Inside Indoff March 2020 Edition

MARCH 2020

Vendor of the Year Presentation for Indoff from Treston, LTD at the 2020 MODEX

INSIDE CORPORATE NEWSLETTER "WHERE SOLUTIONS TAKE SHAPE"

INDOFF INCORPORATED | 1

CONTENTS

TABLE OF

WHERE SOLUTIONS TAKE SHAPE PRESIDENT’S PROSE

3

MILLION DOLLAR WINNERS

4

HUMAN RESOURCES

5

WELCOME NEW PARTNERS

7

TECHIE TALK

8

RECRUITING AT INDOFF

10

OPERATIONS AT INDOFF

11

PARTNERS OF THE MONTH

12

FINANCE & ACCOUNTING

13

PARTNER ANNIVERSARIES

14

MARKETING UPDATES

15

Indoff 2 | INDOFF INCORPORATED

PRESIDENT'S PROSE

G

reetings! Welcome to the first edition of Inside Indoff for 2020! While we have published six editions annually in the past, this year we are shifting to quarterly as we focus more of our marketing resources elsewhere.

As noted previously and frequently, the Company begins its 50th year on April 20, and I begin my 33rd with Indoff on March 21st – translation, I’m old. While (hopefully) some wisdom comes with age and longevity, I sometimes overlook repeating a few things because I think we all know them already. With that in mind, let me recap one more time what the Partner Program is intended to be (and not be):

• Fundamental to the Partner Program is our belief that people buy JIM MALKUS from people. Even with the rise of the Internet, we believe personal service and trust is critical to the sales process. For this reason, we President & CEO keep the Partner at the forefront of pricing, service, sourcing and marketing – the Partner knows what is best in the local market for the Partner’s customers.

• Corporate’s responsibility is to support the Partner’s efforts through effective administration. This extremely broad statement covers accounting, credit and collections, finance, HR, marketing, Partner Support and increasingly, IT. It is important to emphasize that our role is to support the sales effort, not lead it. We rely on our Partners for that.

• Because the Partner is the key to our success, we do not manage Partners’ day in, day out behavior. There is no one recipe for success as an Indoff Partner; for those of you who have been around for a while, you know this is 100% true. To repeat, we do not manage our Partners; we trust that you know what is best for your customers.

• Because of our unique nature, a core function for us at corporate is recruiting. We grow primarily by expanding the base of producing Partners; this requires a dedicated, professional effort. From John Temple in 1991 to Angela Suntrup today, we have been blessed to have a string of outstanding individuals heading this effort. Growth is what finances our ongoing investments in technology and people that allows the Partner Program to grow and evolve.

• Our dedication to the fundamental structure of the Program doesn’t mean no change ever – remember order pads? – but it does require some vigilance and dedication to these core beliefs.

We’re blessed to have both long-time Partners and Corporate staff that help us remember this.

As 2020 really kicks into gear, I am confident that the Indoff Partner Program, intelligently updated as we move forward, will continue to provide the best opportunity for professional salespeople in our industries. The combination of freedom, resources and access to fellow Partners’ knowledge will keep Indoff and its Sales Partners as a force to be recognized in the B2B distribution industry.

Thank you all for all you do for Indoff!

INDOFF INCORPORATED | 3

Congratulations to our $ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 P a r t n e r s f o r 2 01 9 Marsha Olinghouse (18) Carrie Sharp (3) Stacy Bernhardt (2) Matt Zschoche (2) Mark Lowe (2) Bill Hamilton (3) LeAnn Pashina (3) David Strong (1) Terry Paden (1) Beth Ocker (1) Mary Ann Torres-Co (1) Jeff Lorimer (1) Kim Gregory (1) Deanna Lies (5) Darrell Reed (6 Tom Vanhoozer (5) Al Hutton (17) Kristy Long (7) Paul D'Ambra (4) John Hollern (2)

Joe Vander Zanden (14) Carlos Calles (2) Darrin Wicks (7) Bill Jacobson (6) Staci Deaton (11) Dave Perry (12) Duane Young (5) Darren Lawson (3) Jeff Chambers (8) Ryan Goede (3) Bob Barroll (2) Byron Ambrose (4) Mark Snider (6) Ken Hebert (1) Brian Galloway (1) Georgine Golitko (17) Ken Groth (7) Dave Morrow (5) Bruce Lang (5) Doug Fletcher (4)

Lee Key (6) Chris Koeneman (6) Dan Contestabile (5) Randee Walsh (4) Congratulations to the Million Dollar Sales Winners for 2019.

