Get leverage

by Clair Urbain

Whether you are trying to loosen a stubborn bolt or trying to do your part of the job more efficiently and safely, you need the same thing: Leverage.

We all know how a cheater bar can multiply your strength to bust a nut, but when it comes to planning and executing work, far fewer know how to use leverage.

The most effective people on a jobsite are those who know how to tap into others for information and knowledge. Most learn the skill after nearly flunking out of the School of Hard Knocks; for others, it’s an innate skill.

Gem Industrial, the contractor featured in this issue, seems to have figured out how to make leverage a best practice in the company.

A big contractor in the Toledo, Ohio, area, the company has figured out that working closely with suppliers can return huge dividends on the jobsite.

“Working closely” doesn’t mean “working them over” for best price and fastest delivery. It means getting to know each others’ business well enough to see where tweaks – as well as totally new thinking – can take both parties to new levels of success.

Tool and supply distributors who send Contractor Tools and Supplies to readers like you know quite a bit about the type of work you do. After all, they work day in and day out with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of other contractors who face the same dilemmas as you.

With that kind of perspective, doesn’t it make sense to quiz them about their thoughts on some troubling issues you have with getting work done? They can provide a much more valuable service than supplying you with the materials you need to get a job done.

Further, your distributor has very good connections. The people there deal with a host of companies every day, most of which have technical experts at the distributor’s beck and call.

So if your distributor doesn’t know an answer, they are only a phone call away from some of the top problem-solvers in the industry.

Information is the cheater bar of today’s successful contractors. It gives you leverage to get your jobs done faster, efficiently and safely.

Look past your distributor’s ability to deliver quality tools on time and at an affordable price. The best bargain is the knowledge and insight you can gain from them.

Published in the May/June 2003 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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