Making a reliable sell
By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 4/1/1999
IT'S ONE THING TO BE KNOWN AS AN INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTOR well stocked with expertise in power transmission components, motors, drives and motion control products.It's another thing to consistently sell that value to end users.
The principals of RG Speed Control Devices Ltd. in Concord, Ontario, have focused on doing that -- and targeting their most profitable customers and product lines -- to bring the nearly $10 million business to the next level.
The company has enjoyed six consecutive years of nearly 20 percent annual sales growth serving niche markets that primarily include small to mid-sized OEMs across Canada. Located near Toronto, the firm also partners with first-tier suppliers to the Big Three automakers. While end users laud RG Speed Control Devices for its reliability, applications know-how and flexible service, general manager Rob Galarneau says the company still needs to sell its value more.
"We put a lot of pride in the value we put into it, the knowledge of motors and drives," says Galarneau, whose father, Robert Galarneau, Sr., founded the business 22 years ago. "We call it making the right component choices that best fit the customer's needs, not just products that are accessible."
Despite sales growth, the firm recently saw its margins shrink. To reverse that, Galarneau says the 12-employee company has refocused on its most profitable accounts while running as lean as possible. Last year it moved to a new, 12,000-square-foot facility and invested in a new computer system. The firm also assembles gearing for U.S. Electrical Motors and offers repair and field service on AC inverters, DC drives and AC servo drives.
Udo Haas, electrical manager at Corma Inc., a plastics machine manufacturer in Concord, Ontario, says the distributor is very reliable with quick turnaround for gear boxes the OEM uses in its drive systems.
"Whenever we have a technical application we discuss this with him and the drive manufacturer and he comes back with the delivery and tells us how to pull the program off," says Haas. "They are a small supplier so they act faster and they have faster access to goods. We get very good support from them."
John Cooper, general manager of the Toronto Drive Center at Control Techniques, a division of manufacturer Emerson Electric Corp., says that from the start, the distributor's trademark has been responsiveness and strong technical support. In the past three years Emerson's business with RG Speed Control Devices has grown well over 100 percent, he says.
"To keep customers' faith you need to react quickly," says Cooper. "I think they have that underlying credo or philosophy. They're ideal in terms of taking our product forward as a solution to customers' motion control environments."
He believes the Galarneaus and their employees have made progress demonstrating value, citing a "full disclosure approach" in their quotations, and pointing out competitor's shortfalls.
"We know we add value but the challenge is, how do we tell customers about that?" says Rob Galarneau. "I'm on a campaign to do that."
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