Celebrating
Inside
Indoff
AUGUST CORPORATE NEWSLETTER
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 1
CONTENTS
TABLE OF
WHERE SOLUTIONS TAKE SHAPE PRESIDENT’S PROSE
3
MENTOR/MENTEE SUCCESS
9
NEW CORPORATE STAFF
4
JEFF's NSM INTRODUCTION
12
WELCOME NEW PARTNERS
5
PARTNERS OF THE MONTH
13
MARSHA'S CUSTOMER SITES
6
ADAM'S PORTAL POWER
14
LORI'S LINKEDIN INSIGHTS
7
COMPANY ANNIVERSARIES
15
Indoff 2 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
W
CEO CHAT
elcome to our new focus newsletter. We’re trying to put a bit more sales and opportunity updates in here; let us know how you like it.
Through July 31, our sales are up 25% over last year ’s pandemic-reduced totals. This is a strong rebound, and signs point to a continued recovery. Demand is up in most sectors of the economy - consumers have plenty of cash to spend thanks to government programs and lifestyle changes and businesses are attempting to meet this consumer demand while adapting to new operating models. Most economists expect the economy to continue to grow strongly through next year. The current year growth in GDP is expected to be 7%, and next year ’s is projected to be 5%. Maintaining this rapid growth will strain supply chains and contribute to inflation above recent norms. Current year inflation is expected to be around 5%, and it is anticipated that 2022 will have an increase of approximately 3%.
JIM MALKUS Chief Executive Officer
The growth presents opportunity for us all; the supply chain issues present challenges. Be upfront with your customers about these challenges. Folks are aware of current trends, so don’t be afraid to give them the truth - whether that is a price increase, a long lead time or an out of stock message. Being up front, timely and honest is always going to pay off in the long run. We are very optimistic about Indoff ’s future; we believe our professional, experienced Sales Partners give us a unique advantage in this changing world. Know that your customers need your help navigating this economy and changes; get out and let them know how you can help. Stay safe, stay well and thank you for all you do for Indoff!
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 3
WELCOME OUR NEWEST CORPORATE S TAFF
MICHAEL ELLISON
JACOB TESON
LANGSTON TANN
TJ PANULA
CREDIT COODINATOR
RECRUITING
A/P CLERK
MARKETING COORDINATOR
4 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
BRODY
CORKY
JACOB
FLOWERS
HERD
NALL
KLEINE
MH
MH
MH
MH
DOUG
MATHEW
PAM
SUSAN
COAKLEY
BELL
JOHNSON
DA FONSECA
MH
CI
CI
CI
JIM
MIKE
AMIE
MARK
SENDEN
CASH
SVEC
FRANCIS
CI
CI
CI
CI
ROB
RON
JIM
LAZARUS
GILL
DILBECK
CI
BP
ES
OUR NEW PAR TNERS
RAY
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 5
PARTNER ARTICLES
THE POWER OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT SITES Marsha Olinghouse, a long time Indoff Sales Partner (CI) in Altoona, Iowa, has taken full advantage of Indoff ’s in-house support to bolster her online presence. Marsha has created a CES (Customer Engagement Site) that her customers have linked to their employee’s intranet. One of these sites is designed exclusively for Wells Fargo-related products, giving this major customer an expedited way to access the inventory of one of Indoff ’s preferred vendors. “Wells Fargo, like us, has their own Intranet,” Marsha explains. “Giving customers the option to use these sites has been a huge time saver and looks very professional.” These sites are particularly useful when a customer wants to place a small order. Marsha explains, “The site just allows the Wells Fargo employee to go shopping for what has been approved. They can take their time perusing all the information and get their questions answered on their own!” Before Marsha’s CES was available, Wells Fargo customers would have to call her up and discuss the thousands of options she had on offer. The CES has streamlined the purchasing process significantly, for both Marsha and her clients alike. Her clients prefer to look onsite and Marsha prefers not spending 20 minutes with someone discussing a $150 chair! “This is what they want, and what I want….but they still can call me when they need service and advice, and there is a better chance I will pick up the phone since now I am only getting the exception call.” Marsha also has a CES for her other customers, which she refers to as a “friends and family” site. Marsha decided which products are listed online based on what vendors have available at the time. Keeping the site updated has presented some of its own challenges, such as keeping track of when items are discontinued, but Marsha believes the benefits provided to her customers more than justify that work. “I get comments back from the customers and they’re all positive!” Marsha’s daughter, Heather Rumsey has been an Indoff Sales Partner (BP/OI) for 8 years and she also has a CES. