inside - Indoff | Confluence Login

1 downloads 244 Views 15MB Size Report
These are wonderful tools that will help you manage your busy lifestyle. ... by Angela Suntrup, Indoff National Marketin
INSIDE

November 2015

11816 Lackland Rd. St. Louis, MO 63146

“Indoff Provides Product and Services for Everything from Floor to Ceiling” CONTENT

Page 2 Human Resources Page 3 Partners of the Month Page 4 Recruiting

Page 5 New Faces

Page 6 Finance & Accounting

Page 8 Vendor Spotlight

Page 9 Energy Solutions Page 10 Operations

Page 11-12 Partner Meet & Greet Page 13 Marketing

Page 14 Anniversaries Page 15 Techie Talk

President’s Prose by Jim Malkus, Indoff President & CEO

Happy Holidays! Another year is rapidly drawing to a close, so it is time to reflect on our blessings and look to the future. This has been a very good year for Indoff. Our sales for the year will most likely top $140,000,000, making this the second highest sales year in our history. This has been achieved in a fairly broad-based, consistent fashion – we have had two $14,000,000 months, two $13,000,000 months and only one month with less than $10,000,000 in secured business. This consistent success helps fuel our enthusiasm for 2016 and beyond. Our two primary projects for the year – a relaunch of our corporate website and a rework of Confluence – will be completed. Many of you had an opportunity to preview the new Confluence at our sales meeting, and it will be available on December 1 for everyone to use. We will do a soft roll-out; both versions of Confluence will run side-by-side for several months so that Partners have time to learn the new system and adapt to it in a controlled manner. Our 2015 sales meeting wrapped up just a few short weeks ago, and we are in the process of reading your evaluations. Let me share with you one outsider’s remarks on our meeting. Tim Brown from PPAI came into town to lead two separate sessions on Product Safety Awareness; with apologies for any twisting of his words, here is what Tim told me about his trip: “I landed at the airport, and after gathering my bags, I went to the GoBest counter to catch my ride. There was a loud, boisterous, very happy group already there; turns out they were Indoff Partners. Upon hearing my story, they filled the trip to the hotel with their tales of how happy they were to work for Indoff – what a blessing it was to work for a company like Indoff. “ We have our fair share of problems and occasional disagreements, but at the end of the day, I think most of us feel the same way about this opportunity we have. Indoff truly is an opportunity that presents itself uniquely to each of us; it is this freedom to succeed that I think keeps us all driving forward. It is a huge bonus to be able to do so with a unique, kind and caring collection of professionals. I thank you all for all you do for Indoff throughout the year, and I wish each of you a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016!

INSIDE INSIDE

Human Resources

by Robin Migdal, Indoff VP of Human Resources

Hello everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!! Last month’s National Sales Meeting was our largest in quite a while - 186 Partners and over 110 Vendors attended! I want to thank everyone who took the time and made the investment to come to our event and make it the success that it was! We are reviewing the evaluations now, and while it appears everyone enjoyed the weekend, we will be looking for ways to make our next meeting just a little bit better. For the overachievers, mark your calendars now - our 2017 NSM will be held in downtown St. Louis at the Hyatt Regency on April 20 – 23, 2017. I hope everyone went home from this year’s meeting with at least one new opportunity to pursue!

“As you head into the holiday season, please remember to give thanks for what we have.”

The 2016 Champions’ Circle meeting will be held April 30 – May 4 in San Antonio, Texas. The basic qualification for an invitation is to generate $110,000 in billed gross profits in 2015; you can check the HR homepage for full details. I do hope to see many of you there! As year-end approaches, we want you to take a few minutes to be sure your personal affairs are in order. Please check payroll to be sure we have your correct address, social security number, and your tax status is accurate. It is also very important to double-check your beneficiaries on your 401(k) and your UNUM Group life insurance as this designation will trump any other documents you may have. The IRS has published 2016 limits as follow: • Limit on Elective Deferrals for 2016 401(k) will remain at $18,000 • Catch-up contributions for workers aged 50 plus will remain at $6,000. • Social Security Taxable wage base will remain at $118,500. • Cost of living increase in Social Security benefits is 0% You can visit the HR home page on the intranet to find links to your payroll, 401(k) and Vision/Dental websites. These are wonderful tools that will help you manage your busy lifestyle. As you head into the holiday season, please remember to give thanks for what we have. I want to wish all of you and your families Happy Holidays and a happy, healthy 2016!

