 NATM is excited for new and revised sponsorship opportunities for 2020! There are marketing and general sponsorship opportunities available from $250 to $50,000 to fit any budget. Being a sponsor allows your company early access to booth selection, and provides a wide range of exposure, both electronically on NATM’s website and mobile app, as well as in print on the convention program map and in Tracks. This name recognition will help drive customers to your booth. You can find the 2020 Sponsorship Brochure at: https://www.natm.com/sponsor.html. Don’t delay – these opportunities are going fast! For more information about NATM’s 2020 Convention & Trade Show, including sponsorship opportunities and exhibit space, please contact Kelli Maydew at kelli.maydew@natm.com or call (785) 272-4433. 
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 Talking about the importance of trailers built to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) can be a daunting task. End-users do not understand the complex regulations governing compliant trailer manufacturing. They recognize that they would not purchase a car without seatbelts, but they do not understand that purchasing a trailer without key safety features can be just as dangerous. With limited face-to-face time with customers, dealers can struggle to sell compliance. But in order to improve safety and reassure your customers that your trailers meet all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, it is important to sell NATM Compliance as a key feature of a trailer.
To make things easier, NATM has created the "How to Sell Compliance" kit. This kit aims to help close the gap of communication between trailer manufacturers, dealers and end-users by providing trailer dealers with informative marketing pieces that will assist them in selling compliant trailers to their customers. Jam-packed with informative safety resources, customizable business cards with an emphasis on your dealership’s dedication to safety, talking points for dealers to utilize and more, this kit will assist trailer dealers in becoming fluent in safe trailering. NATM Dealer Affiliate Window Cling NATM Dealer Affiliates receive a complimentary NATM Dealer Affiliate Window Cling. This window cling will allow your dealership to show its commitment to safety and compliance. Proudly display it to show customers that your dealership is a resource of information with a focus on safety and compliance. Customizable Folding Business Card With an emphasis on buying trailers that have been certified to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and best practices, these folding business cards are filled with information regarding the importance of buying NATM compliant trailers. Simply add your company logo and contact information to the business card template and pass out your dealership’s information and market your commitment to providing customers with compliant trailers. Customizable Standard Business Card Are folding business cards not your style? No worries! NATM also offers standard business cards for Dealer Affiliates. With the NATM Compliance Decal and the Dealer Affiliate Badge included on the card, your company is sure to be viewed as a leader in safety by your customers. Informative Printables These educational handouts are available for Dealer Affiliates to print and distribute to customers. With topics ranging from selecting the right trailer to the NATM Compliance Verification Program, customers can be assured they are shopping with a trustworthy dealer committed to safety education. Compliant Trailer Posters This 18 x 24-inch educational poster will help walk your customers through what it means to purchase an NATM Compliant trailer and can be proudly displayed in your dealership. Selling Compliance – Talking Points Talking about the importance of compliant trailers can be an intimidating task. With this list of talking points, communicating the importance of verified compliant trailers to your customers has never been easier. Impress your customers and instill confidence with your knowledge of federal regulations and your passion for safe trailering! The NATM Dealer Affiliate “How to Sell Compliance” kit takes the stress out of discussing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards with end-users. Be the dealer your customers deserve and stand out from your competition by taking advantage of all of the benefits of being an NATM Dealer Affiliate. NATM Dealer Affiliates can contact Membership & Events Director Kelli Maydew at Kelli.Maydew@natm.com, to receive access to this kit. Not an NATM Dealer Affiliate? Visit www.NATM.com/dealers to learn more about the program. NATM will be offering two educational webinars this Fall and Winter, which are both FREE for members and dealer affiliates.
