Here’s a conversation that reveals a whole demographic of potential customers for independent equipment dealers. Meet Dan Maitland, the fleet manager at Ajax Paving, located in Southwest Florida and a new board member at the Association of Equipment Management Professionals. He spoke on a customer panel at the IEDA Annual Meeting – if you missed him there, here’s your second chance to get acquainted.  Dan manages a fleet of 600 pieces of equipment and oversees a team of technicians, as well as administrative and scheduling staff – a big job. Like his fellow AEMP members all over the count ..read more

Some experts are predicting that the second half of 2024 through 2026 are going to be strong economic years. This month’s podcast guest, distribution expert Mike Marks,  believes it could be an opportune time to expand through acquisition or merger, or to exit the business profitably, depending on your strategy. He also says there are great advantages available to the independent dealer on both sides of an M&A deal, and in this month’s interview he highlights the benefits to buyers and sellers. And none of it is as hard as you might think. He strongly recommends spending a couple of h ..read more

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 re ..read more

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 e ..read more

No one goes to college to become a fleet manager and no one is just born with those skills, laughs fleet expert Steve Fooy. But once you’re in it, you discover there are basic protocols, knowledge, measurements, and skills that must be applied to ensure the company’s fleet itself runs like a well-oiled machine. Fooy has managed many millions of dollars’ worth of assets throughout his 38-year equipment career, which included various fleet leadership positions for two national rental companies, two Caterpillar dealerships, two national construction companies, and a U.S.-based energy company ..read more

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 ph ..read more

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 em ..read more

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 w ..read more

During the first quarter of 2023, IEDA conducted an anonymous survey among a small group of members about their financial performance. In this episode, we asked our dealer financial columnist, Garry Bartecki, to provide commentary about the responses, as well as cautions and insight about opportunities. A long-time equipment business CFO and financial expert who has advised dealers in M&A transactions, succession planning, and more, Bartecki has also conducted Cost of Doing Business Reports for associations and has led dealer performance groups. He makes the case for IEDA members to consid ..read more

State sales tax laws are numerous and complex, and when January 2023 rolls in, every state in the country will officially have its own economic nexus laws on the books when Missouri’s statutes come into effect. What’s even more concerning is the gusto with which states are aggressively enforcing nexus tax legislation, which means if you don’t know if you’re in compliance and you’re hoping they don’t find out, you could be in for some unpleasant surprises. Enter the state sales tax pro who can shed light on this complicated area of the used equipment business – he’s Jim Margner, and he’s known ..read more