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Heather wanted to offer the means for her clients to purchase work-from-home furniture. The company pays for the chair, but each employee can order the chair from the CES and have it shipped to their home. Marsha shared, “The great thing about a CES is that it doesn’t cost you anything but a little time and your commitment to maintain the site.” She worked with JoAnne Gipson in our Partner Support group who helped create the site along with Colin Faulkingham and train her on how best to maintain it. If you would like to learn more about the benefits of customer engagement sites, please reach out to JoAnne Gipson for assistance. From all of us at Indoff, congratulations on your success, Marsha! Please take a few moments to check out a few of the existing Customer Engagement Sites. wellsfargo.indoff.com friendsandfamily.indoff.com aislafayette.indoff.com forklift-accessories.indoff.com aislafayette.indoff.com
6 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
Written By: JoAnne Gipson
PARTNER ARTICLES
LEVERAGING LINKEDIN FOR ONLINE SUCCESS Lori Bauerle, an Indoff Sales Partner (CI & BP) in Lafayette, Indiana, has found a novel way to utilize LinkedIn and other social media platforms. She adopted this strategy about two years ago, and it has proven successful enough to warrant hiring an intern who makes daily posts on the LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Lori’s business posts weekly specials from vendors such as SP Richards, product updates, and relevant information regarding office furniture and supplies. According to Lori, their success is attributed to simply staying in front of potential clients and keeping their attention. She says, “So much of our success is making sure we’re “top of mind” when the customer thinks about furniture or supplies.” Lori’s online efforts stem from an expansion of her offline (or old school) efforts. Because Lori’s success is based on maintaining a healthy, cordial relationship with her clientele, she now sends thank you emails to customers upon completion of a project. These are linked to her social media sites and asks for a positive Google Review, which appears next to her business profile in maps and search. Because Lori’s digital storefront is included, she is also able to remind her customers of additional products. Lori says, “Being top of mind requires constant communication with my customers and a digital presence has allowed me to maintain and cultivate the positive relationships that once only seemed feasible by face to face interactions. We always make a point to interact with customers via LinkedIn whether it’s product launches, employment anniversaries, comments, etc." While it is difficult to quantify how much her sales have been impacted by embracing social media, Lori maintains that her sales have noticeably improved and that quite a few projects were generated by leads originating from LinkedIn. This is quite a turnaround from when Lori first joined Indoff ’s Partner Program, as she had little to no business when she was starting out. However, in her sixth year with Indoff, she will join our “Million Dollar Club”, and expects to make it every year henceforth. Lori’s endeavor with social media is an example of what it takes to grow a book of business in today’s buying culture for the industries she serves. On behalf of all of us at Indoff – well done Lori! For more tips and ideas to stay top of mind with your customers and prospects check out Lori’s social media links: linkedin.com/in/loribauerle/ instagram.com/indofflafayette/ facebook.com/indoffofficeinteriors/ You can also check out Lori’s website at: http://www.IndoffSolutions.com Written By: Austin Orozco
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 7
A unique solution for rack storage of furniture in a sprinklered warehouse environment Punch Deck® Plus from DACS is open area flat cap over open area Punch Deck®. • Ideal for storage of items with legs or point loads (furniture, equipment with wheels, etc.) • Easy to install in either pallet rack or cantilever rack • Galvanized finish is bright and maintenance free • Offered in a wide range of shelf sizes and load capacities
Learn more about all the solutions from DACS on the Indoff Vendor Portal!
DACS 8 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
inc.
