SEPTEMBER 2020
2020 A brave new world.
INSIDE CORPORATE NEWSLETTER "WHERE SOLUTIONS TAKE SHAPE"
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 1
CONTENTS
TABLE OF
WHERE SOLUTIONS TAKE SHAPE PRESIDENT’S PROSE
3
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
ANNIVERSARIES
14
MARKETING UPDATES
15
Indoff 2 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
2
PRESIDENT'S PROSE
020…the most unforgettable year of my life. The summer of ’68 (Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, the Democratic national
convention) through the summer of ’69 (the moon landing) is the only year that even comes close in my opinion. A pandemic, social unrest in search of social justice and just the overwhelming sense of angst, isolation and even fear – not going down in my list of favorite years ever… What has this meant for Indoff? Let me share: •
JIM MALKUS CEO
Our volume will be down approximately 20% and we will be THRILLED with that
result – never before have I written such a comment. Our ability to continue to write significant business through the economic lockdowns has been extremely impressive. •
We now sell Personal Protective Equipment – PPE! Watching our Partners figure
this market out and successfully operate in it has been uplifting – we really do have an incredible group of Partners. •
Wearing masks, working from home, social distancing, showing up every day – the
dedication of our corporate staff is a necessary complement to the skills of our Partners in allowing us to process the work we have secured. In spite of the doom and gloom of the headlines, I have been inspired by the daily examples of ingenuity, kindness and dedication. It is humbling to work with such a talented group, and it gives all of us yet another reason to work together for our common success. I may not like 2020, but I am extremely impressed by the actions of those around me. Stay safe, stay well and thank you for all you do for Indoff!
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 3
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
T
HUMAN RESOURCES
his has been a challenging year for all of us to say the least! Every day has brought challenges to us all, most importantly, just
trying to keep everyone safe. Here are a few highlights of what we’ve done in the year of Covid…
•
March – Sent home the vulnerable (over 60, immuno-compromised). Procured masks, hand sanitizer, signage, additional LogMeIn licenses.
•
Operated 25% short on staff due to keeping folks safe.
ROBIN MIGDAL
April – Applied for, received and distributed PPP loan
Indoff VP of
and corresponding checks. Implemented 401k Cares Act
Human Resources
changes to make funds more accessible to those who may need them. Implemented Covid payroll set-up and sick time •
May – Brought corporate back in full BUT with approximately 25% working remotely. Contact traced two cases of Covid here in the office; quarantine & test those exposed.
We’ve all been challenged; at the corporate offices, much of that challenge has run through HR and the managers. It has been gratifying to see everyone pulling together. Our National Sales Meeting that was scheduled for next April/May will be moved to the fall; we should know dates in the very near future. We miss everyone and desperately want to get together to celebrate 50 years, but this is the wise course of action. Over the next couple of weeks, you will receive emails regarding a live retirement plan webinar with MassMutual. I highly encourage you to attend to receive some helpful guidance to keep you on target toward your retirement goals. Topics will include: •
ManageMyRetirement*
•
Market Volatility and overview
•
Investment overview
•
Rollover help
•
Retirement plan overview
•
Online resources
* This is a new tool for investment advice effective 10/1/2020 Dates for the webinar are October 6th at 10:00 and 2:00 and again on October 8th at 10:00 and 2:00. Please take advantage of this education session with MassMutual. I wish everyone a happy fall season, stay safe, stay well and I will see you on the other side!!! INDOFF INCORPORATED | 5
FOR HOME OFFICES ANYWHERE, COUNT ON THE WORK FROM HOME EXPERTS™ Decades of experience with nationwide delivery and installation Curated commercial-grade products small in scale but high on style at a great value Complete customer service from project management to free space planning and assembly support Contact me for more information!
ChrisWaclawski@bushindustries.com or 1.800.727.2874 Ext. 3523
MATERIAL HANDLING REDEFINED Show your customers a unique, cost effective, versatile material handling cart that can be used for anything from cleaning to moving materials to maintenance.
Amigo offers a free
14 day contactless demo! Visit: myamigo.com/demo Call Scott: 989-921-5092 6 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
MH
MH
PETER
JONATHAN
STEVE
CISNEROS
HERNANDEZ
GUAGLIANO
MH
MH
CI
ERIC
MIKE
JON
DONNELLY
BLACK
RAKES
CI
CI
BP
TODD
SHANA
JERMAINE
FITCH
GREVE
STEVENS
JO ANNE GIPSON
PARTNER SUPPORT
ABSOCOLD
WELCOME
MH
CHRISTINA MCCOY
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 7
T
TECHIE TALK
he COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered the landscape for businesses including Indoff. Starting in March, most businesses were run-
ning and jumping to ensure that their employees could work from home to avoid the spread of the virus. Now that we understand the virus more, social distancing and mask wearing have become the norm. How was Indoff ready to deal with the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic? First, most work from home already. Confluence is a web based application, accessible from most devices as long as you have
SHAWN FAULKINGHAM Chief Information Officer
an Internet connection. Here at Corporate, we were already using LogMeIn Professional for some of us to work from home when needed. It was really a matter of taking some time to set people up over the phone in order for them to be able to work remotely on their PC here at Corporate! There were some challenges in the first few days, but we had just about everyone up and running within a few days! There were a brave few of us who came to the office everyday to make sure that systems were up and folks were able to conduct business.
