Sennebogen LLC, Stanley, N.C., recently recognized its three top-selling distributors for 2010. All faced the challenges of the year’s difficult economy, and succeeded by putting a personal face to their machinery lines, according to the company.
(from left to right: .Lee Johnston; David Shea, Managing Director; Constantino Lannes; Trevor Ash; Pierre Bazinet.
The three sales leaders included Top Lift Enterprises of Stoney Creek, Ontario, Gibson Machinery of Cleveland, and Tracey Road Equipment, Syracuse, N.Y. While the firms differ in size and product range, the principals say that fielding a sales team that adds personal value to the customer is a consistent key to their success.
At Top Lift Enterprises, Managing Director David Shea reorganized the business to deliver more focused expertise to the company’s customers. Top Lift represents Sennebogen throughout central region of southern Ontario and southern Quebec as well as the West Coast’s Vancouver, B.C., territory.
Shea segregated the primary equipment lines to create a specialized heavy industrial unit representing several manufacturers of material handling equipment. “With the growth that we have been experiencing, both on the construction side as well as in the heavy industrial applications, we knew that we would have to match that increase with more qualified staff to maintain the level of customer service we are known for,” he says. To support his customers in recycling, manufacturing and port operations, Shea added three people to the company’s staff who combined have more than 63 years of industrial sales experience.
Commenting on the impact of the economic downturn, Shea says, “Our approach has been to treat every deal like it was our last. We invested our time to get involved with the customer instead of just quoting what they requested. By understanding their actual needs, we could show them some more attractive options.”
According to Lee Gibson, president of Gibson Machinery, Sennebogen is the primary line sold by the company. The number of green line machines in the Ohio and western Pennsylvania regions is a testament to the focus his sales staff has on key applications such as scrap handling and barge loading, Sennebogen says. Gibson has also been expanding his sales force and facilities to help staff keep closer to customers.
Gibson’s company has ranked in Sennebogen’s top dealers list for each of the past eight years.
Jerry Tracey, president of Tracey Road Equipment, says that he expects each member of his sales team to be a “true solution provider.” Tracey feels he was bucking an industry trend when he remapped his sales territories to give each representative a smaller territory to cover. “I want them to have less windshield time and more face time,” Tracey explains. “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.”
Constantino Lannes, president of Sennebogen, also remarks 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 customers’ 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.”