CalCo NEWS

The Case of the Overloaded Salesperson

Have YOU ever felt like this guy…?

Sometimes salespeople get bogged down with all the numerous products they have to bring on sales calls to meet potential clients. For our clients that currently use our cutaway services, we offer to pair that up with a custom foam fit case to keep the sales force more organized, more professional looking, and add to the longevity of the other part of your sales team…the product!

Here’s an example of how after a cutaway is finished a little extra expense can keep that product, and your sales people, going much farther.

Custom Foam Fit Products Into Case…                          Close the Case, and the Deal…

For information or a quote please contact CalCo at 847/639-3858.  Visit or website at www.CalCoCutaways.com or find us on Facebook.

Lighten Up Your Product Display with Acrylic

Tired of dragging an unnecessarily heavy display around? Looking to lighten up?

Acrylic may be your answer. A new trend at manufacturing trade shows is to combine real pieces or parts with lightweight ones to create a display that shows your product but can be moved more easily and is more focused on the area you want to accentuate. In the picture at left above, this part is usually attached to an engine but bringing an engine would be cost prohibitive and distracting. Customers may be more focused on the engine instead of the part you want to exhibit.  Since the engine is visually represented by the acrylic image in the display, the focus becomes the part itself. The display is easier to move and accurately conveys the message and product your show is directed toward.

The hydrant display is another example of an acrylic display standing in for a heavy and unneeded part of the display. This display would have been unwieldy and potentially dangerous on the base if the real hydrant was attached. With the acrylic hydrant substitute, the focus becomes the shoe at the base instead. The display is lighter and less costly to ship, and safer to exhibit. The part that is the focus and is supposed to be highlighted in the show gets its due without distraction.

Other kinds of products can be used instead of acrylic. Recently we made half a product using a cast part that looks identical to the real part but is 86% lighter. We are currently working on a project in which 50% of the product is not yet in production so using CAD files we have created them from lightweight plastic and incorporated them into the display with the “real” parts. It is hard to tell the plastic parts from the metal parts just by looking but the display is much lighter and it was able to be displayed before the actual parts were even available.

If you need to lighten your load, get a product before your customers before it has completed production or just want to make your display look unique, give CalCo a call. We want to make your product display the focal point of your next show because “Your Product is our Profession.”

Call CalCo at 847/639-3858 or visit or newly redesigned website at www.CalCoCutaways.com for more information.

Find Out How to “Ditch the Pitch” at CalCo’s Complimentary Webinar by Author Steve Yastrow

The tradeshow floor is a busy, noisy place. How do you communicate your story to customers when there is so much to distract them?

Eye-catching displays are an important part of your communication strategy. But you also need to engage your tradeshow customers in meaningful conversations, to help them understand your products and why they should want to do business with you. CalCo has been providing over 60 years of PROUD service to our customers. We pride ourselves on offering the best of the best when it comes to customer service, problem solving and cutting edge products and services and that is why we’re very excited to offer a unique webinar, produced exclusively for our clients.

We would like to invite you to be our guests for a private complimentary webinar called Ditch the Pitch: Communicate Your Story in a Way Customers Can’t Forget, presented by Steve Yastrow, renowned author and close friend of CalCo. In the webinar, Steve will share ideas from his upcoming book, “Ditch the Pitch,” giving you and your sales team clear action-oriented steps to improve your results at tradeshows.

You will learn how to

• “Tear up your sales pitch”
• Engage your customers in effective interactive sales conversations
• Be more spontaneous and quick on your feet
• Make your tradeshow conversations end with your customer looking forward to your next meeting

Business guru Tom Peters said, “When Steve Yastrow writes, I pay close attention.” For more information on Steve Yastrow, have a look at www.yastrow.com, where you can find lots of free articles, and information on Steve’s first two books, “Brand Harmony” and “We: The Ideal Customer Relationship”.

Steve’s Ditch the Pitch: Communicate Your Story in a Way Customers Can’t Forget webinar will be presented on the following two dates:

- Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at 10:30 am CST/11:30 am EST

- Tuesday, August 21, 2012, time to be determined

Please call CalCo at 847/639-3858 if you are interested in attending this exciting webinar.

Believe It or Not, NOW is the Time to Get Your Displays Ready for Fall Trade Shows

Before

After Rework

Before

After

With the spring trade show season in full swing you may wonder why we are talking about the fall already. During and right after a show is the best time to reevaluate your displays and how successful they are at telling your story to your customers. It is also a good opportunity to take a closer look and see whether they need to be reworked or touched up.  Instead of putting them back in the box and back in storage until the next show,  save on shipping by having them sent directly from the show to CalCo.  We  will work on them over the summer and by Fall you will be ready to shine at your next show. CalCo can make your current display look better than ever or we can create a new one.  We can rework, touch up, re-plate, add lighting, add signage, change/add basemounts or stands, repair or replace shippers.  Just tell us what you want to do and we will make it happen!

Even if your display has been damaged in transit like the photos below, CalCo can help. Call us at 847-639-3858 or visit our website or Facebook pages to see how we can help you today.

After

Before

Need an International Shipping Container to Meet Ever Changing Regulations?

International shipping can be complicated due to various countries wood restrictions on incoming containers and constantly changing guidelines. At Calco, we offer two ways to ship your products internationally – heat treating and non-wooden containers.

Exterior Heat Treatable Wooden Shipping Container

Interior Heat Treatable Wooden Shipping Container

Non-Wooden Shipping Container

Some countries still allow wood shippers as long as the wood has been heat treated. In this case we offer steel framed wooden shippers that are durable and long lasting. We heat treat and stamp the shippers so they can meet requirements for countries with this restriction. Heat treating is a great short term international shipping solution but if you are looking for the long term we suggest a non-wooden container.

