The Hytrol Story

feel a particular company would do enough business for Hytrol. And, although the dealers now had somewhat stricter guidelines to adhere to, Hytrol still maintained their “handshake and a promise” policy when it came to setting up new dealerships. Sam still did a lot of traveling, but now it was for Hytrol. Sometimes, he would look in the telephone books of the particular city he was visiting and seek out the conveyor dealer who, in his best estimate, was the best conveyor distributor in the territory. Often times, he would gauge the company purely on the size of their telephone book ad! Many times, he went by his instinct and would contact a distributor and schedule a visit. And sure enough, these dealers were usually one of the strongest conveyor distributors in their territory. When he was able to schedule a visit to the company, Sam would tell the Hytrol story and do his best to convince them to try Hytrol. This was the way Sam began to set up new dealers. Sometimes it was relatively easy, because when the salesmen heard the Hytrol story they became motivated and began selling the Hytrol line. Other times, it took longer for him to convince the dealer to allow him a sales meeting. Sometimes, he was unsuccessful. Sometimes it took a year. One dealer in particular represented another large conveyor manufacturer and was reluctant to allow Sam to conduct a sales meeting with their salesmen. When they finally did, and when they heard Sam’s Hytrol story, they, too, were motivated. Soon, this company was a Hytrol dealer. Sam also contacted the Colson distributors in Indianapolis, Charlotte, Atlanta, Reading, Seattle, and California. They were all ready to continue selling the same Hytrol conveyors they had previously been offering under the Colson label. And they understood and knew they’d be selling them without the former Colson 50 percent discount. It wasn’t an issue with any of them because they were quite familiar with Hytrol’s quality. To them, that was the most important thing. As 1961 came to a close, and without Colson’s business, sales dropped slightly. As Hytrol moved into 1962, sales began to pick up. The sales volume was increasing gradually. The West Allis plant was becoming a little small, and there was no more room to expand. Tom, Chuck, and Sam knew a larger plant facility was needed.