Month: December 2010

Another year begins. From all indications, it should be another good year for AMSOIL and AMSOIL Dealers. Last year, sales were up, new commercial and retail accounts grew significantly, our preferred customer program was very successful, and sponsoring in general was outstanding.

In addition to this, internet sales exceeded everyone’s expectations and the number of inquiries and responses we had from our advertising numbered over 25,000 for the year. We respond to each and every inquiry with sales literature and assign the leads to T-1 Certified Dealers for follow-up.

Our co-op programs with T-1 Certified Dealers have been growing, as well. The co-op race program grew over 50% last year, and the co-op trade show program was up over 20% for the year. These are programs where AMSOIL shares part of the expense with Dealers in the promotion of our products. The fact that the co-op programs are growing every year not only reflects our growing Dealer base but demonstrates the commitment our Dealers have in promoting their businesses.

We’ve been very fortunate. Our growth is not typical of what’s been happening around us. Considering the sluggish economy during the entire year and the terrible events of 9-11-01, many companies experienced a very disappointing year in ’01, with prospects for the first quarter of ’02 not much better. Unemployment has been rising and is expected to top 6% soon. Many companies have had major layoffs and more are expected.

Did you know that AMSOIL has never had a layoff in the history of the company? We’ve been in business for nearly thirty years through good times and bad, and we have never, in all those years, had to resort to layoffs. That doesn’t mean there were no lean times, because there were. We all weathered the storms and came out stronger than ever.

In the early years our growth was almost unmanageable. We had a revolutionary new product line unlike anything people had seen before and everybody wanted in on the ground floor. In recent years, our growth has been more steady and solid and we are on track for continued success. The market for our products is huge, and an AMSOIL business is still a ground floor opportunity today!

What’s in store for us in ’02? I predict more of the same. Steady growth. Growing name recognition for AMSOIL products. A continued trend towards longer drain intervals among all the vehicle manufacturers. Improved Dealer income opportunities. More new products. In short, a very exciting and rewarding year ahead for all of us!

In addition, we have some exciting events that will soon be taking place here at the AMSOIL home office that are going to have a positive affect not only on us as a corporation, but on all our Dealers and customers, as well.

On pages 8-9 in this issue of Action News is a story about a major investment we have made in both your and our behalf. It is a new computer system and software program so advanced, it will change the way we do just about everything. Its implementation lays the groundwork for properly managing the next twenty years of growth, providing information and services to us and our Dealers beyond anything we’ve experienced before.

But, like anything new, it’s going to take some trial and error to learn how to use it and iron out all the bugs. For over a year, we have had a team of consultants working with each department here at AMSOIL instructing and working with our people in order to make the transition to this new business management system as smooth as possible. Effective February 1, 2002, our pre-flight training will be over and we’re going to actually start flying on our own.

We ask for your patience during this period. Short term, it may be a little disruptive, but long term, every Dealer and customer will benefit from its implementation. We’re totally confident of that!

So 2002 will be another exciting year for us, that’s a certainty. Despite what’s going on around us, I expect our business and yours to continue growing. Today more than ever, there is a need and demand for our products. Tomorrow, the need will be even greater. I wish every other business well in 2002, but regardless of how the times affect them, I believe we will come out of the new year stronger than ever!

Amsoil Executives

These are difficult times for all Americans and our many friends around the world. We at AMSOIL share the sorrow and anger felt by all over the vicious terrorist attacks that took place on September 11 and the suspicious anthrax-filled letters sent to our lawmakers and others. Nothing has been quite the same for any of us since then.

Our leaders in Washington have been faced with tough decisions and, to date, have put their differences aside to speak with one voice. I believe the spirit of patriotism brings all Americans closer together during times like these. I sincerely hope it lasts! I was also faced with a difficult decision shortly after the attack. Our Direct Jobber Convention was scheduled for October 11 in Williamsburg, Virginia. Considering the tragic events that were unfolding, I simply couldn’t put our staff and Direct Jobbers at risk by asking them to fly there and all meet under one roof in that location. Therefore, I decided to postpone our Convention until next spring.

These terrorist attacks couldn’t have come at a worse time for our country. Our economy was struggling, unemployment was climbing, and we were just beginning to see a recovery when everything simply shut down. But through it all, our business and yours continued to grow. The reason? When you manufacture the best products in the world, people will buy them. When your products outperform all other products on the market, people will buy them. When your products save users money, people will buy them. And when your products reduce our dependency on foreign oil, people will buy them!

Our products do all those things. Bottom line, our success is based on the high quality of our products. That’s what keeps customers coming back to us. Even during bad economic times, people still drive their vehicles, businesses still move products over the road, salespeople still call on customers, and they are all interested in saving money every way they can. You and I help them do that!

Our product quality is the main reason for our continuing success, but there is another factor I’m sure you have encountered in your business as you offer this business opportunity to your friends and customers. During troubled financial times, people are looking for ways to earn extra money, and an AMSOIL Business has been the answer for many of them. Our growing sponsorship numbers continue to bear this out.

During these troubled times, there is one overriding reason to use our products. Today, we really don’t know who our friends are or as things progress, how long they will be our friends. Now is the time for all of us to do what we can to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and using AMSOIL products is one easy way we all can do that.

