Steven Halbert

AIST

by Steven Halbert
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Feb
27

Here we go again. Another trade show! The Association of Iron and Steel Technology’s trade show will be on May 7th – 9th in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center (we put a button for the show on the main page of our website . . . and got a free online ad at Steel Links . . . check it out: http://steellinks.com/pages/Electrical_Equipment/index.html). Speaking of advertising, we should have a full page ad in the AIST magazine in March, April and May (the show issue)!

I booked our hotel rooms for this back in December. I find it rather amazing how far in advance folks plan these things . . . but I wanted to be closer to the show . . . not like at APTA. We will be displaying our Delta Star Conductor Bar Systems. I’m not sure if I’m ready to go through all of this stuff again, but, ready or not, here it comes! Once it gets moving, it’ll be fun.

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Steven Halbert

LA

by Steven Halbert
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Feb
27

The week of February 13th – 17th, I traveled to LA in order to better understand a few of our products and customers.  However, my trip was mainly about taking a look at the Port of LA Long Beach.  Our sister company, Stemmann Technik, makes Cable Reels, Festoon Systems, and Sliprings.  All of these items are used in the ports, so I was doing a market study to determine if this was a viable market for us to enter.

On the first day of our trip, one of our reps took us to an install of our REDI-Bar System at a local LA manufacturer.  The guys putting in the system were amazed at the ease of install and the intuitive functionality of the REDI-Bar system.  Next we went on two sales calls.  The first was to demonstrate REDI-Bar and the second was to demonstrate AKAPP.  In both instances, the potential clients were very impressed with the product.  We left our contact information and will follow up soon.

Our second day in LA, we took a tour of the Port of LA Long Beach.  We learned that in order to set foot on the port, we had to have a TWIC card (or be escorted by someone who had a TWIC card).  So, for most of the terminals, we were only able to get up to the gate, but that gave us a good since of the breadth of the port.  The Port of LA Long Beach is actually two port authorities, but most folks think of them as one.  Together, they make up the largest US Port.  At the end of the day, we were able to get into one of the terminals to speak with the Crane Maintenance Manager about Stemmann products.

The last day of our trip, we were supposed to visit another customer in CA who was going to be quite a drive away, but that customer had something come up and we were unable to visit.  I contacted the Crane Maintenance Manager, and he was able to take me around the terminal and let me tour one of the cranes that had a Stemmann Cable Reel on it:

The first picture is of a crane with a Stemmann Cable Reel, the second is a picture of a carrier’s lot, and the third is a picture looking down at the Stemmann Cable Reel from above (very hard to make it out, but a cool picture nonetheless).

Overall, this trip was incredibly beneficial, and it really helped me gain a better appreciation for how some of our ports operate.  What a massive operation!  Many thanks to everyone mentioned in this blog.  I did not use any names, because I did not ask if I could use their names.  They know who they are.

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Steven Halbert

Phoenix

by Steven Halbert
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Feb
22

I accompanied our Industrial Sales Manager, Brian Jennings, to the MODEX show in Atlanta on Monday, February 6th and then left from there to go to Phoenix February 7th to 10th.  The MODEX show was impressive, and we were able to catch up with a few of our reps as well as visit a couple customers.  We left the MODEX show, to go to Phoenix.  On Tuesday, February 7th, I attended the AIST Crane Technology Committee Meeting and then took my first ever steel mill tour at CMC Arizona.  Very Impressive!  If I remember correctly, CMC Arizona is the newest steel mill in the country.  Most of the others who were on the tour with us were veterans of the steel industry, and they were quite impressed with what they saw.  This particular CMC steel mill uses our Delta Star Conductor Bar System to power their cranes.

On February 8th and 9th Brian and I went to oversee the installation of a curved conductor system at a water treatment facility in Phoenix.  The contractors at Piping and Corrosion were replacing an old Conductix system with one of our AKAPP Multiconductors.  The system was to be used for signaling within the water treatment tank.  The tank was drained, and it was pretty cool to climb down inside of it (note: this was not a waste water treatment facility . . . just a water treatment facility).  Overall the folks with Piping and Corrosion were very pleased with our product, and they were very hospitable.  They invited us into their home for dinner, and it was nice to have a home cooked meal while on the road.  Piping and Corrosion was especially pleased with the ease of assembly, the durability, and the lack of trolley friction.  The AKAPP system has been placed in water treatment facilities before, but the facilities in Phoenix will provide a good case study for its durability, as Phoenix is a hot and dry environment.  Within the confines of a water treatment facility, the heat is intensified as it is reflected off the water, and, it goes without saying, that there is a good deal of moisture to contend with as well.  Below are a couple pictures of our system, first from close up and then from further away:

