Investing in Relationships for the Long Term

If there is one thing Ed Goodrich has learned over his 40-year-plus career, it’s that success comes with a commitment to customers for the long term.

Goodrich is President of Equipment Direct Sales, Inc. (EDSI), headquartered in Braintree, Massachusetts, with a second location in Salem, New Hampshire. He started his firm in 1997.

“Too many people don’t look long term. They just look at the current situation. Looking to make an extra buck in the moment. For us, it has always been about the long-term relationship with our customers. Thinking about what’s best for them,” Goodrich said.

He added that doing what’s best for the customer may not always be what’s best for his company.

“Sometimes you have to make the tough decision. You may have to give advice that results in less money for you, or even costs you money,” Goodrich said. “I’m proud to say that people know EDSI will always have their back no matter what the issue. Maybe there’s a problem in the field that we have to put in extra work to help the customer. Maybe we made a mistake.  We’re going to solve it. We’re not going to walk away.”

EDSI has strong brand recognition in the Boston area and throughout parts of the northeast United States. His company is particularly strong in working with Boston-area hospitals, universities, and labs.

As new construction demand decreased in 2024, EDSI’s 9-person sales team has created new opportunities in existing facility retrofits.

“We are promoting into existing applications pretty heavily recently,” he said. “We’re working hard to keep products we sell prescient in the engineers’ minds. And the minds of building management. If they have a drive go down, hopefully they’ll call us. It’s not a big shift for us. It’s the same contractors.”

“And we are always pushing the Yaskawa selection program. That’s helpful in getting the contractors to reference Yaskawa in the specs. Whenever we can save engineering time and make it easier for them to spec against our competition, it’s helpful to making the sale.”

“If the project goes to a mechanical engineering firm, we have to help them make selections. That’s where “lunch and learns with mechanical engineers can build awareness. When they need to replace drives, hopefully, they will think Yaskawa.”

Regardless of the application, Goodrich knows giving extra effort on a project, taking the time to train customers on a product, or sacrificing personal time will also go a long way to building a stronger customer relationship.

“These things can be difference makers,” he said. “So many times, the contractor must decide between two good companies. Pricing is definitely a factor. But if that’s even, it comes down to relationships. We are confident we are going to stand out in those situations.”

Goodrich sees the same commitment to his business from Yaskawa.

“Yaskawa has been, without question, one of the best combinations of factories and people I’ve dealt with in business,” he said. “They have always had our back. And we’ve always had theirs. Of course, they have great products to sell. The people in our office know how reliable Yaskawa drives are, so they’re not afraid to sell them. We don’t have problems with Yaskawa drives.”

“But the relationships we have with the people there, you don’t get people like that very often. They are as steady as can be.”

Bob Twohill, Sales Engineer, is one Yaskawa associate that really stands out for him.

“Bob is just one of those guys. If there’s a problem we fix it between us. That’s why we’ve done such a good job selling Yaskawa. It’s why they are our number one line out of 15 manufacturers.”

According to Goodrich, Yaskawa supports EDSI in many ways.

“They do lunch and learns with us and our customers. They teach our guys how to promote Yaskawa drives to mechanical engineers. Bob will show up for those meetings with us, if we want him to,” Goodrich said. “There are times he will go and do startups for us, if we are in a jam. Every product we sell must have a factory-authorized start-up. If our two guys are booked, Bob will be there. He will go to job meetings with us, too. Children’s Hospital here loves Bob. I’m the recipient of that. We sell them a lot of drives because of that relationship.”

Goodrich said people like to buy from people they trust – and there is a lot of trust in Yaskawa.

“People want to buy from friends. People they trust,” Goodrich said. “We lead with Yaskawa against some strong competition. We are confident we can compete pretty well. Yaskawa is the best.”