We are regular advertisers in the National Oil and Lube News magazine. In this month’s issue, we placed an ad that tells readers that based on a 5% increase in fuel economy, if everyone in America used AMSOIL Synthetic Motor Oil, Gear Lube and drive train fluids, we could save up to three and one-half billion gallons of gasoline in just one year. That’s right. I said billion!

This is from hard numbers taken from government statistics of domestic motor fuel consumption, and is not something we pulled out of our hat.

Now it is an accepted fact in the industry that by switching to synthetic lubricants, motorists will see an increase of 3 – 5% in fuel economy. Our experience has been that motorists experience ever greater fuel economy increases, but we used industry-accepted numbers to demonstrate our point.

That’s only half the story. The other half is the extended service life AMSOIL lubricants provide and the dramatic reduction in lubes and fluids that result. Right now, America needs to use less oil, and AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants can be a part of the answer to reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

To paint this in the minds of all of us and all Americans, I’m coining the term “America’s Oil” as our slogan for the coming year. AMSOIL is truly “America’s Oil”. This company and all our products originated in America. There was no other oil like AMSOIL in the world. It all began right here.

As a former Lt. Col. and jet fighter squadron commander, I chose the red, white and blue as my company colors. America’s colors. AMSOIL was founded on the principles of the American free enterprise system and it has flourished as such. Our products are made in America by an American company.

There has never been a better time for “America’s Oil”! AMSOIL.

A. J. “Al” Amatuzio President and CEO, AMSOIL INC.

I received a touching letter last month from Direct Jobber Shirley Sundstrom regarding what she describes as “my deceased husband’s GOOD choice.” I have received Shirley’s permission to share it with you here: “In 1976 Leland was first introduced to AMSOIL products by his enthusiastic cousin Raymond Sundstrom, a farmer in Kansas. Being a diehard mechanic and auto parts salesman for years, Leland was skeptical and reluctant to try this new oil in his car. But Raymond kept plugging this AMSOIL idea. While enroute to Kansas for Christmas that year, our car engine developed a noise and, arriving at Raymond’s house, Raymond persuaded Leland to try this new oil product. Primarily to get his cousin off his back, Leland reluctantly allowed him to put it in the car.

“We risked starting home to Ohio with this new oil in our car, not knowing exactly what to expect on the trip. We had not gone more than 25 miles when Leland remarked that the noise had stopped and the car was driving smoother. He discovered the gas mileage improved. Being very pleased with this new product’s performance, he began telling friends at home what his experience had been. They listened to this convincing salesman and wanted to know where they could get some. He came home very excited and said, ‘Nobody in this area sells this stuff. I might as well become a Dealer because three friends are asking for it. If anyone is going to profit from this, it might as well be ME!’

“That decision changed our whole life. He was pleasantly surprised to find himself a Direct Jobber by ’79 and we made the trip to Superior to see this new company and to meet you. We were so impressed and pumped with what we saw and learned. That really began his love affair with AMSOIL. He had confidence in you and your products and was excited to be associated with such quality people and products.

“Over these years, I’ve watched him deliver oil before he went to work, during his lunch break, after work, in evenings — and he loved it! He was planning to retire in two years and go full-time with AMSOIL. He had purchased a motor home so we could travel after retirement and help other people better their lives with these quality products.

“Those dreams, however, came to an abrupt end in late January of this year when Leland died of a brain hemorrhage while holding my hand at our dining room table as I was talking to 911. In the weeks and months that followed, I have endeavored to take over the reins of the computer program AMSWIN and to get acquainted with the fabulous AMSOIL website and to just hand out catalogs. All of this had been HIS love, HIS dream and HIS goals. I had not been deeply involved in the business because my career had been teaching for 34 years and AMSOIL was mostly a ‘guy thing.’

“But, Al, as I have watched my monthly AMSOIL checks come in these six months since Leland’s passing and have observed the growth in volume, I stand in awe that even though Leland is not here, HE IS STILL TAKING CARE OF ME! Thank you, Al, for your foresight in establishing a wonderful company with such quality products that even a widow can benefit from her husband’s legacy after he is gone.

“Thanks again, Al, for giving my husband a dream and me an income! You are awesome in staying focused on quality all these years and allowing us to be a part of YOUR dream! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” – Shirley Sundstrom I called Shirley to thank her for her kind letter and to ask how she was doing. She was on her way out to deliver some oil and while we spoke, she received an order via fax from one of her commercial accounts.

When Leland passed away, Shirley was challenged to learn the business, and that’s exactly what she has done. Her son recently helped her rearrange her front room so she could hold T-1 classes this month for her downline. Shirley promotes her business in a number of ways. She loves the G-100 catalog and passes them out continuously. She plans to have a booth at a classic car swap meet and she advertises on placemats at a number of local restaurants. Her business is growing and she received the largest commission check ever this year from AMSOIL.

I have received many wonderful letters from Dealers over the years, but few have touched me like this one from Shirley Sundstrom. I had no idea when I started this business that it would prove so beneficial to so many wonderful people. Thank you for your kind words, Shirley.