Interview with Brad Clemmons, Apex Pumping Equipment

Brad Clemmons is my friend, and owner of Apex Pumping Equipment. Brad’s firm sells industrial pumps, fire pumps, water purification systems, and related services. While some might say this is a rather ordinary business, Brad makes it extraordinary by virtue of his enthusiasm, imagination, and vision. He was nice enough to answer a few questions for me about how he leads his company, and I think his responses speak volumes about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. (This interview is part of a series, Innovation in Small Business.)

You seem to be doing better than most in your industry during this recession – what do you attribute that to? Almighty God! We are also trying not to hunker down and continue our sales and marketing efforts. We emphasize that we must be positive but at the same time realistic. Couple this concept with exceptional products and you have a recipe for continued success.

What’s your philosophy of doing business? We stress with each other to listen carefully to what the customer says and then translate that into a solution.

How has it helped your business grow over the years? Customers look to us as the experts in our industry and rely on our knowledge and experience. I would like to take credit for everything I say in this interview, but our achievements truly come from observation and skills acquired from others. I’ve recognized value in other people, incorporated their ideas and practices into our business, and we’ve translated that into success. A good example came from the late Bob Johnstone who was a tremendous asset to our TEAM in its infancy and as we began on a quest to provide service in addition to sales, and I quote him, “Don’t be afraid to educate your customer on opportunities they likely could perform themselves. You will demonstrate your expertise, knowledge and ability and most likely once they see the complexity of what you do they will not want to do it”. Bob was right! That formula has worked and continues to.

I like how you’ve explored new markets with new products to fight through a slow economy. Can you tell us about your new activity in Central and South America? Selling into Latin America is new for us and it in fact grew out of one of our staff educating others in our industry and being invited to do the same in Latin America. We saw opportunity, examined it and it made sense for our business. One of our TEAM speaks fluent Spanish and is Hispanic. Again couple that with his ability, expertise and knowledge along with new and innovative products and the people of Latin America are willing to listen tentatively. There is business there as there is here you just need the drive and desire to pursue it and have the right TEAM members doing it.

“Now more than ever is the time to get in front of your customers and give them hope.” Brad Clemmons

What are the most common mistakes you see small and midsized firms make during business slowdowns? Oh don’t get me wrong – we make mistakes, too! But for the most part companies abandon what gave them success before the slowdown. Marketing budgets shrink and sales expenses are cut back. Now more then ever is the time to get in front of your customer and give them hope. Too many of us listen to the various chatter of the media and subconsciously as well as consciously after being bombarded with negative ideas and thoughts become deflated and beat down to a point where it is hard to hold our head up and go on – but we must! The sun will come up again tomorrow. People will buy products! We as people need products to survive and over 80% of our work force are still employed, working as hard if not harder then ever. I recently read an article and on comment stuck in my mind. “We always hear of the glass half empty or half full, how about since 80% of us workers are still working the glass is 80% full?” My employment numbers are certainly off but the point is the same!

Where do you see your business going over the next two or three years? We will continue to search for customers that are struggling with something related to our business and provide opportunity and solutions for there challenges.

Today our relationship with our customer more then ever is needed. We believe that we must bring new and innovative products and services and place them in front of our customers, most of whom then turn around and sell these products or services to their customers. The companies that see these products as opportunity and tear down, or perhaps a better way to say it is climb over, the negative walls that surround us today, will and do find sales and business they did not know existed. It is APEX’s challenge to again educate and provide the products necessary to keep not only our business but the business of our customer partners and we can’t forget our supplier partners going as strong as possible.

Encourage new ideas and thoughts! Let the creative juices of your TEAM flow. As a leader if you have pointed them in the right direction you will be surprised and pleased with what they come up with and never forget that the big guy upstairs is driving the bus!
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About Apex Pumping Equipment
Founded in 1996 on the premise of conducting business in an honest, fair, dedicated and unique way, APEX has grown from its founder Brad Clemmons to a small business with 17 team members. Our 4000 sq. ft. sales and service facility is located in Sugar Grove, Illinois. Since 1996, APEX represents ITT A-C Fire Pumps & Packages, Tank Connection, MicBlast, TigerFlow, and Containment Solutions to name a few. We presently have five full-time service trucks and offer 24-hour emergency service for fire pumps, motors, engines and controllers.