In the spirit of One Toyota, we wanted to create a program and award trip bringing together both Hino and Toyota dealers and our OEM partners at Hino and TMH.

Last year, we hosted both dealer groups for the first time as a one-time trip to celebrate Ambassador Award milestones from 2020 – 2023. Attendees from last year’s trip told us that the best part of the trip was getting to know others from Hino or Toyota and making connections with one another. We have also heard from many of you about your desire to learn more and network with other Toyota dealer networks and businesses, and we are excited to launch this brand-new program as a direct result of your feedback.

This year’s Partners of Excellence program will run from January 1, 2024, to May 31, 2024. The trip for winners (and a guest) will take place from October 18 – 21, 2024, at Pelican Hill Resort.

The top 12 dealers (for Toyota and Hino each), based on the program parameters above, will earn the distinctive Partners of Excellence Award and trip. Winners will be announced in early June. Should you have any questions regarding the program, your TICF Regional Sales Manager is available to assist.

We truly value your partnership and look forward to continued collaboration in achieving mutual goals, customer loyalty, and long-term profitability.

Good luck, and we hope to see you in the Partner’s Circle!

The devil is in the details, they say, and no one recognizes this more keenly than someone who oversees a project management function, like Jim Jordan, PMP, CSM. Jim is the Senior Manager of the Enterprise Project Management Office (PMO) at Toyota Industries Commercial Finance (TICF). Jim joined the company eight years ago with the mission of creating and building out the PMO function. What has resulted is a structured project management approach for enterprise projects at TICF that uses best practices in project management principles to ensure each project goes smoothly.

Qualifying projects constitute anything from a shorter-term assignment like a TC3 enhancement or a project necessary to comply with new federal regulations up to a multi-year, multi-million-dollar venture like Project FOCUS. In fact, delving into those complex operations is Jim’s favorite part of the job, especially the cross-functional nature that brings him in contact with virtually every department at TICF, in addition to other Toyota group companies. “It’s exciting to oversee all the facets of a multi-layered endeavor, in particular the collaboration with associates throughout the organization,” he says, adding that the unique nature of each implementation keeps the job fresh, posing a different opportunity every day.

Wondering how these initiatives go from concept to implementation? Jim explains that the project lifecycle begins with a request, which the PMO  evaluates on several levels. He estimates that 95% of their work has an IT component so that department is involved throughout the project lifecycle.

For a small system enhancement, a Project Manager  might dive in right away, while a larger, cross-functional project would be presented to the project steering committee for evaluation. The steering committee approves or denies the  proposal based on how it aligns with TICF’s overall business goals.

If it’s determined to be consistent with business objectives (or is an essential compliance-related activity), the request gains approval and is then slotted into the team’s backlog. Each month they review approved initiatives and prioritize them with input from the project steering committee to ensure they’re consistently launching the most impactful programs.

A project manager then oversees it  from kickoff to implementation and even after. “Once the PMO has completed a project, we hold a critique session to ensure the scope was satisfied and it’s performing as intended. We also take time to go over lessons learned so we can capture ideas for improvement,” Jim explains.

Including Jim, there are currently six project managers on the team. One is coordinating joint digital transformation program efforts with Toyota Material Handling, , and another is pursuing a backlog of other business undertakings, while four  are dedicated to Project FOCUS. This huge endeavor allows TICF and Raymond Leasing to replace their antiquated origination and servicing systems and upgrade them with a modern, streamlined version that provides enhanced self-service capabilities and automates many manual processes. In addition, when Project FOCUS comes to fruition, dealers will have their first-ever dedicated portal where they can view their customers’ profiles and financial information related to leases and loans they’ve originated through TICF.

The tight-knit team of project managers is constantly working with sales and internal business teams to stay in tune with the latest from dealers and customers. “That information then flows through our intake process and eventually the project management lifecycle so we can implement initiatives designed to benefit our dealers and customers,” Jim said.

“2024 holds great promise,” Jim says. “We are making a huge investment in dealer-centric upgrades as part of our digital transformation, and I think everyone is going to be really excited about it.”