August 30 – 2:00 PM CST “Trailer Basics”
Presenters: NATM Compliance Director Terry Jones and Technical Director Colin Holthaus. REGISTER HERE! December 6 – 2:00 PM CST “Emerging Trends in Trailering”
Presenter: NATM Technical Director Colin Holthaus. REGISTER HERE! *Non-members can participate for $50.00 The 2019 Trailer Safety Week (TSW) went off without a hitch June 2-8,2019. This national awareness campaign, which aims to educate end-users on trailer safety including safe towing practices and maintenance, saw incredible growth in its second year. Events Trailer Safety Week 2019 was a success thanks to onsite event hosts Lane Trailer Mfg. Co. and Midsota Manufacturing, the many TSW Allies and the hard work of the NATM staff. The week featured two successful events at Lane Trailer Mfg. Co. in Boone, IA and Midsota Manufacturing in Albany, MN on June 7. Attendees included consumers, trailer dealers, government officials, state troopers and DOT representatives. Both events featured U-Haul’s trailer demonstrator, an interactive module wherein a car, towing a trailer on an elevated treadmill track is loaded with weights to show the dangers of improper loading and trailer sway. Lane Trailer focused its efforts on reaching out to the local university, Iowa State. All trailers used by Iowa State undergo annual DOT inspections done through Lane Trailer. In working with the grounds keeping crew using those trailers and local clubs, Lane utilized the event to teach both university employees and students about safe trailering practices. Representatives from Iowa State University were very interested in the trailer safety resources available, like NATM’s Towing Safety brochures. These materials complimented presentations by Colin Holthaus, NATM Technical Director, and Lane Trailer. Lane brought a trailer into the showroom for the presentation, pointing out safety features and allowing for attendees to ask questions using the actual trailer for demonstration. NATM Technical Director Colin Holthaus, thrilled with event turnout, said “it was great to see the local community at Iowa State turnout for this event. This was a new population of attendees, everyday trailer users, and it was great to be able to spread trailer safety awareness. It was also neat to talk directly to consumers about the work my compliance team and NATM does by partnering with companies like Lane Trailers in helping companies build compliant, safe trailers. NATM and our members work really hard at trailer safety and to see that paying off in discussions with end-users was great to experience.” “As a company, we are committed to safety in our facility and for the trailers we manufacture,” said Midsota co-owner and NATM Board Member Joel Bauer. “We thought it is essential we get on board with the national event to promote trailer safety.” Midsota’s event was a huge success and featured local and national legislators and staff. Congressman Tom Emmer (MN-6) spoke of the importance of safety and recognized that trailering is not simply loading, hitching and taking off but executing safe trailering practices correctly. The impact of compliant trailers and safe towing practices is not limited to the trailer owner. “It’s not only the $50,000 investment in the motorcycle or the load on the trailer– it’s everyone on the road,” said Congressman Emmer. Emmer previously toured the Midsota facility in May of 2018 after the company was named St. Cloud Area Small Business Owners of the Year. Newly-elected State Representative Lisa Demuth of Minnesota’s District 13A also spoke to attendees about the important role that companies such as Midsota play on the local economy. Eric Sundby of the Minnesota State Patrol gave a highly popular and well received presentation on what is looked for during a DOT trailer inspection and driver CDL requirements followed by a Q&A session. Midsota co-owner Joel Bauer and NATM Executive Director Kendra Ansley gave presentations about the company’s and NATM’s dedication to trailer safety and audience made up of end-users, business owners, trailer dealers, and members of the local community were directed to various safety resources including those housed on NATM’s TrailerSafetyWeek.com website. After the presentations, Midsota gave plant tours of the facility and served lunch. Multiple informational tables were set up for attendees including U-Haul with their popular Trailer Demonstrator; Lippert Axles; NTI Tires; NATM and Midsota. AlliesIn addition to the two onsite Trailer Safety Events hosted by NATM trailer manufacturing members, Trailer Safety Week saw enormous growth with online participation. Trailer Safety Week Allies utilized the TSW Communications Kit which is full of pre-crafted marketing materials to effectively communicate the importance of trailer safety. Allies played an important role in helping generate awareness and drive traffic to TrailerSafetyWeek.com. TSW Allies ranged from police departments and insurance companies to trailer manufacturers, suppliers and dealers as well as various companies in the transportation industry. Through the #TrailerSafetyWeek social media campaign, and with the help of more than 150 TSW Allies, the importance of safe trailering reached thousands across several social media channels. Countless social media posts were created and shared on Facebook in hopes to better educate end-users on important safety measures to take when trailering. In addition to this, NATM created several #TrailerTipOfTheDay informative videos featuring the NATM Compliance Team. These videos featured trailering tips every trailer user should know and reached over 16,000 people on Facebook alone. You can view these videos on NATM's Facebook page. TSW Allies’ efforts led nearly 500 new visitors to TrailerSafetyWeek.com throughout the week—a testament to the impact Allies have on generating safe trailering awareness.  TrailerSafetyWeek.comTrailer Safety Week has continued to be a step in the right direction for the trailer industry. With the support of event hosts, an effective social media campaign, countless TSW Allies and coverage in several news publications, this safety awareness campaign allowed safe trailering to become more visible to the general public.
