Straight shooter
Power Systems' Tom Reitsma earns respect by playing it straight with customers
By Susan L. P. Srikonda -- Industrial Distribution, 4/1/1999
Tom Reitsma's customers see him as more than an excellent salesman; they view him as their competitive edge. His customers credit everything from Reitsma's memory, technical and product knowledge, reliability and honesty to his willingness to hustle, with helping their businesses succeed.And price? Reitsma's customers have other things on their minds than counting nickels and dimes.
Reitsma began his 26-year career with Power Systems, a hydraulic components distributor located just outside Minneapolis, Minn., just as fluid power technology was gaining momentum. He was in his early 20s when he started selling fluid power products -- a young kid selling a newfangled product.
"I got a lot of sideways looks from engineers when I walked in with a product that hadn't been accepted in the industry," Reitsma says of those early days. "But I guess I'm a persevering person. If I believe in something I'll keep working at it until they either get sick of me or they decide to give what I'm selling a try."
Today, Reitsma's customers value the perspective he offers, which is informed by a history of growing with the fluid power industry, a technical education, and a background in farming that is invaluable to his customers in the agricultural business.
Garlock Equipment Co., which manufactures equipment for the commercial roofing industry, and its sister company, Cimline Inc., which manufactures highway construction equipment, rely on Reitsma's technical skills and knowledge of the industry.
"We truly feel we have an advantage over our competitors because of the input that Tom adds to help solve problems in the design stage of our products," says Greg Kenton, purchasing manager for Garlock Equipment Co. in Plymouth, Minn. "Second to none, he is the buyer's and the in-house engineer's best friend. His product knowledge never ceases to amaze anyone that works with him. He knows the specifics of everything his company sells."
"Tom's strength is that when we need answers and prototype product, he lets us know when it's going to come in," says Tony Mertes, Garlock's product engineer. "If there's anything wrong, he's the first to call you. He keeps you up to date, which is important when you're juggling 15 new products. He's always reliable. He's also a straight shooter. I'll often talk with him about competitors' products and he always knows about them."
In order to provide customers with the best product knowledge possible, Reitsma turns to his suppliers, like the Eaton Corp., a manufacturer of hydraulic components for mobile equipment like farm tractors, lift trucks and combines.
"I think it's extremely important to have a good relationship with your suppliers," Reitsma says. "If you have good, reputable suppliers, they'll communicate with you and tell you what's coming out not only next week, but a year from now and what they'd like to see three or five years from now. [That] really helps you when you're in front of the customer. Our suppliers really keep us up-to-date on new technology in the industry."
It is in Eaton's interest, as well, to be represented by knowledgeable distributors. The manufacturer provides ongoing training and opportunities for distributors to learn about new products, applications and systems.
"Customers are, more and more, looking to the distributor for recommendations on what products to use on their applications," says Frank Emery, a regional sales manager for Eaton. "Salesmen have to be able to respond and support the customers with their ability to apply the products. I've worked with Tom a lot at some of his major customers. He's very well versed in hydraulics. He knows what he's doing, and he knows our products."
The combination of Reitsma's knowledge of hydraulics and his farming background is important when he calls on Power Systems' customers who cater to the agricultural industry. In order to be competitive, today's successful farms are larger than ever, and size alone calls for equipment that can handle the work faster and more efficiently. That's where technology comes in.
"Technology in farming has exploded," Reitsma says. "Large farmers now have computers in their homes and offices, and a lot of the equipment that they run have on-board computers."
One of Reitsma's customers, AGCO Corp. in Willmar, Minn., manufacturers equipment designed to apply a granular fertilizer to fields, along with other material handling equipment for the fertilizer and chemical application business.
"When I was a kid, you just cleaned out your barn and spread the manure," Reitsma explains, "but now it's a granular fertilizer. They take selected soil samples throughout the piece of land they're treating. They take an aerial infrared photograph of the land and, together with the soil samples, make up a grid program. With an onboard computer as they drive across the land, they'll put differing amounts of fertilizer in different areas. They're applying the exact amount of fertilizer required according to the computer for the piece of land underneath the truck."
AGCO buys hydraulic components and power transmission gear boxes that go into its granular fertilizer and other equipment. Reitsma, or any salesperson, needs to have an understanding not only of hydraulics, but also of how the end customer is going to use the equipment, says Jerry Saude, AGCO's manager of product engineering. Saude depends on salesmen like Reitsma to make product recommendations based on his understanding of the application.
"A lot of times when we start a project," Saude says, "I only roughly know what kind of performance I'm looking for out of the valve that I'm going to specify. I depend on [Reitsma] to come back and pick the valve that's going to work best in our application overall. It takes quite a bit of experience in knowing the life that this valve will go through. He doesn't always spec us the cheapest valve, but he specs the valve that will do the trick. ... I wish all my suppliers were as good as Tom Reitsma."
To meet the complex demands of customers like AGCO and Garlock Equipment, Power Systems takes a "systems approach" that differentiates it from competitors who simply sell components. Typically, Reitsma will visit an OEM's facility and examine the whole machine being manufactured.
"We then offer a system to the customer, and when we do that we can spec in components that are all compatible, which offers the customer some systems responsibility. If something goes wrong down the road, they have one call to make," Reitsma says. "If you propose a system and sell a system, then your name is on it. Even if I don't sell all the components on the machine, I'll take responsibility for them. That way I have a hand in helping the customer choose components that are compatible with the whole system. Obviously it offers us opportunities, but it also offers us risk."
But all the product and technical knowledge in the world doesn't mean anything if the products don't reach the customer in time -- and Reitma's customers say he's often faster, and more willing, than his competitors.
Mertes says Retisma helped Garlock Equipment out of a jam recently when the company had a design problem with a new machine, just days before it was scheduled to be shown at the World of Concrete in Las Vegas. The machine's power steering unit failed and Reitsma picked the unit up and took it to the manufacturer to be rebuilt that same day ... and then personally delivered it to Mertes' home.
Saude recalls a time when he'd ordered valve cartridges for a prototype machine from another distributor who was going to delay the order a full month beyond the original three-month delivery date.
"So I called Tom to see if he could help," Saude says. "He came out here, looked at what we needed to do and in five days he had a custom-designed valve block. Because of that, we continue to use those cartridge valves today. Since that time, we've probably used 20,000 of those cartridge valves. He just out-hustled the competitor and that earned our business."
Days like that aren't typical for Reitsma -- in fact, he says there's no such thing as a typical day on the job, which is precisely the way he likes it.
"Today, the thing that keeps me most inspired and motivated is the competition and the day-to-day working with customers," Reitsma says. "Every customer, every manufacturer is different. That's the nice thing about being in this business: every day when I get up, I don't know what's going to happen except that it's guaranteed to be different than it was yesterday." m
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