Closing the Deals
For the most part, however, customers are being brought to the facility in person for an on-site tour as part of the sales process, and to that end Reliable has invested in a state-of-the-art conference room that includes a 6-by-8-foot drop-down projector screen and high-resolution video projector wired into the company mainframe, allowing sales reps and contractors to tap into the company’s MVP and ShopNet programs. “I call it a closing room as opposed to a conference room,” Saunders says. “Anytime we need a joint meeting between architects, builders, framing contractors, we want to make use of the full media we have available. We can receive faxes, send out faxes, scan information, print and copy, and have speaker phones. Shades come down automatically so no one is distracted. We even keep a refrigerator full of sodas so no one has to leave during the sales process.”
Based on sales through September of this year, the company estimates the facility will produce about $35 million in 2006 revenue, a sizeable jump from Silveria’s days before National’s arrival. “The acquisition and the facility they have created absolutely have had an impact on my sales,” the account manager says. “The efficiencies of all of the equipment and the manufacturing throughput, plus National’s financial stability, have allowed us [to carry] a much larger inventory so that we can jump on projects quicker. The quality control is better, so I’m getting fewer service calls.”
Pina and the rest of the National team couldn’t have hoped for a better result. “You try to go into facility design and construction and plan out everything, and we are like everyone else in that regard,” Pina says, adding that he doesn’t discount future upgrades to equipment and services at the Reliable facility. “You try to cross your Ts and dot your Is at the outset, and we believe we have done that. Obviously, over time you make changes to your facilities and your business. We want employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction, and we believe that given that, the rest will fall into place.”
Vital Statistics
- Company: National Lumber Co./Reliable Truss & Components
- Year founded: 1934
- Headquarters: Mansfield, Mass.
- Number of locations: 7
- Number of employees: 491
- 2004 gross sales: $185 million
- Pro sales percentage: 90 percent