A big hats off to the eight first time winners on the list: Ken Hebert Brian Galloway David Strong Terry Paden Beth Ocker Mary Ann Torres-Co Jeff Lorimer Kim Gregory

A Manufacturer of Material Handling & Industrial Equipment * Storage Cabinets * Lockers * Shop Desks

* Carts & Tables * Trucks * Workbenches

* Drum Handling * Shelving * Racks

MODIFICATION * CUSTOM DESIGN

1440 East 36th Street * Cleveland, OH 44114 * 216.881.4604 * 800.336.4986 * fax 216.881.6731

4 | INDOFF INCORPORATED

www.PucelEnterprises.com

W

HUMAN RESOURCES

elcome Springtime! I want to reinforce the importance of the Indoff Retirement Savings Plan 401(k). As we get older, understanding

our goals and having a plan to achieve them will determine the “success” of our retirement.

Below is an excerpt from my March 2011 article “One aspect of that independence is “saving for retirement”, and the Indoff Incorporated Retirement

ROBIN MIGDAL

Savings Plan (“401k”) is a vital piece of the puzzle for

Indoff VP of

most of us. As of the writing of this article, our plan

Human Resources

has over $15 million in assets held by Massachusetts Mutual Financial Group, one of the most financially sound financial institutions in the world. Indoff’s approach with our 401k has always been that the security of the contributions takes precedence over chasing outrageous returns; over the long haul, we believe this is the best approach for all”.

Today our plan assets are over $31 million, and MassMutual is still considered one of the most financially sound institutions in the country.

Each of us is primarily responsible for our own 401k balance, but there are some common words of advice for us all: • Contribute as much as you possibly can. We all have needs and financial pressures but paying yourself first remains solid advice. If at all possible, contribute at least 6% of your pre-tax income in order to maximize the “free” company dollars that we pay.

• Review your contributions and your investment selections regularly; make sure they still match up with your risk tolerance, your age and your goals. No one else is going to care as much about your future and your retirement as you do.If you have any questions about the 401k plan, feel free to contact me or Pam Hitpas and we will be glad to help.

Please mark your calendars for April 29 – May 2, 2021 for our next National Sales Meeting being held here in St. Louis at the St. Charles Convention Center. We will be celebrating our 50 years in business!

INDOFF INCORPORATED | 5

MOVE 40 SERIES Our new Move 40 Series is in stock and ready for same-day shipping.

Move 40 is our most affordable line of height adjustable standing desks with an easy-to-use up/down control and five of our most popular finishes.

Industry-leading services: • Fully stocked products • Free space planning • Delivery in 3-5 business days for most locations • FREE freight!

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Get in touch with me to learn more about special programs BBF offers exclusively for Indoff

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INDOFF, INCORPORATED HOLIDAY SCHEDULE 2020 Friday

April 10 – 1:00 p.m.

Good Friday

Monday

May 25

Memorial Day

Friday

July 3

July 4th Holiday

Monday

September 7

Labor Day

Thursday

November 26

Thanksgiving

Friday

November 27

Thanksgiving

Thursday

December 24 – 12:00 p.m.

