R-K
Electronics, Inc.
Cincinnati, Ohio USA
November/December 2003
Sales Tip: Slipping Through the Cracks
Quote
Custom Timer
Amazing Product Application: LLA for High and Low Alarm
Sales Tip:
Slipping Through the Cracks
You want my opinion? Sure! You are losing a ton of business by not following up on obvious sales. The interesting thing is that you never know about business that you lost because you never followed up.
This is kind of like the theory that fools don’t know they’re fools because they are fools. You may have a more “sensitive” example, but you get the idea.
I can guarantee you that you are missing a lot of business that is being offered to you. Why don’t we get around to it?
1. I’ve never called on them before.
2. That’s not in my area.
3. I’m not sure what they want?
4. There was somebody but, gee, I can’t remember who it was.
5. I’ll see about that next week.
6. It’s almost on the top of my list.
7. Bob will follow up on that.
8. Nobody called to remind me.
9. I’ve got to get to a soccer game.
10. It’s on the other side of town.
Pick the response that fits you, or make up your own. We are all letting business slip through the cracks.
• Pay attention.
• Write yourself notes.
• Follow up. Follow up.
• Take a chance.
• Call on a customer to learn something about what you sell.
• Your existing customer will still buy fromyou, even if you miss one sales call.
This is almost as bad as the sales call where you say, “You didn’t want to buy anything today did you.” And the customer answers, “No.”
(Just as you foolishly expected.)
Quote: “When things are not working right and they don’t feel right, they probably aren’t right.” – Rebecca Mark, Former CEO, Enron International
Custom Timer
Custom products make up just over 50% of R-K’s business and, for you the distributor, can mean a good Gross Profit percentage tied into a long term customer commitment.
Here is one example of a custom that R-K has quoted on OR actually received order for.
Weird Timer (On Delay - Off Delay)
In this application the customer was buying a standard product from another supplier, but the supplier discontinued the product.
Bad deal for the customer!
Good deal for R-K and our distributor!
R-K had to match up with the base wiring for field replacements and provide all the adjustments and function as the obsoleted design.
The adjustments included:
• 2 pots to adjust the On time and the Off time independent of each other.
• 2 selectors to select the time ranges for the On and Off times
What is On Delay - Off Delay operation?
First of all we need a continuous supply voltage and a control contact.
When the control contact closes, the On Delay timing begins and the contacts remain in their de-energized state. At the end of the time delay the relay contacts are energized (On Delay function - They delay turning On.)
As long as the Control Contact remains closed the relay contacts remain energized.
When the Control Contact opens the Off Delay timing begins. When Off Delay time ends, the relay contacts are de-energized.
(Off Delay function - They delay turning Off.)
Next time the Control contact closes, it starts all over again. If the Control Contacts do not stay closed for the entire On Delay period, the relay output will not energize. If during the Off Delay timing the Control Contact opens before the end of the timing periond and recloses, the output contacts will remain energized. If supply voltage is removed from the timer at any time, everything drops out.
Need a “different” timer? We can create them. Who said you can’t sell timers!
Amazing Product Application: LLA for High and Low Alarm
You may have seen our Liquid Level Controls in the pumping section of our catalog. This is a product for the monitoring of liquid level, typically water or waste water.
While we have a LLF that has the logic for filling a tank and a LLD with the logic for draining a tank, the LLA is used to sense a Too High or Too Low Alarm condition.
What is so neat about the LLA is that one LLA will provide a signal on both a High and Low alarm!
Here is the operation:
The output relay in the LLA is energized if the liquid level is Too High or Too Low. If the level of the liquid is in the middle, the relay is not energized. As long as everything is operating properly, the relay output is not energized.
Why Low Alarm? Low alarm is usually a concern that there is not enough liquid in the tank to make sure that the pump is pumping. If a pump runs “dry” for a while, the impellers and the pump motor can be damaged.
Why High Alarm? If the tank is filling up , but the pump is not handling the load or is not working properly, the tank may over-fill. If this is a wastewater application and the “stuff” starts running down the street, big problems. The high alarm can notify someone that there is a potential problem.
Related products to the LL series of level controls are the ISR and ISL intrinsically safe relays.
Customers that would be interested in our pumping control products include:
• Your local wastewater treatment facilities
• Pump panel builders
• Pump distributors
• OEMs building machines that use a supply of liquid as part of their process.
• Lift stations
• Customers that use pumps.
Check out the LLA literature on our web site at www.rke.com.
