Founded in 2011 and acquired in 2018, Azusa Safety, Inc. is a family-owned safety glove manufacturer based in California. After more than a decade in business, they had their eye on growth, but the one-person sales team struggled to achieve it.
So, they did what anyone with a problem in the 21st century does: They went online. Five minutes later, they were on the phone with Durrie Sales President Patrick McKeever.
“From the very first time we started talking, I could just feel the team aspect that Durrie brings with them and how they really focus on working together with their principals and bringing us in and supporting us.”
— Ryder Borre, VP of Sales, Azusa Safety, Inc.
Challenge:
Lack of Manpower, an Eye on Expansion
The family-owned company only had one full-time sales employee: VP of Sales Ryder Borre. Ryder had tried to hire more in-house sales staff to help but struggled to find the right person. Instead, he found himself shouldering the company’s sales goals solo, leaving Azusa straining to expand and reach its sales potential. Notably, Azusa was only selling private-label products to manufacturers in the Midwest, and they were eyeing the Chicago area to begin selling their own branded products.
Solution:
A Ready-Made Network
Partnering with Durrie allowed Azusa to benefit from Durrie’s extensive network of relationships, professional sales representatives, and outstanding reputation to increase leads and close more sales. Having Durrie in the field suddenly made it possible to capitalize on sales opportunities.
In one memorable instance, Durrie Technical Outside Sales Representative Dan McVicker visited an end user in the aerospace industry who had just experienced a reportable hand injury that day and was desperately looking for a solution to prevent future injuries. The end user was under new ownership, and the gloves they had been using did not meet the new safety requirements of the new parent company.
Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Dan used his technical expertise to understand the end user’s evolving safety requirements. He recommended a customized solution: Azusa gloves, which perfectly met the end user’s strict safety standards and cost much less than what they had been using.
Incidentally, by introducing this product to the company, Dan created a fantastic opportunity for the unique distributor as well, enabling them to meet their end user’s needs and add a lucrative new line of safety gloves to their catalog.
The result? A three-way win: Azusa expanded its market reach and gained a significant new client, the distributor added a profitable product line, and the end user received superior products that ensured safety and cost savings.
“The end user said, ‘We’re tired of dealing with the threat of injuries, do you have a solution?’ and I said, ‘Not only do I have a solution, but I have some in my car’ and I dropped the gloves off. I was glad to be able to share the right product at the right time.”
— Dan McVicker, Technical Outside Sales Representative, Durrie Sales
Azusa got one other big benefit. Long looking for a Chicago-based warehouse, their relationship with Durrie allowed them to ship from Durrie’s convenient location near O’Hare airport, so they could finally distribute their own products in the Midwest and into the Eastern U.S. and serve their new customers more efficiently.
Results:
Results: Expanded Territory, Increased Sales
Not only did Durrie increase sales and expand territory for Azusa, but the relationship also resulted in better, safer products at a lower price for many of Azusa’s new end users as well. The company Dan happened to visit right after a hand injury, for example, saved over $30,000 by switching to Azusa. And Durrie introduced Azusa to a new industrial distributor to help serve that end user, an important win for Azusa, who had previously worked with local distributors. This sets them up to further penetrate the industrial market and expand their market presence and visibility without the need for additional in-house staff.
The warehousing partnership is also key. Using Durrie’s warehouse has allowed Azusa to cut the shipping lead time for deliveries in their new Midwest market and improve overall inventory management. Since this was a huge item on Azusa’s wish list, they’re thrilled that Durrie is now helping them warehouse in the region without the need to find their own facility.
After working with Durrie for over a year, Azusa is thrilled with the relationship and is considering contracting Durrie to handle its entire U.S. sales.
“I got extremely lucky because Durrie has been the ideal solution. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than the relationship that we’ve formed together. It was like I waved my magic wand and I fortunately got Durrie.”
— Ryder Borre, VP of Sales, Azusa Safety, Inc.
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