inside - Indoff

INSIDE

January 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 7 Upcoming Dates

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

Happy New Year – welcome to 2015! I started at Indoff in 1988, so I’ve written a few of these articles by now. I will try not to be too repetitive, and I will write more about where we are headed as a company this year and in the future – I’ll recap 2014 on our list server and the President’s group page, not here. Indoff enters 2015 in excellent shape but with challenges. We have 423 Sales Partners as we start the year, our highest total in history. We now claim six distinct “divisions” – Material Handling, Commercial Interiors, Business Products, Promotional Products and Printing, Appliances and our newest group, Energy Solutions. Our product diversity is one of our great strengths. Indoff has Partners located in 44 states, Canada and Mexico – again, a great strength. With this geographic diversity, however, comes great regulatory, tax and licensing challenges. We are all familiar with sales taxes, but our corporate responsibilities include income, franchise and unemployment taxes along with hundreds of business and occupational licensing requirements. Add in the challenges of the ACA (Obamacare), and regulatory compliance is becoming a larger and larger burden on our company.

Page 10 Operations

The greatest challenge we face, however, is the Internet and the commoditization of products. Our business model is founded on the belief that it is the Sales Partner who brings the value to the transaction through experience, knowledge and creativity; the Amazon business model attempts to replace this expertise with crowd-sourcing and technology. We are actively thinking our way through how to best position our greatest strength – our Partners – in this ever-changing world of business, and I am confident we will meet this challenge and continue to provide opportunity for our Partners to service customers.

Page 13 Marketing

I am very optimistic about 2015. Barring any surprises, I believe that we will achieve $140,000,000 in sales in 2015. We expect a nice contribution from our newest group – Energy Solutions – and we expect another strong year from all of our core groups. It is an exciting time in sales – companies are actively seeking solutions for better, more efficient, lower cost ways to achieve their goals, and solutions are what Indoff Partners are the very best at providing.

Page 8-9 Partner Meet & Greet

Page 11 Crown Products Spotlight Page 14 Anniversaries Page 15 Techie Talk

With gratitude for a very good 2014 and hopes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015, I thank you all for all you do for Indoff. Happy New Year!

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Human Resources

by Robin Migdal, Indoff VP of Human Resources Welcome to 2015! May it be wonderful and prosperous for you and your family! With every New Year, we have changes to announce with regards to our 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan. The new amounts for the 2015 plan year are: • •

Limit on elective deferrals is $18,000 (up from $17,500) Catch up contributions for workers aged 50 and older is $6,000

MassMutual also announced that the rate for our Guaranteed Interest Account will remain at 3.30% for the period January 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015. Rates for the second half of 2015 will be announced in June.

“Our 2015 sales meeting will be held here in St. Louis at the St. Charles Embassy Suites/ Convention Center October 22-25, 2015.”

In payroll matters, the Social Security Administration announced an increase for 2015 in the taxable wage base to $118,500 from $117,000 in 2014. National Sales Meeting – October 2015 Our 2015 sales meeting will be held here in St. Louis at the St. Charles Embassy Suites/Convention Center October 22 – 25, 2015. Invites will go out in the Spring, but mark your calendars now! Champions’ Circle Sales Meeting - May 2016 Our fifth Champions’ Circle Sales Partner Meeting for all divisions will be held in May 2016 at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country resort. The dates are April 30 through May 4, 2016, and we’ll publish some reminders throughout the year. Attendance for this meeting is based on your gross profits for 2015. We hope to see everyone join us; these meetings have been memorable events in the past!

Indoff Sales Partners of the Month

Congratulations to our top Partners from each division! November

Material Handling: Staci Deaton $282,013 Commercial Interiors: John Kaiser $230,893 Business Products: Mark Braley $182,417 Promotional Products: Kristy Long $59,924 Allied: Lee Key $286,724

December

Material Handling: Bob Goodwin $1,181,662 Commercial Interiors: Tom Vanhoozer $323,998 Business Products: Deanna Lies $77,509 Promotional Products: Kristy Long $80,770 Allied: Ted Haines $250,794

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Recruiting

by Angela Suntrup, Indoff National Marketing Manager

Drum roll please………. it is time to announce the 2014 John Temple award winner! This award is given annually to the Sales Partner who best exemplifies John’s spirit by supporting our Recruiting efforts through conversation with prospects, referring potential prospects and maintaining a positive attitude. I am excited to announce this award goes to Kim Gregory from El Paso, TX! In 2014 Kim referred 4 prospects, 2 who became Partners and engaged in many recruiting conversations. Congratulations Kim and thank you!

“Our #1 source of Partner hires for 2014 was Partner Referrals!”