“The National Trailer Safety Week was once again a huge success thanks to the support of NATM members across the country,” said NATM Executive Director Kendra Ansley. “NATM is already looking for new ways to further expand the reach of our efforts next year. Various companies in the trailer industry are regularly contacting the Association to learn more about participating and the staff is using this momentum and excitement to begin planning for next year’s Trailer Safety Week that will be held June 7-13, 2020. We are encouraging all types of members to participate as much as they would like. Suppliers and trailer manufacturers can share the event’s logo and resources as Trailer Safety Week Allies, or even host an event.” Those interested in joining this trailer safety movement can find more information at https://www.trailersafetyweek.com/interest or by contacting the TSW team at TrailerSafetyWeek@natm.com.
Retaining good employees is vital to your success, especially in today’s tight labor market. Not only does turnover impact your bottom line in tangible ways, it has other consequences which also impact your bottom line in the form of productivity, safety and quality. The true cost of turnover has been argued for years. A basic assumption that will put it in perspective is that it cost you 1 ½ times an employee’s annual salary when they decide to leave your organization. If your turnover rate is high, these costs can add up quickly. Keep in mind that not all turnover is bad turnover. There are some employees that may be hurting your organization more than they’re helping. There are several key areas where you can make a difference when it comes to turnover:
Most people assume money is the prime motivation for staying at an organization; however, statistically speaking, only 12% of employees that leave your organization leave for more money. Although it’s important to be competitive, there are many other things you can do than offer more money. Let’s start at the beginning. How are your interviewing and selection skills? How about the interviewing and selection skills of your manager? Too often, we are rushed to get a warm body to fill a position that may otherwise go vacant when the previous incumbent leaves. We don’t take the time to make sure that the person we select to fill that position is a good fit for our organization. Consider that organizations have a tendency to hire on skills such as work experience, education and training; but they actually fire employees based on behavior such as not showing up for work, having a bad attitude and the inability to work with a team. Review your hiring systems and make sure interviewers are conducting behavior-based interviews. We need to hire based on behavior because we can typically train for skill but we can’t train someone to have a good work ethic. Once the right employees are on board, it’s important to invest in them. From the beginning, give them an emotional connection to the organization. During their first days on the job, tell them how the organization was developed or created and why the work they do everyday matters. Put together a well-developed presentation that shows them you care about the message they receive on their very first day. Tell them the history of the organization. Outline all the important policies from the handbook. Tell them who to go to with certain questions or issues. Give an introduction to each of the benefits you offer. Employees often have a lot of questions about their benefits but are too afraid to ask. Give them the opportunity at the very beginning as they’re signing up for their benefits. Develop a one-page quick guide to the benefits offered by the organization but don’t let that be a substitute for your explanation of these benefits. On their first day, have a thought-out plan or agenda that includes the presentation, a tour of the building and any important areas like the break room or cafeteria and lunch with the boss or co-workers. Make sure they feel welcome. Now that you’ve set the tone, keep it going by showing them you care about the work environment. Above all, make sure your managers are trained on how you want employees to be treated. Too often we make the mistake of promoting someone into a management position that was good at doing the work. Most often the skills to do the work and the skills to manage people are very different but we fail to set them up for success by teaching them how to coach, lead, motivate and most importantly stop behavior that leads to