Distributor Certification Questionnaire

Transcription

1 Distributor Certification Questionnaire In order to take the test you must download and print both this questionnaire and the blank answer sheet. Write your answers on the answer sheet so that you only have to fax one page to us instead of the entire questionnaire. This questionnaire is basically a teaching aid and the answer sheet is a means of assuring us that you have visited all the sections and understand the way the website is laid out. The test has 6 sections, first an overview of the homepage and tool bar with an explanation of the basic tools available to you and then an examination of the contents of each of the 5 product groups. Now load the Advance Lifts homepage onto your computer screen so that you can do the key strokes and follow along. Let s get started. The company homepage is the only page that does not have a page number in the lower right hand corner of the page. Those page numbers were created to make it easier for the web design team to identify pages. The numbers and letters signify which product group and which layer the page belongs to and you do not need to know the system, but the answers to some of our questions are simply identifying the page number in the bottom right corner of the web page that we are talking about. The print version of each page is the same number with a small p as a suffix. The mighty Print Now button: When this site was created each page was created in duplicate. The first page is the screen page you view on the computer which includes the tool bars and the value statements at the top and bottom of each page. The second version is a clean print copy of the page without the extraneous tool bars and other items required for the internet. The print copies will print nicely in color to look like standard catalog pages and will also print in black and white if you do not have a color printer. If you wanted to, you could print out an entire 5 product group catalog that looks like our old printed catalog, but far more extensive. How the Print Now button works: When you press the print now button, a clean PDF will replace the web page and an adobe control bar will light up on the bottom center of the screen. The tool bar fades in a second or two but reappears if you move your cursor to the bottom center of the page. On some computers you will have an Adobe tool bar appear on the top or side of your screen. In either case, the tool bar contains a printer icon for printing and an icon for saving the clean PDF page or pages. There is also an adobe icon on the right of the bar which allows you to the PDF page. When you click the icon an tool bar will either appear on the right side of your screen or on a new tool bar on the top of your screen. You can then add an address, a text message and then send the clean print page to your customer. Different computers may have alternate procedures available, but the important thing is that the print now button provides a clean PDF document to work with. Master this and you can be super responsive to your customer, with many useful pages on the website. The other tool bar titles on our website are fairly self- explanatory. The Service Information title includes all of our Service Manuals which can be down loaded and printed 24/7. The Video and White Paper titles list all of those items, but you can also get to them from the home page for each of the respective product groups. 1

2 Administrative questions: 1. What is the most powerful button in the Advance Lifts homepage tool bar? 2. Which Advance Lifts value statement do you prefer: Top: Lower Cost Due To Longer Life Or Bottom: More Life Per $ Spent 3. Which tool bar title contains all of our down- loadable service manuals? 4. Name the 5 product groups on the Advance Lifts homepage. 5. Is your office contact information correct under our Find Distributor title? 6. Is your company website linked to Advance Lifts website so that we can put a link to your website under our Find Distributor title? (A customer on our website may prefer to go directly to your website before calling you.) Dock Lift Products On the Advance Lifts homepage clicking on the Dock Lift photos will open the Dock Lift homepage. Do this now. Please scroll the whole page to see what is available and then we will discuss each topic separately. (Hint: Once we descend into the linked pages, the back arrow on your computer screen is the quick way to move back page by page rather than hitting Home and jumping all the way out to the home page. There are 4 or 5 layers on some paths and you may only want to back up 1 or 2 layers.) The first icon on the Dock Lift homepage is Why Use Dock Lifts which is a piece that we have used both as an advertisement and as a mailer. It is something you may wish to send to a potential dock lift customer. Please click on this page, scan it to understand its message and then return to the Dock Lift home page. The next icon is our White Paper on selecting a dock Lift. This is something that can be printed or ed to your potential dock lift customer. Please give it a quick review now and then return to the home page. The Recessed Dock Lift section is loaded with information and where you need to go to pick an actual model for your customer. The first step down provides a page that allows you to choose which series of lifts is appropriate for your customer needs. Click on this link and note that each series has symbols for the types of loading equipment that will be used with the corresponding equipment. The capacity range is also given. For the moment we would like you to click on the link to the T Series lifts. This page can be printed or ed to your customer so that he can see his entire range of choices within the series. We reproduced the selection charts that show all of the models and platform sizes just as we had in the old catalogs, but added some more features. Now scroll down to the model T and click on it. This will bring you to a page that has the exact specifications for that specific model lift. As a minimum, anytime you send a quote to a customer for a dock lift, we believe you should send a copy of the corresponding product page, such as this T page. It includes a picture of the lift, the basic specifications and the features that set our equipment apart from the competition. As you scroll down the page you will come to a line that starts with CLICK HERE FOR. Next to the word DRAWING are two boxes with the letters PDF and DXF. If you click on the PDF box you will get (3) PDF 2