COLIN FAULKINGHAM Chief Technology Officer
Now we practice social distancing here at Corporate which means some of us work from home and some come into the office. And we rotate them according to a schedule their manager has set up. From the initial week when this happened (right around St. Patrick's day), we have been working hard to make sure that you can conduct business when you need to. Even if something happens here physically, we replicate 4 times a day to a disaster recovery site in Sterling, VA that I can turn on and get folks back to work in a day or so. I do hope everyone reading this is doing well. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks for all you do! - Indoff IT Team 8 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
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WHY
WORKSTATION CRANES
WORK BETTER
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For Higher Capacities Up to 10 Tons, Ask about NOMAD® Free Standing Cranes. Call (330) 220-8600 www.emhcranes.com
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T
RECRUITING AT INDOFF
he world has been in Pandemic mode for the last 6+ months, and no one knows how or when it will end. Thankfully Indoff has
remained financially strong, and the Recruiting department is actively looking to hire Partners! Like our other departments, Recruiting has been working hard to adjust to these unprecedented times. The biggest challenge we have had to face is orientation/onboarding visits. Typically, we fly each Partner to St Louis for one day of orientation. This face to face visit is an opportunity for the new Partner to interact with department heads/staff and see our home office.
ANGELA SUNTRUP VP of Recruiting
As a result of the Pandemic, we are handling all orientation visits via Zoom meetings. Unfortunately, the experience is not the same, but new Partners still meet with most department heads. It is not ideal, but it is working. Year to date, we have brought on 27 new Partners! Please welcome our 2nd and 3rd quarter hires: MH-Tim Wycoff
MH-Steve Guagliano
CI-John Rakes
MH-Joanne Chambers
MH-Eric Donnelly
CI -Todd Fitch
MH- Jen Kircher
CI-Shanna Greve
BP-Jermaine Stevens
MH-Pete Cisneros
CI-Jamie Watson
If you know a family member or friend who might make a good mentee, now is a great time to bring them on board. We would love to grow our mentee program! Indoff is currently offering a 75% commission rate for year 1 for your mentee's first-year sales! Simply email angela.suntrup@indoff.com. Please include a "training plan" outlining how you will help the mentee succeed. This plan should consist of industry knowledge and basic sales training. You will also need to discuss how you want to split the 75% commission rate for year 1. Year 2 and going forward, the mentee will earn a 50% commission rate. Keep in mind this is a time commitment, and the mentee's sales will be low while they learn the business. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for all you do! 10 | INDOFF INCORPORATED
H
OPERATIONS AT INDOFF
ello All, I hope you are doing well and staying healthy and safe. New Year’s Eve 2019, none of us could
have dreamed that 2020 would be a banner year, and not in a good way. I feel like we woke up in the Twilight Zone and can’t find the exit. ( I think most of you get that reference) Indoff was fortunate to have customers that designated us an essential supplier. We did everything we could here at Corporate to keep things up and running. This was essential
PAM HAKE VP of Operations
for our business, but especially for our Partners, who if they don’t book and bill business, they don’t get paid. Yes Dear Partners we get it. We were fortunate to get PPP money so that Partners also got some monetary assistance. I have had several Partners tell me how much that helped them through a tough time. Kudos to Jim and Julie for getting that done! Before anyone else asks, there won’t be any more help from that source. In the meantime, things are far from “normal” as we know it •
Many businesses are shut down, or largely curtailed. Some of them won’t be back.
•
If they are open, many are not letting outsiders in.
•
School shutdowns and limited in-school learning. This changes daily it seems.
•
Many restaurants are shut down or only open for drive- thru and curbside pickup
•
Lifted restrictions are being re-imposed in some places. ( i.e. The State of IL and TX) Or new mask mandates are put in place.
•
Capital Expenditures- Some companies are going full steam ahead with them. Others are being very conservative and only making essential purchases.
•
Many people continue to work from home, like here at Indoff Corporate.
