Happy New Years 2014!!!

Happy New Years 2014!!!

Cant wait to see whats in store for this year!!!

Executive relocations: Top 5 tips for moving your CEO

Being charged with coordinating an executive relocation can be nerve wracking to say the least. What extra steps should you take to ensure a smooth transition for your company’s CEO and other executives?

When working with your mover, make sure to emphasize the importance of this move and who it is for; confirm that they will focus on doing all they can to satisfy your executive’s needs and expectations. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1.    Select a mover who offers settling-in services that include cleaning, unpacking, organizational assistance, maid service at origin and destination, and a professional handyman for electronic setup and/or art installation. This may cost extra if it is not part of a VIP move program, so please clarify with your mover beforehand.

2.    Flexibility should be a high priority with executive-level moves due to the demanding work schedules and changing needs of his/her company. Your moving company must be able to comply with such changes, whether they are last minute or not.

3.    Many executives have high-value items that typically require additional valuation or insurance coverage and appraisal needs. Before the move, arrange for an appraiser to go to the home to assess items and provide a full report. Also, any thoughtful inclusions are important. For example, executives moving with children and/or pets may benefit from having childcare and pet services as part of their package.

4.    Provide exclusive use of the entire truck (when the driver remains with the shipment from origin to destination and no one else’s belongings are on the truck). This will help avoid extra storage time, reduce expenses and ultimately help the executive and his/her family settle in faster.

5.    For the highest level of service, have a full-time onsite project manager onsite at both locations to act as liaison for the transferee/executive.Work closely with your mover to stay one step ahead throughout the move process, and you will make these transitions seamless for your company’s executives. After all, will you ever have a more important customer to impress?

Suddath Relocation Systems takes top honors at the 2013 UniGroup annual convention

Suddath received significant accolades from UniGroup (United Van Lines and Mayflower Transit) for its services in the moving industry. Among its peers of nearly 1,000 agents, Suddath accepted 29 awards at the 2013 UniGroup convention, inclusive of almost all categories – sales, fleet, safety and loss prevention. Suddath continues to set precedents in the industry and is proud to be the largest agent of UniGroup, the leading and most prominent van line in America.

For several consecutive years including again in 2013, Suddath received the president’s club award for overall market leadership and record earnings. Other awards include excellence in loss prevention, which recognizes best in class safety performance nationwide; hauling awards for the greatest hauling revenue in two categories each for household goods; logistics and exhibition; the overall top hauler for all lines combined; and three for sales achievement.

Additionally, the national logistics fleet van operator of the year award was given to the late Charles “Chuck” Ross. This award is given to the van operator who exemplifies quality, customer service, claims prevention, an impeccable safety record and overall exceptional performance.

Suddath is very proud of its team of dedicated professionals and thanks each and every member for making Suddath an industry leader.

How to write a tiered relocation policy

Are you in charge of your company’s employee relocations? When companies grow and begin offering relocation as part of their benefit packages, it often falls on the human resource benefits manager to write their company’s relocation policy. But where do you start?

When it comes to your company relocation policy, like other employee benefits in your company, a growing trend is offering a tiered policy that is based on the employee’s position or tenure with the company.  A tiered policy actually decreases the work required by the HR staff and eliminates the need to negotiate every employee relocation package individually. Having a one size fits all typically may leave you creating exceptions at every turn.

An example of a three tiered relocation policy is laid out like this: The highest tier covers everything in the added services categories and is typically reserved for executive level employees. Mid-management is a second-level tier and includes partial coverage of services.  And the lowest tier, typically reserved for hourly or non-management employees, covers the basics only.    

Services are grouped into several parts of the relocation process and usually help to develop your relocation policy. These parts include:

• Pack / load / unload – These basic services are generally included in all levels of relocation policies. By including packing in all relocation policies you’ll help to avoid issues down the road because often times the mover does some or all of the packing.
• Weight limits  - Policy weight limits are generally tiered based on the employee’s position in the company.
• Third Party Storage – The length of storage can vary based on the employee’s position in your company and type of move (one-way or two-way). For example, executives and managers are often only eligible for storage. Executives are typically offered 60 days storage and mid-managers 30 days.
• Car shipment – Typically the number of vehicles shipped increases based on the employee’s level in the company. Top tiered coverage typically covers two or more cars, the second level tier typically covers one car and may have a mileage requirement. The lowest tier usually does not cover car shipment.
• Third party specialty services – Policy coverage of third party services like crating large items for moving such as pianos, pool tables, and grandfather clocks can also vary based on the employee’s position in the company.  Examples of other third party services, usually part of executive relocation policies, can include: cleaning services at the origin and destination, appliance disconnect and reconnect services, and handyman services among others.
• Wine shipment – Wine shipment can be included, typically this service is reserved for the top tier of a relocation policy only.