800-909-4937 dacsinc.com / dswanson@dacsinc.com
Proven Solutions - One Source
PARTNER ARTICLES
A SUCCESSFUL MENTOR & MENTEE RELATIONSHIP Brad Anderson, an Indoff Sales Partner (ES/MH) in Gastonia, North Carolina, is a prime example of how dedicated our Partners are to their customers. Unlike most of his colleagues in the North Carolina market, who are mainly clustered in urban areas, Brad’s territory is predominantly rural. Furthermore, Brad’s customers are extremely loyal to him, with their relationship having lasted for decades. “All my customers are my friends,” Brad remarks. He expands on his devotion to his clients with, “My customer base is probably pretty small. I only have about 25 customers, but my wallet share with those customers is really high. They call me for everything.” Clearly, Brad cares deeply about his customers’ wellbeing, and wants to secure their long-term satisfaction. Thus, he recently decided to take charge of his future and made a solid plan to eventually transition into retirement. He ultimately chose to tackle this by mentoring a younger sales professional, Greg Isenhour. You wouldn’t know it by how closely and efficiently they work together, but Greg and Brad have barely known each other for two years. When he first decided to take on a mentee, Brad had his son in mind. “He just graduated from college and didn’t want to do what dad did. I came upon Greg by accident,” Brad says. Greg’s mother was a tenant at an office space that Brad was renting, and she inquired about Indoff ’s Partner Program. Brad agreed to have lunch with Greg, who was looking for a job at the time, and the rest is history. Despite entering the business with no sales experience in any of Indoff ’s divisions, Greg has displayed an immediate willingness to learn about Brad’s variety of products as well as his customers. Brad is consistently impressed with Greg’s passion and initiative and trusts him to help his customers even when he needs to step away for a while. Greg is highly appreciative of Brad’s tutelage and credits his success to Brad’s expertise and patience alike. “He’s literally taught me everything,” Greg says. Through Indoff ’s mentorship options, Brad has a stable long-term exit strategy, and Greg has found a fulfilling new career path. Indeed, Greg has found success with Indoff despite some unforeseen challenges. While timing was not on Greg’s side when he became Brad’s mentee in early 2020, he was able to adapt quickly. Brad remarks, “It was a terrible time to start out in sales for him. Potential customers don’t want strangers in their businesses, so it’s been tougher than usual to build up a customer base.” Even in an unfavorable market, Greg has utilized his network of personal connections to grind for referrals and build his book of business. While challenging, Greg finds his role as a mentee endlessly rewarding, and encourages any sales professional considering Indoff ’s Partner Program to take the plunge. Greg summarizes his experience with, “I would say find a partner who is also a great teacher. I could find anybody to teach me, but does that mean they’re a good teacher? Knowing the person is super important. A wealth of knowledge, patience, anything to help with my questions. Just go do it!” On behalf of all of us at Indoff, thank you to Brad and Greg for all your hard work!
Written By: Austin Orozco
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 9
CORPORATE NEWSLETTER
2 0 21 N A T I O N A L SALES MEETING The National Sales Meeting (NSM) is just 3 months away! I know there is still concern over COVID, and I appreciate that we each have to make the decision that is best for our situation, however, if you are on the fence, or have replied “no” but may still consider attending, please give me a call. I cannot speak to what travel and COVID will be like, but I’d be happy to answer any questions and further discuss some of the below. It has been 3 years since our last National Sales Meeting. A lot has changed in the past 3 years and that has caused us to relook at the agenda. The format will largely be similar: opening, break-out sessions, the vendor exhibit hall, and of course the awards dinner. However, we hope that you see a subtle difference in the content, focus and even speakers. We want to use this rare opportunity (meeting in person) to provide the greatest value to our Partners; and that requires maintaining a singular underlining theme. I have received feedback from numerous Partners (THANK YOU) and we’ve based the theme of this meeting on that feedback. The theme for the 2021 NSM is Sharing Partner Solutions. Another way to have phrased this would be: Indoff Partners sharing how they are providing Solutions for their clients in this “new world”. The more we can share recent success the more we are able to help one another achieve our individual revenue goals. There will be the corporate staff, vendors, and guest speakers – but the