legal issues for the organization. You should have a full management training program for anyone in a management position. Even with prior management experience, you want to make sure they follow the basic principles and values of the organization as they manage your employees. The number one reason employees leave a position is the relationship with their direct supervisor. It's also vital that everyone in your organization is holding employees accountable for their behavior. Star employees are often demotivated when they realize that employees with less than desirable performance are allowed to continue that performance while your star employee is going above and beyond without being differentiated from poor performers. Managers need to understand how to have difficult conversations with employees and when those conversations should result in a tangible consequence or discipline. When we talk about the work environment, we mean culture. Culture is not something that organizations typically define. It is typically developed over time through leadership behaviors and overall communication (either from managers to employees or among co-workers). What things do you celebrate as an organization (if anything)? What do you reward employees for doing? How do you reward them? Other ideas to help with your overall culture include:
As you can see, there are many things you can do to impact employee retention. None of them will be easy. If you treat it like a task to check off your list, you will not make a difference with your implementation. These changes take time and diligence. Make sure you set goals for each potential project and give it the time and attention it deserves. About the Author: Tracey Goold is the Director, Human Resources Consulting at Marsh & McLennan Agency, an insurance brokerage specializing in property & casualty, employee benefits and personal insurance. She assists clients in implementing and maintaining solid Human Resource policies and practices including employee relations, performance management, compensation design, employee and management training, employment law compliance and managerial coaching.
A letter to our members... NATM has been committed to trailer safety for more than 30 years. While NATM has long worked with trailer manufacturers and industry suppliers and service providers, trailer safety can only be improved through dealer interaction and consumer education. That’s why NATM is excited to announce the launch of the NATM Dealer Affiliation on June 1, 2019. It is NATM’s mission to “promote trailer safety and the success of the trailer manufacturing industry through education and advocacy” and we are confident that including trailer dealers in our work will strengthen the industry and improve roadway safety. Dealers can aide NATM in its efforts to close the communication gap between trailer dealers and end-users all while generating awareness about the importance of NATM Compliant trailers. While NATM is excited to launch the Dealer Affiliation program, we recognize that our NATM members might have questions or concerns. That’s why we’re inviting all members to submit their questions and concerns via the button below. In addition to gathering member questions, NATM invites you to participate in the Dealer Affiliation Q&A on Facebook Live. We’ll be going live on NATM's Facebook page Thursday, May 30th at 3pm CST to discuss what the Dealer Affiliation will look like as well as answer any member questions. NATM members who wish to notify their dealer contacts are encouraged to utilized the Dealer Outreach Marketing Kit by clicking the button below. This kit includes several pre-crafted social media posts, social media graphics, and a Dealer Invitation. NATM fully believes that the launch of the NATM Dealer Affiliation is an opportunity to unify the trailer industry in an effort to improve trailer safety. While NATM remains committed to trailer manufacturers, the Association has long looked at how to better bring in dealers as key stakeholders for trailer safety and this program offers an exciting opportunity to support dealers and help them educate end-users as well as better raise awareness about the NATM Compliance Verification Program. 
Updated Company Information Needed by May 31! The annual NATM Membership Directory & Buyer’s Guide will be mailed to all members in August. In order to have current and accurate company information printed in the Guide, members should login to their NATM account to verify that all information is correct.
