HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-11-05, Page 15628D
CHIIMP(ON
arketing
Champuons
worldwide
Continued from Page 27
promptly noticed by many first time
visitors to Goderich is the size and
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employs over 700 residents 'and
which does business in so many
countries around the world. "Many
people are genuinely surprised at the
size of this company and the
importance it has to this region of
Ontario," said Mr. Metcalfe.
The fundamental focus of the
marketing effort, however, is aimed
squarely at the dealers who have the
job of selling Champion's road
grader products. Increasingly over
the last few years, that focus has
become a visual as well as a written
informational process.
Champion salesmen who hit the
road these days in Canada or abroad
can go armed with their, own,.
compact video sets which pack away
in compact suitcases. And in telling
the Champion story the salesmen
can reach into an up-to-date library
of carefully produced video tape.
With a flick of a switch, Champion
can's'how off their graders at work in
thOurning heat of summer or in the
bitter cold of winter. "The next best
thing to being there is being able to
show a customer on video exactly
how a grader performs and to
exhibit its strong points over the
competition," said Mr. Metcalfe.
That effort is backed up with a
product marketing effort that goes to
enormous trouble to demonstrate
the strong points of the Champion
road grader design and the
manufacturing processes that make
it one of the best products of its kind
on the market.
"That is,all part of that confidence
GSS/Wednesday, Nov. 5, 1986
Marketing services
John Marshall of hamplon's
marketing services division
conducts many tours at the
company's main plant.
Recently the company in-
itiated regular tours for
employees.
building we must instill in the
product," said Mr. Metcalfe. "If we
can show the dealer -salesmen that
we make a better product then we
will be helping their selling efforts."
The visual part of the marketing is
backed up by a technical
publications effort that is considered
one of the best in the industry.
The 11 members of "tech -pubs" as
it is known throughout the Champion
organization, provide an array of
back-up material which is essential
both to the marketing and the
maintenance of a Champion motor
grader.
"A customer needs to know
exactly how the machine operates
and he also needs to know how to fix
it and what spare parts he needs,"
explained Ray Frydrych, manager
of technical publications. In short he
requires complete and up to date
operating and spare part manuals.
With the constant level of
innovation that Champion builds into
its product line, it is no easy task
keeping up with that informational
task, Mr. Frydrych said. The arrival
of the video generation in recent
years, however, has helped to
simplify that sometimes laborious
process.
Artists at work on the repair
manuals, for example, now reach for
video imprints of particular
mechanical processes which they
can quickly and easily duplicate for
the written and pictorial manuals
that Champion supplies with its
products.
This process cuts a great deal of
the time out of the basic process of
preparing Champion manuals and in
the tech -pubs business, Mr.
Frydrych smiled, time is always of
the essence.
"We try to keep our manuals and
books as up to date as we can," he
explained. .`If we can do that job
well it is going to make the task of
repairing a hrotor grader that much
easier."
To ensure that those instructions
are understood in West Africa or
South America as easily as they are
understood in Ontario or New York
State, Champion also produces all its
basic literature in French and
Spanish as well as English.
There are not many places in the
world where those three languages
are not understood. To assist in
Continued on Page 30 '
Get Great Grass from
GOVERNMENT LICENSED
P.O. BOX 455, GODERICH
Celebrating Together
On the occasion of Champion's
100th Anniversary we too
celebrate a landmark in
business.
For 50 years McGavin has
supplied local farmers with a
quality product and excellent
service. Something we're proud
ot.
McGAVIN
FARM EQUIPMENT
" We sell the best - and can get the rest"
Walton, Ont. 887-6365