Christmas Eve

Friday

December 25

Christmas Day

Friday

January 1, 2021

New Years

6 | INDOFF INCORPORATED

WELCOME

MYLES

NATE

ROSS

RON

STANLEY

VANPELT

KELLER

KOWALCZYK

MH

MH

MH

MH

JEFF

GREG

TAMORA

BRUCE

PROCTOR

ISENHOUR

STEVENS

BENNETT

MH

MH

BP

PP

LISA

BECCA

SHARON

MICK

ALLEN

BELL

CARRIKER

HENAHAN

CI

CI

CI

CI

JOHN GOLDSMITH ES

WELCOME TO OUR NEW PAR TNERS INDOFF INCORPORATED | 7

M

TECHIE TALK

arch is always a good time to see if you are on track with goals and tasks that you have embarked on for the new year. It may be time to

adjust, or begin something new. Use some time over the next few weeks to evaluate where you are at, adjust and move forward! Also...have you run Windows Update and made sure your Antivirus software is up to date??

Here are some of the projects IT is working on: Vendor Portal - Colin and Tabitha are working on redesigning the vendor portal to be a more effective piece of Confluence.

Look for this in the coming weeks!

SHAWN FAULKINGHAM Chief Information Officer

Public Website - Craig and Michael, along with Atomic Dust and Colin are putting the finishing touches on our new public website. It has been some time since we last updated it; the new site looks great and will be much easier to manage and add/remove content! Look for this in the coming weeks as well!

New Anti-virus at Corporate - I mention this because the new version of Trend Micro we have installed also has GSuite integration. I have it integrated in our email in a detect only mode; I will be releasing it to a “take action” mode which will label emails that have been marked as suspicious so you can make a better decision on what to do with the email. This is important as the number of phishing emails has increased dramatically. When I make the change, I will notify all of you.

SugarCRM/SugarMarket - We are getting close to going live (and may have done so when you read this). This will help with our Appliance division and will be extremely important in taking our Marketing plans to the next level. Craig Pennington will have more on this when it is ready.

That’s it for now, and thanks again for all that you do!

Shawn, Colin and Tabitha

8 | INDOFF INCORPORATED

COLIN FAULKINGHAM Chief Technology Officer

W HAT M ATTERS W HEN CCHOOSING HOOSING YYOUR OUR EERGONOMIC RGONOMIC PPARTNER? ARTNER? WHAT MATTERS WHEN þ APPLICATION EXPERIENCE þ QUALITY þ KNOWLEDGABLE

For over a decade, Verti-Lift has been supplying Hydraulic & Pneumatic Product Positioning Equipment to enhance ERGONOMICS, WORLD CLASS IN DESIGN FLEXIBILITY PRODUCTIVITY, & SAFETY to operators and plants around the world.

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VERTI-LIFT, INC. Ÿ 5559 National Turnpike Ÿ Louisville, KY 40214 Ÿ 502.361.0180 Ÿ www.verti-lift.com Ÿ sales@verti-lift.com

1/2PgEMH Indoff3-19.qxp_Indoff Newsletter 8/14/19 8:58 AM Page 1

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IN STOCK. IMMEDIATELY AINDOFF VAILABLE. INCORPORATED | 9

T

RECRUITING AT INDOFF

he year is off to a good start! The Recruiting Department has started 9 new Partners this year! Please welcome the following new Partners:

Mick Henahan- BP

John Goldsmith- ES

Nate VanPelt-MH

Myles Stanley-MH

Becca Bell- CI

Ross Keller- MH

Lisa Allen- CI

Jeff Proctor-MH

Ron Kowalczyk-MH

Together we can work together to build a great team of Partners. Please remember to let the Recruiting department know of any salesperson or owner looking to make a change! Replacing valuable and productive Partners is a necessity to keeping our company viable. Indoff also pays a $1000 referral fee once your referral generates $1000 in gross profits!

INDOFF TEAMWORK - FINDING PARTNERS

ANGELA SUNTRUP VP of Recruiting

THERE ARE MANY REASONS SALES REPS COULD BE UNHAPPY • Underpaid • Limit career growth • Lack of interest • Poor management • Work and life balance

INDOFF OFFERS

Where can I find good sales reps for the Recruiting department?

• Industry high commissions

• Ask your customers who sells them their MH, BP, CI,

• Access to all Indoff product offerings

ES or Promo needs. They may know of a good sales rep that is unhappy.

