Monthly Archives: August 2012

Look for Innovation, and the World Will Beat a Path to Your Door

Coatings, Induron, Induron Values, Infrastructure, , ,
By Linc A. York, Induron Sales Rep, Troy, MO

How do you get the world to beat a path to your door? You know the answer – build a better mousetrap.

When I read this article from Coatings Tech magazine online, I thought immediately of this phrase. The “open innovation” approach discussed in this article is a new spin on what I’ve called “building a better mousetrap” in the coatings industry.  The authors of the piece emphasize how much competitive advantage is gained when we look outside our own company for the best ideas for new and innovative products and applications.

Before we knew what to call this concept, we were doing it here at Induron.  We draw on many sources of information – raw material suppliers, the needs and desires of our customers, new technology we’re seeing in the marketplace, our R&D staff, and of course our sales force – for new product ideas. Then we’re nimble enough to develop, test and launch a product in six to 12 months. Continue reading Look for Innovation, and the World Will Beat a Path to Your Door →

How we’ve gotten more business using LinkedIn – and how you can too

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By Davies Hood, Induron President

Any professional who’s been around social networks these days has heard about the power of LinkedIn when it comes to job hunting and recruiting for positions. But have you thought about what it could do for your company’s sales process?

Here at Induron, we’ve been surprised – and quite pleasantly so! – by the power of this social network tool to help our sales staff be more successful. One of the most memorable examples comes from Tex Enoch, one of our sales representatives, and his LinkedIn profile. An engineer with two water tanks in need of rehabilitation needed to know certain specifications of the paint used on his tank. A search on LinkedIn for “coatings” led this engineer to Tex’s profile. They connected through LinkedIn, and Tex provided the information this engineer needed. And he did such a great job that the engineer asked Tex to speak to his municipal authority on the tank rehabilitation, and also spec the products going forward. If Tex hadn’t had a great LinkedIn profile, who knows if this project ever would have come our way? Continue reading How we’ve gotten more business using LinkedIn – and how you can too →

The Good Old Days are Still Here at Induron

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John Snow (left) & Willie Brown

by David Hood, Induron CEO

An old friend came by the other day and I really enjoyed seeing him. He reminded me of old times and the funny stories which run throughout Induron’s history. I won’t bore you with any of them here, but they are an important part of who we are as a company and as a group of friends.

John Snow, the gentleman on the left in this photo, worked here from 1956 until he retired in 1994. He clearly has good feelings toward his experience or he wouldn’t come by just to talk and re-live old times. Now, 38 years is a long time to be with one company. But the guy to John’s left is Willie Brown, who has been at Induron for 40 years. (We did a profile on Willie a few months ago on this blog.) And Willie’s dad, John, worked here also. Continue reading The Good Old Days are Still Here at Induron →