Reaching new heights
Managers at the W.D. Deckert Co. are combining a 99-year history with 21st century thinking to spur growth
By Victoria Fraza -- Industrial Distribution, 4/1/1999
Milwaukee Electric Tool has been doing business with the W.D. Deckert Co. for 38 years. That's because W.D. Deckert was -- and still is -- the place to buy construction products in Dubuque, Iowa, says Jim Blank, a district manager for Milwaukee Electric."W.D. Deckert is still the number one supply house in town for power tools," says Blank. "And they continue to grow our business despite other competition that has come into town."
And competition is tough in the tri-state area. The 99-year-old distributorship serves industrial and contractor customers in northeast Iowa, northwestern Illinois, and the southwest corner of Wisconsin. The stiff competition is one of the first things vice president Gina Perri noticed when she joined the company a year and a half ago. Distributors from surrounding areas -- eastern Iowa and Chicago, for instance -- have been encroaching on the region for the last five to 10 years, she says. As a result, W.D. Deckert's growth has remained steady, following substantial gains in the late 80s and early 90s. But while it gets tougher and tougher for small companies like Deckert to stay afloat -- the firm has just five employees -- Perri is confident that she and partner Kirk Jaeckel, who also joined the company in October of 1997, can weather the storm.
"Dubuque is a very loyal buying community. They try to spend money locally when they can, and that's lucky for a business like us," comments Perri, who worked in sales and marketing for a Chicago printing company before joining her family's distributorship. "But it's more intense, competition-wise, now and we have to focus and behave a little differently. We can't just count on that loyalty despite good service, despite local service. ... We have to move it to a new level."
Taking the company to the next level is the job Perri and Jaeckel have given themselves. And in the last year and a half, they've taken several steps in that direction. Though much of that time was spent learning about a new company and a new industry, they've managed to re-focus sales efforts, implement a new computer system, and make needed changes to the company's marketing plan. And they've done it all while still providing the good service their long-time, loyal customers have come to expect.
"There's been no dramatic change in the last year," says Jerry Puls, maintenance manager for door manufacturer Jeld-Wen Fiber of Iowa, a Deckert customer for over 20 years. "It's just business as usual with them."
Perri's great-grandfather, William Daniel Deckert, founded W.D. Deckert in 1900 as a plumbing supply company. Just three years later, Deckert died, leaving his wife, Marie Deckert, at the helm. Marie's son, Donald, grew up working in the business and managed the company until his death in 1972. At that time, another woman -- Donald's wife Mildred -- took on the role of president. The business doubled during Mildred Deckert's tenure. Over the years, the company's product mix changed as well, eventually settling on the industrial and construction markets.
Today, three of Mildred's children own the company -- one of whom is Perri's mother, Jean Perri, who serves as company president. Non-family members ran the company for several years before Gina Perri and Jaeckel came on board. When the family decided to make a management change in 1997, Jean Perri asked her daughter if she'd be interested in taking over. It seemed like a great opportunity, so Perri jumped at it. Today, the three owners continue to have a hands-off approach to the business, while Jaeckel and Perri manage the day-to-day operations.
"It's been a learning process," says Perri, adding that she's grateful for the opportunity to work for a business that's been in her family for so long.
But it hasn't been easy. In addition to learning about the industry, the products and the customers Deckert serves, Perri and Jaeckel have had to make some strategic changes as well. While Deckert was in good shape when the two partners took over, not much time had been spent thinking about where the company was headed for the future. Like many small distributorships, W.D. Deckert was immersed in the challenge of surviving day in and day out -- making it that much more difficult to think long-term.
"That happens to a lot of smaller companies," says Perri. "They focus on their market, what's going on for them, what's happening in the microcosm of their own area. But even the littlest small fries have to have a grasp on what the industry as a whole is doing."
That's one reason Perri decided to join a trade association -- the Specialty Tools and Fasteners Distributors Assn. -- last year. She looks to STAFDA as an educational opportunity more than anything else. But while STAFDA can provide an overall industry education, the best resource Perri and her partner have had in the last year and a half are two long-time Deckert employees.
Terry Arnesdorf and Dave Lambert handle the company's inside sales and customer service functions. Arensdorf has been with Deckert for two years, Lambert for over eight. And both have extensive experience in the industry -- Arensdorf in construction and contracting and Lambert on the industrial side. The combination works well in supporting Deckert's roughly 60-40 split between industrial and contractor customers. Through the two of them, Perri says, she and Jaeckel have been brought up to speed on Deckert's products and customer base.
