Sennebogen LLC recently recognized Tracey Road Equipment of Syracuse, N.Y., as one of its three top-selling distributors for 2010. All equipment distributors faced the challenges of the year’s difficult economy, but the top Sennebogen dealers succeeded by putting a personal face to their machinery lines.
Along with Tracey Road Equipment, the three sales leaders included Top Lift Enterprises of Stoney Creek, Ontario, and Gibson Machinery of Cleveland, Ohio.
Tracey Remaps Territories
Jerry Tracey, president of Tracey Road Equipment, said that he expects each member of his sales team to be a “true solution provider.” Tracey agreed with the other top-selling dealer principals that one key to success is to field a sales team that adds personal value to the customer. Tracey felt he was bucking an industry trend when he remapped his sales regions to give each representative a smaller territory to cover.
“I want them to have less windshield time and more face time,” Tracey explained. “Our guys are becoming the equipment managers for many of their clients. We know that our customers are great at what they do; we just want to help them make sure they get the best equipment for the jobs they have to do.
“We are very fortunate to have such quality personnel to work with the customer and not only to make sure they get the right equipment, parts and service, but the right payment schedules too.”
Tracey has been representing Sennebogen equipment since 2007, but the firm’s territory was expanded from the Syracuse area recently to cover all of New York state outside of NYC. Tracey Road Equipment was started in 1976 and now operates five locations with more than 250 employees.
Delivering the “Total Package”
Along with the distinctive green line material handlers, Tracey is an authorized distributor of leading lines of construction and demolition equipment, and also is the regional dealer of Freightliner and Western Star Trucks. This mix of transportation and heavy equipment, according to Jerry Tracey, puts the firm in a unique position to plan its marketing and sales.
“The auto market sees trends first,” he explained, “then the truck market and then construction. So we can see what’s coming and know how to respond in a timely fashion.”
Whether he is supplying trucks or machinery, Tracey takes pride in his company’s ability to provide customers with the “total package.”
“We know how to use financing as a tool to meet the customer’s needs. We can develop programs that fit their operation and help them with their plans for cash flow, taxes and investment opportunities,” said Dick Ridings, construction sales and finance manager.
“Operating a rental fleet and accepting used equipment in trade gives Tracey additional flexibility to deliver the ’total package.’ We always keep Sennebogen machines in our rental fleet and use them for demonstrations as well as to bridge short-term needs. Tracey Road Equipment also offers extended service contracts and full maintenance contracts on leased equipment, so customers can see their true cost of ownership up front.”
Great Service Leads to Loyal Customers
Tracey’s service capability goes an extra step, too, with its own fully equipped machine shop for fabrication and a hydraulic shop to handle cylinder and pump repairs in-house as well as a complete body shop. Tracey’s commitment to service and flexibility has paid off with the emergence of a close connection with some of New York’s largest customer fleets.
Recycling continues to be a major growth sector for Tracey, although the firm plans to grow its presence in forestry and port applications over the next year.
“We have plans for expansion and will be growing again next year,” Tracey predicted. “We enjoy our relationship with Sennebogen and we get great support from Anthony Laslavic, our Sennebogen regional sales manager. 2010 was a good year for us, and we are already ahead of last year’s pace.”
Flexibility Requires Expertise
Constantino Lannes, president of Sennebogen LLC, believes that the quality of personal service from his distributors has been an essential ingredient in the manufacturer’s rapid growth over the past 10 years.
“The depth of the Sennebogen line and the engineering behind it allows us to be very flexible in matching our machines to the customer’s applications. We rely on high caliber sales people to fully understand the details of what the customer needs. Then we use this flexibility to develop exactly the right solution but it all starts with the right mindset.”
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