Are Sales Slow? Maybe its time for a "Sales Blitz"

"Sales Blitz!"

One of the most common complaints I hear from my clients is, “I can’t seem to motivate the salespeople to call on prospects and develop them into new customers.”

A relatively simple, fun and inexpensive way to remedy this situation exists: a sales blitz. Unfortunately, few companies are aware of it, and even fewer use it. 

Here’s the problem: Most B2B sales efforts are organized around a sales rep who is responsible for a specific set of accounts or a specific geographical area. Typically, that rep is expected to grow the business with the current customers as well as identify and develop new customers. Clearly, most sales people are better at one part of this two-part responsibility than the other. Usually, developing new customers takes second place in the salesperson’s priorities. Staying within their comfort zones and focusing on keeping the current customers happy becomes a higher priority on a day-to-day basis. As a result, few new customers are developed, and sales management is continually frustrated with the company’s poor performance. Rather than continue beating a dead horse by trying to motivate the sales force to create new customers, one alternate approach is to implement a sales blitz.

What’s a sales blitz?

A sales blitz is an organized effort by the company to focus all of its sales force on a specific task in one specific territory. The most common task is to identify, qualify and engage potential new customers. A sales blitz could also be used to quickly communicate some hot new product or service to a market. It has the advantage of focusing the entire sales force on a specific task. That alone will bring far greater results than if you’d just left it to each salesperson to do on his own.

But there are some additional fringe benefits. For example, the preparation for a sales blitz provides you an opportunity to thoroughly train the sales force in one identifiable step in the sales process. Competency thus improves. Additionally, you can usually measure their activities more specifically than normal. So, they become more competent and confident, and you become more knowledgeable in the activities of your sales force. 

Let’s say that you have group of eight salespeople who are each expected to build the business with current customers, as well as create new ones. You are continually frustrated with their performances in creating new customers. Out of the group of eight people, you’re lucky to have one new customer a month. Since you are not satisfied with this, you decide to do a sales blitz for new customers.

So, you select one geographical area or market segment on which to focus. In this case, let’s say one of your salespeople has a relatively new territory, so you select that territory as your focus. You decide that, for a period of three days, you are going to pull your entire sales force out of their territories and direct them into the new salesperson’s territory. 

You bring them together and explain the project. Their task is to identify, qualify and engage as many prospects as possible. The information gained and the doors opened in the process will then be provided to the territory rep, who will be expected to follow up and turn a significant number of these qualified prospects into customers. 

You create a form for each salesperson, who must collect the information specified on the form from each prospect. The information could include such basics as the name and title of the key contact person, some information about the account and a sense of the opportunity for your company. 

You then train the sales force in how to do just that one aspect of the sales process: make a cold call, collect some qualifying information and fill in the form. You spend a day role-playing and practicing. 

Next, you provide them with a list of current off-limits customers and a list of potential customers. You break the group into four teams of two people each and, on the map, outline four different areas for each. You announce that at the end of each day, you’ll hold a short meeting. At that meeting, you’ll recount success stories, share information and tactics that have worked for various team members, and count up the number of contacts made and forms filled out by each team. The team with the most completed forms will be the day’s winner, and each member of the winning team will be awarded a gift certificate for dinner for him and his spouse. 

At this point, you have organized the group’s efforts by identifying the specific job to be done, provided the tools (forms and company literature), trained them in the task, focused them on a specific area and added some structured time to learn and to be recognized. 

On each day of the blitz, you stay in cell phone contact with each group, encouraging them throughout the course of the day.

At the end of the three days, you will probably have accumulated more prospects for your territory rep to follow up on than he would have done on his own in the course of a year or two. Turn them over to the rep, keep a copy yourself and watch the progress he/she makes in each account. 

What have you accomplished? A number of powerful things:

• You’ve created more qualified leads for the territory rep in a few days than he would have created on his own in a few years

• You’ve created a fun experience for all your reps 

• Each rep has learned new skills by focusing on just one part of the sales process and repeating it. He will be better at creating new customers in his own territory as a result of this learning experience. 



That’s a sales blitz 

Keep in mind there is nothing new about this approach. It may be new to you, but it’s a time-tested, proven best practice. When I was 17 years old, I attained my first sales job working summers for the Jewel Tea Co. The company used sales blitzes as regular parts of the sales efforts. I won’t tell you how long ago that was, but you can measure the time duration in decades. 

A couple of years ago, when I was working with one of my clients to establish a new sales force, we routinely used sales blitzes, rotating the blitz every other month from one territory to another. In the first two years, six salespeople created 638 new accounts.

A sales blitz, well designed and well managed, can solve one of your company’s biggest shortcomings and spin off a number of valuable fringe benefits.

“Has Your Move Been Under Bid?"

