Our People
Jon Irvine
January 2021
Technical Specialist – Process Heat
Kent, WA
The Valin sales force is driven by missions. Jon Irvine from the Kent, WA office had three missions for 2020.
1. Sell industrial heat trace
2. Sell Valin control panels
3. Take market share away from a former Valin supplier
Jon performed on all three, booking well over a million in closed/won opportunities in CRM and growing his assigned account base over 300% year over year.
Industrial heat trace is a key product line for process heat. Many companies sell heaters, many companies sell heat trace, but only a few sell both. Our ability to do that is a critical component of Valin’s value-add proposition. The margins on heat trace are significant which drives significant value back to Valin shareholders. Jon sold hundreds of thousands of heat trace in 2020. These were not pennies from heaven that fell into his lap. Jon actively used marketing materials specifically developed for process heat customers. At the beginning of the year, the sales team created a series of 7-micro campaigns after Jon shared his idea of standardizing and coordinating promotional materials to provide a consistent message. He followed up and built relationships with new contractors based on customer feedback from the marketing materials that were developed. He provided start-up and commissioning support even through the COVID crisis. Customers rewarded his knowledge and persistence with orders that would have otherwise gone to the competition.
Valin launched their line of AccuTrace Control Panels in the same year and Jon led the way by selling a substantial amount of heat trace panels. Whenever a company launches a new product there is a learning curve. Jon has been phenomenal in getting customer feedback regarding the new panel line. He has spent countless hours on-site, working with contractors, and engineers from both Valin and the customer helping to tweak and improve the product, while also educating the customer base on the benefits. Jon’s copious, well-organized notes and documentation have helped drive internal changes that are consistent within the Valin culture of continuous improvement. Jon took pictures of control panels while on-site at the customer. He added notes to complement the images and then shared the information with engineering. Jon’s observations have been helpful and at times critical, in fixing issues like leaks or suggesting items to add to make it easier for contractors when installing a panel.
Normally, these heat trace and control panel sales would have gone to a competing supplier, but instead, they went to Valin. Jon could have rested on his laurels and say that he was also shifting share- but he did not. Instead, he sought out and found an opportunity from a competing supplier to spec out their controllers and spec in a custom solution from Valin’s primary manufacturer. This was a very technical conversation, requiring multiple meetings with both the supplier and the customer’s engineering and design teams. Again, Jon walked away with a purchase order and another satisfied Valin customer.
Jon’s actions are a quintessential example of exemplary sales efforts. He studied his missions, mapped out his strategy, and then executed them with methodological precision and admirable dedication.
1. Sell industrial heat trace
2. Sell Valin control panels
3. Take market share away from a former Valin supplier
Industrial heat trace is a key product line for process heat. Many companies sell heaters, many companies sell heat trace, but only a few sell both. Our ability to do that is a critical component of Valin’s value-add proposition. The margins on heat trace are significant which drives significant value back to Valin shareholders. Jon sold hundreds of thousands of heat trace in 2020. These were not pennies from heaven that fell into his lap. Jon actively used marketing materials specifically developed for process heat customers. At the beginning of the year, the sales team created a series of 7-micro campaigns after Jon shared his idea of standardizing and coordinating promotional materials to provide a consistent message. He followed up and built relationships with new contractors based on customer feedback from the marketing materials that were developed. He provided start-up and commissioning support even through the COVID crisis. Customers rewarded his knowledge and persistence with orders that would have otherwise gone to the competition.
Valin launched their line of AccuTrace Control Panels in the same year and Jon led the way by selling a substantial amount of heat trace panels. Whenever a company launches a new product there is a learning curve. Jon has been phenomenal in getting customer feedback regarding the new panel line. He has spent countless hours on-site, working with contractors, and engineers from both Valin and the customer helping to tweak and improve the product, while also educating the customer base on the benefits. Jon’s copious, well-organized notes and documentation have helped drive internal changes that are consistent within the Valin culture of continuous improvement. Jon took pictures of control panels while on-site at the customer. He added notes to complement the images and then shared the information with engineering. Jon’s observations have been helpful and at times critical, in fixing issues like leaks or suggesting items to add to make it easier for contractors when installing a panel.
Normally, these heat trace and control panel sales would have gone to a competing supplier, but instead, they went to Valin. Jon could have rested on his laurels and say that he was also shifting share- but he did not. Instead, he sought out and found an opportunity from a competing supplier to spec out their controllers and spec in a custom solution from Valin’s primary manufacturer. This was a very technical conversation, requiring multiple meetings with both the supplier and the customer’s engineering and design teams. Again, Jon walked away with a purchase order and another satisfied Valin customer.
Jon’s actions are a quintessential example of exemplary sales efforts. He studied his missions, mapped out his strategy, and then executed them with methodological precision and admirable dedication.