[PCT on the Road] ‘Selling Solutions’

“How are you going to sell in a recessionary market?” asked Tim Underhill, president of Strategic Business Solutions, Tulsa, Okla. Given the tenuous state of the economy, it’s a question that’s been on everyone’s mind, including members of the United Producers, Formulators & Distributors Association (UPF&DA), who traveled to the Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, Texas, in April for their Annual Spring Conference.

Underhill said when the economy is strong, businesses focus on growing revenues. But when the economy hits the skids, the focus often turns to cutting both internal and external expenses, and that can put a strain on virtually any business, whether it’s a manufacturer, product supplier or end user.

The key to surviving — and thriving — in a down economy is providing enough value to customers to ensure you make the cut when times are tough, as well as taking a strategic approach to business. This is particularly true for industry product suppliers. “The easiest thing for them (customers) to work on is price. Drop the price, you get the business,” Underhill said. “But eventually you’re going to have to do something other than drop the price to get the business. What you have to do is differentiate. If you allow what you sell to be treated as a commodity you deserve to lose your margins.”

Whether a product supplier or a PCO, the key to long-term success, according to Underhill, is to take a strategic approach to business. “The most innovative companies innovate at 10 times the rate of the average company,” he said, and 60 percent of those ideas come from their suppliers. “If you’re not strategic, you’ll be replaced.”

Underhill said it’s also important to constantly manage customer relationships, identifying additional opportunities where you can add value and reinforcing what you’ve done to help grow your customers’ business in the past. The key is to “work, work, work” your customer relationships, he urged. “That’s your responsibility. If you have something more to offer, you should show them.”

What you have to ask yourself, Underhill said, is “do you truly provide solutions (to your customers) or are you a price-focused company? You have to start selling solutions, not just services. The more you can show your value, the more you can raise your own organization’s profitability.”

NETWORK DEVELOPING. Leading off the two-day conference, John Bolanos, vice president, Professional Products & Services Division, Univar, updated attendees on the activities of Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE), a trade group representing producers and suppliers of specialty pesticides and fertilizers. “Unlike many of the other associations many of us are affiliated with, RISE focuses on the applicator side of the business,” he said. RISE’s vision is “to be the catalyst for recognition of the benefits, safety and value of science-based products for pest management and plant health by policy makers and the public they serve.”

“It’s a well run organization,” Bolanos said, and never before has there been a greater need for its services. “There are a growing number of state and local issues that are beginning to emerge,” he warned. “Consumers generally understand and appreciate the value of our products. They don’t want a backyard full of fire ants. They don’t want to be bitten by bed bugs when staying at a hotel,” yet the industry’s products and services remain under threat, particularly at the local level “where science almost always goes out the window in policy making,” he said.

“At the federal level it’s been relatively quiet because there’s been such a focus on the Iraq war,” Bolanos observed. However, “at the state level pre-emption is becoming a real big issue.”

To combat this trend, RISE is in the process of developing a national network of industry professionals engaged at the local, state and federal levels to counter anti-industry initiatives.

“We’re all in this together,” he said. “The environment coming down the road is not all that rosy. Our products are going to be under more scrutiny and there are going to be more and more efforts at the local level to ban products or severely restrict products. At the federal level, RISE is well equipped to assist us with onerous state and federal regulations,” but ultimately “grassroots activism…is essential to maintaining product choice.

“RISE needs everyone’s eyes and ears monitoring at the local level,” Bolanos added. “We need 1,000 network members by December 2008. The network we build now will serve us well in the future.” (Editor’s note: To participate in the program, Bolanos urged UPF&DA members to contact RISE Grassroots Manager Elizabeth Grotos at egrotos@pestfacts.org, 202/872-3869.)

Other speakers at the Annual Spring Conference included Sgt. Jeff van der Sluys Veer, Irvine (Calif.) Police Department, who discussed the threat of terrorism and the specialty chemicals industry, and Randy Riveria of the Texas Department of Agriculture Pesticide Program, who reviewed pesticide container and containment issues.

MEETING NOTES. During the organization’s always spirited board meeting, UPF&DA members discussed a number of industry issues ranging from rodenticide regulations and botanicals to industry ethics and “green” pest management. Prior to the board meeting, Southern Mill Creek Products President Doug Ashbridge announced CEO Tom Evans, a well-known figure in the pest management industry for more than 40 years, was retiring from the business, although he will remain active on the company’s board. “Tom is fine,” Ashbridge said. “It’s just time he enjoy his grandkids and have some fun.”

UPF&DA board member Cisse Spragins also distributed a series of ads the organization is considering for publication in the industry’s trade journals.

In addition to various educational sessions and social events, UPF&DA also hosted a golf tournament at the Westin La Cantera Golf Club prior to the official opening of the conference. This year’s winning team consisted of Jason Venello, Syngenta Professional Products; Tom Forshaw III, Forshaw Distribution; and Ed Lamb, BASF Corporation. Finishing second was Mark Neterer, Dow AgroSciences; Pete Comis, Bayer Environmental Science; and Craig Velte, J.T. Eaton & Co. The winner of the “Closest to the Pin” competition was Rick McDonald, Paragon Professional Pest Control Products, and the “Longest Drive” went to Ed Lamb, BASF Corporation.

UPF&DA also voted to accept two new members into the organization — Steve Burt, president and CEO, ADAPCO, Sanford, Fla.; and Ray Meyers, owner, RJM Contracting, Lake Mary, Fla. Upcoming UPF&DA meetings include the Fall Board Meeting, Aug. 13-14 in Kansas City, Kan., and the group’s Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with NPMA PestWorld, Oct. 23, in the Washington, D.C., area. Plans are still being made for the Annual Spring Conference in the San Francisco area in April 2009.

In closing the two-day conference UPF&DA Vice President Larry Eichler thanked Gary Maxwell, Target Specialty Products, and Rich Vega, McLaughlin Gormley King Co., for planning this year’s conference with UPF&DA Executive Director Valera Jessee. “They did a great job,” he said.

UPF&DA’s Leadership Team

Officers and board members of the United Producers, Formulators & Distributors Association (UPF&DA) include Lon Records, Target Specialty Products, president; Larry Eichler, Prentiss, vice president; and Roland Rhodes, Rhodes Chemical Co., secretary/treasurer.

Board members include Tom Wright, B&G Chemicals & Equipment (2008); Stephen Bessette, EcoSMART Technologies (2008); Tony Smith, Univar (2008-2009); Pete Comis, Bayer Environmental Science (2008-2009); Doug Ashbridge, Southern Mill Creek Products (2008-2010); Larry Hiner, Diversified Plastics (2008-2010); Karen Furgiuele, Gardex Chemicals (2008-2010); Cisse Spragins, Rockwell Labs Ltd (2008-2010); Rick Veatch, Veatch Chemical Co. (2008-2010); and Ed Lamb, BASF Corporation (2008-2010).

The Immediate Past President of UPF&DA is Steve Levy, Bell Laboratories, and the Executive Director is Valera Jessee.

For more information…

To learn more about the organization or to become a member of UPF&DA, contact Executive Director Valera Jessee, 2034 Beaver Ruin Road, Norcross, GA 30071, 770/417-1418, Valera@gpca.net, or visit www.UPFDA.net.