Moving forward we need to figure out what works in terms of marketing and customer contact. Each Partner has to figure out what works for them such as adding new products. If you have some ideas or thoughts that you want to discuss, I'm here for you and will help however I can. Indoff remains the best group of talented, genuinely nice people ever assembled anywhere. Please give serious consideration to adding to your product mix, if you haven’t already. Thank you for all you do for Indoff, all year long. INDOFF INCORPORATED | 11
INDOFF SALES PAR TNERS OF THE MONTH M A Y T H R O U G H J U LY 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
MAY 2020
JUNE 2020
JULY 2020
MATERIAL
DAVID PERRY
DOUG SILVA
BILL JACOBSON
HANDLING
$535,658
$332,957
$571,413
COMMERCIAL
STACY BERNHARDT
DOUG FLETCHER
KIM GREGORY
INTERIORS
$1,140,153
$418,689
$810,043
BUSINESS
DEANNA LIES
TOM VANHOOZER
DEANNA LIES
PRODUCTS
$100,449
$89,346
$141,012
PROMOTIONAL
DEBRA SURFACE
JOHN HOLLERN
KEITH HARRIS
PRODUCTS
$77,225
$53,893
$39,107
ENERGY
SAM MIGDAL
ERIC GARNER
BRYAN BELL
SOLUTIONS
$53,354
$15,402
$4,710
DAN
CHRIS
CHRIS
CONTESTABILE
KOENEMAN
KOENEMAN
$536,866
$456,283
$497,272
ALLIED APPLIANCES
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I
FINANCE & ACCOUNTING
t’s hard to remember “normal” before face masks, hand sanitizer, PPE and prepayments, before Paycheck Protection. We
were off to a great start with a 6% increase through February - life was good! Then came March... social distancing, stay home if you feel sick, wash your hands was stressed in every email and on every door. Some employees worked from home and others were asked to stay home. We had no idea how far sales would fall, but March sales held at $10.3M.
JULIE FRANK Executive VP & CFO
By April, reality set in - this would be around awhile. Our Partners pivoted to help customers keep their doors open with PPE products. Vendors began selling masks, hand sanitizer, thermometers, and gloves - with prepayments required, a certain CFO was hopping. I was impressed with our Partners who did not give up but persevered. We sold over $8.3M in products during one of the worst pandemic months of this year - great job everyone! In May, Indoff stocked PPE inventory to help our Partners. This pushed the warehouse team to adapt to new products, and they rose to the challenge. With help from Corporate staff, orders were taken and filled quickly. Sales for May were almost $11.4M (78% of prior year) even while many companies were closed or reporting record losses - impressive! June results were similar, but we saw more “normal” orders for cubicles, racking, conveyors, appliances and more. We were still selling PPE, but companies were clearly preparing for people to return to their offices and plants. July was our first month since February that was almost even with last year. It has been good to see the chatter back on the discussion boards and new Partners coming on board, with Zoom orientations of course! We will get through this, and we will come out stronger and more resilient. I can’t wait to see everyone for our 50th anniversary celebration next year; we will have much to celebrate! Until then stay safe and healthy, keep your spirits up and keep in touch with your customers. They will remember you were there for them, trying to help during this time of crisis.
INDOFF INCORPORATED | 13
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO AT INDOFF
25 YEARS
20 YEARS
MIKE
MARSHA
AL
ROBERT
BILL
FOSMER
OLINGHOUSE
HUTTON
COOK
BROOKS
10 Y E A R S
15 YEARS
PAUL
CHRIS
RICK
JOHN
MARY ANN
SIGLER
GEBHARD
DEFRIESE
TORRES-CO
DAN
FOSSING 14HOGLUND | INDOFF INCORPORATED
NICOLE
JOHN
ALLAN
STINSON
ERICKSON
JOHNSON
CORPORATE NEWSLETTER
MARKETING UPDATES The following statement was true BEFORE COVID: “B2B sales is harder today than it has ever been.” More competition and longer sales cycles are the norm; buyers research and evaluate online before you’ve even picked up the phone. For this reason, my top objective for 2020 was to help generate leads for Partners. When COVID hit, sales came to a grinding halt.; things grew quiet at Corporate. In some ways, it was a blessing. This did two positive things: 1. Time to add Resources - down time is an opportunity to address challenges that “busyness” doesn’t allow. We built an eCommerce platform, the Intranet and the Vendor Portal. If you missed the training “zoom”, please watch it here: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1-YCRaCtyL1EHX_57ZiIb194glaV5LFdb. I promise you there are marketing pieces on the Intranet to help you increase your revenue. 2. It helped us grow stronger. Two references – first, the intelligent reference: “What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger” from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (or Kelly Clarkson). Second, the Jeff reference: in the movie The Princess Bride, just before entering the dreaded Fire Swamp, Buttercup says to Westley “We’ll never survive.” And Westley replies “You’re only saying that because no one ever has” I am inspired by the efforts that kept our revenue up…..beginning with Julie who did all she could to get the PPP loan that allowed our Partners breathing room so they could pivot, not panic. Secondly, corporate stepped outside our comfort zone, and inventoried and shipped PPE products. Finally, and most importantly, Partners stepped up, reinvented themselves and learned and sourced our clients’ need (PPE). What now? My first sales manager told me: “Jeff, concentrate on your strengths, be aware of your weaknesses.” Partners selling PPE concentrated on their customer relationships (strength) while staying aware that they weren’t PPE experts (weakness). Keep doing that. Expand. Check out some of our marketing pieces - there is a great piece on how to Safely open an office good selling! - Jeff Ross INDOFF INCORPORATED | 15
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