September 2020

View all on this date written articles further down below.

Patrica Yulkowski, CEO, recognized by Vistage Michigan Group as ‘Soaring Eagle’

Patricia Yulkowski Vistage Award

Patricia Yulkowski, President and CEO of Total Door Systems was recognized with the “Soaring Eagle” award by a group of her Vistage Michigan peers during its virtual summit held Friday, September 25.

The prestigious award from Vistage, one of the largest and oldest executive coaching organizations in the nation, is presented to the member of a collection of executive groups that exemplify the leadership, problem solving, and service to other members that the organization works to foster among its members.

“In service to others would best capture the frame of mind of Patricia,” commented one executive member during the recognition event.

Patricia Yulkowski is second-generation CEO and President to the privately held, American-owned and operated Total Door Systems.

For nearly a half century, Total Door Systems has custom designed, built and installed fully integrated door systems that lead the industry in performance, innovation, and fire and smoke safety.

Under Yulkowski’s leadership, Total Door Systems in 2009 moved into a new facility and over a three-year period remade the company around LEAN manufacturing and continuous improvement principles focused on quality, sustainability and local sourcing. Their results: a 250 percent increase in capacity, 30 percent increase in efficiency, 40 percent consumption of natural resources, 50 percent reduction in emission of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), and 99 percent on-time delivery.

Local sourcing and sustainability are achieved with 98 percent of materials locally sourced, 25 percent recycled steel, 80 percent post-consumer content and 20 percent post-industrial recycled materials.

Yulkowski has directed heavy investment in team learning and education, as well as innovation and product development to ensure continuous relevancy and engagement. Employee engagement has increased by more than 40 percent during the past six months, and the investment has resulted in Total Door Systems being recognized for its manufacturing excellence and leadership by both the MMTC and the Society for Manufacturing Engineers (SME).

Yulkowski is a current member of the American Institute of Architects Michigan. She serves on the board of the American National Standards Institute/Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association Subcommittee (ANSI/BHMA), where she was also the immediate past president of the organization. Yulkowski also serves on the International Code Council, the primary, global organization that develops and establishes the model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process. Yulkowski was also tapped by Oakland County Executive David Coulter to serve on the county’s Covid-19 Economic Recovery Task Force.

Remote Distributor Training

Remote Distributor Training Header

Recently, we have offered support to a few of the Sales Reps who are running Zoom distributor training sessions. So far, they have been well received, with the distributors attending being engaged and asking a lot of great questions.

One recent session had 75 attendees from multiple branches. If you haven’t participated in one yet but would like to, ask your Sales Rep about scheduling one or connecting you to one that you could attend.

The training session walks you through an online version of our Distributor Overview presentation. We share information about the products, how the complete assembly works, how to make sure you have the proper product for the right application, what you can expect from your Sales Rep and Total Door Systems and what we anticipate from our relationship with you.

Creating remote learning sessions is all part of being nimble and adapting. We wanted to make sure each of you have the opportunity to get the training and information you need.

Please contact your Sales Rep with any questions, or to find out more about our online resources. You can also explore them in the distributors portal page.

Webinars & Training for Distributors

Webinars - Smoke Containment Strategies for Elevator Hoistways and Lobbies presented by Jack Robbins

Due to the success of Jack Robbins’s live webinar, “Smoke Containment Strategies for Elevator Hoistways and Lobbies,” it is now a regular monthly part of AEC Daily’s Continuing Education Series.

The September webinar was already booked at full capacity a few days after registration opened. So, if you have someone in your organization or architects you know who would like to attend, make sure they book early. Registration typically opens up two weeks before the live webinar.

Dates for Jack’s remaining 2020 webinars (all times listed are Eastern Time Zone) are:

  • Thursday, October 15 at 2 p.m.
  • Thursday, November 19 at 2 p.m.
  • Wednesday, December 8 at 2 p.m.

Installation Training

Our installation training sessions are still in-person, but with smaller classes to allow for physical distancing. Upcoming dates for installation training/service seminars at our Waterford, MI headquarters are:

  • September 28 & 29
  • October 19 & 20
  • October 26 & 27

Remote Technical Support for Distributors

Remote Help for Installers

Did you know that your installers can FaceTime with our in-house installation trainer and service manager, John Pierre, if they are having an issue during installation or need service? It is another example of how we are able to respond in real-time to provide solutions remotely. This can often eliminate the need for a return trip to the site, saving you time and preventing unnecessary headaches.

Not everyone uses the same terminology. On a typical phone call, it might take a while for everyone to get on the same page. With a video call, the installer can show the part or problem and get to the solution right away, because regardless of terminology, everyone can see that they are talking about the same thing.

This is just one more way Total Door is working with you remotely. To connect with John Pierre, Total Door Systems service manager via FaceTime, please call our Waterford, Michigan headquarters at 248-623-6899 and ask to connect with John.

Remote Help for Installers

Remote Help for Installers

Did you know that your installers can FaceTime with John Pierre if they are having an issue during installation or need service? This is another example of how we are able to respond in real-time to provide solutions remotely. This can often eliminate the need for a return trip to the site, saving you time and preventing unnecessary headaches.

