Our latest member spotlight series, I had the chance to connect with Haggard & Stocking Industrial Supplies & Services, an Industrial Distribution leader that provides engineered solutions in Tooling, Abrasives, Safety, Material Handling, Fasteners, Vending, and more.
I was intrigued by Haggard & Stocking as I was doing the research, as they appear to be a good example of “a built from the ground up distributor that has year by year built out their business” over the past 47 years.
Let’s start with a little history on Haggard and Stocking
Haggard & Stocking was founded in 1972 in Indiana by Herb Haggard with a focus on metal cutting tools. If you are going to pick a state to start an industrial focused business the State of Indiana is a great place to start.
I took a look at the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics from April 2025, the state of Indiana ranks 7th in the US with 523,000 manufacturing jobs and as percentage of people employed in manufacturing – at 7.6% they rank second (only behind Wisconsin at 7.8%).
In 1972, when they were founded, the large steel mills in Northwestern Indiana were even still in operation and Indiana was and is, more than just cornfields and basketball. The State of Indiana has been and remains one of the top states to be an Industrial Distributor and Service Provider.
We asked Jeff Haggard – President of Haggard and Stocking to answer a few questions for us to write this column, and he gave us some great answers. So, I just made a few edits below and added some commentary as his answers were compelling.
1. Describe your company, the markets you serve, and how you differentiate yourself versus your competition.
Haggard & Stocking is an industrial distributor founded on the principle of providing high-performance tooling solutions to address real-world challenges on the shop floor. Whether it’s sizing, finishing, ovality, or concentricity issues, we engineer tooling solutions that solve problems and improve performance.
Over the years, we’ve expanded our offerings to include a full Safety Division, a Fastener Division, and a broad range of other industrial services—all while staying true to our core value: providing solutions and answers for our customers’ toughest challenges.
We offer multiple ways for customers to acquire products, including a full industrial vending division with 24/7 service support and a robust eCommerce platform—one of the strongest for an independent distributor.
Haggard and Stocking shared that their customers are in automotive, aerospace, aerospace maintenance, off-highway, energy, and many others segments.
2. What would your customers say are the key things that differentiate you?
We’re known for superior service and hands-on support. Our philosophy is simple: “Put on the hat of the end user. If we make them more profitable, we’ll be profitable too.”
The teams shared the proof to the superior service statement with numerous customer awards they have achieved over the years, and I like their succinct 17 words philosophy statement as it is easy to understand and convey.
3. What industry-wide opportunities and challenges do you see, and how should distributors address them?
Industry-wide challenges include tariffs, foreign competitors, and online-only suppliers that sell on price without offering service. Additionally, recruiting and retaining skilled employees has become a critical challenge.
Our strategy is to focus on what online competitors can’t provide—high-touch service, problem-solving, and support. We continue investing in eCommerce, vending technology, and service infrastructure while making sure we tell our story effectively to customers.
Recruiting and developing talent is a long game. Distributors must create workplaces where people want to stay and grow.
4. How have your manufacturer/distributor relationships changed over the past five years? What’s key for the future?
Since COVID, we’ve seen a dramatic reduction in supplier field support. Many manufacturers cut back outside sales teams, putting more responsibility on distributors.
We’ve adapted by aligning with manufacturers who still actively support us in the field. If a supplier isn’t engaged, we shift our focus to those who are. Going forward, collaboration and field-level partnership will be key to success.
5. How do you view the changing role of manufacturer and distributor sales representatives? What do you expect from top-performing reps today?
Our expectations are simple, maybe even old-fashioned—but they’re fundamental:
- Know your product.
- Know how to service your product.
- Show up.
- Do what you say you’re going to do.
It really is that simple. These are the basics that drive trust and long-term customer relationships.
6. What’s the greatest opportunity and the greatest challenge facing the industry?
The biggest challenge—and opportunity—is people: recruiting, training, and retention. Today’s younger workforce often changes jobs every few years. Larger companies, especially after consolidation, often lure away trained people from smaller distributors like us by offering higher pay but without investing in training themselves. This creates a cycle where independent distributors do the hard work of developing talent, only to see them poached.
Additionally, industry consolidation is reducing options for end users, limiting competition and, in some cases, hurting customer service levels.
7. What one question would you like every manufacturer to answer for you?
“Am I on an even playing field with my competition when it comes to price, service, and delivery? If not, why?” I tell them that if we are on the level field, we will out work them.
Beyond that, I always ask: “What are you doing to get better, and how can you help us get better too?”
