SJF Among 100 Best Companies to Work for in MN

MN Business 100 Best Businesses to Work For in 2013

SJF is honored to be named on the 100 Best Companies to Work for in MN for 2013.  This list is compiled by Minnesota Business Magazine based out of Minneapolis, MN.

About the Nomination (From MN Business Magazine)

[this award salutes] Minnesota organizations setting the standard for employee well-being. The 100 Best are chosen using data gathered from an anonymous employee satisfaction survey administered by an independent research group. Only the top Minnesotan companies, as judged in areas such as work environment, employee benefits, employee happiness, and leadership, are selected for inclusion in the list.

There will be an award ceremony to honor all of the companies on the list on Thursday, June 6th.

Thanks, MN Business Magazine and thank you SJF employees for making this possible!

You can view the full list of nominees here.

Material Handling Myths, Monsters & Secrets

Rhonda Remer

Hello, my name is Rhonda Remer, and being the newest addition to the SJF project sales team, I’d like to offer some inside perspective from the trenches. I have worked in online sales & support for 6 years and just recently started working in client project sales about four months ago. In my short time in direct sales, I have uncovered 2 simple truths. The first one, I had to learn. The second is a truth that I’d like my customers to learn.

First and foremost though, project sales is harder than it looks. And by hard, I mean time consuming. Don’t get me wrong, the lead opportunities are great at SJF. There’s no shortage of customer interest & quote requests. Whether it’s by phone or email, when I do speak with customers they don’t always know how to put into words what they envision in their minds. The back and forth translation of needs & wants takes a lot of time. There are days where I feel like a child on an Easter egg hunt with an eye patch and a broken hip. It’s not that we don’t have the equipment, (we have loads of equipment!) it’s just that with used equipment, having the exact material at the exact time a customer needs it can be a challenge.

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Top 5 Buying Secrets Industry Insiders Don’t Want You To Know

The material handling industry, as discussed in this article, represents a whopping 50-billion dollar/year business in the U.S. alone. Even so, very few people know everything necessary to make optimal buying decisions. Some people in the industry like it this way, but in this article, I’ll reveal some of the secrets these dealers don’t want you to know. I have been in this industry for over 30 years and I have learned many things that I think you, the customer, ought to know. Though I wont tell you what decision to make, I’ll give you the tools to make the right decision.

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DJ Products – Ergonomic Material Handling

I’d like to take a minute to introduce readers of this blog to a friend of mine in the blogosphere and a fellow Minnesota material handling company.  DJ Products is a Minnesota based ergonomic material handling products company whose line of motorized carts is well known in many industries.  They offer a full line of push carts, a power mover, a tugger, a trailer mover and other ergonomic powered carts to fit a variety of needs within a number of specialized industries.

Their products range from pulling and pushing industrial carts, hospitality & hospital carts and shopping carts all the way to pulling, pushing and moving cars, trucks & trailers.  Needless to say, these carts have some serious power.

In addition to their product line, Jeff authors an industry material handling and ergonomics blog that is full of great tips, industry specific information, case studies and more.  I can highly recommend this blog as an excellent resource for material handling and logistics information.

So do yourself a favor and add this one to your reading list.  You wont regret it.

Link: DJ Products Homepage
Link: DJ Products Blog