Selecting a mover based solely on lowest price can have many undesired repercussions. Before you put your company at risk, please consider the following:

Q. What do I have to be concerned about?

A. Since the hourly rates of most office movers are comparable, a low price means the bidder is assigning less resources to your job. If the low bidder is not accurate, the client is burdened with additional costs associated with the move. There may also be considerably more damage and downtime for your business.

It is a mistake to assume all movers know what they are doing. You should take the time to understand what the bid is based on, because the mover might not be aware of the problem until job has already started.

Q. What can really go wrong? Aren’t all movers the same?

A. Planning and managing your company’s move is a “High Profile Assignment”. Everyone in your office is affected and the task is typically assigned to someone who already has a full-time job. Because the task can be overwhelming, your mover can be a valuable resource.

The cost of non-performance can be substantial. Consider what would happen if your firm is not operational or if your equipment was severely damaged. Cutting corners can also lead to other problems like:

Property damage                                             Downtime for departments

Missed deadlines for IT                    Costly and time consuming claims

Unproductive time

Q. Why would a mover “Low-Ball” me?

A. A low-ball bid is not always intentional. Bad estimating can be the result of sloppiness, inexperience or even a simple misunderstanding.

Conversely, you could be dealing with someone who sees an opportunity for lots of changes. Large complex projects are often accompanied by lots of unforeseen changes. An “Intentional Low Baller” is betting on this. If you cannot clearly define the scope of your project, trust becomes very important.

In any event, the service and performance suffer.

Q. How do I compare the mover’s proposals?

A. Try reviewing statistics other than the bottom-line. A mover who knows their business can easily provide you with this information. Compare and contrast the numbers and you will gain confidence in your decision.

Statistics you should review are:

o   Number of total man-hours

o   Number of truckloads to be moved

o   Number of cartons provided

o   Services to be provided such as packing, furniture installation, building protection.

This will help expose misunderstandings among the bidders. You may be shocked that the estimator cannot answer simple questions about your move.

Q. Should I be concerned if there Is a wide range among bidders?

A. Yes. It could be a sign that you are not dealing with experienced office movers or that the information you have provided is not clear or complete. Sometimes you are not able to define the scope of your move the mover’s cost estimate becomes almost useless.

10 Steps to a Successful Office Move - White Paper

White Paper

10 Steps to a Successful Office Move

HELP! WE'RE MOVING

Introduction

The office is moving and it's your responsibility to choose the right mover. "Simple," you say. "I'll just get the phone book and let my fingers do the walking." Wrong. Unfortunately, you can't judge a mover's quality of service by the size or content of their ad in the yellow pages.

Did you know the forte of most moving companies is their long distance household division while their weakest area is commercial moving?

An experienced office mover knows that the difference between a residential and a commercial move is as great as the difference between night and day. Yes, many will get you to your new location, but will it be on time, within the budget, and without mishap? Unfortunately, probably not.

Your goal is to accomplish this move as a hero; not end up the scapegoat. So instead of playing "Russian roulette" with the phone book (and maybe your career), ask the building managers at both your present and new locations to recommend two or three moving companies. Property management people have extensive first-hand experience with movers and are as anxious as you to have the move be a success. Therefore, they are a great place to start your selection process.

Another avenue is to visit your new office building and ask some of the tenants if they would recommend their last mover. Perhaps your attorney, accountant, insurance agent, or other supplier may be in a position to suggest an office mover. Since they don't want to jeopardize their relationship with you, they will be careful whom they recommend.

After you have selected and pre-qualified potential bidders, take the time to meet individually with each mover's representative for an analysis of the move. Be certain you fully understand what will be done and how the move will be carried out. Get at least three estimates. However, if it's a large move, you may want to solicit five bids.

Have someone of authority (not just an information gatherer) from your company meet with each mover during the inventory process. Inform the mover about your needs and ask how he proposes to meet them. The same representative from your company should meet with all of the movers. During the initial walk-through or inventory process, determine whether you or the mover will be responsible for handling the movement of fragile items such as lamps, paintings, and plants.

Identify any additional services such as the packing of common areas like the supply room or library, the balancing and bolting of lateral file cabinets, and the disassembly of modular furniture.

After the salesman completes his inventory process, set a time for him to return and make his formal presentation. At that time he should bring a list of the last five companies whose offices his company moved with contact names and phone numbers. Tell him not to furnish you with a list of references (which he naturally would pick and choose to create a favorable impression). If your move is very large, request that he provide you with a list of comparable size moves he has done in the last 12 months. Ask him to also present at that time his Certificate of Insurance, as well as actual pictures of the type of moving equipment he will be using on your move. Some movers have been known to simply copy pictures and drawings of equipment they find in other moving company brochures and represent it as their own.