Non-Wooden shipping containers are steel framed and can withstand the rigors of international shipping but they do not contain any wooden pieces so you can rest easy going through customs. These containers cost a bit more but are recommended if you are shipping to multiple countries or are looking for a long-term solution. Requirements change periodically so with non-wooden shipping containers you do not have to worry about the specific regulations of each country and if they are changing. If you need a shipping container to meet your international needs give CalCo a call at 847/639-3858.

Visit us on Facebook or click for more CalCo contact information.

OTC is Right Around the Corner, Are You Ready?

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is set for April 30-May 3, 2012 in Houston, TX. This is an annual event which showcases the development of offshore resources for drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection. With 2000 booths and an expected 70,000 industry leaders and buyers it should be a great show. As always CalCo is working on displays for the show already. With just 5 weeks to go time is getting very short so if you are looking to add or update a display to your booth call CalCo today!

We offer all kinds of product displays but our specialty is product cutaways and you would be surprised at some of the products that we have been able to cutaway.   The ability to show your clients first hand the internal workings of your product can leave a longer lasting impression than words alone and it enables a better understanding.  At CalCo we are always excited for opportunities to show our expertise, whether it is with products we are familiar with or new challenges that present themselves,  especially in the always expanding oil and gas industry.  From actuators, compressors, valves, to every type of pump, drilling equipment, above ground or underwater we will find a solution to display your product.  Below are some examples of products we helped display:

We will be attending OTC this year too so if you would like us to stop by your booth just let us know.  We can give you some new display ideas and get started on a quote for your product.  We look forward to seeing you and all of the new innovations for 2012.

To contact CalCo call us at 847/639-3858 or click for our contact page.

Trade Show Outlook for 2012

While the economy seems to be picking up and unemployment is on the decline there are still questions about the future of the economy and the outlook for 2012.  For many manufacturing companies there has been a decline in marketing budgets in recent years and the decision whether to invest in attending trade shows has been challenging. Some positive news is finally emerging though.

Recently the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) released their report on the “The Changing Environment of Exhibitions”.  One aspect of the report looked into executives opinions about the importance and benefits of exhibitions and their future.  The result summarized by CEIR Research Director Nancy Drapeau is that  “the overall findings from this study indicate that business-to-business exhibitions are an integral part of a company’s marketing mix today and will continue to be so in the near term.”

Other findings indicate the most important factors when deciding to exhibit are:

Quality of Attendees – 84%
Favorable ROI – 54%
Positive Past Performance – 50%

While much information was gathered we think it speaks well to the 2012 trade shows that “99% of surveyed marketing executives identified a unique value of business-to-business exhibitions that is not provided by other marketing channels. The most popular value is the ‘ability to see a large number of prospects and customers over a short period of time,’ selected by 60 percent of executives.”  With this kind of endorsement hopefully the decision to travel to trade shows will be much easier in the future.

If CalCo can help you with any aspect of your trade show display please call us at 847/639-3858 or contact us.

Join CalCo Cutaways on LinkedIn

CalCo Cutaways has a new company profile on Linkedin.  It is just another way for our customers and friends to find us and keep up with the latest services we offer. Connect with us to see the latest news, new services and the trade shows we are visiting.  You can also connect with our sales team to ask questions and get answers.

Now,  in addition to the old fashioned phone call at 847/639-3858, you can visit our website at www.CalCoCutaways.com, “like us” on Facebook, get an RSS feed from this NEWS site and now join us on LinkedIn.  With so many easy ways to contact us there is no reason not to ask about the new projects on your list.  Get us the details and we can provide some ideas and a free quote.

Eye-Catching Displays Can Make Your Booth More Power-Full

Walking around the show floor at the recent Power-Gen Show in Las Vegas, it is clear an abundance of power solutions are available, and the market is growing.

One of the larger exhibitors at the show, Leslie Controls, Inc. (designer and manufacturer of control valves for over a century – providing ZERO LEAK control valves for the power generation, industrial, marine and oil and gas markets), took advantage of their open booth design by placing product and information at every corner of the booth. The overall look was fantastic and drew in many people to learn more about Leslie Controls, and how their product’s advantages set them apart.

Does your booth offer an opportunity for prospective clients to have a hands-on experience in regards to your products? Sometimes this makes all the difference in the world.

Contact CalCo at 847-639-3858 for help with your booth or product displays.   Click here for more contact information or visit us on Facebook.

On-Site Training Simulators, To Go

Real world training is so important to a product’s performance, longevity and operation. Without the proper tools to make something work correctly, time and money that could have been saved may fly out the window.

Training tools range from in-person classrooms to at-home virtual instruction and everything in between. Many times a simulation needs to be set up, whether with actual equipment or using virtual simulations, and every instance is unique.

In the above shown example, Honeywell came to CalCo with a need for an on-location demonstrator, inside a semi-portable carrying case for easy use during training, and easy storage all other times. By the end, the case was a working representation of a product group that works together in a building. A trainee could walk through the various instances and operations of each mode and test for proficiency.

The case was designed for strength and longevity with 2 wheels on one end and telescoping handle on the other. The removable face plate is texture painted aluminum diamond plate, and fabricated to fit all pieces securely.

When looking into a training simulator for your team, you will need to consider the audience, the location and the information that needs hands-on simulation. This is something your team will make great use of in the education of your employees, distributors, customers, service technicians and sales people. The more people that are familiar with the operation and maintenance of your equipment, the better experience will be had by all.

Click here for email information and be sure to reference this article and the scope of your project.  Or call 847/639-3858.  Find us on Facebook too.