Year: 2017

By William McCloy You’ve seen it before – a good employee makes a horrible decision in his or her personal vehicle. What are the implications for your company if the employee’s license is revoked, canceled or suspended due to alcohol, controlled substance or felony violations?  If the employee in question is a CDL driver, he or she will lose driving privileges for one year. But what if he or she doesn’t hold a CDL, but instead drives a company sales car or pick-up truck? What if the incident involves excessive speed, reckless driving or bodily harm? What happens then? As…

By Dale Meyerrose If you’re a regular reader of this publication, you know that integrity, trust and reliability, safety and tested and proven are among this industry’s most prominent qualities. If any of those attributes are developed, produced, marketed, sold, distributed or maintained with technology, another component must be added to that list of core competencies: cybersecurity. Eyes gloss over at the mere mention of cybersecurity, followed by the hopeless dread of the inevitable. Yet, many would be surprised that cybersecurity is not about technology; it is a human proposition regarding value and risk. Don’t believe me? Every creditable study…

By Lyndon Friesen Conflict can be defined as a misalignment of goals or values between two or more people.  As Amer Obeidi explained in his thesis on the subject for his University of Waterloo doctor of philosophy program, “Conflict is driven by the perceived incompatibility of something of relevance, and the interference of others on the achievement of one’s goals.”  Conflict resolution is a critical conversation that, when approached with the right attitude and skills, can promote healthier workplace relationships by aligning goals and values. Navigating Resolution In the workplace, there are many reasons why conflict can occur. One of…

By Paul Bernier The “Customer Experience,” or “CX,” has been labeled by many as the new marketing battlefield.  What is CX?  It’s your customers’ perception of how they were treated and how they feel about their experience with your business. In other words, if a customer likes you and feels he or she was treated well during the business transaction, that person will not only become a loyal customer, but also is likely to recommend your business to others. As we all know, word-of-mouth testimonials and personal endorsements are of huge value to businesses. It’s important to understand that CX…

As you head into New York State’s capital city of Albany over the Patroon Island Bridge, you can get a bird’s-eye view of Noble Gas Solutions’ new industrial gas distribution center.  Faced with an expanding business and facilities hemmed in by the city that has grown up around it, company CEO J. David Mahoney decided the time was right for the company to invest in some new real estate. In 2015 he found an ideal location not far from his existing headquarters that had better access to the region’s highway systems, and in March of 2016,  he began a…

By Kelly Bladow From the driver’s seat to the dock, and whether you’re a gas producer, hardgoods retailer or product manufacturer, there’s no getting away from the necessity of putting safety first in all aspects of welding supplies and gases distribution industry operations.  If you haven’t already established a complete safety program within your company, you may feel that it’s a daunting thing to do. I’m happy to say that putting such a program in place is fairly simple – at least in obtaining the materials for it and in what’s involved in implementation. The trick to getting a safety…

By Rich Craig The Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA) and the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) both work to promote safety and safe operations in the welding and gases industry.  We do this to ensure we are protecting the public, our employees and our facilities from the inherent hazards of our industry.  Every aspect of our industry requires respect for the products and related equipment: the containers themselves are heavy and contain gas stored at high pressures and the products present a range of hazards, including extreme cold, flammability, toxicity and asphyxiation. Delivering these products to our customers also has…

By Richard P. Schweitzer, ESQ. Sometimes distributors say they cannot afford the cost of a safety compliance program, or they defer sending employees to training programs because of the expense. Some owners do not see safety as necessary to improving the company’s bottom line – saying that if it does not generate revenue or reduce costs, they are not interested. Others appreciate the value of safety programs but still view safety as a cost item to be minimized. This is backward thinking. Safety programs are means to preserve revenue. I heard one GAWDA distributor complain that his company was disqualified…

By Charles McChesney Safety equipment is ubiquitous in the gases and welding industry. It is integrated into the operations of every fill plant, every warehouse and in every cylinder and cryogenic vessel. From pressure release valves to high-visibility gauges to tamper-proof fittings, the industry has developed a plethora of equipment to keep workers and customers safer. Personal protection equipment, worn and used by welders and other workers, is a part of that, and it’s a huge market on its own. Research published last year by Global Market Insights, Inc. found that Americans across all markets spent $12.5 billion on personal protective…

By Charles McChesney Safety is at the center of the Gases and Welding Distributors Association’s existence. The Association’s mission statement literally puts safety first – “The GAWDA mission is to promote the safe operation and economic vitality of distributors of industrial gases and related welding equipment and supplies” – and safety is woven throughout its operations. “You can replace equipment. You can replace trucks. You can replace cylinders. You can’t replace a human. And that’s actually the only way you should look at it,” says Jim Herring, chair of the GAWDA Safety Committee and vice president of Saf T Cart. …

