Hello all, I have been an outside Rental Rep for a Caterpillar dealer in Texas for about 6 months now. The job basically requires me to be out in the field all day every day calling on customers, trying to find new customers etc.. After 6 months I have pretty well figured out who all the players are in my territory, but I am struggling with setting my call frequency. My issue is: I am NOT a pushy sales person by any means... so I don't want to pop in too often and come off as annoying... I trust that most of my customers will call me when they need me, but my boss says I need to keep going and seeing them.. How do you guys feel about your Sales Rep's call frequency? How often do you want to see him? What do you expect out of your interaction with him? Is it annoying or inconvenient when he pops in unannounced? Thanks in advance for the feedback
I don't really see equipment guys but general industry salespeople show up by the dozens. I turn them away if not scheduled or invited. I tell them to leave there catalogs on the outer table. Don't want to be rude but there is not enough time in the day for all of them.
I'll send my overflow equipment salesmen your way old-iron....lol.... well just yesterday I had a Komatsu and a Cat salesmen in my office at the same time.... but they all BS the same no matter what brand their sellin...
I don't mind when the product support guys stop in because I get to vent about all the crap that has gone sideways since the last time they showed up but I really don't care for the rental reps bothering me all the time. I never deal with the Cat rental rep that stops by since all of our heavy rent goes through our equipment salesman. So basically the rental guy shows up to talk to me about stuff I never rent just to make his boss happy that he made contact. Huge waste of both our time. You just have to be able to read your customer. Everybody has a different opinion.
A little story that might help ya' a bit. August '13 I went to one of my Cat dealers sales they were holding at a rental store location, they had probably 30 machines for sale. The usual catered lunch and such. I was looking at a couple of 320's and a 315 they had. At the time I was just starting to look at hoes and wanted to see what was available. Unbeknownst to me one of the used equipment managers was burning up my salesman's phone telling him he needed to call me as I was there looking at machines. My salesman later told me this and what he told the sales manager - "When he's ready, he'll call me." My salesman knows me well.:cool2 Started an RPO in Oct on a 321 and purchased it last Jan. I don't like pushy salespeople or the ones that drop in because you are at the office/yard to BS. When I get ready to buy something I have done my homework and know exactly what I want, don't try to sell me something else. Every now and then my salesman will call and take us to lunch in order to keep in touch, that works well.
I think a call or lunch once a month is reasonable. We had a new salesman from cat assigned to us a few years ago and we never heard from them for 6 months, until we bought two volvos and he got his rear hole expanded by his boss. He's been great since.
I was a mine manager and equipment manager for 20 years. I kind of like the sales reps to stop by about every 3 months. Sure, I knew how to get ahold of them, when I needed them, but I like to know they are thinking about me now and then. If a guy came every week, or every month, I considered him a pest. If I only saw him once or twice a year, I figured he was not interested in my business. This is just my opinion. I think once you get to know your customers, you will have a feel for how often each one likes/expects to see you. good luck.
Always a good motto - "If in doubt ask". When you make your first courtesy call on any customer to introduce yourself ask them how often they would like you to call in and see them. Be honest and say you don't want to be an additional pain in their already busy schedule but you want to be accessible whenever they need you, and you would like to stop by every once in a while to keep them up to speed on the latest and greatest deals. Maybe there is a difference between how often a rental rep visits a customer versus a sales rep. Not sure on that one.
One thing I was told by a couple of the reps that called on me back when I worked for a dirt outfit, they had access to some publication or database that showed what contracts were being let, who was bidding, and who actually won the bid. It was no coincidence that the rental guys would show up with an offer of lunch before the bid opening, and for the winner a few days after. YMMV
They do all read the Dodge report besides keeping up on upcoming local projects. They also prowl the permit applications. There is a direct correlation.