Steve Fooy: Secrets to Fleet Management Excellence

Today’s customers have much more of a “self-serve” mindset in terms of how they prepare and educate themselves long before they talk to you. The Internet has shortened the sales cycle, but it hasn’t removed the valuable role of the sales person. What customers want and need from you is transparency, honesty, and continued insight about their jobs and the right machines.

What you need to figure out is how to harness the Internet so you show up when and where the customer is, providing what they’re looking for without just “shouting into the void.” And don’t overlook your own website!

You may recognize this month’s guest, Clint Lawing. He is a regular (and phenomenal) columnist in the IEDA “Independent” publication – but his day job is associate vice president of digital performance at MediaOne. Clint emphasizes the fundamental importance of having a strategy with digital marketing and letting it guide you in your marketing decisions.

Where do you need to show up online? What do your videos need to be like? How do you put together the words people will read … especially if you’re better at talking than writing? These questions and more are answered in this month’s conversation with a guy who knows his stuff and knows how to share it in plain English.

Visit MediaOne Website

Visit IEDA Group Website

IEDA Events

Produced By: Social Chameleon

To kick things off in 2024, I'm excited to be chatting again with our go-to financial guru, Garry Bartecki. Garry served as CFO for several major equipment industry players and currently writes for Equipment Today. If there's a hot financial topic facing dealers, he's the guy with insight.

Today we're tackling the 800-lb gorilla that dominated 2023 - inflation. Prices may have peaked, but inflation is still raging. Garry and I map out cost control strategies to help dealers effectively navigate these challenges in the year ahead.

We get his take on where the Fed may move next and the ongoing economic impacts still trickling down to construction in Q1. And with fuel and transportation costs going wild in 2023, we'll decode recent oil price signals and other indicator trends to watch that could significantly affect equipment businesses in 2024.

I pick Garry's brain on his outlook for manufacturing, labor, construction and beyond and we discuss what's in store for the industry this election year. And most importantly, Garry drilled down on his top 3 cost management tips for dealers working to tame the inflation beast over the next 12 months. We also cover different pricing strategies and ideas to support customers struggling with the same cost crises.

This is a must-listen episode for any dealer seeking to stay financially fit in 2024!

Visit IEDA Group Website

IEDA Events

Produced By: Social Chameleon

Listen in to the final podcast episode of 2023 – it’s a lighthearted dialog with IEDA Executive Director Dave Gordon and podcast host Kim Phelan. Hear about the upcoming IEDA Live Auction that kicks off the Annual Meeting on Friday, February 16 at 10 a.m. under the big white tent in front of the Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Florida. It’ll be a fun and festive time to gather with your IEDA friends while bidding on equipment and exciting donated prizes. Hear how EVERYONE can participate in the auction and come out a winner!

We’re also revealing the 5-star speaker lineup for Annual Meeting, and highlighting all the Return on Investment you receive by attending this growing, relevant, top-notch event for independent dealers. It’s the Not-To-Be-Missed event of the year, held at the Reunion Resort February 16-18.

Dave is the quintessential event-planning master and he’s passionate about making sure every member gets multiple valuable takeaways from attending Annual Meeting, beginning with really fun (and delicious) networking events and solid strategic intelligence you can apply in your business immediately.

Last, you’ll hear Dave talk about the IEDA Foundation and the good industry work it’s accomplishing.

IEDA Website

IEDA Events

Produced By: Social Chameleon

What do you think about when you consider the subject of AI and your business – or more specifically, AI and your sales team? No question, the latest mainstream artificial intelligence offerings like Chat GPT have “skills,” but they don’t outperform what your people can do in terms of empathy, building relationships, asking great questions, and intuitively thinking on the spot.

AI is just one of four huge trends that are altering the landscape of sales. Our guest this month, Troy Harrison – “the Sales Navigator” – is a truth-telling sales trainer who’s breaking down some realities that maybe you’re aware of but either don’t have time for or don’t want to think about. But ignoring them could mean you potentially get left behind, so here’s an opportunity to consider what’s going on today with technology, your current salespeople, prospective new sales recruits, and your buyers/renters.

Got some windshield time in the near future? Pull up the podcast on your car speaker and hear what Troy has to say!

This conversation is positively loaded with relevant and ingenious insight that you can totally swipe right now for your equipment business. We hope it whets your appetite for more, because Troy is a guest speaker at the IEDA Annual Meeting in Orlando, February 16-18, 2024. Registration opens October 25!

Troy's Website

IEDA Website

2023 IEDA Annual Meeting

Experiences happen to your customers, no matter what. They just do. But ask yourself: Are my customers’ experiences with my business happening by design … or by default. The choice is yours.

