Ron Kornafel: Practicing What He Preached
Philadelphia, PA; New Jersey and Cherry Hill, NJ Franchises
When Ron joined Unishippers more than two years ago, it was in a corporate sales management position. He’s spent his entire career in shipping, with stints at Airborne Express and Nippon Express, where he was a Global Sales Manager. And what originally attracted him to Unishippers were their processes and their product. Coming from a shipping background, he thought Unishippers was a clear-cut winner.
Ron loved his corporate position, and quickly realized it was an opportunity to learn more about Unishippers, and see firsthand what works and what doesn’t. It wasn’t long before he knew that his real passion was to be an owner himself, where he could put all of those processes and practices into building a successful business.
Ron is the first to admit that owning a franchise is a lot different than just managing the sales process. There’s more responsibility – to his employees and to the sales process itself. And he believes one of the keys to his success is “honoring the sacred selling time of 9 am to 5 pm”. It’s one of the things he used to preach to the sales teams, and it’s now a practice he’s instilled in his staff.
When he opened his first franchise, Ron thought he knew exactly what it would take to be successful: a lot of hard work, and adherence to the drills he’d been teaching for months. But Ron says that even he is surprised by just how easily success has come. “I was honestly surprised at how easy it is to bring in new business. It’s been gratifying to know just how well these processes work in the real world.” Ron even makes this promise to new franchise owners: “Unishippers is failure-proof if you follow the guidelines.”
Now, with three successful franchises under his ownership, Ron has a pretty good handle on making it all work. “Invest in relationships, and have a thick skin. All of the tools are there for you to use. It’s up to you, as an owner, to put them all to good use. And if you do, you’ll exceed your wildest expectations.”
> Find out how Sarah Ordover & Jay Stolba created early success that just keeps on growing.