conference is about YOU – The INDOFF PARTNER. Being in person is something we rarely get to do. When asked what to focus on for the NSM, one Partner summed it up with three words: Friendship. Fellowship. Collaboration. Another (new and very successful Partner) shared: “The Only Constant is Change”. And another shared: “Trusted - Reliable – Resourceful: this has been a bedrock of Indoff since my beginning in 1997. I have passed on that value to all customers and vendors I do business with”. There was a lot of other great feedback, including new sales philosophies, best practices, and even an interesting blurb on Pareto’s Law. The bottom line is we can and should help one another. Indoff is a sales company. Sales come from our Partners. Our Partners help each other with sales. I feel it is our job (my job) to provide the best means to do such. I look forward to meeting many of you for the first time and reconnecting with those whom I have had the privilege to meet before. 10 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 11
12 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
INDOFF SALES PAR TNERS OF THE MONTH MARCH THROUGH JUNE C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S T O O U R T O P PA R T N E R S F R O M E A C H D I V I S I O N
MARCH 2021
APRIL 2021
MAY 2021
JUNE 2021
JONATHAN
STACI
STACI
JONATHAN
HERNANDEZ
DEATON
DEATON
HERNANDEZ
$251,775
$10,780,247
$999,820
$554,210
GEORGINE
BETH
CHRIS
DAVID
GOLITKO
OCKER
COBLER
STRONG
$339,326
$346,765
$618,898
$549,918
JULIE
JOE
DEANNA
TOM
THOMPSON
SALDANA
LIES
VANHOOZER
$104,572
$100,851
$139,281
$303,893
DEANNA
JOHN
JOHN
JOHN
LIES
HOLLERN
HOLLERN
HOLLERN
$38,914
$57,738
$128,431
$282,273
BOB
BOB
JOHN
JOHN
BARROLL
BARROLL
VASQUEZ
VASQUEZ
$477,920
$11,602
$9,863
$27,587
CHRIS
CHRIS
CHRIS
CHRIS
KOENEMAN
KOENEMAN
KOENEMAN
KOENEMAN
$353,625
$437,431
$354,707
$784,455
MATERIAL HANDLING
COMMERCIAL
BUSINESS PRODUCTS
PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS
ENERGY SOLUTIONS
ALLIED APPLIANCES
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 13
POWER
VENDOR UPDATES
OF THE
POR TAL
Greetings from your vendor relations manager. In the world of vendor relations, I am constantly having discussions with our vendors on how they can work more closely with the Partners. One of the key tools I always mention is the Vendor Portal, where they can upload company information, product category keywords and marketing documents directly into Confluence for the Partners to view. We started the new version of the Vendor Portal a little over a year ago, and now have over 200 vendors signed up to post on the portal, with over 2200 marketing documents (catalogs, product brochures, sell sheets, video links, case studies, etc) uploaded to the portal. This means there is a wealth of product info available in Confluence for you to view 24/7. You can access the info in two ways, either by searching for a vendor by name, or by doing a product keyword search to see the vendors that sell that product category. Either way, you will see a link for a vendor to click on to view all the info they have posted. Keep in mind some companies have changed names and / or there may be variations of the name. For example, when a CI Partner types in Fellowes they would get 4 results: Fellowes (OPI), Fellowes Manufacturing, Trendway Corporation, and ESI Ergonomic Solutions. The most frequently posted message board topic is asking for help finding a vendor for a certain type of product; the vendor portal was created to help address that question. For example, today an MH Partner sent a message board inquiry for “outdoor garbage cans.” I did not find such, but “garbage cans” brought up one vendor: Toter, LLC c/o Wastequip, LLC – which does provide outdoor garbage cans. Remember, a message board email goes to A LOT of Partners. We want to encourage our Partners to first look in the Vendor Portal and if you cannot find a solution, then send something to the message board. The info vendors post in Confluence certainly won’t help with every request, but it's another resource available to you. If you see any vendors you work with that have not updated their info, please remind them to contact me to get set up on the portal.
"200 vendors signed up to post on the por tal, with over 2,200 marketing documents uploaded" 14 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO AT INDOFF
25 YEARS
30 YEARS
SHERRY
ELVIRA
LEE
SCHARNHORST
BLOOM
KEY
15 YEARS
20 YEARS
CURTIS BRADLEY
CHERRIE
JOHN
BLEDSOE SWENSON
LINDA
BOB
ALLEN
BELINDA
DAWAN
JENSEN
EDGLEY
PETERSON
MOORE
DENNIS
10 Y E A R S
DARIAN
DEBBIE
ANTHONY
ANGUS
JEFF
DURANT
VITEMB
WYNN
GARFIELD
GARLOCK
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 15
Champions Circle
WORK HARD - PLAY HARDER Gross Profit Greater Than $220,000 One trip to the meeting, a private room, and Chairman’s outing Gross Profit Greater Than $110,000 One trip to the meeting
We Hope To See You There in 2022
16 | INDOFF INCORPORATED