8. What’s one thing few people know about your company?
Visitors are often surprised by our size and reach. Nobody leaves saying, “You’re smaller than I thought.” Instead, they’re amazed by the range of industries and services we provide.
We also have several vending specialists on staff with factory-level training who can install, repair, and even rebuild vending machines—on call 24/7. Most of our competitors rely on the manufacturer for that service.
Additionally, we have our own in-house marketing and video production department with a green room—something you won’t find at most independent distributors. To piggy-back on this, I’d like to share with you our Core Values. It is something we review with each potential candidate we talk with, because I think it tells a little more about who we are.
I believe strongly in these concepts and work to find others who have similar mind sets.
The acronym for our Core Values is ICARE
I – Integrity – doing the right thing for the right reason, even if no one is watching.
C – Customer Centric – providing exceptional customer service is how we differentiate ourselves from our competition.
A – Accountability – we take responsibility for our decisions/actions and work to make corrections as needed.
R – Reliability – we want to be the one that people can trust and count on.
E – Efficiency – we are always looking to make process improvements to allow our work to be as efficient as possible to control time and cost.
As you read along you can see that I did very little editing of Jeff’s comments because well….he told the Haggard Stocking philosophy clearly and succinctly (Jeff, you have a possible future as a writer).
Key Takeaways for Industrial Channel Leaders
I was struck by a few key takeaways from the insight that Haggard & Stocking provided –
- There is a payoff for a relentless focused on your end customers – I know everyone says they are focused on the end customer, but many in the channel are often semi-focused on the end customer and more focused on themselves. When I look at Haggard’s value-added services that they offer, you can see they likely developed or added those services over the years because their customers had a need they shared. For example, they have their own proprietary B2B Portal (Stock-Link) with custom integrations, punch-outs, and more. Haggard has 2 Lenox Certified Welding centers to provide custom band saw blades. They are in the material handling business with a division that sells everything from carts and slings, to warehouse racking…..and the myriad of services they offer is too long to list in a single column. I don’t see how you can evolve into all those custom service offerings if you are not manically focused on your end customer. Jeff Haggard said it well, “Put on the hat of the end user. If we make them more profitable, we’ll be profitable too.”
- Structured Communcation with your teammates and channel partners pays off – When I read what Jeff shared it is clear that he and the leadership team is driving a simple message with ICARE. Now acronyms hit with some associates and not with others, and my conjecture is the Haggard team delivers that ICARE message in direct conversations messages like the “Put on the hat of the end user…” to convey their core philosophy. With their channel partners (manufacturers and reps), the question that Jeff shared that he asks, “What are you doing to get better, and how can you help us get better too?” I will bet this question causes some good direct conversations between the partners beyond – it’s great to see you, how’s the family, what are you doing this weekend….All nice, polite conversations, of course, but they don’t help you grow the business
The end customer feedback loop that Haggard & Stocking has is likely very relationship based – with 5 locations and heavy service-driven model they can manage the business with an experienced based “old school” approach because the leaders personally and intimately know their key customers. They can “gut feel” the business to strong outcomes. That Old School relationship management approach worked well in 1972 and today, when you are that close to your all your top customers personally and intimately and have an experienced management team
The challenge is often you as a channel leader only have enough time to be that “close” to a few key customers. The more your company grows or the more your area of responsibility increases, the more you need structured and consistent Voice of Customer, Voice of Associate, and Voice of Channel research to be successful.
That research is crucial, in my opinion, if your size makes “gut feeling the business” unmanageable, as the only way to get good feedback for a wide audience is with structured surveys and research.
I work with many channel leaders with end customers research and surveys today at CMG, and I can share that they are crucial to staying close to your end customers and to make the best business decisions. As a long-time distribution channel leader, looking back, that structured feedback kept our team make better decisions, more often. If you are not doing structured research and ongoing surveys to augment your direct personal feedback today, in my opinion, you are likely missing some opportunities.
How close to you want to be to your best customers…. well, this is a column about an Indiana Company, so let’s close with an Indiana Hoosiers story.
In the movie Hoosiers (one of the best sports movies of all time IMO) – Gene Hackman (Coach Norman Dale) tells one of his players (Buddy) that he needs to guard the opponent so close, that he should be able to tell what brand of chewing gum, he has in his mouth. When Buddy finally does come back to the bench after guarding so well, he says to Coach Dale…. he was chewing Dentyne.
Do you have the customer feedback, survey data, and research to know if all your top and crucial customers prefer chewing Dentyne gum or not?
As always, I appreciate your feedback and comments. jgunderson@channelmkt.com
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