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Interview with the Traveling Salesman

Traveling Salesmen started FastenerTalk (http://fastenerblog.net) in late 2007 to couple the world of fasteners with Web 2.0 communication technology. Today, he enjoys a large number of followers from around the world who read his daily posts on fastener business, news and innovation. Salesman was kind enough to answer a few questions for our readers about customer service, fasteners and the future of internet communication in business.

ThomasNet: What are the main things you look for in a supplier?

Traveling Salesman: A customer basically looks at three things. Price, product quality and delivery. If two companies can offer the same exact product, at least in terms of the function and quality of the product, then the customer will always consider price. Delivery is crucial, of course, because if a company cannot deliver the product when needed, then the other factors are irrelevant. Cost of delivery and speed of delivery are both important factors. A supplier that can consistently deliver a good product at a good price with quick, on time deliveries will always do well in any market.

Tnet: Which of those is most important, in your opinion?

TS: Delivery! Quality is huge but a quality part delivered late is still of no use. And, to a degree, quality is expected. We all know that a cheap price is of no use if the part is not there on time. Delivery is huge.

Tnet: What are some examples of bad or less than ideal business practice?

TS: Misleading a customer about a delivery is bad. If a company is running late on a delivery that company needs to let the customer know ASAP. That allows the customer to seek a back-up plan until parts are delivered.

Tnet: It has been said on your blog that many distributors or suppliers have inadequate customer service. How prevalent is this throughout the industry? Is it a very common occurrence? If so, is it significant enough to truly hurt business for a given company?

TS: Inadequate Customer service is prevalent though out the industry and it absolutely hurts business. It starts when customers are put on hold by an answering machine. If the wait is more than about 30 seconds the customer is already annoyed and I know that some companies will leave customers holding from two to five minutes. Most people know it is frustrating to go to an automatic answering machine with multiple switching options but they continue to have them installed at their places of business. We all hate them, so why do we continue to think they make sense where we work. But customer service is a function of every area of a business and not just when we call in. If orders are shipped incorrectly, labeled incorrectly, billed incorrectly, or quoted incorrectly these are all forms of poor customer service. It is quite simply, really. Tell the customer what it is that you are willing to sell them and what price you will charge them for that product. If they give you an order for the product then ship it quickly and accurately. Thats it. You do that well over and over and you will grow a very nice business. And you know what else? If you do those things correctly every time you will not have to have the lowest price out there to survive.

Tnet: For a salesman just starting out in the fastener business, are there any common "rookie" mistakes? If so, are there any basic principles that allow someone to avoid those mistakes?

TS: I think one mistake is not getting as much information as possible. A "rookie" can come back with an inquiry stating that "business XYZ buys a million widgets a year and wants us to quote them." Does XYZ blanket these or buy them all at once? Can they use an imported part or does it have to be domestic? Is there a print? Not providing enough information is often a problem. There are many buyers that get rid of eager salesmen by letting them go fishing for an oddball or pain-in-the-neck part without giving the salesmen all the information needed to quote it accurately.

Tnet: In your view, how much of an impact has the internet had on the fastener business, for salesmen, customers, suppliers and distributors?

TS: Probably a lot. Especially with how people deal with overseas suppliers. Communication has never been easier and prints and quotes can be sent all over the world instantaneously. Most buyers will google a part if they need to search for information on a part. Catalogs are so accessible that most buyers search for information daily on the internet. There are some very good sites where people can buy online, sometimes at a discount, but I think that is not as prevalent as it will be eventually. For salesmen? Lots of opportunities are available for an inquisitive salesman to search out opportunities for new business. You just have to get your hands dirty and start searching. It is just like anything else...it wont come to you. You need to explore.

Tnet: You mentioned in your initial blog entry that the fastener industry communicates mainly through printed trade publications, the "fastener grapevine" and regional organizations. Do you think this is going to change in the coming years with the advent of the internet and a younger, more technically inclined generation?

TS: Absolutely. Im shocked it hasnt already. All of our kids under the age of 25 text, instant message, Google, post on Myspace, Facebook, youtube, etc. And now they also Twitter. That is their world. How can that type of communication not creep into their business world as they get into the business world? I think it is inevitable and might already be happening.

Tnet: What, if anything, are companies doing to prepare for that shift?

TS: I know of one company that has a place on their website for customers to leave private messages for upper management about anything or anyone within their company. More open communication.

Tnet: In your opinion, what should they be doing?

TS: I think it would be interesting if a company had a blog site or a messege board where their customers could discuss issues relevant to the company. You can go on any sports site and pick any team and you can find people posting messages about the latest trades or happenings with their sports team. Why not for a company? Could you imagine: "We get shipments twice a week and supplier XYZ holds our shipments until we have enough to pay freight," or "I was on hold for ten minutes yesterday just to confirm that the parts I wanted were in stock?" What if the president of a company was the moderator of this kind of site? What would he or she find out about the internal workings of their company based on getting continuous, unfiltered feedback from their customer base? That is just one idea.

My kids broadcast "instant messages" to groups of friends when they are making evening plans. What if sales managers did this saying "Joe just left a customer that told him our competitor has been out of stock on a bunch of items so bring that up on your calls today?" You would think instant information like that would be very valuable. No sense waiting for the monthly newsletter or the weekly sales meeting. Plus, maybe you could just cancel the weekly meetings and get the information out faster.

Tnet: You have been a pioneer in bringing fastener industry communications to the internet. Since you started fastenerblog.net in late 2007, has anyone else started a similar initiative?

TS: Yes, I have had a couple people contact me to tell me they were starting up their own blogs. But, for the most part, I’ve only seen them post a couple times then they have seemed to stop. A couple of them were pretty good with some interesting ideas. A couple of the industry publications have pretty good website with information updated daily. But, again, it is a "one way" communication. It is not a place where people can respond and comment.

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