• Talk to your vendors/designers/installers to see if they know of a salesperson or owner looking for a change.

• If you attend trade shows or training sessions keep an eye out for good sales reps.

• When checking out industry publications, look for write-ups on exceptional salespeople.

• If you are on LinkedIn, search your contact list for possible sales reps who would be a good fit for Indoff.

10 | INDOFF INCORPORATED

• Partners are our top priority, Indoff works hard to make sure you are the best equipped sales professional through our technology, vendor programs and aggres sive marketing options.

• Indoff has a long-term superior manage ment team!

• Life balance is #1 in today’s work environment. Indoff Partners are in total control of their work schedule.

H

OPERATIONS AT INDOFF

ello all - I hope your 2020 is off to a good start. For those of you who read my Reminder Memo back in January,

this may look familiar, but it is worth repeating.

As you know, we give our Partners tremendous freedom to run your own business in your own style. However, the few rules and requirements that we have in place are not to be taken lightly, and are not optional. Following is a reminder for all.

• Large Jobs- With every large job (>$100,000) you bid, you should be reviewing the quote with either myself or Jim Malkus before you present it to the customer.

• Job Problems – Partners are primarily responsible to resolve job problems. Quickly and effectively resolving job problems helps cement a strong customer relation ship. Please use the job problem app in Confluence and alert me as well; I will help out when necessary with a balky vendor or customer.

• PO Copies – We place a lot of trust in our Partners in terms of credit order approval. If the order is $25,000 or more, we require a copy of the PO (or signed quote) be submitted before the order is approved.

• General Contract work (GC Orders) – GC work is risky.

We don’t pursue it on a large scale. If you wish to bid MH contact me or Jim Malkus.

12 GC work please • Contracts – Partners are not authorized to sign conBP 8 tracts (or agreements).

If you’re in doubt, just ask.

These will be reviewed and signed by an Officer of the CI 16 Company. If you receive a contract, forward it to me, Stephanie Turner or Jim Malkus. Jim or I will review PP 1 and sign.

• Partners Don’t Compete with Indoff - The Indoff Sales ES 1 Partner program is a true partnership in spirit. As such, it is Company policy that Sales Partners TOTAL 36 work exclusively for Indoff. Sales Partners are not allowed to sell materials, design, engineering or labor services in any of Indoff’s divisions except through Indoff.

• We don’t compete with ourselves – If you learn that another Partner is bidding a project, stop at that point and either discuss it with the other Partner or contact me to help work it out.

PAM HAKE VP of Operations

• RFPs or quote Opportunity – If someone from Corporate (especially Managers) sends you a lead or quote opportunity, at least respond that you received it and if you are going to submit a quote or not

We do not ask for call reports or sales forecasts or any other busy work; we do ask for your cooperation on the few items detailed above. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please let me know. If you have some unusual opportunity, please call me to discuss – we may be able to do something inventive and bid it.

Thanks for your attention and all you do every day for Indoff. It is my privilege to work with the best group of Sales People anywhere.

INDOFF INCORPORATED | 11

INDOFF SALES PAR TNERS OF THE MONTH: DECEMBER & JANUARY C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S T O O U R T O P PA R T N E R S F R O M E A C H D I V I S I O N

DECEMBER 2019

JANUARY 2020

MATERIAL HANDLING

SCOTT BEARD

JEFF CHAMBERS

$159,795

$812,548

COMMERICAL INTERIORS

CARRIE SHARP

DOUG FLETCHER

$753,582

$404,245

BUSINESS PRODUCTS

JOHN ERICKSON $122,674

TOM VANHOOZER $95,399

PROMOTIONAL JOHN HOLLERN PRODUCTS $112,674

JOHN HOLLERN $57,168

ENERGY SOLUTIONS

BRYAN BELL $22,052

ALLIED APPLIANCE 12 | INDOFF INCORPORATED

RANDEE WALSH $220,221

CHRIS KOENEMAN $200,608

K

FINANCE & ACCOUNTING

eeping your customers happy in today’s competitive selling environment is key to your continued suc-

cess. What are some simple things you can do to make sure that doing business with Indoff is a positive experience for your customers?