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Steven Halbert

Market Research

by Steven Halbert
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Feb
22

For much of January and February I have been learning about and conducting Market Research.  I did a little research about some books to read, and decided on Market Research Kit for Dummies and The Market Research Toolbox.  I learned quite a bit.  I found The Market Research Toolbox particularly helpful as it had discussions specifically concerning B2B (in particular smaller B2B), Customer Visits, and Secondary Internet Research as viable tools for the market researcher.  I was a bit surprised at the lack of consideration that these three items receive in the rest of the literature.  These books provide a good introduction, and the Market Research Kit for Dummies provides a CD with helpful resources when considering the conducting and recording of market research.  The Market Research Toolbox provides method for the commonly overlooked portions of market research mentioned above.  I did this reading in lieu of attending an AMA class.  The AMA Market Research classes have had limited attendance, and have, therefore, been cut back.  Overall, I was glad to have read these books prior to my visits to Phoenix and LA.  I think they helped in the approach to those markets.

 

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Steven Halbert

February 2012

by Steven Halbert
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Feb
22

It is only the 22nd of February, so by doing my post about February now, I actually feel  ahead of the game!  Most of this month has been spent traveling to Phoenix and LA to conduct Market Research, but to also expand my knowledge of our product, processes, and position.  When I returned from my travels, I learned that we booked the largest single order in the history of TransTech.  Everyone here is very excited, and it starts our year off on a good foot.  We are driven and excited about the amount of business potential that TransTech has.  Keep up the good work guys!

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Steven Halbert

January 2012

by Steven Halbert
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Feb
22

January was a very busy month indeed.  We were able to go over some of the goals for the year, we had a visit from Michael Bostleman, the individual in charge of our parent company, Fandstan.  It is pretty amazing when you think about all that our group of companies is able to do.  Together we provide electricity to the transit and industrial markets (primarily transit authorities, manufacturing facilities with heavy and light duty cranes, automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) electrification, ports, wind turbines, water treatment facilities, and the mining industry) through the production of pantographs, third rail, shoe gear, overhead catenary systems, enclosed conductor bar, heavy duty conductor bar, curved conductor bar, cable reels, festoon systems, and sliprings.  Mr. Bostleman expressed a desire for us to leverage each others’ strengths to better penetrate the various markets in which we have competencies.

On the marketing front, I have been doing a good deal of market research into the ports, wind mill industry, and water treatment industry.  I also was able to order a number of TransTech items for the year like coffee mugs, pens, shirts, golf balls, and lapel pins (I found a really great sale at Land’s End), and, once again, the folks at Signature’s Embroidery came through to make our clothing fantastic.

Overall, January seems to have flown by!

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Steven Halbert

Professional Sales Training

by Steven Halbert
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Feb
22

On December 14th – 16th 2011, I headed back down to the Atlanta AMA facility for a training on professional selling (for more information about trainings offered by the AMA, click on AMA).  The training was led by Linda Fierman.  Linda provided a great 3 days of training, and I was intrigued to sit in a room with several professional sales people.  It is always a unique experience to see how others view the world.  Some of the most helpful portions of the training were using the DISC tool to help achieve sales goals (i.e. analyzing your customer).  The final day included a role play that was also quite helpful.  Not only was it constructive to actually participate in the role play, it was informative to watch the selling techniques of others.

Linda Fierman was an excellent teacher and group facilitator.  She was willing to make time for questions and let some of the discussions lead the class into topics that were helpful to those in the room, but may have not necessarily been on the agenda.  When she’s not teaching AMA classes, Linda does coaching and consulting with companies.  In addition to sales coaching and consulting, one of her other specialties is presentation and public speaking.  Her website provides helpful tips and interesting conversations and articles about business life.  Check it out by clicking on her name anywhere in this blog.

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Steven Halbert

A Busy Start

by Steven Halbert
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Feb
22

It is difficult to believe that February is almost over.  One of the critiques I have received about my blog is that it is rather lengthy.  So, given that I have about eight topics that I wanted to blog about, I am going to try to discipline myself to write eight “mini-blogs” (perhaps that term will catch on . . . oh wait . . . it already has . . . it’s called Tweeting).  So these blogs will be somewhere between the 130 characters of a tweet and the 1000 words of my previous entries . . . that gives me quite a bit of leeway.  In order to keep me on task, here is the list of stuff I would like to blog about:

  1. Professional Sales training
  2. January
  3. February
  4. Market Research
  5. Phoenix
  6. LA
  7. AIST
  8. Europe

So, here we go, an experiment in brevity!

 

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Steven Halbert

A New Year Begins

by Steven Halbert
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Jan
11

Happy 2012 to Everyone!

I was mildly tempted to make this blog entry very political as it seems that the Republican primary is taking up more than 50% of news media; however that did not seem very professional, and I did not want anyone to mistake my personal views for TransTech’s or Fandstan’s . . . so I decided to just stay out of it.  What I will say is that, I’m not quite sure why we are voting on a Saturday here in South Carolina.  I don’t recall ever having voted on a Saturday.  It will be interesting to see if a Saturday voting day increases or decreases voter turnout (if that can even truly be calculated).

