a schedule. Cindy stressed that it’s a team effort by the staff, with each member busy at different times of the year ironing out the details of their specific areas of responsibility.

I thought that was interesting, and I didn’t want to let the week go by and have the MHEDA staff get lost in the shuffle. They do a great job making these events as seamless as possible for all the attendees, and they deserve credit. If you see one of the ladies in the trademark MHEDA blue shirts, be sure to give them their due.

It’s an early wakeup call for the golf tournament tomorrow, so I’m off to bed now. Don’t miss the MHEDA Convention Connection in your inbox tomorrow morning and every morning during the Convention!

The 55th MHEDA Convention officially kicked off today, bright and early. The MHEDA Board got off to an early start with an 8:00 a.m. meeting, at the same time the registration desk opened. A steady flow of both distributors and suppliers have been keeping the MHEDA staff busy checking in all day, and I was able to meet a few, many with spouses and families alongside.

We also filmed three videos today, which will be used both for the MHEDA Convention Connection e-newsletter that’s being published daily at the show (Check your inbox tomorrow!), as well as for a post-Convention recruiting tool for non-members. I wasn’t there for the actual taping, but I understand that you won’t want to miss what was said. Stay tuned the next few days to listen to the commentary from MHEDA Executive Vice President Liz Richards and MHEDA President-Elect Chuck Frank, president of AHS Inc. (Cincinnati, OH); Don Chance, president of NMHG sales and 2009 MHEDA President Duncan Murphy, president of Riekes Equipment Company (Omaha, NE), and Kent Eudy, vice president of MCFA dealer sales and MHEDA Director John Faulkner, president of FMH Material Handling Solutions (Denver, CO).

I did have the pleasure to speak briefly with Don Chance outside the video room, and he had a quote that I loved. We were talking about how things appear to be turning around for the industry, economy-wise, and I commented that it appears this year there at least seems to be more confidence even if things haven’t turned around all the way yet. (As compared to last year, when forecasts were much more uncertain and guarded.) Chance said, “We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and this year we’re pretty sure it’s not a train.” I loved that! He added that it might take a while to come back, but there is hope. (Thanks, Don, I hope your foot is feeling better!)

Other events this morning included a sailing and shelling cruise and a yacht cruise of Naples. Word from at least one of the participants was “It was hot!” but they didn’t seem too much worse for the wear.

Bill Ryan of LiftOne meets with an affinity partner

Networking opportunities abound, whether they be in the MHEDA Lounge, with one of the MHEDA Affinity Partners set up near the registration desk, or poolside! I saw plenty of members lounging near the MHEDA-sponsored cabanas—and I think some of those conversations may have even been about business! (I even managed to sneak in a little bit of pool time and seem to have escaped without a sunburn…already a success of sorts.)

Keep checking in, both here and on Twitter for more updates. Things really get going on Sunday with the annual golf tournament, Newcomers Reception and Opening Party.

Well, here we are in Marco Island. What a great spot! The hotel is gorgeous. This is my second time here…I was here in 2006 when MHEDA last held its Convention here. I’m anticipating another great event.

It hasn’t even officially started yet, and I’ve already run into a bunch of MHEDA Members. Robert Andrews, president of Morse Manufacturing in East Syracuse, NY, was on both of our flights today (Syracuse to Philly, Philly to Fort Myers). I spent some quality time during our layover with him, learning about how custom orders for specific customer applications have been very successful and helped drive sales over the last few months.

We saw a few MHEDA board members and their wives, including Convention Chairperson Chuck Frank; Past President Jack Phelan; and MHEDA Directors Scott Lee, Mark Milovich and Steve Fawcett. It looks like the hotel is starting to fill up with MHEDA Members and their spouses, and I look forward to meeting everyone, again or for the first time.

So far the big news to report was a fantastic dinner at Kurrents, here at the hotel. Any Convention goers who are looking for a quality bite should stop in. The bone-in pork chop was delicious! We ran into the MHEDA staff there on our way out, as they having one last night out before all the work starts for real! I’m sure they earned it!

My colleagues and I will be out and about from the opening bell tomorrow, bright and early at 7:00 for breakfast. We’ll be blogging and tweeting (@liftmoveandstor & @MatHandlingEdge) live from the Convention all week long. Check back tomorrow for updates on all the great activities in store for attendees. See you Saturday.