Haeco Cabin Solutions

Background

ASAP Aero is a company in the aerospace industry that provides parts to airlines, repair stations, manufacturers, and militaries around the world. These companies would have the need for a part, they would come to us, we would quote them whether we had it or not, and then go out and source it. The goal was to maximize profit without quoting high enough to lose the deal. Reps were quoting 50+ contracts a day ranging from $1,000 to millions of dollars. It is a very small company with one location and roughly 30 reps.

When I joined ASAP, the sales process was unrefined. There were so many rfq's flying in every day that the standard process was to just fling quotes back at them with no approach or tact. I had literally seen emails that said "You want? I have. $15,000. Send PO." This was one of the reasons I was brought in by the CEO in the first place. It wasn't a sustainable business model, nor was it one that aligned with the CEO's growth goals.
 

The Start

Haeco is a massive company. They specialize in cabin solutions; seats, cushions, glue, armrests, channels, etc. We received seemingly endless RFQs from them but very few POs. In my research one day, I found a very large contract that Haeco had won with Air Canada to overhaul the cabins for all their Boeing 737s. There was no information hinting at a contact with Haeco for the project. I researched previous projects between Haeco and other airlines for the same aircraft type and eventually found Cathy Reed as being the project lead for it. 

I reached out to Cathy several times before catching her on the phone. I built rapport, asked her about the big project, and had a pleasant conversation about her role at Haeco. In the conversation I learned that the reason we hadn't received a lot of POs from them in the past was because of the company's strict vendor restrictions and qualifications and that we simply weren't an approved vendor. The only way they could work with us was if we were the only ones that had a part they needed. I inquired about "that one part" that kept her up at night because she couldn't find it. I was able to get a part number from her. Before getting off the call I got Cathy to commit to working with ASAP on getting us set up in as an official vendor of Haeco.

I worked closely with our procurement team to source the part and procure it. Its cost was only a couple thousand dollars. Instead of following the norm of submitting a (really high) quote based on the limited availability of the part, I decided to call strategize internally to parlay the find and getting set up in their system into a bigger opportunity. 

The Plan

I met with the CEO Joe, and our compliance manager Tony to catch them up to speed on my plan and request help in the communication and support if it came to fruition. I reached out to Cathy and let her know we were going to send them the part for $0. Before calling her, Tony and I had done some research on the certifications it took to be verified as an official vendor of theirs. Tony was able to help me put together all of the necessary documents and certifications. When I was on the phone with Cathy, I sent her the official quote as well as all of the certifications we had put together. Cathy was elated! Getting set up in her system would be a couple week long process, but she agreed to sponsor us and submit the $0 PO. Once the part was received and sent out by our warehouse team, and tracking showed Cathy's warehouse had received the part, I schedule time with Cathy to meet via zoom with the goal of being invited to quote the parts they needed for the deal they had landed with Air Canada. I asked many questions about the project, her role in it, and to uncover pain points she experienced throughout projects like this. By the end of it, I had enough points to present the value I could add in quoting the project. Cathy obliged.

Teamwork

After sharing the good news with Joe, he set some wheels in motion to support quoting out the project. There were over 2,000 parts and we were joining the race a couple months late. There were a few other companies Cathy had told me were working on quoting the list. We assembled a team of 2 associate purchasers another rep, and myself. Together we worked to source pricing and information on the list and eventually to put together an official quote with multiple options. 

Cathy

Over the next 3 months I worked with Cathy on the list. We had a weekly recurring Monday meeting scheduled to go over updates, work on the vendor approval process, and draw closer to a final pitch. As the weeks went on I learned more about who was involved in this project and making decisions. Cathy had purchasing power up to a certain price-point. Annie, the Lead for the project, and Tim, a VP in their financial department needed to be involved and sign off on bigger purchases. Every now and then I would send Cathy a hand written thank you card. I have a wax seal kit I use when I send letters and had one had an old biplane on it. She loved it. I sent her her own wax seal kit with a similar emblem and one with a C for Cathy. I also sent her a gift basket on her birthday that I purchased for and assembled myself. We became friends and she was instrumental throughout the process in helping us win the deal (spoiler alert!)

Closing Time

From start to finish, it took about 6 months to understand all the complexities of the project and quote it out completely. There were options for many of the parts for new vs used, options for parts being machined, and options for different quantity price levels/breaks. We also assembled a quote in which the pricing was discounted with the condition of placing the entire order with ASAP. This was our competitive advantage. Their other options would be working with multiple vendors to piece together their needs. I had met and worked with Annie and Tim over the 6 months and when it came time for the final, in person pitch, they were the main audience. Joe, Tony, our warehouse manager Amir, and myself flew to Greensboro, NC to meet with them. My surprise guest/presenter was Cathy herself. She spoke about the time and therefore money it would save them to buy from one place. She also spoke to our legitimacy and character. After that pitch meeting there were a couple of subsequent meetings over 2 days in NC. The last was a negotiation. We rescheduled our flights and extend our hotels a night to go out to dinner with them to celebrate. All in all it was about a $6M project with roughly a 13% profit margin.

Filling the Order

It took another 6 months to fulfill the order. I worked with every division of the company to get it done. I negotiated with suppliers, regularly went to NC to meet with Haeco and the team, and made sure that when there were hiccups in the process that I would be there to support them.

The Aftermath

I was assigned Haeco as an account. That had never happened before outside of our military accounts. ASAP started to shift the way we approached quoting and selling as I managed and trained the reps on how to do so. I became Cathy's go-to for parts. She told me I made her job so easy that they didn't really need her anymore; but made me promise not to tell Tim that. Over time she introduced me to several other purchasers who would place regular orders with ASAP.