As promised last month, I am sharing our high-level strategic initiatives for 2021. A lot of work and planning went into these over the last several months and they are very important for not only 2021, but foundationally for our future.
Innovation: Innovation continues to be our priority and focus. Not only do we plan on launching several products in 2021, but we are also investing heavily in outside research and gaining voice of customer to truly focus on transformational innovation. In order to support this, we will also be investing in new human capital to form a true research and development function so concepts can be prototyped, tested, and brought to market more efficiently.
Vertical Market Leadership, Go-To-Market Strategies, and Branding: We will further define our go-to-market strategies and plans for the Agriculture, Military, Museums, and Library and Education markets. Given the current dynamics of these industries, we are relying on research findings for new opportunities that change creates and will refocus accordingly. This initiative also includes distribution support strategies to assure total alignment with our goals and improvement plans.
Operations: We will continue to build on our sustained performance and focus on continuous improvement projects to assure we always achieve our on-time and quality standards. This plan also includes a road map for introducing more automation in our factory with an eye on the future to support growth and efficiencies.
Our plans also include several internal focused initiatives to further develop our leaders, and to enhance our technology and tools. We are excited to engage with all of you as we start implementing these initiatives!
Wishing you and your families a great Thanksgiving; we have much to be thankful for!
Mark Haubenschild | President/CEO
Spacesaver Scorecard
The summer months may be gone, but it seems the Spacesaver Group is still bringing the heat! October was another good month for the team, with our highest monthly incoming order total this year exceeding $7 million. Shipments were also strong again, also sitting at the $7 million mark. We are slowly climbing towards our original annual goals as we make our way through this final stretch.
We had 15 Area Contractors exceed their incoming order quota in October, with the full group now at 96% year-to-date and 13 Area Contractors exceeding their quotas. Patterson Pope Carolinas crushed it – booking $1.26 million this last month. Not far behind them was Southwest Solutions Group booking just under $900,000. With these impressive results, both PARs are honing in on their annual quota. The year-to-date leader so far is Motus Space Solutions, booking more than $4.1 million – 300% quota!
For shipments, we had 12 teams exceed their monthly quota in October, bringing the number of Area Contractors exceeding year-to-date to 11, with three more within striking distance at more than 90 percent. Our combined totals for October was 95%, bringing overall year-to-date for shipments to 90 percent. Two more strong months to close out the year and we can hit our target! Southwest Solutions Group paced the country with over $1 million in shipments in October and StorageLogic smashed their monthly goal by shipping $719,000 – putting them at 190% for the year! Big shout-outs go to Systems & Space ($5.8 million) for the highest year-to-date in shipments and Spacesaver Systems MD right behind at $5.2 million – both around the 200 percent year-to-date quota mark!
Two months to go… “What kind of competitor sees the finish line and slows down? Always finish strong!”
The Team has FOCUS
Over the last 10 months, we have talked about teamwork, collaboration, purpose, customers, innovation, and excellence – our 2020 rally cry. What we haven’t talked about yet is being thankful for accomplishing them. It has indeed been a strange year for us all, but we have kept our FOCUS and delivered on all the initiatives we set out to.
We are thankful for your teams, your dedication to Spacesaver, and your continued engagement and feedback.
We are thankful that the roadmap we built for 2020 has carried us through an international pandemic, and even amongst the challenges we’ve all faced, we are coming out ahead of where we anticipated.
We are thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with your teams on product innovation, marketing strategies, business development efforts, driving AEC community engagement, and so much more.
We are thankful that the Spacesaver Group continues to hold the market leadership position.
We are confident that in 12 months, we will again be thankful for all those things. But, how we get there may look a bit different. Watch for details coming soon on our 2021 rally cry and the go-to-market strategies that will be our roadmap for another successful year that we will be thankful for.
Vertical Market Updates
Agriculture
It’s no secret that we miss in-person tradeshows and other events where clients can try out our products. The next best thing to talking face-to-face is giving product presentations, and we’re releasing a presentation for GROW products on November 19. You should have already gotten an invite to the webinar, but let our team know if you missed it.
Speaking of tradeshows…although COVID-19 keeps us from the in-person shows, we continue to invest in virtual events. They definitely are not the same, but they are still a valuable way for us to continue to build Spacesaver brand recognition, expand our reach in the cannabis market, and network with cultivators. We are taking part in this year’s Cannabis Business Cyber Summit from November 10-12 and MJBizCon from December 2-4. Our virtual booths at both events will offer the opportunity to chat with attendees and will feature brochures, look books, and other marketing materials. As always, we’ll pass any leads along to you!
Reminder: When you log a Hawthorne project, remember that we have a new, streamlined project registration process.
Contact Greg Sayre if you want more info or help breaking into this market!
Building on Relationships
Shout out to Brad Lieber at Systems and Space, who closed on two GROW sales in Sacramento last month! The larger system is 16 feet tall with three levels of growing area, and both projects have multiple flower rooms and a veg room. Brad credits his continuing success to his commitment to learning the market and building strong relationships with growers and architects. Both these projects came from referrals and together they totaled $210,000 Spacesaver net.
