month
In 2017 we celebrate 40 years in business and already, in the blink of an eye, January is in the rear view mirror and we’re halfway through February. Any of those New Year’s resolutions holding up? Both personally and professionally, January represents that fresh start that allows you to reset and refocus on the coming 12 months. It’s funny though how your work can get in the way of, well, your work. Sometimes the day to day busy of taking calls, helping customers, preparing quotes and getting orders out the door while necessary can keep us from the things we should be doing.
We are halfway through our very trade show-centric 1st quarter, with 4 shows in 10 weeks to start the year. The amount of time that goes into all of the details related to exhibiting at a show is significant. Forgetting about the work done in the 8-12 months before the show, we pack the equipment for the trade show, make the pick-up date, fly to a city, unpack and set up the booth at the show, man the show, break down the booth, ship it home, fly home, catch up on the week you missed, get the stuff back from the show and start all over for the next one. The upside is getting the chance to visit with customers and prospects and get feedback (the good and the bad) on our equipment from existing customers. We also look for feedback from prospects on our equipment as well as what they currently use instead of Hydra-Tech equipment. Oh, and St Louis and Indianapolis are lovely this time of year, so there’s that upside too.
Once the dust clears on the trade shows in early March after ConExpo, we’ll catch our breath and begin to plan travel and training for the rest of the year, evaluate potential shows through the end of 2017 and begin working on those we’re committed to in 2018.