While Jim enjoys being in the thick of invigorating work in the office, once the day is over, he heads to the outdoors, where he loves fishing, boating, cycling, and running. He also prioritizes family time, often embarking on trips in their RV.

TICF’s annual Dealer Satisfaction Survey is designed to provide Toyota dealers a vehicle through which to offer anonymous feedback and the organization valuable insights into how we measure up on dozens of metrics across the dealer experience – from perception on the responsiveness of multiple departments, down to an assessment of marketing materials and training programs.

“We really appreciate every single response we receive. The annual dealer survey is a powerful tool for TICF to truly understand from our Toyota dealers what we are doing well, what we need to be doing better, and how we can help dealers grow,” says Mike Schultze, Sr. Director of Sales and Marketing.

To help us continue to focus on changes that matter most to Toyota dealers, the fifth annual survey was launched in October and closed in November of last year. And, with the results tabulates, we saw a 32.7% response rate, which is lower than our 2022 survey with a 40.1% response rate. 79% of Toyota forklift dealers said they are “very satisfied” overall, which is on par with the 2022 survey.

As we now enter our action-planning phase, where we as an organization develop and execute targeted initiatives for the Toyota dealer network based on this year’s feedback, we heard the four areas you want us to focus on are:

1. Ability to resolve your questions or problems
2. Competitiveness of available product offerings
3. Turnaround time for e-mail responses
4. Two-way communication between TICF and your dealership

Keith Courtney, Sr. Manager of Sales shares, “The survey gives us a great guide as to what we need to work on to make sure we are meeting the needs of our dealers. The candid and honest feedback helps push ourselves to constantly improve. Our ultimate goal is to create a premium experience for our dealers, but it is a journey, not a destination.”

In the April edition of The Lift, we will share with you the specific initiatives we will be working on because of your feedback and in our ultimate goal of being the best financial services partner to you, our valued Toyota dealers, and our mutual customers.

Did you assume forklift sales were a man’s world? Don’t tell Leticia Connors and Jamie Harrison of Toyota Material Handling of Northern California (TMHNC), who are finding great success—and loving every minute of their jobs.

Harrison, who has been a sales representative for TMHNC for nearly 13 years, including three as an equipment rep, currently sells Toyota forklifts in an expansive territory that includes Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Lake counties. Connors has been with the dealer for nine years as an account manager selling forklifts in the Bay Area territory.

Both come to the company with a sales background—Connors had previously worked with Unilever in the food supply industry. While she took some time off after having children, she was ready to get back to work when her second child started preschool. At a job fair, she met a woman who worked in material handling who was impressed with her background and experience and now has been in the industry for nine years, including the five with TMHNC.

Harrison has long been drawn to outside sales, saying she was “hooked” after her initial job selling cars. “I love interacting with customers and building relationships, not sitting at a desk all day,” she says. In her current role, she believes prior sales experience is a plus, as salespeople are typically equipped to deal with the all-too-frequent chaos, while being able to constantly re-prioritize and having the confidence to follow up with customers. “Sometimes you have to deal with difficult individuals, which requires thick skin, and in those situations my aim is to give them the perceived win in order to close deals,” she says.

Being a woman in a male-dominated industry does sometimes come with obstacles. Connors found that at first customers gravitated to a male salesperson, assuming she was less knowledgeable. Her goal is always to have done sufficient research so she can answer any question to prove herself to her customers. However, since she is bilingual (having been born in Panama), she has discovered that this capability has helped her connect and better understand the daily challenges of the many Spanish-speaking forklift operators in her territory.

“I like surprising customers,” Harrison says, adding that while some customers don’t think a thing of it, others may have pre-conceived notions regarding gender, which can take some time to conquer. “I just have to always be sure I am leading with knowledge and expertise and adding value.” She also mentions the benefit of dressing to look similar to your customer base, which helps them feel more comfortable with you from a first impression standpoint. “When you look like you belong, people may not act as defensive and question you as much.”

While women might not have played with forklifts as kids due to gender stereotypes, Harrison finds material handling to be incredibly dynamic, pointing out that any niche industry is more exciting. Connors agrees that her favorite part of her job is the opportunity to learn something every day as she becomes immersed in her customers’ businesses. “Almost every field relies on forklifts, and every application is unique,” she says. In addition, she enjoys helping her many small business customers grow their businesses.

