Ohio Precision Stamping Company Weathers Economy with Strong Sales Rep Network

As the national economy takes tottering steps toward recovery, Service Stampings, Inc., is leading the way with a strong rebound in business.

After just a 17-percent drop in revenues during the worst months of the recession, the Willoughby-based precision stamping and steel fabrication company found renewed success in a very basic business strategy: developing its network of independent sales reps.

"We treat our reps like valued business partners, akin to customers,'' Service Stampings' vice president of sales, Rob Stohlman, said. "It's my job to be an enabler; to do everything I can to make it easy for them to want to sell our products and services."

He credits that philosophy as a major contributor to Service Stampings' ability to avoid the major business losses recently facing so many other manufacturers.

With nine reps covering the Midwest and eastern sections of the U.S., Service Stampings has benefited from the variable cost of sales tied strictly to the commissions earned by their reps. Under this structure, Service Stampings is able to maintain an appropriately sized, active sales force to sustain strong relationships with its current customers while prospecting for new sales.

Service Stampings, founded in 1957, manufactures short- and medium-run metal stampings for the electrical, transportation and other industries.