IT’S LIKE HAVING THIS GUY WATCHING OVER YOUR CUSTOMER’S BUSINESS Each year, in the U.S., several thousand office fires occur, but it won’t take a fire to ruin your customer’s business. Theft can destroy their hard work faster and quieter than fire, water or explosion damage. The Phoenix family of products protects your customer’s files from whatever might threaten their business…even dragons.

(800) 636.0778 | WWW.PHOENIXSAFEUSA.COM

Indoff Sales Partners of the Month Congratulations to our top Partners from each division!



September

October

Material Handling: Ed Roberts & Brian Galloway 4346,843 Commercial Interiors: Michele Martin $331,443 Business Products: Deanna Lies $68,735 Promotional Products: Mike Hollern $281,122 Allied: Chris Koeneman $181,977

Material Handling: Steve Bloom $219,880 Commercial Interiors: Linda Miller $521,297 Business Products: Deanna Lies $105,241 Promotional Products: Kristy Long $202,285 Allied: Lee Key $275,827

INSIDE

Recruiting

by Angela Suntrup, Indoff National Marketing Manager

The National Sales Meeting, A World of Opportunity, was a success! It was great reconnecting with Partners and getting to know new faces. I want to thank all the Partners who submitted referrals to the Recruiting Department for the money machine contest. I hope you all had a good time watching the winners grab for cash! Congratulations to: Byron Ambrose Loretta Burk Robert Diaz Ryan Goede Susan Roldan I also want to thank the following Partners for their time and input at the mentor/mentee roundtable discussion on Saturday at the NSM. The information you shared was invaluable and your experiences recruited other Partners to become mentors! Thank you:

“We want to encourage all Partners to consider their retirement strategy sooner rather than later!”

Marsha Olinghouse Heather Rumsey Darren Lawson Andrea Lawson Jack Kaston For those of you that missed the NSM or that presentation, Indoff’s average Partner age is 56. We want to encourage all Partners to consider their retirement strategy sooner rather than later! We have mentor programs in place to help with that process. Adding new Partners and continuous recruiting is key to the growth and existence of Indoff! Speaking of the growth of Indoff, I am excited to report that through October we have started 82 Partners and the 2015 Partner class has sold $6 million this year! Great job!

Welcome to Indoff!

Glenn Redfearn Material Handling Whitby, ON

Michael Marganti Material Handling Orlando, FL

Jan Tubbs

Energy Solutions Fairview, TX

Dave Koenck

Steve Serbousek

Beth Ocker

Lloyd Degelman

Material Handling Litchfield Park, AZ

Commercial Interiors Glendale, AZ

Russell Shepard Energy Solutions Ann Arbor, MI

Material Handling Fairfax, IA

Business Products Spokane, WA

Timmel Heck

Energy Solutions Wauwatosa, WI

Not Pictured:

Danielle Pointer Energy Solutions Fulton, MO

Spencer Chambers Material Handling McDonough, GA

Matthew Poposky Recruiter Corporate

INSIDE

Finance & Accounting

by Julie Frank, Indoff Executive VP & CFO It was wonderful to see so many of you at the sales meeting in October. There were a lot of new faces in the crowd and thanks to our friendly veteran Partners (and special first-timer pins), all were graciously welcomed into our Indoff family. From the opening reception, to the vendor classes and exhibits, to the Partner led discussions and finally the awards dinner, everyone seemed to come away with a renewed enthusiasm and excitement for the opportunities they have at Indoff. 2015 is shaping up to be a very good year for Indoff in terms of Partner and sales growth, and all signs indicate that 2016 will be even bigger and better!

“Like many of you, I am thankful for the opportunities Indoff has given me.”

Like many of you, I am thankful for the opportunities Indoff has given me. As I begin my 20th year with Indoff, I feel very blessed to be surrounded by people who care about each other and the work that we do. Every day brings something new and challenging to keep me on my toes. I enjoy helping others to learn new things and to provide support when needed. I enjoy the working relationships I have with Sales Partners, bankers, accountants and many others I have worked with over the years. I am thankful that we have built a business model that attracts and retains so many talented sales professionals and staff members, and that there doesn’t seem to be any limit to the potential we have as a company. As we enter the busy holiday season and get close to wrapping up another calendar year, let’s all take time to count our blessings and thank those who help us every day. Our goal is to always close out the year with as many orders billed and problems put to bed as possible. Please make sure to review your open order reports, updating the completion date on large orders and to review your aging reports, sending us any customer credits that need to be processed. We are here to help resolve your issues and to support you in any way we can. Please don’t hesitate to contact any of us here at Corporate. I hope you all have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving! Gr-uh, gr-uh, goooooooooo Dawgs!!! Woof, woof, woof!!!

Knowledge. strength. sPeed.