As this New Year begins, the Recruiting department is working hard to achieve our goal of hiring 85 Partners! This goal will not be possible without your support and of course referrals. Our #1 source of Partner hires for 2014 was Partner referrals! People ask for referrals for restaurants, movies, a hairdresser, or a doctor. When we are in need of virtually anything, from professional services to a great vacation spot, chances are we first seek a referral from someone we trust. I trust you and I am grateful for your referrals. If you come across sales reps or owners that are looking for a change don’t hesitate to tell them about Indoff. Studies show prospects referred by employees tend to be of higher quality. If we hire your prospect, you will receive the $1,000 referral bonus once your prospect generates $1,000 in Gross Profit! Please feel free to direct your prospects to indoff.com or they can access our Linked In career page to apply! Of course you can always have your prospect contact me directly. Best wishes to you and yours in the New Year! I look forward to seeing you all at the NSM in October!

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Finance & Accounting

by Julie Frank, Indoff Executive VP & CFO

As the New Year begins we are busy putting the final touches on a very successful 2014. Yearend is hectic - billing your orders, audit preparations, 1099’s for vendors, annual employee reviews - and it was these reviews that reminded me of the number of high-quality employees we added this past year. Without further ado, I give you our new 2014 team members in accounting, collections and finance! Collections – Jennifer McMillian – Jennifer started with us in March, and she is our first bilingual, Spanishspeaking collection coordinator who has helped tremendously with our collection efforts in Mexico. Jennifer is super nice and very effective at collecting from our customers. Connie Brame- Connie started in October and has excellent customer service skills and a solid background in collections. She is already earning compliments from customers and Partners for how she does her job.

“I am looking forward to working with you in 2015 and seeing everyone at our National Sales Meeting in October.”

Please visit the Accounts Receivable group page on the intranet for a listing of the states these payment coordinators are responsible for. Accounts Payable and Billing – Jean O’Malley – Jean moved from collections to accounts payable in May, and she was quick to master the AP duties. In her research role, Jean handles vendor invoice exceptions and processes your billing requests. Jean has a great eye for detail and excellent customer service skills. Colleen McCaffrey – Colleen was hired in October, and she is responsible for setting up new vendors, obtaining vendor W-9’s and processing vendor invoices. Colleen is also very detail oriented and catches on quickly. FinanceCami Wiseman – Cami started in October, replacing Kelly Tehan as our staff accountant. Cami prepares our monthly sales tax returns, files business licenses, pays corporate overhead bills, processes expense reports, updates marketing budgets and assists with financial reporting. Cami is a great addition to our team. CreditLinette Going - Linette has been with Indoff since 1999, but this year she made the leap from DP/finance to the credit department. Linette processes credit applications, requests for order approval and sets up new customers. She loves working with “the credit guys” and does an excellent job in her new role. We are happy to welcome the new employees and even happier to transfer employees between departments. As Jim points out as he tours new Partners around the office, we have a lot of long-term employees and many of them have held two or more positions with us during their tenure. That not only means Indoff is a great place to work, but we also have employees with a breadth of knowledge who can help you with more than just one area when you call in. Happy New Year! I am looking forward to working with you in 2015 and seeing everyone at our National Sales Meeting in October.

Upcoming Dates



Don’t forget to write this year’s National Sales Meeting on your calendars! It will be held in Saint Louis, at the Saint Charles Embassy Suites/Convention Center on October 22-25.

Also, keep in mind, the Champion Circle will be held April 30-May 4 in 2016 at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort.

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Operations

by Pam Hake, Indoff VP of Operations

Indoff sent 2014 out with a bang by exceeding our secured sales goal of $130,000,000 - way to go Indoff Partners!!! Based on activity levels that remain strong, I believe that 2015 will be a fantastic sales year for Indoff. Have you developed your business plan for 2015 yet, or should I call it your plan of attack? Here are some things to consider - it may be repetitious, but I think the reminder is good.

“I believe that 2015 will be a fantastic sales year for Indoff.”

• Present additional products to your regular customers. It is typically much easier to sell more to existing customers than it is to develop new customers. • As one way of presenting new products to your customers, get acquainted with Partners in other Divisions in your area. Cross selling is a fairly easy way to generate additional revenues. Additional business builds familiarity and keeps Indoff at the top of the vendor list when they need something we offer. • Add 2% to all of your smaller quotes (or “C” items if you’re a Business Products Partner). Your customers are buying your expertise and resources, and they won’t shop the convenience quotes. Over the course of a year, this can add up to a nice raise for yourself. • Pay attention to the vendor information that Adam distributes. If you see a vendor that interests you, take some time to investigate their product – it may lead to significant sales opportunities for you. • Do you have an idea that you think is a little outside our normal program or your personal comfort zone? Give me a call and let’s discuss the possibilities. Our structure allows for almost endless opportunities. • Have you reviewed your customer list lately? Is there a customer that you haven’t seen or done business with for a while? If you haven’t sold them for a while, it is hard to count them as a customer. Renew acquaintances or develop relationships with new folks in purchasing. Many of the above sound like what I have said many times before, but it bears repeating. You can’t sit back and wait for the opportunities to find you. Go out and make those opportunities for yourself. If you want to discuss these or any other ideas, give me a call or send me an e-mail. I am happy to advise you. That is a part of what I am here to do. Until next time………………………..

