Raymond Corporation launches new parts program

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Nov 05, 1999 by Allen, Paul

EAST SYRACUSE - The Raymond Corporation Parts Distribution Center in East Syracuse recently announced the launch of a new parts program called LiftPartners.

The new program is exclusive to authorized Raymond Dealers and allows the dealers almost instant access to over 250,000 replacement parts for 2,500 models of lift and pallet trucks from 38 different manufacturers.

Sue Mickle, project administrator for the Raymond Corporation Parts Distribution Center, explains the strategy behind LiftPartners: "The Raymond Corporation has a closed distribution network, meaning we only do business with authorized Raymond Dealers. And in order to provide our dealers with the best service possible and to increase their sales, we had to move more laterally. We know that they're servicing competitive accounts 'and we wanted to be able to provide them with those parts. Our intent was to help our distributors grow their business, and in turn, grow ours as well."

Sales and Marketing Manager Dick LaChance elaborates, "We wanted to give our dealers an opportunity to service other than Raymond trucks. The philosophy behind it was that if they could service other than Raymond trucks, they could also sell their dealership and sell their technical expertise. And when it came time for the customer to buy a new truck, they would remember our quality of product and service and hopefully buy a Raymond."

The LiftPartners program has a large selection of replacement parts and offers online ordering, same-day shipping on most orders, a one-year warranty on parts, and access to a lift-truck parts expert via fax. If a customer buys a part and then finds a lower price somewhere else, he can send the competitor's published and dated price to his LiftPartners dealer within 30 days of purchase and be credited with the difference.

About the future of LiftPartners, LaChance comments, "It's growing; every month we see an increase in sales. We've even hired two outside businessdevelopment reps to foster and further the growth of LiftPartners. One is in charge of our eastern region, everywhere east of the Mississippi and Puerto Rico. The other has everything west of the Mississippi, Hawaii, Mexico, and a portion of Canada. They're there to increase public awareness of LiftPartners and to help the Raymond Dealers increase their business through the LiftPartners program. And it's working fantastically well. It's really exciting. We can't wait to get the figures every month!"

Raymond has included information about its LiftPartners program on a Web site devoted to that program: www.liftpartners.com.

The Raymond Corporation manufactures electric forklift equipment at its factory headquarters in Greene, N.Y., and in Brantford, Ontario. Its distribution and service center is located in East Syracuse. Raymond has been doing business in the Central New York area since 1922. It employs 1,200. A privately held company, the firm does not disclose annual revenues.

James J. Malvaso is president/CEO of the Raymond Corporation, which is a subsidiary of BT Industries AB of Sweden.