World Plumbing Day

World Plumbing Day

March 11th is set aside each year to spread awareness of the importance of plumbing and plumbers. At Sonnhalter, we have a great appreciation for plumbers and the work that they do. Today, we will be sharing some plumbing facts to promote the practice and why it’s important.

Did you Know That Plumbing Improves the World

  • Standardized plumbing can be traced back to around 3,000 B.C
  • Over 1 billion of people gained access to piped water supplies between 2000 and 2015
  • About 0.3% of homes across the country have a minor plumbing leak
  • The global population of people who used safely managed sanitation services increased from 28% in 2000 to 39% in 2015
  • A 4-minute shower can now use as little as 24 liters of water
  • The dual system toilet flush, created in a small town in Australia in 1980, now uses as little as 4.5 liters of water

Today we salute the ones who keep everything flowing, and not overflowing. Thank you to the dedicated plumbers who answer the call and don’t recount the tales of what they’ve pulled out of pipes.

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The Basics of UTM Codes

The Basics of UTM Codes

By Kaylee Lauriel, PR Intern

The future of digital marketing is here, and it goes by UTM Codes. UTM codes, or Urchin Tracking Module, are snippets of code attached to the end of a URL and are used to pinpoint specific source of traffic to a website. Using these codes is essential to understand how effective your marketing is.

Five UTM Parameters

There are five parameters to every UTM code that are necessary to track different aspects of your marketing campaign.

  1. Campaign Source – the source of your traffic such as website name, search engine or social network.
    1. UTM Parameter example: &utm_source=facebook
  2. Campaign Medium – tracks what type of traffic the visitor came from such as email, social media

or cost per click.

  • UTM Parameter example: &utm_medium=email
  • Campaign Name – enables you to track the performance of a specific campaign, such as differentiating traffic between different Facebook Ad campaigns.
    • UTM Parameter example: &utm_campaign=summer-clearance
  • Campaign Term – tracks relevant ad-based keywords to help identify which keywords resulted in a site visit.
    • UTM Parameter example: &utm_term=sports-equipment
  • Campaign Content – distinguishes between ads pointing to the same URL to determine what someone clicked on to get to your site.
    • UTM Parameter example: &utm_content=navlink

The Whens and Whys of UTM Tracking

Use UTM codes to better evaluate promotional campaigns. Tag every advertisement of your campaign with these UTM codes to see what type of content best resonates with your target audience. By using UTM parameters, you will be able to see what ads drive more traffic to your website and evaluate what will be appealing to potential customers. By using UTM codes, you will be able to refine your entire marketing strategy and create even better ads that bring more traffic to your website.

UTM codes allow you to track where traffic is coming from and find the right channel for your audiences to help properly measure each campaign’s ROI. In order to understand if your marketing is successful or not, UTM tracking is a must.

UTM Tracking Tips and Tricks

Creating your own UTM parameters can be tedious and overwhelming. Follow these tips and tricks to make sure you’re not making life harder for yourself or your team.

  • Use a pre-determined naming system

Long lines of code can be bafling at the best of times. Come up with an agreed-upon format for each of the five parameters and ensure that your team comprehends what they mean.

  • Use simple language

Use language that is easy to understand and doesn’t go deep into company jargon. Remember that your audience will see the codes you use and they will need to understand what it means as well.

  • Remember that UTM parameters are case-sensitive

It is recommended to use all lowercase to make things easiest for you and your company. One accidentally capitalized letter could mean all the difference when trying to track information for your campaign.

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20+ Industrial Maintenance Training Resources

20+ Industrial Maintenance Training Resources

With the ongoing concern about our nation’s skills gap, the option for choosing an education to pursue a vocational career is certainly an attractive one. With plentiful skilled labor jobs to fill, trade jobs pay very well (sometimes better than four-year college degrees) and don’t saddle students with hefty student loans.

In an article from SJVC, a private career college, they discuss more than 20 resources for maintenance training. With a variety of resources, you can expand your knowledge about the industrial market and explore your career options.

General Resources and Publications

Sometimes the best place to learn more is by reading more about it. By reading publications that correspond with the industrial market, you can learn more about what’s happening in the industry and about tips and tricks.

Video Series

Watching videos is a great way to do online training and gives insights on the daily work a maintenance worker might be doing. You may also expand your knowledge by watching training videos that can allow you to get an overview of the job and the tools you would be using.

Podcasts

Podcasts offer crucial information from someone who works in the career firsthand. Putting on a podcast is a great way to hear day-in-the-life reporting and an easy way to listen to tips.

Social Media

Social media is a valuable place to get recommendations, learn industry news and see insight into the career you want to enter. Social media can also help you look at a specific company and show you what they do in a day.

Check out the article from SJVC to see further in depth about each of these training resources.

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Are Hashtags Still Relevant in 2024?

Are Hashtags Still Relevant in 2024?

By Kylie Stanley, PR Technician

The first ever hashtag was used in 2007, almost 17 years ago and since then hashtags have become a crucial part of social media. But with hashtags being 17 years old, are they still relevant to use? In this blog post, we will discuss whether your company should use hashtags and their importance.

The short answer is yes, hashtags are still relevant to use, but it’s vital to understand the benefits they possess.

Graphic of cartoon man with laptop sitting atop a hashtag with social media flags

Reaching potential customers

Hashtags allow for your target audience to find your brand by searching for appropriate hashtags. Searching and following specific hashtags allow for users to find your posts, which can help to grow your following and get potential new business. When using hashtags, make sure you’re using hashtags that are specific to your brand. This means that the people searching for these hashtags will be a more interested and engaged audience.