Military
2021 is the year to go after the military and government markets. We anticipate these markets will see COVID-related budget increases soon and the Spacesaver Group is well-positioned to land projects with these customers. Pete Rooney walked through the details of these projections in our monthly Military Market Call. If you missed it, watch the recording today and hear Pete’s insights on how we believe the greatest potential for new growth is going to be in the United States Special Operations Command, Military Treatment Facilities, and Coast Guard. Given that big projects are often complex, we encourage you to start reaching out now.
For our part, we’re strengthening relationships with our military and government partners in a variety of ways, including supporting their “in-person” events as we did before COVID. Although those events have gone virtual for now, you can still find us at events for ADS, AUSA, and other military organizations. Not only do such events help us connect with prospects, but they also help us build trust and goodwill with these well-known organizations.
Are you ready to lay the groundwork for the best year yet? Contact Pete Rooney for help with reaching out to and developing relationships with clients in this market.
Persistence Pays
Congratulations to Chris Canady at Spacesaver Storage Solutions, who recently sold a large and complex project for the Navy. The project involves two hospital warehouses and three satellite clinics, with ActivRAC, standard HDMS, RaptorRAC, automated vertical storage machines, and ancillary products fulfilling a variety of needs at each of the five locations. Chris was brought into the project by a local ADS rep and he worked with the clients for four years before finally winning the bid this fall. Chris stressed persistence and the value of collaborative partnerships in landing the sale: “Make sure you’re in front of the right people. Stay focused and be willing to adjust to the twists and turns of a long-term, big-ticket project.” This sale resulted in $275,000 Spacesaver net.
Library and Education
Ready to POWER UP your sales of Spacesaver powered mobile systems? We’re here to help! Our latest campaign, The Power of Reliability, shines a spotlight on the long-term reliability of Spacesaver powered systems and puts several new sales tools in your hands. Check out the webinar, a new video, and other collateral. Let’s power up!
As part of our ongoing efforts to keep Spacesaver top of mind in the athletics market, we continue to partner with the American Football Coaches Association to push content out to their members. Mark Haubenschild and Zak Hermans worked with one of their editors on a recent article about keeping coaches and players safe during the pandemic. Check it out!
As you know, we have recently launched a couple of product presentations—meant for you to use as a sales tool when meeting with customers and members of the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) community. We have several more coming through the end of this year and into 2021—with Day Use Lockers launching just this past Friday. Missed the webinar? Don’t worry, you can catch the recording and access the presentation in our Media Room! As always, you can contact Zak Hermans or Hannah Bare anytime with questions, comments, or insights.
K-12 Connections
High fives to Jim Deller of Southwest Solutions Group, who has found success in the K-12 market by building relationships with general contractors and architects and by keeping a close eye on the project award process from beginning to end. Jim recently beat out competitors on a mobile system for a large high school, partly by working closely with the architect to draw up detailed plans, and partly by pointing out to the architect that the lowest-priced bid didn’t meet specifications. The architect insisted that the contract be awarded to SWSG. Great job, Jim! This sale resulted in $70,000 Spacesaver net.
Museum
We know Spacesaver’s Viking Preservation Cabinet 920 Series is the best museum cabinet on the market, and now we’re setting out to prove it. Our recent sprinkler discharge simulation is part of a broader effort to differentiate our cabinets from the competition – using solid data and real testing results to prove it. Watch for an invitation to a webinar (coming soon) where we will roll out these results and a NEW 920 Series product presentation!
We’re also seeking out new ways to support and collaborate with your teams. The museum market is complex, with a long sales cycle, and we want to give you all the tools you need to assist your potential clients. How can we help your team? Contact Ben Adamitus to share your ideas or insights.
Nurturing Existing Clients
Congratulations to John Butler at Axiom, who continues to reap the benefits of nurturing a major client long after the initial sale. His latest sale to the State Archives and Preservation Facility in Madison, Wis., involved working with our team to design custom 920 Series cabinets that would fit on top of the client’s existing Delta cabinets while also avoiding overhead obstructions. The project resulted in $19,600 Spacesaver net.
Marketing Minute
Have photos of your latest project to share? As travel constraints continue, they still restrict our ability to get into the field and capture new photos and videos of our customers and Spacesaver projects. We are looking for fresh/new content to push out via sales tools, lookbooks, social media, and blogs. And, even though our photo contest has concluded, it doesn’t mean you can’t share photos of your latest, coolest completed projects. Simply use our photo submission form and perhaps your customer’s installation will be highlighted in the next Spacesaver video!
Channel development is gaining traction! By now you’ve heard of our channel initiatives in 2020 and how they intertwine with our prioritized vertical markets. But did you know we launched a newsletter in June? Channel 1450 deploys every other week on Wednesdays to more than 5,000 contacts in the AEC community. Check out our most recent issue. Not only is this timely, relevant information, it’s also a tool you can forward to YOUR channel contacts to continue to drive awareness of Spacesaver and stay in front of this audience. Want to get each issue delivered directly to you or have contacts you’d like to get added to our list? Contact Laura Parker to be added.
Save the Date
Below are some dates to put on your calendars. We are also starting to compile our 2021 tradeshow calendar, knowing everyone involved has had to be flexible in these planning efforts. As we know more about in-person and virtual events, we will keep you posted here and will update our tradeshow calendar on SpaceNET.
