College Campus Offers Goldmine Of Opportunity
MHEDA teams up with local distributor to
educate industrial distribution students.
Material handling distributors know too well how difficult it can be to find qualified
sales personnel to meet the current demands of their businesses and
ensure continued growth. The problem has been amplified in the past
year by record-low unemployment figures. Adding to the urgency of
the problem, many companies employ aging sales teams and face the
impending retirement of dependable, long-term employees.
College campuses offer a promising solution to this ongoing problem.
Several U.S. colleges and universities, including East Carolina University,
Purdue University and Texas A&M, offer programs in industrial
distribution and its role in society. Such programs provide students
with a background in industrial distribution business processes and
industrial selling that make them well suited for training in general
business-to-business sales, but not particularly material handling.
These programs typically do not address our industry and its opportunities,
and most of the students are unaware of the important role played
by the large network of material handling distributors operating throughout
the country.
Skills Important For Outside Sales In The Material
Handling Industry
- Desire to achieve – and
earn!
- Ability to ask questions
and listen
- Some mechanical ability – enough to understand
basic application of equipment
- Can read or learn to read
blueprints and layouts
- Self-directed and self-disciplined
- Like to meet and get to
know new people
- Phone skills – talking
and listening
- Basic computer skills
- Willing to make it happen – proactive
- Pleasantly assertive
- Can handle details
- Can handle multiple priorities
- Resilient – can handle
rejection
- Empathetic – can put yourself
in other people's shoes
Source: Handout prepared
by Materials Handling Equipment Company, Denver, Colorado |
As part of its Material Handling Industry Awareness Program, MHEDA
is partnering with select distributors to participate in campus career
fairs. Distributors can recruit for their own companies while spreading
the word about the opportunities available nationally in the material
handling industry. MHEDA will provide information materials, including
the MHIA industry video, the Association's Recruitment Binder, comprehensive
industry literature and MHEDA member listings. In return for helping
to raise the profile of the industry, MHEDA will share half of the
distributor's agreed-upon costs for attending an approved career fair
focusing on industrial distribution.
The cooperative recruitment opportunity received its first trial in
September 2000, when representatives from Materials Handling Equipment
Co. (Denver, CO) attended a career fair held at the University
of Nebraska. In addition to students from the university's campus
in Kearney, Nebraska, the fair was attended by students enrolled in
the industrial distribution program at Moorhead State University in
Minnesota. Elaine Favela, marketing specialist at MHECO, fielded
questions from over 60 seniors in the industrial distribution programs
at the two schools. Sales positions as well as sales and marketing
positions at material handling distributorships were on the agenda. “It was very encouraging to see the students' enthusiasm,” says Favela.
“Many had no idea that companies like ours even existed.” The students
wanted to know about ongoing educational opportunities that would
be available, and Favela points out that they were very impressed
with the extensive training that is available within the material
handling industry.
| Benefits Of A Sales Career In The Material Handling
Industry
- You get to talk to all levels of a customer's organization—from
the warehouse to the corner office.
- Serves all other types of businesses. You get to see what goes
on in all those other businesses.
- Opportunities with distributors and manufacturers
- Opportunities with small and large companies
- Sales income is performance-based – no top end
- Lots of training and training resources
- Uses new technology – with lots of room for technology growth
- It's real stuff – sold business-to-business. You bring about change
and actually see the results of your success!
Source: Handout prepared by Materials Handling
Equipment Company, Denver, Colorado |
Favela
was equally impressed with the students. “They are really top-notch,
and they're learning about many aspects of distribution that usually
require being in the industry for a while,” she says. “It's important
to get their attention about opportunities that exist not only with
specific material handling distributorships, but within our industry
as a whole, before they're ready to graduate.” Among 40 industrial distribution
companies present at the career fair, MHECO was the only material handling
company, and Favela stresses the urgency of making students and faculty
aware of material handling distributorships and our activities.
Sales Training At Materials Handling Equipment Company
We train in six key sales areas:
Time and Priority Management
• Franklin Covey System
Product Training
• Focused classroom work with factory representatives
• Video Review of key product areas
• Hands-on installation and service experience (an introduction
to how it really works!)
• Formal factory schools and internships
• Mentoring by Sales Manager and Engineering Manager
Sales Process Training
• Learn proven techniques for business-to-business sales of capital
equipment
• Objective Based Selling – designed and taught by MHECO President,
Gary Moore
• Monthly sales meeting with sales process focus
• Sales Boot Camp (as appropriate)
• Karrass Effective Negotiating Program
• Mentoring
Industrial Geography
• Where are the customers?
• Database and prospecting resource use training by Marketing Specialist
Sales Technology Tools
• Lotus Notes
• Product and application-specific computer and sales training
Materials Handling Equipment Company Processes
• Brief periods of work in each department (see how we meet customer
needs “firsthand”)
• Process training by Sales Manager and Sales Coordinator
Source: Handout prepared by Materials Handling Equipment
Company, Denver, Colorado |
MHECO was assisted in its
efforts by Jeff Brion, a senior at the University of Nebraska
who served a sales and marketing internship with the company last
summer. “Word of mouth is the best kind of advertising,” says Favela.
“Jeff recommended taking an internship with our company to some of
his friends, and they stopped by to see what they could find out about
the industry.” Several handouts were available describing MHECO's
sales training, the benefits of a sales career in the material handling
industry and skills important for outside sales (See Sidebars). MHECO
came away from the career fair with 20 resumes, and four students
are currently under consideration for internships.
Distributors who are interested in taking advantage of this opportunity
to support their own recruiting efforts and get the word out about
the opportunities of a career in material handling distribution should
contact MHEDA Executive Vice President Liz Richards at 847-680-3500. |
