Once a month, we will be shedding some light on the great team that works behind the scenes here at Safety Hoist and giving you some insight into their careers, lives, and future aspirations.
This month, we’re introducing Shawn Furlong, our business development associate. Since Shawn joined the team back in April, he has helped our company build customer relationships and ensure our customers receive the help they need.
When Shawn studied at West Chester University, majoring in business administration, he took all the information he learned from his courses and implemented it into his own business. Shawn had a successful car washing business but he decided he wanted to do more.
“I closed down my business because I wanted to move on and learn different aspects of business.”
Shawn decided to come work for Safety Hoist as a business development associate because he saw an opportunity to learn a new aspect of business in a different industry.
“Being able to work at Safety Hoist has allowed me to learn about new industries that could potentially need a safe product to use,” Furlong said.
Upon accepting the position, there was a lot for Furlong to learn; there was the actual sales software, learning about each and every product, and getting to know each of the industries Safety Hoist’s customers belong to. Learning all of these things at once was difficult, but once he felt he was organized and threw himself into the fire, he got the hang of it quickly.
To get started, Shawn worked in the warehouse to better understand what each product consists of, how each works and what technical questions could come up.
He would divide his week between going into the warehouse, seeing the product being built and building the product himself while also seeing it in action. The other half of the week Shawn would spend his time in the office-taking phone calls, answering emails and listening to people’s questions in order to help him learn the sales system and process.
Every morning, Shawn comes into the office as early as he can, has a sip of his favorite medium roast homemade black coffee, and starts his day.
“I love working for Safety Hoist for the simple fact that two days aren’t alike,” Furlong said.
“There’s always a new idea or opportunity to learn about the manual labor industries and I think that’s important, in a work environment, to be up-to-date on new information so you have a better understanding of what's going on in every industry.”
That’s not the only reason why Shawn loves coming to work.
“I love working here because of how amazing our team is and how we all contribute to bettering the company.”
As Shawn continues to grow his career at Safety Hoist, we’re glad to have him as part of our team.