Photos from the 2017 GAWDA Annual Convention GAWDA AC 2017 Closing Business Session GAWDA AC 2017 Farewell Gala GAWDA AC 2017 Opening Business Session GAWDA AC 2017 Contact Booth Program GAWDA AC 2017 Young Professionals Event GAWDA AC 2017 President’s Welcome Reception GAWDA AC 2017 First Timer’s Reception

By Jeremy Miller The five best words you can hear a customer say are, “that’s interesting. Tell me more.” When you get a customer to say, “that’s interesting. Tell me more,” you’ve caught their attention. They’re listening and responding to you. They’re having a conversation. This is powerful, because a conversation is a two-way dialogue to share ideas and opinions. Every company has an opportunity to engage its customers in conversation, but few do. They’re too busy marketing and selling to slow down to have a dialogue. But in a world of endless competition, having a conversation is one of the…

By Mike Hill Ever wonder how much – or how little – your company’s employees are focused and engaged in what they do on the job? There’s a significant cost to employee disengagement. According to a 2016 Gallup survey, 68 percent of employees in the U.S. work force is disengaged from their jobs. That means almost seven out of 10 of your co-workers (or, for managers, your employees) are disengaged. How’s that for an eye-opener? What’s the cause of employee disengagement?  One of the issues that prompts disengagement is if employees feel they are not being compensated fairly. Some employees…

By Graeme Roberts If a business calls, or we hear about it, we Google it. If we can’t find it immediately — near the top of the first page — that’s a big red flag. A hundred years ago, you wouldn’t put your money in a bank unless it had a grand stone building with columns. Today, we look for reassurance from a substantial website. Some distributors say they don’t need a website; most of their customers have been with them for years, and they’re like family. Fair enough, but what about new prospects, let alone the people who are…

By Jon Denney Where is the first place business leaders tend to focus when they decide that profits need a boost? It’s the sales team. Often, company leadership takes a critical eye toward the sales department and decides that the team needs to take it up a notch and make more sales happen. While that route certainly is one way to improve profits and increase profitability fairly immediately, it isn’t the only way. This recent exercise from a company I dealt with in my consultancy points out that there are alternative avenues to creating additional profits. They include focusing on…

By Kelly Wirges Objections are a delicate part of the sales process. It’s vital that salespersons not attempt to “overcome” objections on the spot, and instead address them carefully and professionally. I advise salespersons to continue through the sales process when objections arise, carefully addressing them using a process and tactics that I call a “1-2-3, Bridge, Pivot and Advance” technique. First, the best way to avoid resistance is to anticipate and prepare for objections. Salespeople should practice addressing objections before meeting clients. If objections do arise, a prepared salesperson is ready to concentrate on listening to the prospect rather…

by Ryan Dorhn The key to your success in the world of sales is increasing the number of meetings you are granted by prospective clients. Developing an effective prospecting process can be the difference between life and death in your sales career. For me, the goal of prospecting is not to sell anything; I am just hoping to meet with a client via phone or in person for 20 minutes. That’s why my goal in prospecting is simply getting to a meeting. Period. If you are selling during the prospecting phase, you will greatly reduce your success. Over 25 years…

By John Favalo Hard-nosed or soft-hearted? Which is the business-to-business buyer when it comes to brand loyalty? And, how do distributors factor in the brand loyalty equation?  I’m in the advertising business, and have been for more than 40 years. I’ve spent a lot of those years building brands. After all that time, you’d think questions like these wouldn’t get air time today: Are brands really important to grizzled B2B buyers? Is building brand preference worth the investment? Should distributors play a key role in building the brands they carry or should they work on building their own businesses’ brands?…

Founded more than seven decades ago, Industrial Source has grown into a powerhouse in the Pacific Northwest. With seven locations ranging from Portland to Medford, this independent gases and welding distributor has the I-5 corridor of Oregon covered from North to South. Family owned since 1945, Industrial Source got its start when Ernie Laing and his partner Sterling McReynolds launched Eugene Welders Supply in Eugene, Ore. Jerry Laing, Ernie’s son, purchased Sterling’s shares in the early 1980s. The company changed its name to Industrial Source to better reflect its expansion across Oregon. Today, a third generation of Laings leads the…

And what happens on the sales floor can be fully contingent on the kind of greeting received, the availability of the sought-after merchandise, the conditions of the showroom floor, the expertise of the salespeople who serve, the competitiveness of pricing and an array of other factors, including the fickleness of customers, as distributors well know. Some of those elements have a direct effect on the sale; other times, not so much. Buying decisions can be impulsive rather than carefully considered. Now and then, the elements that fuel a purchase are more esoteric in nature, hinging on the strength of a…