After a busy January traveling to the Sports Field Management Association (SFMA) Annual Conference in Fort Worth and the Sherwin-Williams National Sales Meeting (NSM) in Orlando, we sat down with Newstripe Sales Director Shawn Hunter to get his thoughts and key takeaways
What are Newstripe customers taking about?
At the SFMA conference in Fort Worth, I frequently heard about a focus on Product Dependability. For busy field maintenance professionals, labor and time management are key to success, and a return to dependable, well-engineered, and easy-to-operate field maintenance equipment is a big part of that. They also seemed excited about our new line of LineRider UTV Mounted Field Stripers that can convert an existing UTV into a powerful riding line striper.
At the Orlando conference, Sherwin-Williams store managers and account reps emphasized the importance of good product information and hands-on assistance from product partners like Newstripe during the sales process. With each Sherwin rep managing hundreds of customer accounts, the fact that Newstripe goes above & beyond to be helpful and make ordering a breeze is really appreciated.
Any emerging trends you are hearing?
With the audience at the two conferences being so different, the emerging trends I heard were also different.
With the field management pros at the SFMA, GPS continues to be a popular subject. I also heard from many attendees about a focus on Product Value. Not every school or athletic organization can or wants to endure the expense of full GPS system and instead rely on budget-friendly day-to-day striping equipment that is easy to use and easy to maintain.
With the Sherwin-Williams store managers and reps at the Orlando show, there was a focus on Pavement Painting Equipment like line stripers & stencils. Over the years, we’ve seen the awareness of Newstripe increase steadily within the Sherwin rep community (even the new reps) as we continue to stand out as a go-to partner for durable pavement stencils and budget-friendly line striping equipment.
What was the highlight of each conference?
A big highlight at each conference is hearing directly from customers and potential customers about how much Newstripe has helped them in crunch times and how we delivered beyond expectations in terms of product quality and shipping speed.
It’s also fun to finally meet customers in person that you’ve developed a phone and email relationship with for months. I really enjoy the people side of this business and getting out in the field to build personal relationships.
Any closing thoughts you’d like to share?
The Newstripe team loves going to partner and association conferences and we look forward to them year after year. It’s a great way to connect with the customers that rely on us on a daily basis and meet new customers that are excited to have a new product line to use.