3 drawings for this model that includes a lift drawing, electrical schematic and a hydraulic schematic. These can be printed out and given to your customer or to the contractor. The DXF button contains a DXF version of these drawings that can be downloaded by architects with CAD programs so that they can be incorporated into their drawings. If you do not have a CAD program, then this download is of no value. (Note: The 3000 and 4000 series lifts only have generic fill in the blank drawings at this time, but will be updated as drawings become available) The next item on the CLICK HERE line is Pit Diagram. This will give you a simple perspective drawing of the pit and the dimensions can be filled in using the specification chart on the previous page. The next item is Specifications and after clicking on this button you must click on the Print Now button which will download a word document that includes both a short form specification and long form specification format. You may fill in the blanks on either word document using the chart information and then print it or post it to the architect s specification documents. The final item on this CLICK HERE FOR line is the Optional Accessories button which takes you to several pages of accessories with pictures, just as it was laid out in our printed catalogs. This too can be printed out or ed to a customer using the Print Now button. As you can see, 95% of the information you or your customer will ever need when buying a dock lift is at your fingertips on this website. Now, please use the back arrow button on your computer to back up to the dock lift homepage. Move your cursor to the Top of Ground Dock Lifts photo and click down to those products. You will note that the same system and pages that were available on the Recessed units are also available here. Please take a moment to drill down to a single product sheet on your own. The page layout is exactly the same as for the recessed units. Questions for the Dock Lift section: (Start on the Dock Lift home page and click down to the appropriate pages to answer the following questions.) 1. What is the bottom right hand page number for a model 6868 product page? 2. How many item numbers are on the Installation Site Survey Checklist? 3. What is the bottom right hand page number for Common Questions about Dock Lifts? 4. How many years is the warranty for dock lift electrical and hydraulic components? 5. How many years is the structural warranty for dock lifts? 3

4 Production Tools Now starting on the Advance Lifts home page let s click on the Production Tools photo and visit that group homepage. The first section to visit on this home page is Product Selection Requirements. Please print this section and keep it as a reference or refer to this page whenever you are talking to your customer about his product needs. Answer all the questions on this page before contacting the factory for a quote and you will save a lot of time ing or calling back and forth. These are the questions we will be asking to be sure we are choosing the proper equipment for the customer s application. This is basic and necessary information. The next icon is for Palletizers & Self Leveling Lifts. Click on this link to see what is available. When we designed the pneumatic air spring unit we used the Bishamon air palletizer as a basis of comparison. We designed our unit to be more rugged and simple to use. Our single reservoir system provides a more linear weight to movement increment than the triple reservoir system that they have gone to. The Southworth mechanical spring unit was what we improved on for our mechanical spring unit. Again, our unit is more rugged and it arrives at the customer s dock fully assembled and ready to go as opposed to Southworth s assemble it yourself approach. The video shows these units in action and explains the advantages in more detail. After viewing the videos, back out to the Production Tools home page. From the Production Tools homepage click on the Scissors Lift Table section which opens up another homepage that displays all of the types of tables in our series of production lifts. The first thing you will see is the Scissors Lift Application Guide (White Paper) that is written in layman s language, but is designed to help plant engineers avoid the typical mistakes in applying scissors lifts. It is 6 pages long with numerous sketches and is a good thing to to any engineer who is designing a system that includes scissors lifts. Please scan the White Paper and then back out to the scissors lift home page. Below the White Paper are (8) groups of production scissors lifts. Generally they are grouped by capacities and travel ranges. Each of these groups is laid out similarly to the dock lifts. For instance, click on the P Series lifts and you will find a chart of all of the available P models grouped by the (4) main groups of single scissors, double scissors, etc. Now click on single scissors group and you will see that the models are sorted first by travel, then by capacity. This is the same as it was shown in the old printed catalog and you could print this entire section if you wish to give the entire chart to your customer. To get an individual product sheet you can select an individual model such as the P and when you click on it, (please do it now) you will arrive at a product page that has a picture of the unit, lists its specifications, and explains the features and benefits. We like to include this kind of product page with every quote. Note that the warranty is displayed at the top of the page because it is the best in the industry. Please print this page for practice. Now return to the scissor lift home page. If your customer is interested in the Carousel Series lifts, you should check the Work Access pages on the website also, as there are many customizing features available there. 4

