Our Team Goes Hands-On at Richards Manufacturing

This week, three members of the Electra Sales team — Alec Gottlich, Hank Bockenfeld, and Eric “EZ” Zillinger — traveled to Richards Manufacturing’s headquarters in Irvington, New Jersey for a full day of hands-on product training.

Richards has been a leader in underground distribution equipment for more than 70 years, with a deep bench in medium-voltage cable accessories and network protector products. The day was built to get our reps past the spec sheet and onto the actual hardware.

What the day covered

• Medium-voltage cable theory, cable terminations, and the language that goes with them — ETP, LRTP, elbow arresters, and stacked deadbreaks.

• IEEE 386, the standard governing separable insulated connectors, so our reps speak the same language as the utilities and engineers who specify these products.

• Hands-on deadbreak installation — building LCT and CSH terminations at the bench, not just watching a slide.

• A tour of the Richards factory floor and time with the office team to see who does what behind the scenes.

• Splices — SSC and joints — followed by a second hands-on session building an SSC splice.

• Product selection, pricing, and targeting, capped off with a sample sales call to put it all together.

Why it matters to our customers

Medium-voltage terminations and splices are unforgiving work. Done right, they disappear into the system and run for decades. Done wrong, they fail. The distributors, contractors, and utility crews in our territory don’t need a rep who can read a catalog back to them — they need someone who has held the connector, made the cut, and understands why each step matters.

That’s the point of getting our people to the factory and onto the bench. The component-level knowledge they brought home turns into faster, more accurate recommendations the next time a customer is picking the right accessory.

Our thanks to Patrick Lyons and the Richards Manufacturing team for hosting us and walking the group through the product line. Investing in this kind of training is part of how Electra Sales continues to deliver real value to the manufacturers we represent and the customers we serve — from Texas to Tennessee.