Arensdorf and Lambert's extensive product knowledge has been especially helpful to Perri, since she is the official outside sales rep for the company -- and the first one in Deckert's history. Since the majority of Deckert's customers are close by, they traditionally end up coming to Deckert rather than the other way around. But Perri and Jaeckel say adding an official outside sales force was an important move for the company to make. Perri began calling on industrial customers this year and hopes to start incorporating inside sales in that effort -- specifically drawing on Lambert and Arensdorf's construction product knowledge, allowing the two to make site visits of their own.
"A lot of the people we call on are really excited to have the attention," says Perri, "to have the new information coming directly to them."
For now, Perri says she is concentrating on increasing business with Deckert's existing accounts. She hopes to build on Deckert's good reputation to do so -- a reputation that evokes in many customers' minds images of power tools. And though power tools are a big part of what Deckert does, Perri wants people to know that they carry much more than that. And that's where her role as an outside salesperson really makes a difference. In addition to building rapport and learning about the customer's business, she says she can take a look at what the customer stocks and say, "hey, we have that too."
While the sales change has been an important one for Deckert, it wasn't the first thing Perri and Jaeckel decided to do when they took over. When the two realized that Deckert didn't use a computer to track inventory, they knew what their first mission had to be. Capitalizing on Jaeckel's background in information systems -- he managed a technical team at a Chicago computer company prior to joining Deckert -- they researched, purchased and implemented a new computer system that was up and running late last year. By March of 1998 the system had been purchased and installed, employee training was done in June, and the system went live on October 1. Perri says the new system is essential to the company's growth.
In addition to tracking inventory, the new computer system will give Deckert key information it has never had before. Over time, employees will be able to chart buying patterns on a monthly, yearly or seasonal basis, for instance, allowing them to streamline purchasing functions. They will also be able to better manage inventory and have a better understanding of what customers need. Customers, too, will be able to track their own buying patterns with Deckert. For customers that have an Internet connection, Deckert can install a software communication device that will allow that customer to access Deckert's system. Once in the system, they can check to see what's in stock, place an order or check their order history.
"That is going to be a fantastic tool," Perri says. "It will be a great advantage for a small, local company."
Planning for success
New computer systems and new sales strategies are just part of Deckert's plan for the future. Perri explains that the first nine months of her and Jaeckel's tenure was all about evaluation --figuring out where the company was and where it needed to go. Much of that process concerned marketing efforts, and that's where Perri's own experience came in handy. Realizing that the company was in an advertising rut -- old programs were simply repeated every year without question -- Perri set out to make some major changes.
The first thing she did was change the radio station the company had been advertising on for years. While it was tough to do because Deckert had a long history with the station, Perri says it was necessary because the company simply wasn't reaching the right market. She also changed some ads, making them cleaner and easier to read. Plans for the future include redesigning the company's sales and promotion materials -- which are fine now, says Perri, but just need to be "stepped up a notch." Perri continues to scale back much of Deckert's advertising efforts so that she can figure out what works for the company and what doesn't.
In the process, Perri knows that she and her four colleagues will be faced with many challenges -- not only in getting their message out to the marketplace, but also in making sure they continue to carve the right niche for their small company. With almost 100 years of history behind them and an energetic, young management team leading the way, W.D. Deckert is on the right track, say customers and suppliers.
"I'm very impressed with the new management of the company," says Milwaukee's Blank, adding that the new computer system and Perri's marketing knowledge are major improvements. "I think they are taking the company in the right direction."
Cletus Palm, purchasing agent for long-time customer Conlon Construction based in Dubuque, points to the importance of the personal element in dealing with Deckert.
"I like doing business with them," Palm says. "Gina's got a great personality. They're just nice people to work with."
And for a small company, Perri notes, that makes a big difference.
This story was reprinted from ID's November, 1998 STAFDA convention guide.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
W.D. Deckert Co.
President: Gina Perri
1998 Sales: N/A
Founded: 1900
Headquarters: Dubuque, Iowa
Locations: 1
Employees: 5
Territory: Northeast Iowa, northwestern Illinois, southwest Wisconsin
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