5 If your customer is interested in BFLs or MSLs for servicing (2) levels, you should check the Rider Mezzanine pages to check for the necessary accessories for this type of equipment. Returning to the Production Tools homepage you will see the remaining (5) groups of products and the layout for drilling down to individual models is the same as the production tables. Take a minute to open each of these groups and then return to the Scissors Lifts home page. The Installation and Site Surveys for Production Tools is different than the Site Surveys for dock lifts and every sales person should be familiar with this checklist. It is also a good item to to your customer along with the Application Guide. Production Tools questions: (Start on the Production Tools home page and click down to the appropriate pages to answer the following questions.) 1. What is the page number on the self- leveling pneumatic spring product page? 2. How many years and how many cycles are on our standard P lift table structural warranty? 3. How many cycles for a UHC model lift warranty? 4. What is the maximum standard dump height for a HRDP high reach dumper? 5. What is the number of check items in the Production Tools Site Survey? Work Access Platform Lifts Starting on the Advance Lifts home page, let s click on the Work Access Platform Lift photo and visit that group homepage. Our biggest challenge with this product is that many people do not know what to call this type of lift. They have a good idea of what it is when they see the terminology, but they do not know how to search for this type of product, so please be sure to list Work Access Platform Lifts on your website list of products or your printed line cards to make it easier for your customers to recognize that you represent this type of product. On the Work Access Platform Lift home page, there are two application guides and two video files. Please click on the left hand application guide which is the full application guide. This guide is more complete than the short version (White Paper) and has a border of drawings of various platforms that we have produced. The drawings are intended as both attention getters and a way to get customers to think about the possibilities that are available to them. We strongly urge you to get your customers to view and work with this complete guide when they are trying to outline their requirements. It can save a lot of back and forth questioning in the quotation process. Please review this guide now to see the kind of material that is covered. Returning to the Work Access Lift home page, click on the short version of the application guide (White Paper). Click on the Print Now button and you will see that this PDF document can print nicely as a (2) page handout. That is the purpose of this short version. It contains most of the important information but is easier to put into a customer s hands. 5

6 Back out to the Work Access Platform Lift home page and you will note the two video files. The left hand video is a narrated set of photographs that depict the many types of custom features that we have produced in the past. It is an idea book for your customers. The right hand video is more of a movie file that shows the hydraulically powered platform extensions and articulated stairs that have been popular with a number of our customers. Having (2) files makes them more bite size although most customers will want to view both files. Please review both files now. The final item on the Work Access Platform Lift home page is the Value and Quality Statement. It is short and sweet and the kind of thing some buyers look for. Questions for the Work Access Platform Lift section: (Start on the Work Access Platform Lift home page and click down to the appropriate pages to answer the following questions.) 1. What single word best describes the purpose of work access platform lifts? 2. Accordion bellows are a common option for work access platform lifts, true or false? 3. The only kind of control allowed on MH29.1 rider lifts are? 4. Leg assemblies may be single set, double long, double wide, or multistage, true or false? 5. Both work access lift videos are approximately a) 4 minutes long, b) 6 minutes long or c) 10 minutes long? Mezzanine Lifts Once again, return to the Advance Lifts home page let s click on the Mezzanine Lifts photo and visit that group homepage. As with Work Access Platform Lifts, our biggest problem with this product is the fact that customers are not aware of the fact that rider mezzanine lifts are legal. We are building momentum, but we must get the word out. The first item on this home page is the Rider Mezzanine Lift Video. This was taken in McCormick Place in Chicago in The video is just over 2 minutes long and the mezzanine was supplied by Wildeck. We like to point out that if you can install a rider unit in Chicago at McCormick Place, you should be able to do this anywhere. Viewing the video is better than still photos. Please review the video and then return to the mezzanine home page. The next item is the Typical Rider Lift Installation. Please click on this link. This item is easily printed and it lists the key features of a rider mezzanine lift. Most importantly it cites the ANSI MH29.1:2012 standard as the appropriate authority over this type of installation and increases the credence of that standard because informing the reader that the standard has been approved for inclusion in the 2015 printing of the IBC (International Building Code) standards. After glancing down this section please return to the mezzanine home page. The next two items are the catalog pages for MSL series and BFL series lifts which are laid out exactly the same as the Production Tool Lifts. You can drill down through the links to get a catalog sheet on the exact model that you quote to your customer, just as you do with Production Lifts. Please scan through both series of lifts now and then return to the Mezzanine Lift home page. The next topic is the Rider Mezzanine White Paper. This is a very important document as it is the basis for all of our conversations in getting our rider lifts approved and or accepted. We first used it here in 6

