Making Quick Connections For A Fast Start

Bryan Sheldon has been on the job at Yaskawa just a few short weeks, but he’s already seen how the culture is different than other places he’s been.

“I can’t get over how much everyone has reached out to me to be sure I am getting what I need to start out well in the new job,” he said. “You expect that out of the leadership, especially with the kind of leaders we have at Yaskawa. I’ve also connected with lots of other folks already. I’ve been accepted immediately as a member of the team.”

Sheldon joined Yaskawa as a sales engineer in Chicago. His warm welcome confirmed what he already thought about the company when he was still in the interview process.

“Just interviewing with different people, you could see the quality of people and the integrity they have," Sheldon said. "And, I continue to see how our culture carries over to the day-to-day business. What’s cool is that a lot of how this company thinks is how I think. Customers always come first. We always treat each other with respect. We deliver on what we say we will do.”

“This is what our customers are looking for. They want clarity. They want ideas and support. They want us to do whatever we can to be a good partner – and that’s what we all do here. People seem to stay a long time at Yaskawa. I think that’s a big part of why.”

Sheldon most recently worked as a regional sales manager at Dunkermotoren responsible for sales and strategic planning in the northeast US and reaching into Canada and Mexico.

He also served at Pepperl+Fuchs as an account manager, Englewood Electric Supply, Hammond, Indiana, as a senior account representative and IDEC, Sunnyvale, California, in a field sales engineer role.

“All of those roles prepared me for being at Yaskawa,” Sheldon said. “I got to find out what I was capable of. I have confidence in the abilities I bring to this new challenge.”

Sheldon returns to familiar territory again in his role at Yaskawa working from his home base in Chicago.

“Yaskawa checks a lot of the boxes for me. I wanted a local territory again with a manufacturing facility within reach and I wanted to be able to connect to a strong technical support resource. We have all of that,” he said.

He also comes to the job with a working knowledge of Yaskawa’s product line having sold it for nearly seven years as a rep for Minarik Automation.

“I’m familiar with the line. I know, everybody knows, about the quality. It’s a great story to be able to tell,” he said.

Building relationships with a new customer base is tops on the list of things to do for Sheldon.

“There’s a lot of introducing myself. Helping distributors with sales calls. Asking a lot of questions to learn how I can help them,” he said. “I’m also looking for ways to add value. For instance, making sure they have all the right training in place. Ensuring they know about the resources we make available for their teams.”

“And that goes for the OEMs too. Giving them the confidence that we have the product, services and people to get them up and running quickly – and keeping them there.”