Few distributors take on new challenges as effectively as Blaine Brothers.
In less than 40 years the company has grown from two brothers with one service truck into a 220-employee operation with a 24/7 on call mobile service fleet, three parts and service locations with retail parts departments, five stand-alone service locations, two trailer sales locations, a truck alignment facility and Hydraulic Specialty, Inc.—a hydraulic- focused distribution and repair business.
The growth comes from the company’s commitment to its satisfying it customer base, says Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kevin McCarty. Blaine Brothers will do whatever it takes to better serve its customers, and when that means expanding into an area of need, the company is more than willing.
“We want to be able to take care of our customers as soon as they walk through our door. And we want to be able to provide any service that customer is looking for,” he says.
But a willingness to expand doesn’t mean the company jumps forward blindly into new opportunities.
Dean Dally, president and owner at Blaine Brothers, says the company’s expansion success is the result of careful preparation and research. While Blaine Brothers is open to any growth opportunity, Dally says it won’t actually move forward on a new venture until it has mapped out exactly how to proceed.
That’s one of the reasons it has been so successful to this point, he says. Blaine Brothers doesn’t step out on a ledge without a safety rope.
“We work hard managing growth opportunities and try to keep our arms around everything that is going on,” he says.
This year that management has come in the area of technology.
After years of planning, Blaine Brothers is in the midst of a substantial overhaul to its phone, website and computer systems.
McCarty says the changes will allow Blaine Brothers to better communicate with new and existing customers, streamline the flow of information from both sides and ultimately increase the speed in which Blaine Brothers fulfills customer requests.
The company also has introduced a new customer fleet management system product. Proposed by an existing customer looking to outsource its maintenance headache, Blaine Brothers worked with its customers to build the processes and software of the new system, says CFO Mike Gray.
The system debuted with that customer as a beta test in May.
After years of cultivating autonomy and authority within his management team, Dally says he’s enjoying watching that hard work pay off.
“For a long time I felt like I knew pretty much everything that was going on around here. Now I feel like I only know a speck of what’s going on,” he says. “At times it can be little concerning—we don’t want to lose control—but at the same time it is fantastic.
“Our guys are willing take the bull by the horns and I love that. I love seeing things happening; bringing more value to the table.”