7 Chicago for the show lift and we are having increasing success around the country. The secret to working with local authorities is to present all four items to them: 1. The Typical Rider Lift Installation 2. The Rider Mezzanine White Paper 3. The Mezzanine Enclosure Order Form 4. The Mezzanine Inspection Sheet The sum of these (4) documents establishes the fact that ANSI MH29.1:2012 is the relevant code covering this equipment and the systems are thought out and safe. Review this White Paper and then return to the Mezzanine Lift home page. Let s skip the Lift Accessories & Options since it is identical to the topic on the Production Tools home page. Open the Mezzanine Enclosure Order Form. On occasion, more time has been wasted on getting enclosure information than on establishing lift specifications. We will no longer accept an order for enclosures without this form being completed. This form clarifies information for the customer, distributor and our engineers. All it takes is some time on the job site with a measuring tape and it saves lots of time and rework on everyone s part. Note that this also shows approval authorities exactly what we propose to do to protect users. After reviewing this document, please return to the Mezzanine Lift home page. The last item to examine is the Mezzanine Inspection Sheet. We believe that most municipalities will insist on someone inspecting a rider lift at a mezzanine to insure that the application and equipment is safe. This is reasonable. The first people they think of are elevator inspectors who usually know very little about scissors lifts but do know a lot about safety gates. As a manufacturer with product liability concerns, we like the idea of a fresh set of eyes insuring that our lift is in a safe environment. Therefore, we sat down with elevator inspectors in the Chicago area and using elevator inspection sheets from (2) states and a copy of ANSI MH29.1:2012, we created this inspection sheet as a common sense blend of those documents. The format follows the format of other elevator inspection sheets and the content accurately reflects the requirements of ANSI MH29.1:2012. plus some common sense cautions from our 50 years of experience in the scissors lift business. We strongly suggest that this inspection sheet be presented early to inspecting authorities and that you encourage them to contact us about any of their concerns about using it. Please scan the document now and note that it prints out nicely as a (2) page document. Your installer should also be aware of this check sheet so that he can inspect his own work. Advance Lifts has been the pioneer in the Rider Mezzanine Lift business and the product is gaining momentum. We would like to help you get on the bandwagon. Meanwhile, there are also many non- rider applications that our competitive multistage lifts fit nicely Questions for the Mezzanine Lift section: (Start on the Mezzanine Lift home page and click down to the appropriate pages to answer the following questions.) 1. The demonstration video of our rider mezzanine lift was filmed in what city? 2. What two (2) lift series are typically used at mezzanines? 3. What is the latest ANSI code that applies to scissors lifts at Mezzanines? 4. Can a mezzanine lift enclosure be ordered without an Enclosure Order Form? 5. How many pages are in the Mezzanine Inspection Sheet created by Advance Lifts working with Chicago area elevator inspectors? 7

8 Stretch Wrappers The last product group on the Advance Lifts home page is the Stretch Wrappers. This is the simplest and smallest section on the website. Please click on that icon now. There are (4) icons on this page. Let s click on Series 100 Entry Level photos. This brings you to a page that is exactly like the old printed literature. Unlike the other sections of the website, you cannot get an individual specification sheet for each individual model. You must send the entire (2) page brochure to potential customers. Now back out to the Stretch wrapper home page and click on the Series 200 Semi Automatic photo. Again, you cannot print out individual model specification sheets, you must print out the entire brochure. Back out to the Stretch Wrapper home page and you will notice our Warranties for stretch wrappers. You may read these at your leisure, but be assured that they meet or exceed all competitor warranties. The final icon to click on is the Glossary of Terms. Many material handling salesmen have limited experience with stretch wrap machines so this glossary helps with learning the specialized jargon. You will not become an expert by studying these terms, but you will have an idea about what people are talking about. Questions for the Stretch Wrapper section: (Start on the Stretch Wrapper home page and click down to the appropriate pages to answer the following questions.) 1. How many models are there in the Series 100? 2. How many models are there in the Series 200? 3. What is another name for Film force to load? 4. Where are our stretch wrappers made? You have now completed the Distributor Certification Test. We are confident that you now have a better understanding of how our website works and all the tools that we have put at your fingertips. Your job should now be easier and hopefully we will both sell more product and make more money. Please fax a copy of the completed answer sheet to your area manager. You need a passing score of 90% and if there is a problem, your area manager will help you. He will also see that your distributor name on our website is marked to show that you are a certified distributor. Thank you for your time. 8