Customer experience expert Doug Johnson is this month’s featured podcast guest, and his wisdom, creativity, and stories will blow you away – or, more important, will hopefully inspire you to put fresh eyes on your equipment business and apply your own creativity in ways that could totally separate you from the crowd. Would anyone know the difference if a competitor’s name was swapped into your marketing phrases? What really makes you memorable, or even famous? These things are within your control, Johnson says, and he’s about to show you how.

Everything in your business speaks, he adds, so what’s it saying? And what do you want it to say? Johnson, who is currently the patient experience officer at a major Midwest hospital, has worked in major league sports, retail, restaurants, and has even trained Santas. He may not talk your equipment language, but he’s the ultimate universal translator of customer-speak – listen in for an eye-opening discussion that could change your business.

Connect with Doug on LinkedIn

Visit IEDA Group Website

Produced by Social Chameleon

Independent dealers thrive on the pursuit of getting in front of more and more of the right people – expanding their reach to new people who buy what they’re selling. The bigger the relevant radius you can engage, the more you sell.

IEDA Member Jared McGaffee, owner at Skye Equipment, says he isn’t a marketing expert, but he will tell you that marketing equipment on Facebook has changed his business. Learning the Facebook tools that enable highly specific target marketing has been nothing short of “absolutely astounding,” he says, and in this episode, he talks about what he’s doing that has empowered his Asheboro, North Carolina, company to capture business up and down the whole East Coast and into Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

One effective strategy is daily updates, which have produced almost-immediate results. That’s  because his content is being served to a demographic that wants to see it – something Facebook marketers are able to control.

From tips and cautions to spending and the “who’s gonna manage this” question, McGaffee generously pours a solid foundation for those who want to get started. What’s the most important thing to do? Listen in for the big takeaways!

Connect with Jared on LinkedIn

Skye on Machinery Trader

Visit IEDA Group Website

Produced by Social Chameleon

Do you always know who you’re renting to? This month’s guest says vetting your rental customers is one of the most important things you can do to avoid serious losses from fraud and uninsured contractors. 

Jayme Bates, CEO of JT Bates, has over 13 years of experience as an insurance producer and an extensive background in accounting and contracts. Her dedication to the dealers she works with sets her in this industry – join us for a first-hand look at what dealers in the equipment rental business need to prioritize to protect their assets and their business. 

This includes a damage waiver – which has important revenue advantages – as well as the all-important management of customer insurance certificates. Listen in as she spells it all out.

Bates also discusses recent claims trends to be away of – including one simple, inexpensive item that should be attached to every piece of heavy machinery you rent. It could make the difference between minor damage and a total loss. 

JT Bates Group Website

Visit IEDA Group Website

Produced by Social Chameleon

Is your dealership leaking leads?

This month’s IEDA podcast guest says data shows there’s a good chance your company is missing web inquiries and maybe even mishandling phone call inquiries. James Hamilton is the senior product manager at Randall Reilly, and his time with us in the virtual studio is jammed with great data and advice.

Pull up a chair (or your steering wheel) and listen in to fresh info about the customer mindset and buying and selling patterns, as well as rental market insights, dealer business opportunities, and some serious straight talk and best practices about creating excellent customer experience.

One of James’ favorite quotes comes from Mike Vorster, the author of Construction Equipment Economics, who said, “The best decisions occur when your intuition, your experience and your analytics jive.” James has used that philosophy to become intimately familiar with the needs of contractors when it comes to equipment ownership, operating costs, disposition and rent versus owning decisions. Lucky for us, he likes to share what he knows.

EquipmentWatch by Randall Reilly Website: https://equipmentwatch.com/

Visit IEDA Group: https://www.iedagroup.com/

Produced by: https://socialchameleon.us/

If your sales reps were sea lions, would you find them reclining at Sea World while gulping fish tossed into their mouths … or would they be out doing the hard work, hunting and surviving in the treacherous ocean depths? Tune in as our guest, Elliott Vigil, helps you think about how to help all your reps stay on their game.

Everyone makes mistakes – what you don’t want is for a sales rep’s mistake to turn into a rut or a bad habit. Of course, you have to see what’s happening before you can intervene, and that’s where Vigil comes in. He was a top performer with Ahern Rentals before it was acquired by United Rentals, and he’s seen it all. He knows the pitfalls, and as a past regional and general manager, he understands how to help reps keep growing.

In this episode, Vigil identifies five common mistakes salespeople can slip into – and what the sales manager can do to correct their course. Whether it’s getting too comfy and pumping the brakes, not following up with all their accounts, or perhaps struggling with good time management, unproductive thinking and behavior has no place in the sales team. Listen in and walk away with some positive ideas to coach reps into the best version of themselves. Vigil offers good resources for management, too.

Website: https://www.elliottvigil.com/

Visit IEDA Group: https://www.iedagroup.com/