The heat is finally here. And now it is gone…

Great for business.  Bad for the the lawn, my car and the kids – unless they’re at the pool.

Well, I started the above sentence just in time for Fall to show up.  So….now we’re cooling off and switching seasons.  And starting to travel more.  For me, that usually means 2 or 3 nights on the road per week.  Not too bad for a couple of months – it will taper off around the holidays and then start back up after the first of the year.

What have we been up to?  Launching two or three new products on the refrigeration side of the business.  We’ve also been trying to grow the filter and UV light business, since they have had a few new offerings.

Check them out here: www.glasfloss.com and www.ultravation.com

You’re probably sick and tired of hearing about merchandising, but we’re starting a new push with Supco and Fluke.  You’ll see us in the stores shuffling the displays and taking pictures again – pay no attention, we’re just trying to grow our mutual sales!

Comfortech is next week and we aren’t attending this year.  It only makes sense if our customers are going to be there and it turns out that only a few will be in Atlanta.  Bummer.  So, that means we’re gearing up for the AHR show in Chicago.  Most of our manufacturers and wholesalers will be at the Chicago show, so we’ll need a few weeks beforehand to rest up to be ready to walk 10 miles a day and stay up for a little while at night.

Some other notes:

In a couple of week, we should be able to announce a couple of new product lines that we’ll be representing in 2009.  Nothing stands still in our world.

Nick and I will be playing in the annual GOBS tournament this week in Des Moines.  Three days of golf and glory with some of our customers.  It should be a lot of fun.  If I figure this blog format out, I will try and imbed some pictures of the outing.

Pam and Bill just got back from a vacation in Buffalo, NY with one of our manufacturers and his family.  They came back recharged and ready to hit the streets hard.  Our team feeds off each other, so it is always a good sign when one of us gets amped up.

I’ll write again in a few weeks.  As always, stay tuned to www.halfpennysales.com for new product updates and our new web training!

Over and out.

Brad

Off to sunny Iowa…

Well, I never thought leaving at 5:30AM to drive to Des Moines would be so difficult, but it was.  After an eventful 4th of July weekend in Rayville with my family, I was pretty worn out.  The kids even came down with the flu – which pretty much happens every time I go on a road trip – and my wife and I were getting over our own flu bug of sorts.

I can’t complain, except for the fact that my brother beat me in golf for probably the 10th time in a row.  That will change soon, hopefully.

It was 90 degrees in Des Moines today, which is great news for the Iowa HVAC industry.  The only bad part is that I don’t think it is going to last.  Currently, it is raining outside – just what they need up here.

As in KC, we desperately need about a 3 week heat wave to officially usher in the summer season.  It’s hard to believe that it is already July.  Before we know it, we’ll be talking about Fall and probably complaining more about the cool weather.  It’s funny, before I came into this industry, I would have loved this Colorado-style weather.  Now, I almost dread “nice” weather because I know all of our distributors and contractors are wondering when it will break into something unbearable to all of the end users out there.

On a business note, I am very pleased as to how the PressuRite is being received – both by the wholesalers and contractors.  For those of you not aware, it is a new product line that we have just been releasing to our customers.  You can check out more about it here: www.theproductgroup.net

See you all on the road!

Brad

We’ve got a new home on the web!

This may not sound like a big deal, but the fact that my brother spent the last three weeks of his life learning to design web pages makes it quite an accomplishment.  We hope you enjoy the fresh new look and appreciate any feedback from our customers and friends alike.

As we move into the second half of 2008, we have quite a few exciting things to discuss:

1. New Halfpenny Sales web page.  If you’re here, then you’ve already seen it.  Our goal was to create something that was easy to use and also a valuable resource with excellent information and links on it.  Even though he is my little brother, I still think Nick did a superb job.

2. New product lines.  While we strive to keep our portfolio in a range that is easy to maintain and manage, sometimes new and innovative lines sneak up on you – such was the case with The Product Group (Rite Family).  Check them out at www.theproductgroup.net or find the link on our website.  We have more in the works, so stay tuned.

3.  Merchandising our product lines.  If you’re not on board, you’re missing out on sales opportunities.  We’ll help you merchandise our lines and it doesn’t take up much room.  You WILL move more product.   Once upon a time, I opened a fortune cookie and it read, “if you want to sell more, make it easy to buy.”  True story.

4. Pre-seasons for Fall will be coming along soon, so get pumped up for some great deals!

5. Virtual Sales Calls and Virtual Training. This is a very exciting direction for us and we currently in the final testing stages. More information on this coming very soon!

Other tidbits:

I’d like to congratulate our distributors that came on board with EWC Zoning and Refco this past year.  You all have done an amazing job and we look forward to continued success on those lines.

For those of you that merchandised your stores with Fluke last year, I am grateful for you helping us make our territory one of the best and most visible Fluke regions in North America.  This is an ongoing process, so we will always be focusing on better brand visibility, whether it is Fluke or another one of our lines.

I’ll close my first entry for now.  Please call or write to the Halfpenny Sales Team if you need anything or have questions.

Over and out.

Brad