Vendor Product Spotlight: Crown Products

Custom Designs Field Support Knowledgeable Staff

SUPERIOR PRODUCTS & OUTSTANDING DISTRIBUTORS A WINNING COMBINATION

Catwalks

Platforms 48 Hou r Shippin g from KY, PA, NV

Pallet Rack Enclosures

Mezzanines

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

800-626-1816 wirecrafters.com

Modular Offices

Pioneering Customer Care. Putting The Customer First. www.steelesolutions.com • 888-542-5099 [email protected]

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Marketing

by Adam Heck, Indoff Marketing Manager Happy New Year from the Marketing Department! Lexy and I have been working hard to familiarize ourselves with everything Indoff does from a marketing standpoint. We lost a lot of knowledge and experience last fall with the departure of Jacque and Laura but I think (hope!) we’re getting up to speed. I wanted to briefly mention some of the main initiatives we will be working on in 2015.

Adam Heck Marketing Manager

- Product Spotlights- We will have 3-4 new product spotlights a month for at least the first 3 quarters highlighting vendor product lines. Most of these will be fairly new product lines and hopefully information that you can use. - Vendor marketing pieces- I will be working with the vendors to get marketing materials from them that can be customized easily and sent out to your customers via email or printed for handouts. We have gotten these in the past but we will make this a focus going forward. - E-marketing pieces- Lexy will be creating 1 marketing piece per division per month that will highlight a product category, a specific vendor’s products, or a themed or seasonal group of products(spring cleaning, breast cancer awareness, etc). - Marketing and social media training and webinars- We want to get back to having quarterly training sessions to keep everyone up to speed on the marketing tools that are available. - We will continue to advertise in the MMQB(CI), Material Handling Network, and the Edison Report(Energy Solutions). I will also still be working extensively with vendors so am going to continually look for ways to integrate what we do on the marketing side with what kinds of info would be helpful from the vendors. If you have suggestions please feel free to drop me a note. If you have any marketing pieces or emails you need help designing please let Lexy or I know.

Lexy Polich Marketing Assistant

We hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year! Adam and Lexy

Happy Anniversary! Congratulations to the following Partners and Corporate staff who are celebrating their employment anniversaries with Indoff!

Damon Loper Allied 10 years - Feburary 1

Maureen Maxwell Corporate 10 years - January 1

Ken Hebert Material Handling 10 years - January 1

Scott Paisley Material Handling 10 years - January 1

Dan Massman Allied 10 years - January 12

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Techie Talk

by Shawn Faulkingham & Colin Faulkingham

Well, we made it through another year. We saw many different headlines last year: increased job growth, GDP growth, wars, immigration, race relation issues and many others. It’s a great time to reflect upon last year and see if there is anything you can do to affect what is happening around you. We live in the greatest country and democracy in history, but being part of a democracy requires an investment of time. I implore all of you to get actively involved in what is happening around you. Whether it is at the municipal, state or federal level, take an interest. Email, call or write your elected officials about your concerns, gratitude or any thoughts you may have on a particular issue. Get involved with committees and boards. With freedom comes responsibility; it is up to all of us to affect change and it requires time out of our busy lives. Well, enough about this, on to IT stuff… As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, we will be busy in 2015! Let me quickly recap the highlights:

Director of IT Systems

Public website redesign Confluence Interface changes for mobile devices Confluence re-engineering to make it more reliable and flexible Implementation of software to allow us to be more proactive with security threats Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery plans The last 2 are in my realm of expertise. You have seen many emails from us regarding security issues with email. The “bad guys” go to great lengths to get information from you. Phishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated; malware is becoming harder to detect and accounts are getting hacked. Please, please, please switch your indoff.com Google Apps account to a 2-Step verification process (yes, it’s easy!!!) - at some point, we will make this mandatory. Get in the habit of focusing on security. Hackers are not going away, and their efforts will get more complex as time goes on. Give us a call if you need help with the 2-Step verification or any other aspects of security.

Vice President e-Marketing

“Get actively involved in what is happening around you.”

Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) has always been a focus of ours. As technology marches ever forward, options for BC/DR multiply but the importance of a viable plan grows geometrically as well. Using the latest technologies, we can essentially back up into the cloud and rely on cloud-based solutions for recovery strategies as well. I am currently looking at several different options and will be moving forward on one of them shortly. 2015 will be another strong year for Indoff! We have goals and projects that reflect this growth and look forward to making sure that all of you have a productive, safe and happy new year! Thanks again for everything you do. We wouldn’t be here without you! Shawn, Colin, David, Courtney and Jerome