The Forestry market has taken off in the past few months and it’s good to see.  The general sentiment I’m hearing is that this isn’t short lived and will be sustained.  Tiffin’s been committed to this market for well over a decade and we’re actively adding to our product line to meet our customers’ needs.  We are the leading aftermarket supplier for Prentice and Hydro-Ax replacement parts and are working to build on that line as well as all of the other brands we support like John Deere and Tigercat.

We’re also the leading aftermarket replacement parts supplier for SkyTrak and Lull telehandlers and are building our line to support JLG and Genie branded rough terrain fork lifts.  While utilization rates have remained depressed for this market, we are positioning Tiffin to be the leading supplier of aftermarket parts for all major brands of telehandlers by the end of 2010. 

While new forklift equipment sales continue to be off, sales of Industrial Engine replacement parts are up over 2009.  Equipment is being put back in service as market conditions slowly improve.  We’ll be making a major announcement later this month regarding an addition to our product line as the first in the market to offer parts for a popular engine that up to now has been prohibitive to rebuild. 

At Tiffin, we’re committed to helping our customers be successful.  Industry leading availability, high quality and personalized service set us apart.  Let us know what we can do for you!

We have the ability for an automated attendant to direct calls where they need to go, but we heard from our customers that they didn’t want to have to go through the system.  They want to talk to a person.  It’s that personal service that has set Tiffin apart.

We’re leveraging technology to simplify the business for our customers.  The system is more stable, we now have direct lines for all employees, we can stay connected even when we’re out of the office and best of all, it’s lower cost.  We have all calls feeding directly to the inside team and if call volume is high, callers have the ability to hold for the next available team member.

Ease of doing business is a differentiator…give us a call…we want to talk to you!

He had a saying that has stuck with me over the years:  “If you do what you always did, you’ll get what you always got.”

People have to grow and develop to stay healthy!  Recently, I read an article regarding a finding that people that have meaningful discussions on a regular basis have better mental health than people that only have superficial interaction with others.  Challenging your mind provides the mental exercise you need.

Organizations have to grow, develop and change to be healthy too!  The world and the markets we serve are in a constant state of change, we have to change to meet our customers’ needs.  If we don’t, we won’t even get what we always got!    

That’s why at Tiffin Parts, we are changing…we’re challenging ourselves so that we can continue to meet your needs and to continually do it better than ever before. 

-Adding parts on an ongoing basis to provide you with more of what you need

-Changing our internal processes to be more efficient

-Installing a new phone system to serve you better

-Redesigning our pricing and freight policies to save you money

-Adding field sales representation so that they can meet with you at your business to share what we are doing and to help us better understand how we can help you be successful

What more can we do to help you grow your business…to keep it healthy?

What is your most important buying criteria?

-Availability – 37%

-Quality – 30%

-Price – 22%

What is the telehandler utilization rate in your area?

-50% said 20% or less

-70% said 40% or less

How much will your market improve in 2010?

-30% said it will get worse

-50% said that it will get worse or stay the same

What is the biggest factor affecting the markets you serve?

-General state of the Economy – 47%

-Weather – 33%

-Employment – 20%

This tells us that we are pretty much split down the middle.  Half of us believe that things will improve in 2010 and half of us don’t.  Frankly, telehandler usage estimates were higher than expected.  We had estimated that in 2009 they were 10% to 15%.  When considering factors affecting the markets we serve, the Economy, Weather and Employment are all interrelated.

Every month or so we will be asking a new question so check it out!  If you have a question you would like us to ask, let us know…

Note: The Tiffin Poll shows in the left side margin on all of our web pages.

They expressed what we have been hearing for the past year.  One manager commented that customers are cannibalizing equipment for parts rather than buying a part they need.  Another said that for their own equipment they are only “fixing to fail”, meaning that they only work on equipment when it breaks…they are not doing preventive maintenance.  On one visit I made, a customer called and leased a piece of equipment.  I commented that it was the kind of call you like to hear.  Yes, but the salesperson told me that they used to lease that piece of equipment for $450 per day and now they are only charging $250. 

At the Engine Parts Warehouse Distributors I called on, I didn’t see a lot of inventory.  WDs are ordering for customers as needed rather than stocking for when needed.

So what does this tell us?  Perhaps we have hit bottom.  We are seeing some activity and it has appeared to be picking up in the past few weeks.  There is pent up demand.  As customers look to put equipment back into service, they will need to replace parts taken from one piece of equipment for another. 

