Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/92325
The President's Message Reinvesting in our Future I n my last few articles, I've focused on outside forces that are either changing our industry or have the Brad Wasserstrom, President The Wasserstrom Co. BradW@wasserstrom.com potential to impact it. As dealers,we are very good at talking about what we can't control when we get together— fuel surcharges, the economy, the side effects of Internet sales and other top- ics that tend to dominate our time at industry events. So I thought in this article, I would take a different approach and look at something that we, as dealer/distributors,can do to have a positive impact on the industry as well as on our individual profitability. Training our people is one the most of important responsibilities we have to our own companies as leaders. It is also a respon- sibility we have to our customers, ven- dors and the industry as a whole. Of course a critical area for training in our companies is our sales force.We have all talked about the need to attract young talent into the industry and how things like fallingmargins are hurting us all.Do you think that if we provided better career paths and sweetened the deal with continuous learning opportunities that the next generation might be more interested in our industry? Do you think our peoplewould be less inclined to sell based on price if they better understood the features and benefits of the products they're selling? Do you think our people might think twice about shaving anoth- er fewpoints if they could truly see how selling on ever-decreasing margins weakens the bottom line? When it comes to training opportuni- ties, there are the industry trade shows, buying group meetings, the local reps coming in for lunch-and-learns,and ven- dor schools amongst others. These are all great training avenues and I encour- age everyone to take advantage of them. 4 FEDA News & Views However, I want to take a few minutes of your time to reinforce the education- al opportunities FEDA has to offer. Since I mentioned pricing above, I hope you listened to the latest tele- conference seminar, "Negotiations: Defending Your Price, " led by William I personally believe that every dealer should have CFSP and ServSafe trained members on their staff. Walker. Also available as a webinar, Walker's talk was aimed at FEDA dealer sales staff, sales manage- ment and other key per- sonnel and provided great material on the tools it takes to fight off pricing objections from your customers. In case you missed it, you have until November 25 to lis- ten to the teleconference recording. Call the FEDA office for details. Another great educational offering members should take advantage of is CFSP and ServSafe scholarships. I per- sonally believe that every dealer should have CFSP and ServSafe trained mem- bers on their staff.New this year,FEDA's Education Foundation now offers schol- arships for each of these certifications. Each member of your staff that earns a CFSP designation is eligible for a $200 scholarship and $100 for ServSafe. Another scholarship programthat the FEDA Education Foundation offers is for the University of Industrial Distribution (UID) program. Every person that has attended has raved about the quality of the program. Our company has sent many to the UID andwill continue to do so, as we believe that this is one of FEDA's best offerings. Scholarships for the tuition ($995) are available for the four-day program, which is held in continued on page 66