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25 under 25 Award
Honoree
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“We never lose sight that our relationship with our customer is the genesis of our business” – Dirk Gage
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 As part of its 10-year anniversary celebration in 2002, Kansas City Small Business Monthly launched the annual 25 Under 25® Awards to recognize 25 outstanding Kansas City area businesses with under 25 employees.
Until the 25 Under 25® Awards, no formal recognition program existed in the Kansas City area that specifically targeted the smallest of businesses, those with under 25 employees. Yet this segment of business comprises the largest number of companies both locally and nationally, with roughly 83 percent of Kansas City area and 86 percent of businesses nationwide employing 19 or fewer employees.
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Looking at the customer as a lifetime partner rather than a one time sale is the key to Gage Machine Tool’s success in a very competitive machine tool industry.
Because Gage Machine Tool views it’s customers as partners, the company provides lifetime training on its main product line, Hurco, at no charge. Most of the companies competitors charge for training.. Dirk Gage said his staff serves more as educators than sales people in many transactions.
We are in the business with our customers for the long haul,” Gage said. “We never lose sight that ourrelationship with our customer is the genesis of our business”
When Gage Machine Tool sells a machine, Gage personally trains the client on the equipment and is available for troubleshooting thereafter. He said that makes his company different from many tool companies today, where a customer may purchase the product from a sales person who will hand the training off to an engineer. Gage handles all of the steps.
“That connectivity really means a lot to our customers,” he said. “They know I will sell it to you, I will train you on it and I will be available later.”
Gage has worked with Hurco equipment since 1989, and goes each year to “train the trainer” sessionsto learn about any changes. While his employees are also knowledgeable about the equipment, he is the expert.
When Gage founded Gage Machine Tool it was during a 30 year low in the machine tool industry. Still, he was able to produce nearly $2 million in sales in the first 12 months. Recently, Gage expanded into the Wichita market at the request of Hurco. He sees the expansion as a tremendous opportunity, as the machine tool market is four to five time larger than the companies current market and will provide and will provide a way to continue to grow the company.
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