Put a Powerhouse in your warehouse.

worldwide Material handling (wwMh) provides the world’s largest inventory of premium pallet rack accessories, such as wire mesh decks, wire containers, rolling carts, and pallet rack repair products — all with superior delivery speed and unrivaled personal service. WWMH is committed to excellence with products that deliver maximum performance and durability – and service that fosters long-lasting relationships. That’s the total package.

JacK rourKe | [email protected] | 630-914-6949 | www.wwMh.net chicago, il | atlanta, ga | dallas, tx | los angeles, ca | seattle, wa

wire decKing | rolling carts wire containers | Pallet racK rePair Pallet racK Protection

Visit us at Booth 2037

wwmh8932_Strongman_Indoff_Show_Guide_8.5x8.5_L1b.indd 1

8/19/15 8:29 A

Vendor Spotlight: Indoff Capital About us: Indoff Capital, a private label of Commercial Industrial Finance Inc., has over 33 years’ experience in B2B financing nationwide. We are bank owned so we service all of our transactions and have bank competitive rates. Our goal is to increase Partners closing ratios through flexible finance terms, a broad range of approvals and a staff of experienced finance professionals.

Benefits of a Private Label:

When you have your customer interested in your product, you then get to the part of the sale that is typically met with some level of resistance…the cost. With a private label you are offering a name that has already earned their trust. They don’t have to call around to get low rates, you are offering some of the best finance rates out there! The simplicity is unparalleled and every single month for up to 5 years they make a payment to Indoff Capital, which is 60 marketing touches on your behalf. When they see the name, they think of you!

Finance Program Highlights:

• You earn 1% of the total invoice amount on all deals that fund through Indoff Capital • Indoff Corporate receives 50% of the total invoice amount upfront from us on behalf of the customer.  This means you get 50% on your next commission check • Quotes available within minutes of request • Application only up to $150K (Over $150K we require financials) • Four hour turn time on transactions that only require an application • We can lease/finance other vendors and or manufacturers all in one bundled contract • Lease/finance transactions can be as low as $5,000.00.  No ceiling and 100% of the transaction can be financed • New and used equipment are eligible

Partner Benefits: • • • •

Hold your Profit Margins Improve “Quote to Closing” Ratios Create Larger Sales by Spreading out your Customers costs Shorten your Sales Cycle

SUPERIOR PRODUCTS & OUTSTANDING DISTRIBUTORS A WINNING COMBINATION

Don’t gamble your last quarter! Let’s end the year as winners!

Increase Sales with

Sensing Edges Pressure Sensitive “DIY” Sensing Edges for Industrial Doors Machine Guarding

Quick Fix Kits Include:

30 or 50 ft Rolls of Conductive Extrusion Extrusion Cutters Glue End Plugs Mounting Channel

48 Hou r Shippin g from KY, PA, NV

Driver Access Cages

The nation’s leading manufacturer of woven & welded wire partitions

Stop Machinery

GuardRail Systems

800-626-1816 wirecrafters.com

Reverse Motors Sound Alarms

For more information, contact David at [email protected]

INSIDE

Energy Solutions

by John Vasquez, Vice President of Energy Solutions

What a great meeting! It was inspiring to meet with so many of you at our NSM; your enthusiasm for the LED opportunity was uplifting. As discussed, less than 2% of lights in commercial environments have converted to LED and that is expected to grow to 70% in the next 10 years. Given this trend, it is a logical conclusion that virtually every fluorescent or HID fixture installed at your customers’ places of business is going to be switched to LED by somebody – AND THAT SOMEBODY MIGHT AS WELL BE YOU! Since our meeting, over 130 Partners from other divisions have requested to be added to the ES Group. Many of you have already ordered demo kits from HiLumz and Always Earth Friendly, which shows me you are serious about taking advantage of this opportunity.

“We have had over 130 Partners in other divisions request to be included in the ES group.”

My goal is to make selling LED lighting to your customers as easy as selling a pallet jack, case of copy paper or an office chair. I have a step by step selling plan that doesn’t require you to be a lighting expert or an electrician; you just need to introduce your customers to two simple products. You don’t need a light meter or a laser tape or photometric drawings, lighting audits or big proposals that need CFO approval. You just need to go to your existing contacts that already trust you and share an idea that can save their company a whole bunch of money and improve their operations. It is as simple as demonstrating to them the appropriate retrofit for their application. As is hopefully apparent to you, I am very excited about the LED revolution. Indoff Partners in all divisions are in a great position to take advantage of this huge opportunity. Indoff has 16,000+ active customers and virtually everyone is a prospect. I am committed to providing you the tools and training necessary to capitalize on this huge opportunity. Look for regular communications from me and our ES Channel Partners in the weeks and months ahead. And please share with me any success stories you have. And remember to LOOK UP! Have a great Thanksgiving holiday. JV