At  Tiffin Parts, we are doing a number of things to help our customers control costs to be more competitive and profitable:

-We stock the parts so you don’t have to…we have what you need when you need it

-We drop ship and will blind ship directly to your customers if requested

-Redesigning our pricing and freight policies to save you money

We want to hear from you…

-What are you seeing in the markets you serve?

-What more can we do to help you to be successful?

Let us know!

My most profound takeaway from the experience was that to truly grow and develop, people have to step outside their comfort zone.  In fact, that’s where the name Outward Bound comes from.   It’s the nautical term for a ship’s departure from the certainties of the harbor.

Yes, I really did climb this tower, but I couldn’t have done it one my own.  One of the most important concepts is belaying.  It’s a climbing technique to ensure that a falling climber, doesn’t fall too far.  Essentially, it’s a safety harness attached to a rope that is supported by others on your team.  It really was an experience, maybe extreme…at least physically, analogous to stepping outside one’s comfort zone.

Anxiety improves performance…leaving your comfort zone allows you to optimize your performance and to further expand it.  Each time you do it, your comfort zone grows.  Continual growth and development is needed not only for a person, but for an organization, for a society to stay healthy.  Go too far and anxiety (change) will be too great causing performance to deteriorate.

At Tiffin Parts we’re stepping outside our comfort zone every day.  As a team, we’re here to support each other and you…we’re your belay.  We’re growing and developing our business to stay ahead of the competition to serve our customers better and to help you be successful!

-Continually adding parts to provide you with more of what you need

-Changing our internal processes to be more efficient

-Installing a new phone system to serve you better

-Redesigning our pricing and freight policies to save you money

What more can we do to help you?  We need your guidance…push us…we’ll be better for it!

Hawaii was the only one of the 50 states that didn’t have snow last week, yet Vancouver had to truck snow in before the Olympics and with temperatures in the 50s, they have blossoms blooming on the trees.

On the good side, I did read the other day that over 92% of the US is now drought-free. This is the best it’s been since the early 1990s. Here’s hoping that it’s a sign of good things to come in 2010. As the weather clears, more equipment will be running which will be good for employment and in turn the economy!

How much impact does the weather have on your customers and the markets you serve?

The general sentiment seems to be that once the weather clears that logging activity will be up in the Spring over last year since the mills are in dire need of wood.  Once their needs are met, there seems to be some sense that the price of wood will drop and the logging segment will fall back to last year’s levels.

It was surprising to hear that several dealers had sold all of their Skidders and were waiting on delivery of more.  It was not a surprise to see how little new inventory was sitting on the lots.  The most sales activity seems to be with 2 and 3 year old equipment.

If there were bright spots, it seemed to be with equipment that moves dirt, whether it be for road construction or mining.  In general, the feeling was that 2010 may be the same as or just slightly better than 2009 and that the market won’t show marked improvement until 2011.

We want to know…what are you seeing in the markets you serve???

I believe that for a small business like an independent repair facility or a dealer to maximize their sales, they need to use direct marketing as a tool to reach out to their customers.  It’s cost effective and it gets the message delivered ASAP.  

Does your company collect the email addresses of your customers?  It’s a great way to do direct marketing so start collecting.  When your customers come into your business ask them about getting an email from you.  If your customers really depend on the services that your company provides then believe me, they will be very happy to get an email from you.  Don’t be shy but don’t overdo it either.  Make your emails about specific parts or services that your company provides and always put your contact information in the emails.

Staying in touch with your customers, whether in person, via phone or through some form of direct marketing, is a must.  All of these touch points help build on each other to create an integrated marketing effort.

What ideas do you have to stay connected with your customers?

Who's on first?

Who’s most important when making a decision…your customers, your company, yourself? In business, is making a decision based solely on one’s own self interest ever the right decision? I think not! It’s what allowed the Financial industry to get the world economy in trouble. Incentives that encouraged individuals to make decisions that were high risk for their business, but low risk and high reward for themselves. Individual incentives were not appropriately aligned with that of their business. This isn’t exclusive to the Financial industry…it’s a problem throughout the world of business and government.

There’s an argument that decisions should be made for the greater good. I’m a firm believer in Transcendent Leadership, where decisions need to be made with a broader perspective. For instance, if our customers don’t succeed, how can we? We can’t, at least not long term. At Tiffin Parts, we’re here to help you be successful. If you’re successful, we will be too!

For more on this topic, Knowledge at Wharton published a great article from the World Economic Forum in 2007. Here’s a link: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1649

Photo:  The great comedy team of Abbott and Costello doing their classic skit:  “Who’s on first?”