Meet Our Sales Staff

At Argonics, we value face-to-face interaction with those we work with; however, with COVID-19 affecting travel for many businesses, we’re unable to conduct in-person visits at this time. With that in mind, for this month’s blog, we wanted to introduce our sales team in a more personal way. 

We miss seeing our customers and distributors, attending trade shows, and being able to conduct business as usual. We can’t wait to see you all again, and hope everyone is staying healthy. 

Bob Welker
Director of Sales and Marketing

Years with Argonics: 18

Project you’re most proud of: The time I’ve spent expanding our international sales footprint. Doing this has allowed me to travel to six different continents and given me the ability to meet interesting people from a variety of different cultures and build lasting relationships with several of the people that I’ve met.

Something you feel the Argonics sales team does well: I believe we take great strides to be extremely loyal to our customers that have made a commitment to us.  We will not go direct to end use customers if we have a good working relationship with a distributor that covers that area.

Thoughts on how the sales team has handled the pandemic: I think we are in the process of some great things now.  As a sales team, we are using this time where we cannot travel to meet in person with our customers,  to evaluate each of our customers. This will help to try to identify each of their unique needs. We are going to use this information to work toward developing a system that will make our products easier to purchase and help the Argonics line of products stand out among the other products that our customers carry.

Things you like to do outside of work: Travelling with, and spending time with, my family, scuba diving, camping, and hunting. 

Hannah Nelson
Assistant Sales and Marketing Manager

Years with Argonics: 8

Project you’re most proud of: My favorite accomplishment has been moving into a position to help lead the Sales/Marketing/Customer Service teams. My favorite project was organizing and executing the Distributor Training Gathering we held in 2017. We had companies from all over the US, Canada, and Europe attend.

Something you feel the Argonics sales team does well: I think our personal attention to each distributor and the protection we offer them helps differentiate us from our competition. We have an extremely fast response time to quote requests, questions, and problem resolution. We understand that in order for Argonics to succeed, our distributors need to succeed.

Thoughts on how the sales team has handled the pandemic: All of our sales staff remained working and engaged with the customer during the pandemic. We have modified our “business as usual” by adapting to virtual sales calls, virtual training, and other methods of assisting our customers in place of our normal face-to-face relationships.

Things you like to do outside of work: I enjoy camping, cycling, kayaking, and travel. I miss live music and can’t wait until we all have the opportunity to attend concerts again!

Jake Gervais
Technical Sales Specialist

Years with Argonics: 2.5

Project you’re most proud of: Being involved in different phases of product development projects; I look forward to more and what’s to come in the future.

Something you feel the Argonics sales team does well: Our sales staff is very involved with our distributors and customers. Responsiveness and willingness to help are both positive comments that have been brought forth from people. 

Thoughts on how the sales team has handled the pandemic: Due to Argonics being deemed an essential business, we were able to stay open during the Stay Home, Stay Safe order. Sales staff were able to continue assisting customers, whether working from home or in-office, and ensure availability. 

Things you like to do outside of work: Mountain biking, exploring the outdoors in the U.P., motocross, water-sports, and craft beer.

Jeremy Nylund
Territory Manager

Years with Argonics: 17

Project you’re most proud of: Before moving to the sales department, I was part of our engineering team. During my time as an engineer, one of my favorite projects was designing a machine that automatically put mechanical-lock features on an insert as it went through the process. The result was a large decrease in the labor time that it took to prepare an insert.

Something you feel the Argonics sales team does well: I think the Argonics sales staff is very hands-on when it comes to our distributors and customers. We don’t just try to make a sale — we seek to understand the application at hand and find a solution that works best.

Thoughts on how the sales team has handled the pandemic: Since we haven’t been able to meet with distributors face-to-face, I’ve found the Zoom meetings useful. They act as a nice point of contact to assist with training, checking in, etc. 

Things you like to do outside of work: Fishing, mountain biking, and snowshoeing.

Jesse Roberge
Technical Sales Specialist – Concrete

Years with Argonics: 9

Project you’re most proud of:  I really enjoy working with new product development, whether it is an Argonics product line, or a customer specific part.  Finding the best formula of polyurethane for an application and most cost effective way to manufacture it is rewarding.

Something you feel the Argonics sales team does well: We do a great job of caring for customers and working closely with them to solve their issues and meet their needs. Argonics sees the job through, even when hurdles are present.

Thoughts on how the sales team has handled the pandemic: We did well with keeping people informed about current and future orders and lead times. Personally, I was also able to help in the manufacturing process to prevent lead time disruption for my customers.

Things you like to do outside of work: In addition to spending time with my wife and two young daughters, I am passionate about fishing and hunting.

John Sheahan
Technical Sales Specialist – Agriculture

Years with Argonics: 7 

Project or accomplishment you’re most proud of: My biggest accomplishment has been establishing strong relationships with my customers.

Something you feel the Argonics sales team does well: I feel we do a good job of trying to look at things from the customer’s perspective. We try to understand how our performance will affect their business, both from a sales standpoint and from a production and design standpoint.

Thoughts on how the sales team has handled the pandemic: We did well identifying any production challenges and were quick to communicate them. Customers appreciate honesty, and I think we were forthcoming and timely in passing on information related to COVID delays.

Things you like to do outside of work: I enjoy mountain biking, fishing, backpacking, and spending time with my family.

Patrick Myron
Technical Sales Specialist – Public Works

Years with Argonics: 4.5

Project you’re most proud of: I’ve enjoyed being involved in various product development initiatives with the public works product line. I have also had the opportunity to participate in marketing efforts, like advertising. I also relish winning the award for “Scraggliest Beard” during the Movember beard contest, which is a fun activity we host during the month of November.

Something you feel the Argonics sales team does well: Our level of personal and prompt communication with customers is something to note. Exceptional customer care is essential, both personally and professionally.

Thoughts on how the sales team has handled the pandemic: I’m proud of the way we collaboratively came together to continue working and serving customers with minimal interruptions to them. Some sales staff worked from home, while some remained on site, but everyone remained working and taking care of customer needs.

Things you like to do outside of work: Spending time with family, bicycling, small stream fishing, cooking, reading, and travelling (just not during a pandemic).

Sean Kieldrup
Distributor Manager – Bulk Material Handling Products

Years with Argonics: 10

Project you’re most proud of: Being a part of developing the OTR Sidewall Protector. This product was introduced in 2019. 

Something you feel the Argonics sales team does well: I think we provide a great deal of support to our distributors, as well as great customer care and reliability.

Thoughts on how the sales team has handled the pandemic: We are keeping in contact and checking in with people. Amidst the challenging times, we are doing the best that we can, along with everyone else, since travelling to visit distributors is not an option.

Things you like to do outside of work: Spending time with my family, and when I’m not doing that, you can find me on the golf course.