HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-11-05, Page 111���VIS CHAMPION
Selling means dealing
with the customer
honestly Lapaine says
GSS/Wednesday, Nov 5, 1986
Servicing a global market from
a small town like Goderich
seems like an impossible task.
Yet Champion Road Machinery
Company Ltd. overcomes the
incongruities and accomplishes that
task with relative ease. Bruno
Lapaine, in charge of sales for
Champion's domestic and
uit••i;i,5tiialrsi ill:iii 't. cxciusIVC of
the United States, says that
recruiting the proper dealers and
providing proper support and follow
up service has launched Champion
into the international ring.
"We cover the globe from right
here although we also have an office
in Leeds, England responsible for
Africa and the Middle East," he
said. "We have field people who
promote the product and the job of
our sales and technical people is to
troubleshoot, make customer visits
when necessary and provide end
user input to manufacturing and
engineering."
Champion has pioneered
the video system
While it has taken time to evolve.
Champion endeavors to zero in on
one person with its finely honed .
sales and service system. And that,
of course, is the customer.
Armed with an impressive arsenal
of the latest in video, Champion
sales and service personnel are well
equipped to promote and service the
product.
"We are pioneers in the video
system and if a customer has any
questions, he can simply plug in a
videotape and get service answers 24
hours a day," he said. "Our
communication is excellent and now
that we use video as a sales and
service tool, it's difficult to
contemplate how we conducted
business without it."
Lapaine was one of only five
salesmen the company deployed to
sell its product in Canada and
offshore in 1974. Owner of the
Bedford Hotel on The Square from
1970-74, he welcomed the opportunity
to apply his mechanical aptitude and
salesmanship capabilities to the
grader market.
"Selling means establishing a good
rapport with the customer," he said.
"You have to treat people like
people and be honest with them."
That simple, quintessential
philosophy, plus the fact Lapaine is
fluent in five languages, has stood
him good stead in the international
marketplace. "That is a valuable
asset. If you can communicate with
people in their language, even if
you're not that proficient, it means a
lot," he said.
Formerly the international sales
manager and regional sales
manager for Africa, where he helped
establish a dealer network, Lapaine
has worked in his present role for
the past seven years.
The market of today demands
pricing, quality and service and
Champion has carefully developed
an enviable network of dealers and
provluecl the esseniiai backup
service.
For example, the company is
running an extensive rehabilitation
program in Africa. "Our people will
be spending months there teaching
customers how to rehabilitate
machines. Preventative
maintenance has to be tops," he
explained.
Since its initial foray into the
export market in South America in
the 1950s, Champion has added over
85 countries to its offshore market
list. Initially designed to stabilize the
cyclical nature of the Canadian
grader market, exports have helped
stabilize production and lower
manufacturing costs Lapaine
explained.
"Canada is our biggest market but
we have to be good here to be
effective overseas," he said. "We
are number one in Canada but the
export market has potential for
great growth."
. '
ni=
Communication and team-
work is evident much In
evidence
Communication and teamwork is ,
the cement that binds the 26
employees of the mobile department.
"We're a close• team, an effective
team that helps each other and
communicates. We have weekly
sessions to talk about what's coming
and any problems that have been
experienced. Communication is
essential."
With the implementation of
Manufacturing Resource Planning
(MRP) the sales team has to be
accurate and accountable with its
forecast.,
}`Our reaction to trends and
forecasting has to be accurate and
that means contact has to increase
with the user and customer," he
explained. "It also means we can
attack the problem and not just the
symptom.'
The company's prospects in the
export market look appealingly
prosperous, Lapaine says, adding
that the manufacturer has become a
leader in innovatioli and technology.
"We've got a good, young team at
the top of the company that's
reliable. This is a people company.
We're building a quality product and
we know what we're doing."
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You hit the century
mark this year and you
are still growing... helping
to build the roads that are 'w
essential to a modern
economy. You have made
yourself a world leader in your
field. Your name has become
synonymous with excellence!
At Liquid AirTM we are proud to be
working with the winning team at
Champion Road Machinery. We
provide the welding equipment,
electrodes, suppliesand technology, as
well as the industrial gases that make
Champion equipment rugged and
production processes efficient.
We look forward to many more years
of helping to make a champion even better.
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LIQUID AIR
iii !MG 7.5 7/ndeurAda y
1155 Sherbrooke St. W.,
Montreal, Quebec H3A 1H8 (514) 842-5431
"Trademark of Canadian Liquid Air Ltd.
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