Not everyone uses the same terminology. On a typical phone call, it might take a while for everyone to get on the same page. With a video call, the installer can show the part or problem and get to the solution right away, because regardless of terminology, everyone can see that they are talking about the same thing.

How to Use Marketing Materials in Your Portal

Marketing Materials

The Marketing Materials portion of the Sales Rep Portal is designed to give you everything you need to present the Total Door brand and our products in a way that is consistent and professional. But it is also designed to give you a lot of flexibility to pull together the elements you need in a way that makes sense to you.

Once you log in to your portal, click on the Marketing Materials tab in the lower half of the page. There you will find a two-page list of 53 different elements you can use to market Total Door and your services. The product guide, spec sheets, Know Your Code sheets, a number of collateral pieces, various forms and agreements, strategies, presentations and more are all here in one easy-to-find place.

You will find our latest AIA presentations here. These are presentations you can take and run with or we can collaborate with you to present. This is also where you will find information on our Co-Op program. You can even find Jack Robbins’s bio, if you have him joining one of your remote presentations and want to share his information with your audience.

If you have not looked through the Marketing Materials section in a while, take some time to find what materials could be most useful to you now. And if there is something more you’d like to see or something you would like help with, just let us know.

DoorBuilder Tool Tip #1: Creating Columns

door builder

Early this year, we introduced the DoorBuilder tool. With it, you no longer have to call in on every product and wait as long as a day to get a quote back. Now all that information is available at your fingertips.

Hopefully, at this point, most of you have worked with our DoorBuilder tool and discovered it really is the fastest, easiest way to configure Total Door Systems and deliver a quote. Now, here is a tip to make using this tool even easier.

Did you know you can add or subtract the columns you want to review on your quotes page within the DoorBuilder tool? All you have to do is click on the three dots in the upper right-hand corner of the page and then select or deselect which columns you want to see or not see.

options

Some of the columns you might want to add include: Net Price, Forecast Date and Probability of Sale. Once you’ve chosen which fields you want on your quote page, you can move them into whatever order makes the best sense to you. All columns can be ordered by clicking on the column name and dragging it to where you would like it to be placed.

Remote Distributor Training for the Sales Team

Remote Distributor Training Header

As mentioned in our last newsletter, we have been offering support to some of the Sales Reps with Zoom distributor training sessions. So far, they have been well received, with distributors asking a lot of great questions. One of the recent sessions had 75 attendees from multiple branches. If you haven’t scheduled one yet, we would be happy to walk you through the process and set one up for your distributors.

The training session basically walks them through an online version of the Distributor Overview presentation. We share information about the products, how the complete assembly works, how to make sure you have the proper product for the right application, what we expect from them as distributors and what they can expect from their Sales Reps and Total Door. They also get a glimpse of the factory during this presentation.

In the end, they walk away with a clear understanding of the product and how Total Door supports their efforts. They know we have their back and will be a good resource for them moving forward.

Often, these presentations lead to other opportunities. Immediately after our first remote distributor training session, one of the distributors contacted their Sales Rep looking for assistance with an AIA presentation for all the architects in their territory.

Creating remote learning sessions is all part of being nimble and adapting. We want to make sure we support your efforts to engage your distributors in any way we can.  We have all the tools you will need to set up these remote distributor training sessions. If you would like to set one up for your distributors, just call Jack Robbins or Candace Kitchen and they will get you on the schedule.

Webinars & Training

Jack Robbins Webinar

Jack Robbins’s live webinar, “Smoke Containment Strategies for Elevator Hoistways and Lobbies,” continues to be a successful part of AEC Daily’s Continuing Education Series. The September webinar was already booked at full capacity a few days after registration opened. So, if you have distributors or architects you know who want to attend, make sure they book early. Registration typically opens up two weeks before the live webinar.

Dates for Jack’s remaining 2020 webinars (all times listed are Eastern Time Zone) are:

  • Thursday, October 15 at 2 p.m.
  • Thursday, November 19 at 2 p.m.
  • Wednesday, December 8 at 2 p.m.

Installation Training

Our installation training sessions are still in-person, but with smaller classes to allow for physical distancing. Upcoming dates for installation training/service seminars are:

  • September 28 & 29
  • October 19 & 20
  • October 26 & 27

Other Training Opportunities

We will continue to support your efforts in using the sales tools and presentations available digitally through our website. If you need us, we would be happy to join any of your sessions remotely and provide additional support.

Jack and Candace have worked with a number of Sales Reps, observing practice runs for their Architect Lunch and Learn presentations and offering pointers and helpful tips. We can even sit in on the presentations on Zoom. That way you can have Jack “sit in the back” and answer questions afterwards, helping you out remotely.

Contact

Total Door Systems 6145 Delfield Dr, Waterford, Michigan 48329
Ph: (800) 852-6660 | Fax: (248) 623-6866 |customerrelations@totaldoor.com

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