Coming off a good year in 2007, Freeman Robbins, president of J. Supply Co. in Rome, Ga., is cautiously optimistic about repeating that performance in 2008.

For PVF distributors, the big concern a year or so ago—the price and availability of steel and copper, among other metals—has leveled off, Robbins says.

“I can't say it affects anything [in terms of availability] but it can drive up the cost to the end user,” he notes.

For the most part, J. Supply sells to companies in the Southeastern part of the United States, specifically northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia, Robbins explains.

“We have some carpet industry, some fabrication companies,” he says. “Steel mills, paper mills [and] power plants ... just general industry.”

He says new product developments are key to serving those customers, as they represent potentially new sources of revenue. At the same time, the new product developments present a constant need for training employees in the latest updates.

“We're constantly learning the new items out there. We have our educational sales meetings weekly on new products. There are so many items that it may be hard to follow up sometimes. So we try to present them [to customers], before someone else does,” he says.

J. Supply has two locations, one in Rome, Ga. and another in Anniston, Ala., and employs 40 to 45 people. The company does not conduct many sales via its Web site, but has hopes of improving on that in '08, Robbins explains.

“We are implementing a 'shopping cart' on the site and we hope that will help us out some,” he says.

Just as he stays on top of PVF product upgrades, Robbins is also interested in new sales techniques or approaches that have been successful. But to date, there is only one he has found in which he really has much confidence—giving good customer service.

“That's it—servicing the customer, being a friend to the customer on a daily basis. That's all you have to offer, really. Everyone else can sell the same products,” he says. “The standard way of doing business is to do what you say you're going to do. That's what keeps business and helps it grow.”

That good service approach also helps prevent J. Supply from falling victim to one of Robbins' concerns for his business—manufacturers going direct.

“One thing we have to worry about is manufacturing going direct. I think you read that every time you open up [a magazine],” he says.

Another is the overall economy and the media coverage it's received lately. Robbins says he knows it's rocky for some companies, but says many news stories today take too much of a “sky is falling” approach. That coverage, in turn, can make people a bit too worried or paranoid.

“If the media keeps talking it up, there's no telling what's going to happen…. I had a guy say to me, 'Things sure are bad, aren't they?' And I said to him, 'I don't think we're looking at the same things right now.' But you hear people talking like that sometimes,” Robbins says.