1. Ensure your customer’s account is set up correctly from the start. Verify the accuracy of their business name, bill to and ship to addresses, phone and e-mail addresses. If your customer is tax exempt, please obtain their exemption form and forward it to the address book group.

2. Online Portals - If your customer uses an online portal (i.e. Ariba, Coupa, Taulia, WAWF, etc) please make sure we know this so we can get properly set up.

3. Make sure your sales order matches your customer’s purchase order. Customers don’t pay invoices if the description and amounts don’t match their purchase order. Consistently receiving invoices that don’t match their PO upsets them. Always enter the customer PO number on the sales order if one is provided; attaching their purchase order to your order in Confluence speeds up the credit approval and order release process.

4. Review acknowledgements from the vendor.

We fax out all acknowledgements sent to the Corporate office within 24 hours of receipt. Please review these against your PO’s particularly looking for 1) wrong items or part #’s, 2) cost differences, 3) backordered items and 4) confirmation of shipping address and dates.

5. Report job problems. Immediately report any job problem that impacts our ability to bill and/ or collect from your customer by using the Job Problem Notification application in Confluence.

If possible, we will stop payment to the vendor until they correct the issue, and we will stop calling your customer for payment until the issue is resolved.

JULIE FRANK Executive VP & CFO 6. Issue credits timely. If your customer is due a credit for any reason, follow through to make sure it gets issued timely. For nonBP divisions, do this with the Request to Issue Credit application in Confluence. For BP orders, call in returns, wrong-filled items and damages to your wholesaler and then enter the return in Confluence. Please notify your A/R payment coordinator of any sales tax issues, allowances or price adjustments you agree to after the customer receives an invoice.

Doing these things on a consistent basis maintains credibility with your customers and makes them happy to be doing business with you. We will do our part to process your customer billings, credits and payments in an accurate, professional and timely fashion.

I hope your year is off to a great start! We’ve almost made it through winter and I’m sure I speak for many of you when I say we’re looking forward to warmer days and more time outside!

INDOFF INCORPORATED | 13

15 KEN HEBERT

MAUREEN

DAN MASSMAN

MAXWELL

10 MIKE

LORI BECK

MCCARTHY

DIANE STEGALL

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO AT INDOFF

14 | INDOFF INCORPORATED

CORPORATE NEWSLETTER

MARKETING UPDATES About 10 years ago I was in Minneapolis on sales calls. I sent a text “conversation” to a peer 10 years my junior. It went like this: Jeff: Should I just show up at Cargill? (an account that we never got in).

Peer: lol.

Jeff: ???

Peer: right Jeff: You think I should stop by Land-O-Lakes?

Peer: ????

And, so, I learned that “lol” means “laugh-out-loud”.

Ask a Millennial what these phrases mean: “He’s out to lunch” “I’m having a gas” “My dogs are barking” They won’t know what you are talking about. However, let me ask you to translate this conversation I had with a millennial: Jeff: What have you been up to?

Millennial: I’ve been off the chain Jeff: Oh. Uhm, did you see the email I forwarded you?

Millennial: I was AFK Jeff: okay. well, what did you think of the customer’s response?

Millennial: It’s salty I am not a huge fan of change, but Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, said “change is the only constant in life.” Because the way people speak has changed; because the medium used to communicate has changed, we have to change how we gain the first phase of a sales cycle: interest. This quarter’s sales and marketing message is: If you don’t have a digital presence, you don’t exist (except to the people who already know you…and guess what, they are getting older and one day will retire or not remember how to get in touch with you.)

Let us help you. Spend 15 minutes with the wonderful Marcia Whites and get a new Partner Profile Page that will put you on the path to existence.

To schedule a time with her, just click the link below: https://calendly.com/partnersupport Take heart…..not everything is changing: Next month I will write on: “People Still Buy from People” Jeff Ross

INDOFF INCORPORATED | 15

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