When some people think of Hadley, the first thing that might pop into their heads is their high-quality air horns. But in fact, Hadley is far more than just air horns.

Recently we interviewed Brian Kujala, the VP of Sales and Marketing at Hadley.

Unwavering Commitment

Hadley has an unwavering commitment to the trucking industry, they are a product company, that focuses on solving problems for their customers.

“To the casual observer, Hadley has been a high-quality truck parts manufacturer since the mid-1940s. Once customers and people get to know us, they find that we’re much more; we are a key solutions partner for our customers with an unwavering commitment to our mission which is ‘Your Vehicle, Your Company, Your Success” – HadleyAdvantage.com

Diverse Products

This has meant that they have developed product solutions that make the company unique. Hadley is the worldwide leader in heavy-duty truck integrated ride controls and pneumatic signaling devices. You’ll see their products used as original equipment on over-the-road, tractor/trailer rigs as well as in the consumer market on SUVs, 4 x 4s, vans, pickup trucks, motor homes, motorcycles, and power/sailboats.

One example of a unique high-quality product they have developed is their Smart Valves. “When we released our Smart Valves in 2013, customers could expect greater functionality, more feedback, and diagnostic controls. It’s an evolution of the mechanical valve business.

The Smart Valve solves a couple of problems. It protects the driver, improves safety, and creates greater profit,” said Brian Kujala, VP of Sales and Marketing at Hadley.

Advanced Diagnostics

As we look to the future though, where is the aftermarket heading when we are talking about diagnostics?

We are seeing a transition of fleets getting much more interested in dealing with some of the suppliers, specifically regarding the diagnostics of these new technologies being developed. This means that we are going to see a streamlining of troubleshooting and diagnostic control. The aftermarket is going to continue to advance in this area and Hadley will be supporting their aftermarket partners through this transition.

Training

Traditionally Hadley was involved in face-to-face training programs for their customers. During the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, face-to-face training has not been an option for many companies. Even though training through Zoom, or videos may be convenient, or necessary right now, face-to-face training is still going to be a priority going forward.

Whether you are training technicians or marketing your products, media like audio and especially video is so powerful. With such a large population of the world being on social media platforms, marketing for your business and providing educational content on these platforms is necessary.

“Hadley has put a lot of funds into generating content, video-based… if I can get on the platform they use personally, and professionally, that’s where we can create the greater tie-in of what we’re trying to sell. We have to touch all the platforms. Each one of our videos that we do, we create a long-shot video, and then we chop it up to uniquely fit each platform,” said Brian Kujala.

Hadley works hard to get on every social media channel to push content into all the different platforms. This means that each piece of content is customized to uniquely fit the platform it is posted on. This is the best way to reach people.

Dedication During Difficult Times

COVID-19 has hit many industries hard. But what about the heavy-duty industry, what impact has it had and will have in the future?

In one aspect, a lot of it is financially driven. But the gap we have now is the lack of face-to-face time and development time. There are a lot of layoffs, and for the most part, productivity was halted in mid-2020. Setting the industry back 3-5 years might be real depending on how this continues to play out.

But if there is one thing to take away from this, it’s that Hadley is focused on their customers’ needs, and making it as easy as possible for their customers to do business with them.

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