Employee Spotlight on Tyson Warm – Lakeland Omaha’s New Account Manager

Lakeland Engineering Equipment Company is proud to welcome a new employee to our company, Tyson Warm, Account Manager covering eastern Nebraska and southwestern Iowa. Although Tyson has only been with Lakeland for 7-months, he has shown many qualities that resonate with the Lakeland brand and model of doing business.

Dedicated to Relationship-First Sales

“The industry caught my eye because it’s a relationship business,” said Tyson. “I have never viewed myself as a salesmen, I view myself as a counselor salesmen. I treat my job as a relationship business and invest my time in following the sales process, building trust and tailoring each customer experience around the needs that they have.” Tyson got his start with Lakeland through the Omaha branch. Lakeland took note of his drive, personality and knowledge – knowing he was the right person for the job.

One of the notable qualities Tyson displays is his approach to customer-oriented sales. “Anyone can walk into a business trying to pitch and sell a product,” he described. “My approach is to walk in and ask questions about their issues, what keeps them up at night, and what their challenges are so I have the opportunity to solve a problem for them. When you work tirelessly to solve the issues customers are facing, that’s where the relationship takes root and grows.”

An Agricultural, Environmental and Problem Solving Background

Prior to coming onboard with Lakeland, Tyson worked in the environmental and agricultural business. He explains this experience has helped during his transition to his current position. “Working in those industries has provided me a wealth of invaluable knowledge,” said Tyson. “While I have a long way to go in learning the electrical component and solution industry, my industrial background and approach to account management have proven to translate well in this relationship-based climate.”

Among Tyson’s previous roles, he also worked in the sales of used oil collection. “This industry is extremely competitive and it’s near impossible to establish loyalty in such a volatile space where price drives everything,” explained Tyson. “I was going after some business and would beat the current vendor’s price but still wouldn’t win the account. I took a step back and did some soul searching on why this was happening. Anyone can walk in and slap a price on someone’s desk but that’s not a winning strategy.”

This is one of the areas that makes Tyson a valuable asset to the Lakeland team – his eagerness to find the right solution that will make the difference for the customer. “High achievers know you need to build value and offer the customer something that they’re not getting currently to win business,” Tyson continued. “I saw that many of these shops had drums of used filters cluttered in the corners of the building and they wanted them out of there. I asked ‘what if I solved that problem?’ We had recycle bins that looked like dumpsters and were cleaner, offered more storage, and could be placed outside because they met environmental standards. I offered a competitive price and solved the space issue for them. Stepping-back and determining what additional problems I could help solve ultimately won their business.”

Finding Custom Solutions with Lakeland Suppliers

Tyson has taken his problem solving and relationship building skills throughout his career and transferred them to his current role with Lakeland. In addition to working with customers, Lakeland also places a high priority on collaborative efforts with our suppliers. “Currently I am working on a Yaskawa VFD Ethernet update for a dairy in Nebraska,” said Tyson. “The customer was looking to expand their lines and add 100-150 drives, but they had struggled in the past to find technical support and training through implementations they had attempted.” That’s where the support of Lakeland and Yaskawa came in. “I did a lunch and learn with Yaskawa on-site, combing through each technicality to put together the next steps on the project,” Tyson said. “We just successfully placed the first wave of drives in the dairy!”

Lakeland takes great pride in our vast umbrella of resources. The key to Lakeland’s success lies in a number of different areas including our industry-leading suppliers that help provide extensive product knowledge and application-based assistance.

A Family Man & Collector

When he’s not on the road visiting customers or looking to expand Lakeland’s reach, Tyson is with his family. “Family is my number one job,” he beamed. “I have two beautiful girls with my beautiful wife Abby.” Tyson also enjoys working on his farm, volunteering at church, yard work, and sports. When asked what people might be surprised to know about him, Tyson said, “Everyone has a quirky hobby and mine is collecting old soda memorabilia.”

Future Growth with Lakeland

In addition to providing exceptional customer service to established accounts at Lakeland, Tyson is also charged with new business development. “I have a plan to expand our OEM and user account business units within my region,” said Tyson.

“Everyone here is hungry and it’s fun to be part of the initiative to expand the Lakeland Omaha branch,” said Tyson when discussing his experience thus far of being on the Lakeland team. “We have great products and I am excited about where we can take our branch with OEM and user account business.”

While Tyson is fairly new to the Lakeland organization, he has already completed some trainings on WEG controls. He also plans to advance his skills this year with electrical and automation trainings. “It’s great to be here and I’m excited to see where we can go as a company!” he added.

To learn more or get in touch with Tyson, contact him today at twarm@lakelandengineering.com.