Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85621
The 11th annual Truck Parts & Service Mike Callison, President John Minor, Vice President and Chief Operating Offi cer Midwest Wheel Companies effi ciently bring the level of service our customers have come to expect from Midwest Wheel Companies. What is the biggest challenge you face today? Growing in new directions requires an exceptional amount of training and a fo- cused team. Th is is a changing industry, we are focused on what the customer is asking for/needs/is using. Name Of Company: Midwest Wheel Companies Website: www.midwestwheel.com Founded: 1911 Owners: Fourth-generation owner Mike Callison, CEO and ESOP Number of Locations: Seven in Des Moines, Clear Lake, Davenport, Cedar Rapids and Sioux Falls, Iowa, and Kansas City and Grandview, Missouri Markets Served: Central Midwest, including Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Ne- braska, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois and Wisconsin What is your business philosophy? We work hard to bring the best solutions to our cus- tomers, quality products, on time delivery via our fl eet of vehicles, a well-trained staff that will help them fi nd the 14 solutions to fi t their company's needs. Our technology allows us to off er fi rst-in-class service, whether it's EDI, VMI or website use/design. Th ese technologies allow us to expand into new solutions to TRUCK PARTS & SERVICE | June 2012 What are you doing to resolve that challenge? We have developed new posi- tions within our organization to focus on specifi c areas of our company. Th ese fi eld managers work with the sup- pliers and our customers, and they assist and train our sales staff and work with marketing to develop new opportunities. What is your fi ve-year vision for the company? We will partner with more suppliers, increase our activity into service, continue to grow our fl eet programs and look for new products that fi t our distribution model. What will you have to do to make that vision a reality? We have developed our fi eld manager positions to expand our HDA Truck Pride service locations and specifi c product directions that will drive our growth in the future. What does your company do to excel in training? Our training is the key to our success, from the fi rst day a supplier meets our team they know how important having a well-trained staff is to our company. Th rough webinars and marketing fl yers we achieve a steady fl ow of infor- mation from our marketing staff to our sales and customer service teams. With our regular internal webinars we have suppliers join and train our staff , as well as targeted fi eldwork, inside sales training sessions and two major sales meetings with our team every year. All of this training is focused on getting Midwest Wheel Companies ready for the future. One of our most recent continuous improvement teams focus will be on train- ing our inside sales staff . Th is cross-functional team is de- veloping the training program for a company-wide training program for not only prod- ucts, but things like phone use, policies, websites, etc.