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Prospecting and Account Penetration

January 25, 2021/in Customer Service, Don Buttrey, Guest Bloggers, Management, Personnel, Training/by learningwithoutscars

Prospecting and Account Penetration

Prospecting and Account Penetration: Virtual Selling Tips related to Vital Selling Regimens. By Don Buttrey, President of Sales Professional Training, Inc. For today’s guest blog, Don shares with us the unique challenges of prospecting and account penetration in the virtual world. In the world of “before,” it was a given that we could meet with our customers. This new normal challenges us to innovate our processes.

Not being able to drive around and see what is going on in the field is a problem today. We have to be creative with how we do our prospecting. Using the phone is much more effective in numbers it is the quality not the quantity that gives us some trouble.

Prospecting and Account Penetration

Now is the opportune time to find and develop new accounts and new relationships within existing accounts!
Slower markets put pressure on ‘price’. But you can overcome that with good fundamental selling. One of your best negotiation strategies is to increase your prospecting. Having more deals in process (better participation/market awareness) gives you more power. The more deals you have in the pipeline – the better!
Have thick skin. Do not take rejection personally. Be carefully persistent. If they are a potential customer, they will appreciate your proactive effort!

For more information on our classes and assessments, please visit us at Learning Without Scars.

TESTIMONIALS

Nine out of every ten new jobs created each year are in the service sector. Although service jobs are at the heart of today’s economy, accounting for three-quarters of our GNP, there has not been, until now, a system that enables managers to accurately measure and improve service quality, productivity, and profitability. While manufacturing processes lend themselves to statistical measurement, the intangibles of quality service are much harder to quantify. In this book, Dan Kaplan – the man who dramatically transformed the money-losing Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation into the industry leader with an enviable profit margin – reveals the battle-tested methodologies he used in forging one of the recognized business success stories in the service field. Turnarounds in industry rarely come as 450-foot home runs, Kaplan explains. What is needed instead are 1,000 singles – the kind of steady incremental progress toward a goal that is responsible for most wins, in baseball and in business. In Service Success! Kaplan shows how, by deliberately employing a policy of “small wins,” leaders can bring people along with them as they challenge and move beyond the status quo, seeking always to make tomorrow better than today.

April 6, 2024

AgilitiONE

Alex Weaver’s career in the industry spans several decades. His initial job in the industry was with an independent used equipment – used parts company, White Tractor Parts in Blue Springs, MO. After several years of ground floor, learning the business, including how to chain a tractor to a trailer, he went to work as Assistant Used Equipment Manager for The Whayne Supply Company, Caterpillar dealer for Kentucky, in Louisville, KY. Later, promoted to Eastern Region Sales Manager. In 1979 he went to work for Crane and Tractor of Dallas, another independent used equipment, used parts dealer.

In 1988 He relocated to Charlotte, NC to work for the Caterpillar Dealer, Carolina Tractor. Initially holding the position of Product Support Sales Manager, later serving as General Parts Manager and VP of Heavy Equipment Sales. In 2002 Alex began work with Caterpillar, Inc, and relocated to Peoria, IL. Here he served as Sales Manager for the Eastern Region of Caterpillar’s Redistribution Company, CRSI, Inc, moving to the Reman Group, and later to the Caterpillar Used Equipment Sales, Inc before retiring in 2014.

With over 40 years of experience in the industry. As a retirement project, Alex and a partner created the concept for agilitiONE, including manually researching every company listed in our search engine/database. The great influencer working with all these companies, in various positions and segments, were the customers. The customers shared what they did, how they did it and how as a supplier you could help them do it. A great education in market wants and needs.

Imagine all Your Information Needs at Your Fingertips

Have you ever wondered why? Why there is no single source that lists all suppliers to the construction equipment industry? There will be soon. A fast, easy to use industry- specific search engine, or directory. Search for providers of new / used / and rental equipment. Search for providers of parts and attachments. Plus, service - providers, such as insurance, heavy hauling, software, business services, marketing, and consulting. Filter searches by brand, New, Used, condition, distribution source by brand, and zip code location. Search all industry parts providers in North America. Would you believe there are over 13,000 such suppliers / providers in our database?

agilitiONE was created by a team of construction equipment businessmen. Their background in the industry includes senior level management / leadership roles at both manufacturer and dealer organizations. Through extensive work in the field with construction equipment customers, they’ve gained a strong appreciation for the contractors’ challenges and needs. It is with this background that agilitiONE addresses those needs.

The agilitiONE website is the first true, industry-wide, product - wide, online platform / marketplace built solely for contractors to easily locate and purchase all job-related requirements. At attractive prices. All using a single IOS or Android app. Machines, rentals, parts, and services. Users of agilitiONE will find many new sources and viable options for all of their many needs.

agilitiONE is an online platform / marketplace where contractors and equipment owners will find multiple, new sources for the products, parts, and services they routinely buy, rent, and utilize. At the same time, industry suppliers can expand their sales reach by attracting an ever-growing larger clientele. And, manufacturers can further promote their brands, support their distribution, and collectively increase sales. agilitiONE is unique; there’s nothing like it in the industry!

Why is an industry specific search engine important? What is the benefit? Easy. You get your specific result faster and easier. Have you noticed that with the existing search engines, your answer may be down in a search results page or pages down? For instance, search for a turbocharger for a Volvo MTC85C skid steer loader. If you search by zip code, or within 100 miles of your zip code, you may get results for turbochargers for Volvo automobiles or Volvo Trucks. The search is interesting because Volvo is out of the skid steer business. The MTC85C was built for Volvo by JCB. The engine is Perkins, now owned by Caterpillar. But all you want is an exchange, rebuilt turbo. In agilitiONE a search for “turbocharger” returned 23 providers. Only 23 results, not thousands of non-search related results, that don’t apply to your search. A search on Google, also using “turbocharger”, turned up 64,000,000 results. Because our search engine is industry specific, our database only contains providers for construction equipment or related rebuilders.

How do you find all of the providers of Safety Equipment, that focus on the Construction Industry? A search of agilitiONE returned 109 providers that can be filtered by zip code.

Again, Google returned millions of providers. Our goal is “fast and easy” access to information.

In today’s work world, small contractors are accepting work further from their home base. Home base is comfortable. Providers are known. But contractors are also bidding more work further from home base. If there is a minor breakdown, how do you find the nearest hydraulic repair shop? Or if a contractor needs to rent a small excavator to finish a job. What provider is close to the work?

We know and understand the challenges of daily operations. agilitiONE will provide quick and easy information search related solutions for all contractors.

About Industry Services: Categories – Aerial Information/Data - Asset Appraisal - Asset Inspection - Associations/Trade/Industry - Auction - Builders/Commercial - Business Services - Certification Agencies - Construction - Consultancies’ - Contractor - Engineering – Financial Services - Financing - Freight/Trucking/Delivery - Governmental Agency – Individual Consultants - Insurance - Land Survey - Logistics - Manufacturers’ Representative Firm - Marketing - Oil Analysis - Opinion Survey - Project Management - Publishers/Publications - Safety - Software - Training/Education - Warranty - Drone Services - 3-D Printing

Our search engine is currently under construction. But it is coming soon. A lot of information in one portal. We hope you are curious. Will keep you posted on Start Up date. Questions? Email traction@agiliiti1.com.

Alex Weaver

Co-Founder / AgilitiONE

Alex Weaver’s career in the industry spans several decades. Experience with Used Equipment / Used Parts Dealers, 2 - Caterpillar Dealers and Caterpillar.

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April 5, 2022

Prospecting and Account Penetration

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