Progressive Distributor - Hints for selling brushes and abrasives

Hints for selling brushes and abrasives

by John Sockman

Picture this. You and your new sales trainee walk into a stainless steel fabricator on your first call on a Monday morning. Right off the bat, one of the supervisors asks you what product would work best for cleaning weld areas on a part your customer manufactures.

Well, Joe, you say, Can you show me the part causing the problem?

Walking to the back corner of the shop, Joe points to six containers and says, Each of these containers holds 200 parts which have been returned by our customer because our salespeople changed the spec without bothering to tell us. See where this rod is welded to this plate? The customer now requires that we clean the whole weld area. We tried some of those nylon buffing wheels. They work OK when the parts are cold, but they melt if we use them on a part that has not cooled down.

Some people are fussy about stainless steel finishes, you say. Has the customer given a spec?

No, replies Joe. They only want to make certain that this discoloration is removed.

How many do you make?

About a thousand per week, answers Joe.

You turn and point to a couple of 8-inch bench grinders on the other side of the shop. Are you using those for anything? you ask.

Not since they closed that TRW plant, Joe answers.

Joe, I think your best bet is to get some stainless steel wire wheels to run on those bench grinders. Theyll clean the surface and work fine on your 3450 RPM bench grinders.

Do you have any wheels in stock I could try? Joe asks.

I think I have a couple of 6-inch wheels in the warehouse you could test. If they work all right, we can order some 8-inch wheels that would work better on those grinders. If its OK with you, Ill make the arrangements with your purchasing department.

After saying your goodbyes and resolving matters with purchasing, you head to your car, trainee in tow. The trainee is impressed and asks how you solved the problem. At this point, you decide that a lesson in technical sales would be appropriate.

Lesson 1: Understand the customers needs
The first step in solving an application problem is to understand the users needs. If you get them started, most users will be happy to tell you about the projects theyre working on. To get them talking, ask questions such as:

What is the application (i.e., surface finishing, deburring, roughening, cleaning, etc.)? Ideally, ask to see the application to get a better understanding.

What is the part shape and work material?

What is the current process?

What are the good and bad features of the current process?

What are the most important process variables (for example, cycle time, part quality/consistency, cost per part)?

Lesson 2: Uncover constraints
After understanding the users needs, you must understand the constraints affecting the solution. To determine this information, ask questions like:

What equipment/tool is being used (portable grinder, lathe, custom-designed equipment, etc.) ?

Ideally, would the customer prefer to take the tool to the workpiece or the workpiece to the tool?

Is the user considering a change of equipment, and if so why?

What is the equipment/tool RPM?

How many parts are manufactured in a day/month/year?

What is the current cost-per- finished-part? Is this an important number?

The answers to some of these questions will be apparent as soon as you walk into the shop. In the example above, you didnt need to ask Joe about equipment because the only fixed tools in the place were bench grinders. They may be willing to buy different equipment in the future, but that wont be Joes decision. His biggest problem is the six containers of parts returned by the customer. By solving that problem, Joe will be more open to hearing future suggestions that require capital.

Lesson 3: Recommend a solution
After you understand the users needs and the constraints affecting the solution, you can begin to put your product training to work. Heres a brief look at some products available today and how theyre used.

Wire brushes. Wire brushes are designed for surface treatment applications. You cant cut through a piece of steel or grind off a weld with a wire brush. But, they work great for cleaning and deburring applications. Another important point to remember about wire brushes is they dont load or melt. Trying to clean a hot surface with any product other than a wire brush is an uphill battle. And remember, when selecting a specific brush, wire size is a factor. Applications requiring conformability require finer wire, which is more flexible.

Nylon abrasive brushes. Sell nylon abrasive brushes to people who do production machining and grinding of steel, cast iron, and aluminum parts. Their machining and grinding processes produce burrs and they need a compliant tool to remove the burrs.

The nylon abrasive brushes cant remove large burrs, however. When in doubt, call the factory for help with product selection. Some manufacturers have labs for processing customer parts and will send a product and process recommendation.

Coated abrasives. If you have a customer who needs to grind off a weld or remove a parting line, dont try a brush. Instead, hell need a product that will rip and tear. Coated abrasive belts, flap discs and the like are made to remove stock. They are not surface-selective, like brushes. Foundries and fabrication shops use coated abrasives for demanding applications.

Non-woven abrasives. Non-woven abrasives can be used for many applications. They are less aggressive than coarse grit-coated abrasives, but are usually more aggressive than nylon abrasive brushes. They are used mostly in finishing applications, such as making hinges, faucets or silverware where the customer desires a specific finish.

Sometimes, you may encounter an application ideal for a nylon abrasive brush, but the available equipment is too fast. When that happens, switch to a non-woven product for use on existing equipment. The non-woven product may not last as long as the nylon abrasive brush, but you can solve the users problem without the added expense of new equipment. And thats the most important technical sales lesson. Your job is to provide complete solutions to customers, not just to push products.

Lesson 4: Seek training
One of the best ways to keep your skills sharp is to take advantage of any product or application training offered by manufacturers. Most suppliers will provide training at your location, but some also offer training sessions at their facility.

Often, these sessions are more in-depth and include more hands-on experience, as well as an opportunity to meet and discuss applications and target markets with the manufacturers technical experts. Although this would mean time away from your territory, in the long run, these training opportunities will increase your comfort level and help you sell.

John Sockman is the power brush market manager for Weiler Corporation.