For those who do not know their company’s login credentials: usernames and passwords can be re-sent to the main contact’s email by clicking this link. Additionally, the main contact for your company has already received an email with editable PDF documents if changes are needed. These documents can be sent back to kelli.maydew@natm.com. All changes must be received by May 31 end of day in order to be published in the Guide. Please contact Kelli Maydew at kelli.maydew@natm.com or (785) 272-4433 if you have questions or concerns.   NATM has been named a 2018 All Star Award winner by Constant Contact, a company in email marketing solutions. The annual award recognizes the most successful 10 percent of Constant Contact’s customer base, based on their significant achievements using email marketing to engage their customers and drive results for their organization during the prior year.
NATM has made significant strides in enhancing its email marketing strategies. The Association’s communications department has been hard at work in its efforts to reduce the amount of emails that hit users’ inboxes. “We’re happy to be recognized by Constant Contact for achieving strong marketing results and engaging with our customers. We’re grateful for our subscribers who are consistently engaging with our content as well as providing constant feedback for how we can improve our marketing efforts,” said NATM Executive Director Kendra Ansley. Small businesses and nonprofits using Constant Contact’s email marketing tools are eligible for this award. Criteria used to select this year’s All Stars included the following during 2018:
“Constant Contact’s primary goal is to fuel small business success. We know it’s not an easy road for small businesses, which is why we work to provide easy and affordable marketing tools and advice that can elevate their customer engagement and awareness to new levels,” said Holli Scott, Vice President of Customer Success. “The campaigns created by this year’s All Stars demonstrate that a business, regardless of its size, can accomplish their marketing goals and we celebrate NATM's impressive achievements with this All Star Award.” Not subscribed to NATM’s mailing list? No worries! You can subscribe to NATM's monthly newsletter, NATM Insider, here or text “NATM” to 22828 to automatically subscribe. For more questions or concerns regarding NATM’s marketing efforts, contact NATM Marketing Coordinator Savana Morrison.  Membership & Education Director Kelli Maydew NATM continuously aims to provide exceptional membership services and benefits. One way the Association attempts to do this, is by conducting a phone survey to both Regular and Associate members, in hopes to better understand the current climate of the supplier and manufacturing industries.
There are several common themes that have surfaced when asked about challenges or barriers that members are experiencing:
Armed with this knowledge, NATM will strive to provide educational opportunities and resources in the coming year to assist members in tackling the hurdles that they may be facing or expect in 2019. The 2019-2021 strategic plan aligns well with the feedback received. The Board, committees, and staff are already at work to address these barriers and add more value for your investment. NATM will provide updates on these actions in upcoming issues of Tracks and the NATM Insider eNewsletter as well as Government Affairs updates via email. If there are additional topics or hot button industry issues that you would like to discuss further, please do not hesitate to contact Kelli Maydew, NATM Membership & Education Director.  Membership renewals for 2019 have been mailed, and the main contact for your company has received an email notice as well. If you would like to confirm who your main contact is, please contact NATM Membership & Education Director Kelli Maydew or call NATM at (785) 272-4433. You can also log into the Members Only portal of www.NATM.com and select the “Update Your Contact Information” link to make edits instantly to this information.
In addition to paying your membership dues by check or over the phone by credit card, you are also able to pay online using the Members Only portal at www.NATM.com. Once you are logged in using your company’s login credentials, select “Pay My Bills.” If you need your credentials, or have any questions during this process, please contact NATM Membership & Education Director Kelli Maydew. For trade show exhibitors, it is important to note that NATM DUES MUST BE PAID BY DEC. 31, 2018 to maintain the member rate for your booth at the February 2019 trade show in Lake Buena Vista, FL. NATM is committed to improving the compliance program, delivering safety education and information, increasing consumer awareness about the importance of buying compliant trailers, providing opportunities for member input, and continuing to develop relationships with key decision makers on Capitol Hill and in federal agencies to advocate for industry needs. NATM, the Board of Directors, committees, and staff are working diligently to provide more value to members, and we look forward to working with you in 2019. We sincerely hope that you will allow us to continue to serve your needs and provide value to your organization. Please contact NATM Membership & Education Director Kelli Maydew if you have any questions at (785) 272-4433 or email Kelli.Maydew@natm.com |
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