Our new year is already off to a busy start here at TransTech.  I spent the first week putting the finishing touches on a rather hefty order to AKAPP.  AKAPP is one of our sister companies located in the Netherlands.  They manufacture and sell a number of power transfer systems for lighter duty manufacturing and industrial applications.  I have mentioned our Delta Star Conductor Bar Line several times, but those systems are designed for heavy-duty manufacturing and industrial applications (think steel plants).  The AKAPP systems present us with an opportunity to enter the lighter duty manufacturing and industrial markets.  Before Christmas, I did an analysis of a three-year-sales history in an effort to create an order that will allow us to stock frequently used AKAPP items so that our sales force can have more confidence in the availability of products while they are selling.  We were able to finalize that order at the end of last week, and I look forward to receiving it.  Jos Baars at AKAPP has been very helpful, and it has been a pleasure working with him.  I am looking forward to interacting with him more in the coming months.  I will be keeping tabs on the AKAPP product line (mainly the AKAPP Multiconductor) to make sure that we are stocking and turning over inventory appropriately (I am very thankful that I took the Product Management course that I mentioned in a previous blog post).

In the meantime I will be doing some market research to determine some good markets to enter, as well as developing some strategies for entering those markets.  Part of my research is going to require some travel to current and potential customers, so I will leave on February 7th for a whirlwind two-week trip along the west-coast.  In spite of being away from my family for an extended time (which is always difficult), I am looking forward to getting out in the field to see some applications of our products.  In March or April, I plan to go to Europe to actually visit AKAPP.  Lastly, I have supplemented the reading list that I mentioned in one of my first blog posts with two books about Market Research.  I have found both quite helpful.  The first is called The Market Research Toolbox: a Concise Guide for Beginners by Edward F. McQuarrie.  The second is  Marketing Research Kit for Dummies by Michael R. Hyman and Jeremy J. Sierra.  This is a very extensive field, and I think that most of TransTech’s research will be “secondary research” (which basically means that I will be doing it).  McQuarrie’s book has been extremely helpful as it deals with the issue from a B2B perspective and gives a good deal of emphasis on “qualitative” research (which, by its very existence, is distinctive from “quantitative” research, and is, therefore, hard to . . . well . . . quantify . . . but is valuable nonetheless).

In addition to this travel and some extensive secondary market research, I have a number of other things on my plate for 2012.  First, I have been pricing and prioritizing a number of promotional items to better equip the sales department for their visits.  I have had a couple of really good ideas for promotional products which I hope will be unique, professional, and help drive business (I think they will be especially popular at trade shows . . . so be sure to visit our booth if you are coming to a trade show we will be participating in).  A couple other big projects on my plate for this year include the development of a CRM and a website revamp.  Overall, this year is already filling up quickly . . . and we are only 11 days into the year.  Yikes!

Well, this was a little shorter than my last posts, but, as I said, there’s a lot to do!  TransTech as a whole is very busy with filling Pantograph orders, shoegear orders, OCS orders, and a myriad of other products.  So, I’m signing off for now.  I’m sure that I will be posting again soon.

–1/11/12

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Steven Halbert

Happy New Year (and Merry Christmas) . . . and to all a good night!

by Steven Halbert
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Dec
26

Hey Y’all,

So I have to admit to being a bit of a slacker.  I wanted to post a wonderful Christmas post on Christmas Eve.  I sat down to actually write a TransTech Twas the Night Before Christmas, but to be quite honest, it was pretty terrible.  There was one good stanza:

On Fandstan, on TransTech, on Brecknell, and Stemman
On Austbreck, on Pantos, on Third Rail Conductor Bar Systems
Electrifying moving machines is our expertise
Its exciting and fun to ensure that no power will cease

My hope was to communicate to everyone that we work for a great group of companies, and we have had a record year.  We were able to get all of our orders out the door by the Friday before our Christmas party, so we could have this entire week off:

The team at TransTech is definitely a high performing team, and I am proud to be a part of it.  We are very motivated.  In addition to some time off, the management team also provided all the employees with bonuses:

A Honeybaked Ham:

And a nice winter jacket to keep folks warm:

It is great to work for a company where employees are valued and cared for.

These are the folks helping make sure that trains are running all across this country and that large manufacturing plants can continue to operate.  They do a fantastic job, and I wish to sign off this year by saying that, if you find yourself in need of any Pantographs, Pantograph Overhauls, Carbon Conductors, Overhead Catenary Systems (OCS), Shoe Gear, Third Rail, Heavy Duty Conductor Rail (including the original Delta Star brand), Enclosed Conductor Systems (including AKAPP and REDI-BAR), or any other sort of Power Transfer System (like slip rings, cable reels, or festoons) . . . this is the group of folks you want bringin’ it to you.

Happy New Year and a (belated) Merry Christmas!

-12/26/2011

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