Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/141668
Best Practices ¿En Qué Puedo Servirle? be recognized as the only distributor to win the Florida Transportation Builders Winning Customer Confidence This February, Nortrax acquired Deere dealer Holt Equipment Co., a plan orchestrated by the manufacturer to create a seamless solution for the 78-county Kentucky territory, which the previous dealer ownership was exiting. Most of the company's existing staff were retained, providing an important continuity for customers, says Marty Hlawati, Nortrax vice president, Midsouth region. His area of responsibility literally doubled overnight as his four Tennessee branches were joined by four more in the contiguous Kentucky territory. His early priorities have been to assess staff training needs, ensuring that the new Nortrax employees have the knowledge and resources to better serve the region's customer base. "I couldn't be more proud of our team," he said. This isn't Hlawati's first time around the acquisition block, and he notes that the transition has been a smooth one. "When you're changing over computer systems, new hardware and networks, there are going to be some glitches," he said," but we improvise, adapt, and overcome." Teammates from Tennessee, Florida, and the Midwest have come over to pitch in. "The team rallied – we lock arms and we go through it together." he added. Ultimately, even as the market continues to limp out of its four-year slump, Hlawati is focused on getting out and competing, and winning customer loyalty. "Customers reward the people that they have the most confidence in...so we're coming in, working with our team mates and working with our customers to let them know we care about their business." His mission: Prove Nortrax is here to stay and ready do what's necessary to serve their needs. Association's safety award, honoring its achievement of no lost time incidents for the last 10 years. Gratifying as it is to win an award, the company's philosophy and culture of safety is a day-by-day discipline. "Your safety record is really something that you look at in the rearview mirror – and now you have to be looking out the windshield," said Festing-Smith. "Just because you've gone 10 years without an accident doesn't mean that somebody can't get hurt today." Every morning, the service department begins its day with a meeting to talk about any issues relevant to the day's work. But Nortrax has also woven a sort of "golden rule" into its culture called "Take 3." Festing-Smith sums it up: " We emphasize that before you begin a new task, ask yourself first of all, What am I doing? No. 2, what could go wrong? And 3, what can I do to protect myself? Those are the three questions we ask all of our technicians and parts people to think about – just take a couple of minutes to think about what could be detrimental to our safety and what are you going to do to avoid that possibly happening to you?" Besides Take 3 posters displayed all over the facility, magnets are fixed to the inside of field service trucks as continual reminders to slow down and think. The company also encourages employees to stick the magnets on their refrigerators at home – it's not just about work, says Festing-Smith; it's about personal life, too. n Wearing a reflective safety vest, as usual, a field tech readies the truck for his next call. How may I help you? Nortrax gets it done. One hundred percent of Nortrax Miami's 25 employees are bilingual, English and Spanish – that includes, of course, Nancy, the lady who answers the phone. In the Miami market, General Manager Eny Sanchez says about 15 percent of the population (and the local contractor customer base) speaks only Spanish; probably 60 percent are bilingual; and roughly the remaining 25 percent are English-speaking only. The Power of Word of Mouth Nortrax Miami is also uniquely, geographically poised to serve a Latin and Central American as well as Caribbean clientele on the parts and even equipment side of the business. Although the company does not engage in active marketing to compete against Deere dealers in those countries, a healthy flow of international cash business is conducted at the store. "They come to the United States all the time," said Sanchez. "They take family vacations here, they come and spend money with Mickey Mouse and then on their way back before they leave, they do some business [here]." Foreign buyers frequently stop in the Nortrax Miami facility – accompanied by wives, kids and grandparents – to buy everything from regular maintenance items to attachments to entire machines. "It's a pretty mature business – we've been doing it for about 15 years," said Sanchez, "and every year it has grown and grown." Meanwhile, the Miami market is, at last, coming back, too, up 20 percent over last year, according to FestingSmith. And while dealer-owned rental fleet and independent rental companies account for much of that increase, he adds that a lot of DOT infrastructure projects are being let; also homebuilders are starting to build subdivisions again, "and we haven't seen that in Florida for five years." July 2013 | Construction Equipment Distribution | | 61 60_Best_Practices_Feature_KP.indd 61 6/27/13 2:25 PM