Being a problem solver is critical in the material handling industry, says Connors. “You have to be that trustworthy source who assures customers you understand their issues.” When meeting individuals, Harrison loves to discuss their career path and finds that the ability women have to relate authentically creates respect and nurtures friendships. She recommends noticing other people’s communication styles and preferences. “Learning to mirror those can take you from good to great in sales,” she says.

While TMHNC feels inclusive, with substantial female representation across all levels of the organization, both recognize that the material handling field could do more to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more female talent. “You don’t think about joining an industry you’re unaware of,” Harrison says.

Connors encourages women to consider the material handling world as there are huge opportunities, and believes the field would benefit from making an effort to market more directly to women to help them understand the important role that the sector makes throughout the supply chain and other industries.

One avenue to recruiting more women would be to make sure that leaders in individual dealerships and the industry as a whole identify potential talent from females already working there who may not have thought of sales. “While the fear of being a commissioned employee could be a detractor for many people, it’s actually a benefit because you can be as successful as you want to be, based primarily on hard work,” Harrison says.

In fact, both heartily agree that women have the same capacity as men to succeed in material handling. “Sales is all about building relationships and proving yourself, no matter what gender you are,” Connor says.

The New Year is always a bright time as people and companies reflect on the previous year and make plans and voice resolutions for what we hope to achieve in the future. As TICF looks ahead, 2024 is especially bright as we plan for a major transformation.

In the last five years, in survey after survey, dealers have indicated that improving the current origination system is one of the main drivers to improve overall satisfaction of doing business with TICF. As a captive finance company, we exist to support you and Toyota Material Handling and your forklift customers, and our systems are keeping us from fully delivering on our purpose.

As a result, and as shared in December, Toyota Industries Commercial Finance (TICF), in partnership with Raymond Leasing (RLC), launched a major initiative called Project FOCUS, which stands for Finance Opportunities for Customer and User Satisfaction. And, during the next 18 months, into Q2 of 2025, Project FOCUS will prepare all of us for the replacement of our credit origination systems as well as our portfolio management and servicing platform.

“The first New Year’s celebration was nearly 4,000 years ago, and while our systems are not quite that old, we have much to improve,” said Mike Schultze, Senior Director of Sales & Marketing. “While it is a bold move to make a fresh start with our origination and servicing systems, launching a completely new back-end system is what is needed to allow us to best serve you, deliver a modern lease and finance experience, and respond to market demands.”

The working relationship between TICF and RLC to jointly reimagine the digital systems for both companies and transform each business is a groundbreaking partnership that makes sense. Mike shared, “Working together takes the collective experience and knowledge of both organizations and adds an element of efficiency and technology to elevate the brand of each company.”

He added, “While TICF and RLC are different brands, and will remain separate companies, having another perspective of a business with similar product offerings and operating models has been helpful.” The work we complete together will make both organizations much more relevant and nimbler as we develop the new system. The technology will enable our organizations to be more efficient and broaden the scope from business and service perspectives.

TICF’s Chief Information Officer, Mary K. Trostmann-Tully, views a new origination and servicing system as “the art of the possible”, and is excited about the journey ahead. Mary K. shared, “Project FOCUS is a great opportunity to re-envision the way we do business and support our dealers and customers.” She added, “With Project FOCUS, from a technology standpoint, we aim to go from behind the pack to the front and become innovators.”

This new system’s cloud-based technology eliminates the “lag” dealers have felt when working in the current systems. Furthermore, using scalable, future-ready technology, capable of evolving and expanding, will better support the changing marketplace and the complexity of logistics and larger customers. And the new flexible technology foundation reduces operational complexities allowing for better support, service, and ongoing growth.

The dealer perspective is critical to a successful transformation. We are asking for a few volunteers to represent the dealer perspective in software testing and provide input on the training. If you are interested in being a representative in the project, by Friday, February 23, 2024, please send an email to TICF_Marketing_SM@toyotacf.com.

Thank you for your business, partnership, and ongoing support. We couldn’t be more excited about what lies ahead, and we look forward to making a fresh start with you in 2025.