Joseph: A Hard Life-No Coat

Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas 
Everywhere you go; 
Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again 
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow. 

I am not one to decorate or even get excited about this time of the year.  I really am a Grinch.  My wife and kids call me that all the time.  All I have to say is, "everyone has their own heroes and The Grinch and Scrooge are mine". 

The stores are too crowded.  People are mean as can be when reaching for the last of the "Tickle Me Elmo" or whatever is the latest craze-toy.  Then those same people drop money in the Red Kettle with a huge smile.  In my part of the country it snows...that's it...it snows and I hate snow.  I blame Santa since he seems to need it to land his sleigh.

Well, that is how I used to think anyway.  I now have a grandchild and that changes everything.  I love all three of my daughters, but a grandchild...it seems different and I am not sure why.  It is a mystical feeling that brings a different kind of love for a grandchild than for your own kids.  Not more love, not better love just a different love.  Anyway, this little guy has turned the world I live in upside down.  I am reminded nearly every day of how cool the simple things are in this world.  He gets excited when we turn a light on...and with the Christmas tree lights, he just can't contain himself.  The pure awe of different colored lights, Santa, decorated trees, and all things pretty.

I got to thinking maybe this is how I need to start looking at the world.  As if everything is new and exciting.  Seeing the beauty in things rather than the bad.  I mean, snow IS beautiful.  Just don't tell my wife I said that last sentence.

If you can't find the beauty then find the humor.  Let me just say one word here to make my point--Giraffe!  Oh come on, they are funny looking and you laughed. 

I guess the point is, be the person you always wanted to be when you grew up, but always hold on to kid who dreamed the dream.

Can I issue a small challenge to you this season?  In honor of the 12 Days of Christmas, could you do 12 nice things for someone who could never repay you?  Just a thought...let's help others see the good in this world.

So, this note has nothing to do with selling  products.  But it does have to do with all of us here at the McConnell wanting to wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas season and the eyes of a little child to see the world in a different way- through the eyes of a babe.

Merry Christmas!

A LITTLE STORY ABOUT JACK AND EACO CHEM

A LITTLE STORY ‘BOUT JACK AND EACO CHEM

I recently read a quote from Benjamin Franklin. This is a quote I had heard a million times, but this time it made more sense…or did it make more cents? 

Last week a young man came to our offices looking for a product to fix his problem.  Let’s call him Jack.  The house Jack was cleaning needed something more than he was using so he came to us for the answer.  Jack stood in our lobby and told us all about what this “stuff” looked like and what he was using and then he said “what do I use to get rid of it?” 

Since we could not see the issue, we could only advise him to take a couple different samples of EaCo Chem products and run a few tests.  Jack left and returned to the job site and began his testing and found the solution was one of our products.

Jack climbed into his van one more time and drove back to our office to purchase the solution to this now solvable problem.  Lynn Peden, owner of EaCo Chem, and a contractor for many years spoke with Jack about the importance of being prepared by having the right products in the van. Jack drove away to finish the job with a product that worked and both Jack and his customer were very happy with a job well done

There could have been a happier ending than this one.  Jack could have had in his van a simple bucket with 7 or 8 different EaCo Chem products in pint containers to use for testing.  It would have saved Jack a lot of time and as Benjamin Franklin said, “Time is money”. 

Let’s quickly recap Jack’s day…go to job…leave job…go to job…leave job…go to job to finish.  I am tired just typing it out.  All that travel time, all that gasoline, and all those man hours.  If he would have had an EaCo Chem test bucket he would have known what he needed when he first arrived at the job.  Ka-ching!  “A penny saved is a penny earned”, another great quote from Ol’ Ben.

Let’s say you are working on a building an hour away from your shop and someone walks up to you and says, “Can you come by the office and take a look at my building?”  Would you be ready to sell or would you need to drive all the way back to the shop just to come back to the same spot later or would you rather stop by on your way back to the shop and do a quick test?  Which will save you more money?  Which makes the most sense?  Which one says, “I am a professional”?

A professional is always prepared.  Be professional, have a variety of EaCo Chem products on hand at all times.  Because having the wrong products in your bucket could lead to failure.  Failure leads to not winning the job, which leads to no money.  So, I guess that shows that failure makes no cents! One recommendation is to carry our Complete Cure Kit with the addition of Heritage Restorer, SOS 50, Acrylistrip, and Instrip as well.  In another bucket you might want to carry Instrip, Polish Stone, GrafEx, and Stripper Cream.  You are the professional; you can build this bucket to your regional needs and/or company specialties but carry buckets. I guess then to make more cents, you need to make more sense in your approach to unexpected opportunities.  Be prepared for anything and you can get any job.

I WAS AFRAID OF COWS...

I WAS AFRAID OF COWS…

My older brothers, all four of them, were unique in many ways.  But they all had the same approach to “watching” Kev when Mom and Dad needed them to do so.  One would set me on top of the cows as he milked them, another would hang me by my belt on a doorknob so he could play backyard football and I was even bungee strapped to a tree during the neighborhood whiffle ball game.  When it came time to learn to ride my bike they were united on one thing for the training-no training wheels.  So they loaded me on my hand-me-down bike and gave me a gentle shove down the old gravel road we lived on with only one piece of advice-“don’t wreck”.  I remember thinking, “This is going to hurt”.  You know what, I was right.   

Well, we here at EaCo Chem are not going to send you down a gravel road without some training.  We do not want you to crash and burn, we want you to succeed.   Success with our products depends on your understanding of the process.  With EaCo Chem the process is very important.  Our products are designed to work best when used as instructed.  I know our process seems to be way too simple, but isn’t that a good thing?  I mean, it isn’t “For best results squeeze from bottom up”, but it is really quite simple.

I know that the standard thought is that in order to get the best results it will take hard work because nothing in life is easy.  Well, we like to say, “Work smarter, not harder”.  We have the products that will allow you to work smarter, quicker and better. 

On the homepage, www.eacochem.com  is some really good training videos check them out.  I know you will find them to be extremely beneficial to your business.   

We often get calls at the office from contractors who need to know what to use and how to apply our products.  So here is some help on the subject.  Products.  Yep, it is that simple!  Go to our homepage online and right there it says products.  Just click on that link and then click again on the product you need instruction and there is the MSDS and Data Sheet. 

Do you have a problem and want to know which EaCo Chem product will solve it?  Just go the home page and click on Pocket Reference you have a detailed list of issues and solutions right there at your fingertips.

You will notice that an EC Jet is really the biggest help you can have when working with NMD80. As a matter of fact, it IS the process for NMD80.  The EC Jet is what you need to effectively apply NMD80.   I am telling you, it is that easy. 

By the way, it took me years to get over my fear of cows.  Oh, and for those who are wondering, I have kids and they had training wheels on their bikes so they could learn to ride, even if I wasn’t right there with them at the moment.  I am such a nice Dad.