The next step will be to interview your mover. Allow enough time for your mover to make his formal presentation and to answer the following questions:

1.   What type of moving cartons will you provide?

Similar in size to the Office Legal Tote, the plastic crate (brand names such as Rent-A-Crate®, Tyga-Box and E-Crate) offer an efficient alternative to the conventional moving carton. Because of its strength and shape, the plastic crate can be stacked 4 high without crushing the boxes below or their contents. Stacking the boxes 4 high reduces your contents volume by approximately 15% thereby lowering your total moving costs. Less volume means that movers make fewer trips to and from the moving van and can even reduce the number of truckloads.

The plastic crate has overcome the risk of lifting heavy boxes full since they have devised an ingenious method of stacking their containers on a unique dolly during the loading and unloading process.

2.   How will you move our computers and electronic equipment?

The preferred manner is to first wrap each computer component with two layers of bubble wrap (with the bubbles facing the bubbles) and then place the protected components into a container for safe transport. A new patented technique, using a device called a Comp- U-Wrap®, has all of the advantages of bubble wrap but none of the disadvantages. It’s faster, easier to use and more efficient than bubble wrap. Since it’s reusable, it doesn’t fill landfills and is much more efficient. Regardless of which method your mover chooses, do not allow him to “blanket-wrap” your computers with furniture pads. According to an article written in PC World magazine, Chuck Miller warns about harmful dust particles entering your CPU. and causing it to crash. Movers’ furniture pads are full of dust, dirt and fibers and, therefore, should not be wrapped around the CPU.

3.   How will you handle our library?

Have the mover under your close supervision load your books onto book bins, which look like bookcases on wheels. This procedure greatly reduces your downtime because it gives you 100% access to your books immediately before and after the move. The Dark Ages method for moving a library is to pack the books into mountains of boxes where they can easily get mixed up. This system is very labor intensive and puts you out of business before and after the move.

4.   How will you protect the office building from damage?

To protect carpet, a new product covers carpet with a 6-mil-thick vinyl that has a light adhesive on one side. It has all of the benefits of Masonite yet none of the problems. It is easy to handle, store and apply. Where Masonite® is very labor intensive and expensive to install, the vinyl carpet cover rolls down in minutes. Another new product, called the DentPrevents®. protect passenger elevator frames when passenger elevators are used to haul furniture.

5.   How will you load the furniture onto the moving van?

You can immediately measure the level of sophistication of your mover if he uses the "floating" method for loading the furniture instead of the stacking method. The floating method keeps the furniture on the dolly on the floor of the moving van. It is fast, safe, and efficient. The old-fashioned way is the stacking method where the mover undollies the furniture onto the truck and stacks it floor to ceiling. This procedure (used on most long distance household moves) can cause considerable crushing damage to anything at the bottom of the pile. It is also slow and very labor intensive.

6.   What provisions do you have for contingencies such as a truck breakdown, an elevator failure, or the need for additional men or equipment?

The best answer is that someone of authority from the moving company will be accessible during your move. Such a person should be an owner or the general manager. Usually, the salesman has no decision-making authority in an emergency or last-minute change of strategy.

7.   What type of insurance coverage do you have?

John Shubert, president and CEO of Southern States Insurance, Inc., cautions, "The one with the insurance often becomes the one who pays." You may be contingently liable for accidents if your mover isn't adequately covered. "For your protection, you should demand current certificates of insurance listing workers' compensation as well as general liability coverage - $2 million for general aggregate and a $5 million umbrella," advises Shubert.

If you obtain replacement value insurance, don't think that it is a substitute for a good mover. This type of coverage normally does not cover valuable papers (your files) or recorded electronic data; and if you're put out of business while you're waiting for the insurance company to settle your claims, replacement coverage does not pay for your downtime and lost business. (Insurance companies have between 60 and 90 days to settle claims.)

8.   Will we be permitted to audit your invoices?

A small minority of movers has a habit of billing for movers who are never on the move, i.e. "ghost movers." Will his company permit you to examine the payroll and cost records to verify all moving charges if you deem it necessary?

9.    Will you furnish a list of your last five office moves?

Ask for a list of the last five office moves with contacts and telephone numbers. Call all five contacts and ask the following questions:

A.   When did the mover move you? If the moves occurred more than 6 weeks ago, be suspicious.

B.   Ask how well the mover protected their furniture, p.c.'s, and contents.

C.   Ask if and how the mover protected their offices against damage.

D.   Ask if the mover completed the job in the time allotted, and if the bill exceeded the prices quoted.

10. Last; "a mass walk-through" does not save time.

This "herd" concept has become very popular in recent years but often undermines the entire selection process. First, movers on a mass walk-through will be afraid to raise vital questions for fear of informing their competitors how they propose to do the move. The mass walk-through also encourages unrealistically low bids by intimidating those who participate into second guessing their competitors' bids. Finally, the mass walk-through penalizes those movers who are thorough and detailed, and, subsequently, slower in taking their inventory. In order to keep pace with the pack, they are forced to take shortcuts or overlook important details.