INSIDE

Operations

by Pam Hake, Indoff VP of Operations

Hello Fellow Indoffians The 2015 NSM is behind us and once again it was a great, successful and positive experience for Partners, Vendors and Corporate Staff. New friends were made, additional product offerings and vendors were discovered and about 100 of you have decided to add lighting to your mix. No time like the present to introduce your customers to the new potential offerings that you have learned about. If you didn’t attend the NSM, you can still look at adding to your mix. It can be with Lighting, Keurig, JanSan, Promo etc. The possibilities are endless. Feel free to contact me or Partner Support if you want advice or information on additional offerings. It is time to look towards the Holidays and the end of the year. As the holiday season approaches our busy schedules will get increasingly packed. Let’s not forget to look towards meeting goals that you set for yourself this year. One of those may be to make the next Champions Circle Meeting. Our Champions Circle Meeting for 2016 will be in San Antonio. Robin has put out the information, and what it takes to qualify several times. There is still time to qualify. We have over half the 4th quarter in front of us yet.

”I am privileged to work with such a talented, wonderful group of professional Salespeople.”

To recap, attendance for this event is based on your gross profits for 2015. Gross profit goals are as follows: Gross Profit > $220,000 = one free trip to the meeting, private sleeping room and Chairman’s outing. Gross Profit > $110,000 = one free trip to the meeting I hope to see many of you there. If I can be of assistance to you in anyway, don’t hesitate to contact me. I am privileged to work with such a talented, wonderful group of professional Salespeople. Wishing you and your Families a Blessed and Happy Holiday Season. Till next time…………………..

2016 Champion Circle: The Champion Circle will be held April 30-May 4 in 2016 at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort. We hope to see you there!

Partner Meet & Greet 1. What was your favorite part of the Sales Meeting? ​Seeing all the partners and especially the Corporate staff that keep us going.​

2. If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be? I​ would like to witness the first day of true peace in this world. A day that all empty bellies are full and no one is judged for being different.

3. What advice would you give to a new Indoff Partner?

F​ ind a friend within Indoff. My friend, Mark McCullough spoke of this during his presentation and it is so important. You need someone to lean on in times of need and to share your accomplishments with that understands what it took to get there AND what you’re going though. ​

4. Do you have a big project in 2015 you are looking forward to?

Clegg Johnson Material Handling

I​ had several CAPEX projects put on hold in 2015. I’m looking forward to the possibility of those moving forward in 2016. These projects include converting static pallet rack to 10’ deep carton flow and pushback rack, over-the-dock storage, reconfiguring a 500 foot conveyor, and possibly a pic module project.

5. How long have you been in the business? I​’ve been around the material handling industry for twenty three years and on the sales side for twelve years. 6. Are there any new product categories you have started selling recently, that you would recommend to other Partners? ​Entrance mats. Most of us sell anti-fatigue mats, but entrance mats open up many other sale opportunities. They are easy to spec and sell at margins of 40-50%. Every building we pass either has or needs entrance mats and if they’re renting, they should buy. I sell Andersen Company mats and they are a great company to work with. www.andersenc.com

7. What’s your favorite movie?

​The Big Chill...Full of great actors and AWESOME music!​

8. If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose? ​Tony Stark...​Genius, playboy, billionaire, philanthropist, and oh yea....He’s IRONMAN!

9. Why Indoff? ​Aside from the obvious freedom Indoff provides, being part of the Indoff family surrounds​me with some amazing people that I’ve come to care dearly for. I enjoy sharing the experiences our successes, (congrats again, Duane Young!), and having someone I know I can call on when I need a helping hand.

10. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

​How to print money! If not that, I’d like to learn to play the piano someday.​

11. If you could have any super power, what would it be? T​ o fly...with or without a cape. Does that come with x-ray vision too?

Partner Meet & Greet Continued on Next Page

Partner Meet & Greet 1. What was your favorite part of the Sales Meeting? I​nteracting with the other reps and exchanging ideas. I also really liked the presentations by salespeople in other divisions.​

2. If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be?​ ​I’d love to be at Woodstock.

3. What advice would you give to a new Indoff Partner? ​Reach out to your colleagues and vendors as often as possible

Tom Ferrin Energy Solutions 4. Do you have a big project in 2015 you are looking forward to? ​Yes, I am looking to retrofit a large warehouse and office building that I have been working on for seven months.​

5. How long have you been in the business?

In my previous life I built LED boards for ten years, but have been​selling LED lighting for a year and a half.

