Heartland looses a great asset...

Went to contact an online Heartland "friend" through his Heartland email address and never heard back. Figured maybe he was on vacation but out of curiosity I Googled his name. I quickly found an industry article announcing that he has left Heartland and is now the head of Jayco's toyhauler division. For any of you who have benefited from Mike Aplin's unbelievable customer service at Heartland like I have, this is a real loss to the company. However, I wish him the best of luck with his "promotion", as it were, to a big position at Jayco.......

Link to article: http://www.rvbusiness.com/2014/08/alpin-joins-jayco-to-develop-toy-hauler-lines/

Bryan Walczak, GM of Big Country, has also left Heartland.

jayc said:

Bryan Walczak, GM of Big Country, has also left Heartland.

Click to expand...

Booo! Yes I understand Bryan is with Evergreen RV now. Sad loss for Heartland. He helped us make a deal on our ElkRidge at the Dallas RV show.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mike was the same for Cyclone and Road Warrior. I wouldn't have bought my RV without his help.

I agree, hate to hear that Bryan is gone, he helped us get our slide problem taken care of when the dealer couldn't. On top of that he was a great guy!

TravelTiger said:

Booo! Yes I understand Bryan is with Evergreen RV now. Sad loss for Heartland. He helped us make a deal on our ElkRidge at the Dallas RV show.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

You can ask Jay he helped make my DW a happy customer too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hope this isn't a sign of things to come!

olcoon said:

Hope this isn't a sign of things to come!

Click to expand...

Roy, no, I would not fret. The RV industry does see folks moving around between brands fairly regularly. Bryan was at Gulfstream Coach, prior to HL. I'm sure he did what anyone would do to advance their career. He's a good guy and I wish him the best.

I'm confident HL can draw someone of equal caliber to take on Gateway, Big Country and ElkRidge, or a combination of folks, to lead them in the future!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today I read in RV D@iy Report that Mike is now jooined Jayco as the Senior Director of product development in their toy hauler products.

jayc said:

Today I read in RV D@iy Report that Mike is now jooined Jayco as the Senior Director of product development in their toy hauler products.

Click to expand...

Right. Like I said in the original post.

Sorry about that...

Too bad, another helpful person in the wind.
And, he doesn't look to happy in the picture

taken said:

Right. Like I said in the original post.

Click to expand...

Yes, CHANGE is exciting and cathartic for a business which will see good things ahead for Heartland and Jayco. The customer wins on both fronts as stagnation gets us nowhere.

DonnyB007 said:

Yes, CHANGE is exciting and cathartic for a business which will see good things ahead for Heartland and Jayco. The customer wins on both fronts as stagnation gets us nowhere.

Click to expand...

I read an article on the Honda corporation a few years ago. They prevented stagnation in their engineers by moving them to a different division (auto, motorcycle, lawn equipment, etc) every few years. I agree, a change in scenery can be good for all involved!

Employee turnover at all levels is not extraordinary. Even in the area of product management - though we see less of it there.

Bryan Walczak now being at Evergreen will allow Bryan to continue to flourish personally and Evergreen and their customers will benefit from that.

Same with Mike Aplin now being at Jayco. Mike will help Jayco raise their game in the Toyhauler space. Mike, Jayco and their customers will benefit.

But for both of these gentlemen to win, doesn't mean Heartland or our customers lose. New people and changes have been made on our Toyhauler division and in the Big Country / ElkRidge team. We will need to work even harder to compete and it will force us to raise our game. When we do this, our customers win too.

jbeletti said:

Employee turnover at all levels is not extraordinary. Even in the area of product management - though we see less of it there.

Bryan Walczak now being at Evergreen will allow Bryan to continue to flourish personally and Evergreen and their customers will benefit from that.

Same with Mike Aplin now being at Jayco. Mike will help Jayco raise their game in the Toyhauler space. Mike, Jayco and their customers will benefit.

But for both of these gentlemen to win, doesn't mean Heartland or our customers lose. New people and changes have been made on our Toyhauler division and in the Big Country / ElkRidge team. We will need to work even harder to compete and it will force us to raise our game. When we do this, our customers win too.

Click to expand...

Yep, good points, Jim! Everywhere I've ever worked, they were sad to see me go, but happy for me as I advanced in my career. It wasn't always about being disappointed with my employer, but that new and exciting challenges were too good to pass up.

I am sure whomever Heartland finds will be an asset as well. Those guys that left -- they set the bar high, so you know whomever comes after will have to be good.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

While I agree with all points made, certain people just go above and beyond. When I was shopping for my trailer, Mike answered my numerous questions by email within minutes for weeks as I was considering options on my order. (Once at 6 AM while waiting for a flight in an airport in FL after an RV show!) Then I ended up buying my rig from a different dealer then I had planned who was out of Mike's region. Mike kindly forwarded me to my new regional manager (Ryan something) who couldn't be bothered with me at all since the trailer was already on order and the sale was already made. I took a shot and told Mike I wasn't getting much out of Ryan and didn't he help me out both while the trailer was on order and for two years after the sale... And, I wasn't even technically his customer! Just the nicest most helpful guy I've ever come across in big business, always referring to me as his "friend" in his email replies. I have told more people about his customer care than I can count. This is the kind of person who could teach others in the industry a thing or two about customer satisfaction. Jayco is the lucky one in this deal IMHO. So, I'm not saying others at Heartland aren't good people. I'm just saying this guy was great....