Social listening

Custom hashtags help to create a more well-rounded marketing strategy. By making something unique and specific to you and your brand, you can generate user-generated content when your customers use that hashtag. Hashtags also can give insight to customer behavior and help brands understand your audience better. Social listening tools can help you track hashtags related to your brand or products to identify the positive and negative conversations from your customers.

By social listening, you can also track relevant influencers within your niche that you could send products to.

Increasing organic reach

Using hashtags can increase your organic reach on social media platforms. As previously mentioned, hashtags help your content be seen from potential customers. Social media algorithms can also work to your advantage when using hashtags. The algorithm looks at every piece of content posted to the platform in order to prioritize the content to its users based on if it’s appealing or interesting. This includes looking at hashtags, the engagement of the post, caption and if it’s a photo or video.

If you still are not using hashtags to your advantage, then now is the time! You don’t want to miss out on potential customers that are easy to reach. Using hashtags correctly can play a key role in your marketing strategy and social media content. We don’t see hashtags going anywhere anytime soon, so make sure to incorporate them into your plan.

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The Times They Are A-Changin’

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Guest Blogger, Alan Sipe

Each month, Alan Sipe, a contributing editor for Professional Distributor magazine, writes a sales skill article targeted to the independent business people who own and operate the various branded tool trucks you see parked at automotive repair shops everywhere. 

A few weeks ago, my friend Rick sent me the following email which shocked the heck out of me.

Hi Alan,

I started using the new Microsoft Edge browser which has the ChatGPT AI built into it. It has a “compose” section where you put in what you are interested in and have it write a paragraph or two on the topic. So, I entered “teach people how to sell tools” and here is the output after about 10 seconds:

Do you want to learn how to sell tools like a pro? Do you want to boost your sales and earn more money? Do you want to impress your customers and make them loyal to your brand? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this is the guide for you!

Selling tools is not just about showing the features and benefits of your products. It’s also about understanding the needs and wants of your customers, building rapport and trust with them, and creating a memorable experience that makes them come back for more.

In this guide, you will learn how to:

  • Identify your target market and their pain points
  • Research and select the best tools for your niche
  • Craft a compelling sales pitch that highlights the value of your tools
  • Demonstrate your tools in action and overcome objections
  • Close the deal and follow up with your customers

By following these steps, you will be able to sell tools like a pro in no time. You will also enjoy your work more and have fun along the way. So, what are you waiting for? Grab your tools and start selling!

For those of you who read this column, this ChatGPT output sounds exactly like the point of all the columns I have written over the last 4-5 years. Let’s break down this guide step-by-step and really dive into how to make that sale because, at the end of the day, you can ask AI for as much help as you want, but if you’re not putting in the hard work with your customers, it won’t matter.  

Identify your target market and their pain points

Pay attention to your customers. Find out what the hard parts or time-consuming tasks of their job are and show them solutions.

For example: “I am told that reaching the fasteners way down deep in a BMW steering column is difficult. I think our 24” Torx screwdriver will help you get down in there quickly and easily.”

Research and select the best tools for your niche

This sounds like simple logic, but just because a tool is on promotion this month is no reason to show a bodywork dolly to an alignment specialist.

Craft a compelling sales pitch that highlights the value of your tools

Feature, advantage, benefit selling is the way a professional salesperson ensures success.

A sales presentation that includes only the features and the advantages is only half a professional presentation and in reality, not the important half. The personal benefit to this individual is why they buy and the key to closing the deal.

An example of only feature and advantage presenting: “The protective steel in these work shoes not only protects your toes but unlike many other protective shoes on the market the steel in these shoes comes way up and protects most of your arch.” 

An example of feature, advantage, and benefit presenting: “This means that when something very heavy falls on your foot these shoes protect your arch as well as your toes, so your chance of a serious foot injury disability is reduced significantly.”

The last bit is the benefit. This is what gets the prospect turned on about your shoes.

Demonstrate your tools in action and overcome objections

Give a complete demonstration showing the features, advantages, and benefits in logical order. A logical order helps you remember where you are in your demonstration when interruptions in your presentation occur. Also, if you present the most important features first you will run out of things to say pretty quickly.

Be prepared for all the likely objections which will probably come up. Build them into your presentation so you are in control.

For example: “There are grinders available with both slower and faster speeds than mine. Our world-famous engineering people researched these grinders and developed a product that will do your job and also give you excellent disk life which I’m sure is what you’re looking for, isn’t it?”

Close the deal and follow up with your customers

I recently was asked to give a “sales skills” seminar in Dallas for an automotive aftermarket distributor with a team of seasoned professional salespeople. Although this team doesn’t drive around in a mobile store like you, they are out there every day calling on customers. Here’s what I told them about my experience as a salesperson and closing the deal: 

I was fortunate that my first real sales job was selling office copiers back when most companies didn’t own a copier. (Yea, yea, I’m old!) Every morning, five days a week, before we hit the road to make our 20 cold calls, we would give a training product demonstration to the entire local sales team. These guys were brutal. The slightest product mistake or, god forbid, a missed closing opportunity brought howls and boos from the others. Believe me, you learn to ask for the order in that environment.

Closing the deal should be the easiest part of your selling day. If you give a great demonstration — feature, advantage, benefit — with lots of trial closing, asking for the actual order should be soft, smooth, and effective.

Now, circling back to the title of this article. It comes from the 1964 Bob Dylan hit, “The Times They Are A-Changing.”

You better believe that your selling world is changing. If my accountant friend can produce this good sales presentation in a few seconds just think of what one of your online or local competitors can whip up with a little technical Chat GPT training.

You need to make your calls, demo greatly, sell hard, close hard, thank your customers for their business every day, and then do it again tomorrow!

Now go sell something. 

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