6. What’s your favorite movie? ​Caddyshack​

7. If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose? ​Superman​

8. Why Indoff? ​Independence. I like being out on my own but still having an organization behind me.​

9. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? I would like to learn how to play the guitar.

10. If you could have any super power, what would it be? ​I want to fly.

Thank You to Clegg and Tom for Participating in the November Partner Meet & Greet!

INSIDE

Marketing

by Adam Heck, Indoff Marketing Manager

Adam Heck Marketing Manager

Lexy Kettler Marketing Assistant

Somehow we are into mid November and the holiday season is almost here. The time has flown by and it’s already been several weeks since the blur of the NSM weekend. We hope it was a very successful meeting for all those who attended and we hope the Partners that could not make it benefitted from our presentation on the Marketing tools available to all Indoff Partners. We are very thankful to have such a talented and professional Partner group. We are also thankful that our efforts in marketing and vendor relations seem to be paying off with increased Partner interest and vendors working on new ways to facilitate business with Indoff. Some of the takeaways we had from the NSM are that the Partner group as a whole is increasingly looking to broaden their base of business by selling new products and new product categories. We are very thankful for that as that was the whole idea behind the theme for the NSM, A World of Opportunity. Whether it’s MH and CI Partners wanting to sell Energy Solutions or a BP Partner looking at selling breakroom, jan/san or promotional products, our wealth of vendors allows flexibility and room for growth. Many of our highly successful Partners are now focused on products that they knew nothing of when they got started with Indoff, and we are thankful that our Partners have the talent to learn to market new products and services to their customers. We will continue to upgrade our marketing tools and add niche products and vendors to supplement the expansion efforts of our Partners. We are thankful that Indoff truly provides a World of Opportunity and that we got a chance to meet new Partners and catch up with established Partners at the NSM. We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and upcoming holiday season!

Indoff will be closed the following days: Thursday, November 26 - Thanksgiving Friday, November 27 - Thanksgiving Thursday, December 24 - Office will close at noon Friday, December 25 - Happy Holidays

Happy Anniversary! Congratulations to the following Partners and Corporate staff who are celebrating their employment anniversaries with Indoff in the months of November/ December 2015!

Tripp Townsend

Fletcher Williams

Material Handling 20 Years

Commercial Interiors 20 Years

Dave Benson

Stacy Bernhardt

Business Products 15 Years

Commercial Interiors 10 Years

Joe Vander Zanden

Candice Vander Tuig

John Vasquez

Leta Carnes

Material Handling 15 Years

Not Pictured:

Corporate 20 Years

Barry Nunnally Material Handling 20 Years

Commercial Interiors 15 Years

Corporate 10 Years

INSIDE

Techie Talk

by Shawn Faulkingham & Colin Faulkingham

The National Sales Meeting was very successful! The IT Repair Depot was super popular, fixing over 35 devices – from desktops to smart phones with tablets and laptops, too. Our classes went well with many more devices reconfigured during class. Technology can be challenging, so it was great to see so many of you taking the opportunity to learn a little bit more through the Depot and our classes. It is always fun to see so many of you in person! Fall is here - my favorite season of the year - and it’s also time to look at how our current year has gone and to begin planning for 2016. We have several projects in the works; here is a short list of what we will be doing as we head into 2016:

Chief Information Officer

Chief Technology Officer

● Confluence - Colin is re-designing our Confluence interface to be more mobile device friendly. Beginning December 1st, you will be able to use it in real time along with the “old” Confluence interface. Beginning April 1st, 2016, we will retire “old” Confluence; be sure to take advantage of the four month conversion time to work some in the new interface. We are also changing the underlying technology to make sure that our platform is fast, secure and scalable. ● Security - We have been and will continue to enhance security on our network and for our Sales Partners. At our sales meeting, I led a class on Digital Security; we will be reaching out in the coming months to implement some of the security tools that I discussed. ● Server refresh - We will be updating some of the hardware in our Private Cloud to make sure we are using current technology and to increase our ability to scale and to have more redundancy. ● Business Continuity - We now send our backups to a data center in Bethlehem, PA that is a Tier 2 facility (soon to be Tier 3). We will continue to develop and update our recovery plans to insure a smooth recovery with minimal downtime in the event of a catastrophic event affecting our data center here in St. Louis. Again, it was great to see everyone at the NSM 2015! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask us - that is what we are here for! Happy Holidays to you and yours! Shawn, Colin, David, Courtney and Jerome