Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1311385
PalletCentral • November-December 2020 21 We also dedicated a "thank you" video to our employees for their bravery and willingness to come to work when so many were forced to stay home (on Relogistics.com and YouTube https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=es1fm0UKgOw&feature=emb_logo). We think this made an impact on how appreciated they felt during that time. To keep our facilities and employees safe, we developed a formal Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response plan to manage our COVID response as well as any similar events that may occur in the future. The plan addresses everything from OSHA requirements to sanitization responsibilities. However, the key takeaway from the plan has been education and information for our employees. The plan and our communications allowed us to stay one step ahead of the evolving crisis. Quickly enacting policies and procedures, utilizing external resources when needed, and communicating them to our employees, helped us all understand this is a battle we are fighting together. Ryan Butzman, President, Cresswood Shredding Machinery For Cresswood, the pandemic has been a real catalyst for positive change. We've intentionally looked at COVID-19 as an opportunity to refresh and rebrand ourselves, and having that attitude is essential in fostering adaptation. For decades, traditional capital equipment sales have revolved around handshakes and face-to-face meetings, with travel being the fuel that kept the sales engine humming. With travel restrictions in place and many businesses prohibiting visitors, sales had to quickly implement remote technology or get left behind. Cresswood is a company built on personal relationships, making this transition especially challenging. From the beginning of the pandemic, we integrated Microsoft TEAMS for hosting internal and external meetings. Sales also began heavily promoting video demonstrations, remotely sharing our solutions as a key part of the sales process. Interested clients ship us their material to test, and in short order we capture the entire scope of the grinding process. At the click of a mouse they can view our solution at work, without the expenses, inconvenience, and risks of a plant visit. As the pandemic tightened its grip on the economy, our pipeline contracted and lead volumes declined. Many formally active projects got pushed to the back burner. The silver lining was this forced the team to really embrace our CRM, use it as a tool to prioritize time and resources on the right opportunities. Prior to COVID, there was a shotgun approach to sales opportunities. We've since adopted what I would call a sniper methodology. We work really well together to identify the quality near-term shots on our sales horizon, and then harness the total talent of the team to close a high percentage of those deals. We've also fleshed out a general sales process, including the regular review and refinement of our sales funnel, with visual metrics that tracks our progress on KPI. Glenn Merritt, President & CEO, First Alliance Logistics Management The supply and demand shifts that have occurred during COVID, as well as in the expected post-COVID world, has driven FALM's adaptation to shift pallet inventories to high demand markets in order to support the spike in production of some manufacturers towards the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter of 2020. Certain sectors have realized significant shipping volumes that have fed essential commodities and even newer product lines that have developed from the pandemic era. It is an imperative task to continue to fulfill the pallet needs of shippers to keep products moving within the supply chain. The most effective tactic is adaptability. The business continuity plans developed thus far did not necessarily brace us for the unforeseeable business environment in 2020, although FALM was heavily technology based and seamlessly transitioned with the disbursement of staff members during the mandated quarantine. This experience has allowed our team to plan more and adapt with business continuity plans and implementation. In terms of customer credit lines, FALM has tightened its credit guidelines during the epidemic and mandated prepays for most new customer accounts in the beginning stages. FALM has also practiced the CDC guidelines in combatting the potential for COVID outbreaks in