TAYLOR STEINBERG SAYS FAREWELL

Kathryn Schifferle, CVO Work Truck Solutions sat down with longtime friend and collegue to say goodby.
Listen to there conversation here

Content pulled from Taylor Steinberg’s retirement exit interview at Knapheide, following many decades in the commercial vehicle space.

• Employment?
  • Preceded employment at Knapheide with eighteen years at International Harvester Company; six years at the corporate level in Illinois and Iowa and twelve years as an agricultural and truck dealer in Pittsfield, IL.
    Finishing my 36^th year at Knapheide with a start date of October 15, 1985

• What was your initial position with Knapheide and what was your final position before retirement?
  • Knapheide transitions were natural as the needs arose in different areas of sales and marketing:
  • First position – Regional Sales Manager
  • Set up my first NTEA Show in New Orleans in 1986
  • Product Manager – Platforms, Farm Bodies and Hoists
  • Set up KTEC St. Louis – 1994 – 1995
  • Manager, Knapheide Truck Pool – 1996 -? On and off for about ten years between two managers that came and went
  • Municipal market development during the 2008 recession
  • Assisted Jim Bockenfeld introducing the KUV to truck dealers in the USA
  • Enjoyed working trade shows as needed in numerous US locations
  • First in and last out for the NTEA and ICUEE shows for nearly two decades
  • Taught various Knapheide products in the sales school through multiple decades
  • Regional Sales Manager for over two decades
  • Enjoyed the Corporate Trainer position since 2009
    
    

• How much has changed since you began working at Knapheide?
  • Almost everything has changed except the family and friendly work environment.
  • Knapheide’s annual sales in the late 1980’s were less than one month’s sales in 2022.

• What drew you to Knapheide as an employer and what kept you there?
  • Agriculture in the early 1980’s was no fun with hyperinflation and interest rates well over 16%, with some lenders charging over 21% on business loans. The rapid decline in prices of both agricultural commodities and land resulted in the loss of many family farms. At that time, the core business for Knapheide was predominantly agriculture and also severely affected by this economy.  The mid 1980’s saw business improving along with the need for additional Regional Sales Managers.
  • Continued growth of new products and market development with a family and friendly work atmosphere made this a solid, and long-term, opportunity.

• What is a project you were proud of and what was it like to see that project completed?
  • Assisted Jim Bockenfeld in introducing the newly designed product and concept for the service industries called Knapheide Utility Van (KUV) to US dealers.
  • Through continued dealer and customer training, the market share grew from nil to around 75%.

• Bo Knapheide speaks highly and fondly of the role of Corporate Trainer. Tell me more about the ways in which you feel you contributed to these feelings and what you did to make this role a success.
  • My father, a great teacher and mentor, had a major influence on my life with the following standards.
    • Never walk when you can run
    • Have a passion to help others succeed 
    • Hard work – both mental and physical never hurt anyone
    • Make good decisions
    • Take full responsibility at an early age – I signed checks for the farm at age eleven and my father co-signed my loan at the bank at age thirteen for a new hay baler
    • Keep smiling and enjoying life
    • Strangers are friends you have yet to meet
  • Creating a successful Corporate Trainer position at Knapheide.
    • Learned and helped implement Knapheide product and market knowledge for more than three decades
    • Understood the industries we serve by walking a mile in their shoes
    • Helping distributors and dealers succeed by matching the products we build to the markets they serve
    • Helping our customer users succeed by matching the correct product to their industries.
    • Use all of the passion, intensity, enthusiasm and product knowledge one can muster to make our customers successful.

• What will you miss the most in retirement?
  • The friendship and family of fellow employees, the quality work environment and the opportunity to continue helping all of those customers and fellow workers succeed.

• What are you looking forward to and what do you plan on doing to enjoy your retirement?
  • Domestic and international travel, a long-term family generational tradition, will continue as long as we are able to do so. We have enjoyed over 60 countries on six continents and have many more domestic and international areas to explore.
  • On the home front, we will continue preparing the Steinberg family farm, founded in 1865, for handover to the next generations in our family. 

• And a few final thoughts from Taylor :
  • The joy of working trade shows was always a highlight of my career. Greeting and meeting all of those wonderful people from various parts of the USA and other parts of the world was fun and rewarding.
  • Phil Pontican, Ford Commercial Truck Sales Manager, presented me with a set of “bunny ears” and nicknamed me the “Energizer Bunny” during a Ford training seminar at Quincy decades ago.
  • Another highlight was writing training and customer experience articles for Ford Pros Magazine for over a decade. The magazine, published by the National Ford Truck Club, is designed to assist commercial Ford truck dealers in the United States improve their customer service by implementing article content and utilizing Knapheide products.