Investing in Growth
Brandon Glenn 11.01.2017
With all the sophisticated machines and technology we have in our industry, it’s easy to conclude that our work is highly complex. But when you distill everything down to what’s most essential and important, it’s actually quite simple: it all boils down to taking care of customers. In your shop that’s the highest priority, absolutely that’s the case here at Okuma America, and the same is true for our distribution partners, such as the Morris distributors. If we don’t have satisfied customers, we have nothing.
Strengthening the Focus on the Customer
Over the past couple of years, the service landscape in our industry has been shifting. But not at Morris, that’s for sure. In fact, their focus on the customer is being strengthened right now by a significant investment. Since January 2017 they have been underway with an aggressive campaign to double their number of service technicians over a three-year time frame. These techs will be located throughout the 27 states that are covered by their five companies, The Robert E. Morris Company, Morris South, Morris Midwest-MN, Morris Midwest-WI/IL and Morris Great Lakes. Each of their locations has an assigned number of additional techs to hire, and all of these add up to the larger goal of doubling their service staff.
Finding the Right People
In many companies, it would be typical to time new hires to coincide with return on investment. But Morris isn’t waiting for financial returns to justify this, they’re moving forward with a commitment to put resources in place as quickly as possible, to support their growth with Okuma. Another reason they want to bring techs onboard quickly is that they invest significant time and resources in training and obtaining the appropriate certifications. These are not casual hires, they require finding the right people and then giving them enough time to become fully competent to help customers in the field.
To Us, It’s Personal
With locations throughout their 27-state territory, Morris is positioned with resources that are very local and convenient for Okuma customers. Their employees live in the same communities with customers, have kids in school together, go to the same church, and they’ll give you their cell number in case you need it. Morris is growing their ranks to be even more ready when needed, because to us, it’s personal.
Brandon Glenn is Regional Sales Manager, Okuma America Corporation.
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