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CEDMag.com - June 2011 Articles
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Contact Kim Phelan at (800) 388-0650 ext. 340.
JUNE 2011
- Maximizing Technician Efficiency
Service Department
By Troy Ottmer
Consistent tracking methods as well as careful management of your labor hour inventory can put thousands in service revenue back on the bottom line every month.
I started in this business as a technician in 1985, and since that time I have worked both as an hourly and flat rate technician. I have been fortunate to work in every department within a dealership, as well as in fleet management for general contractors. This has given me a unique perspective into overall dealership operations. While there have been considerable changes over the years in all areas of operational management practices, the arena of technician management is continually being reviewed for improvement.
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- Tapping into Oil and Gas
Sector Check
By Joanne Costin
New energy boom creates opportunity for dealers on multiple levels.
Rising energy costs and a renewed vow to reduce dependence on foreign oil are driving construction spending on domestic energy-related projects in the U.S. According to Department of Commerce figures, construction spending on energy was a $14 billion market in 2009, up 60 percent from the prior year. Similarly, Canada looks to capitalize on its 175.2 billion barrels of proven reserves, which rank the country No. 3 in volume globally.
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- Dead Last? A Sales Leader Can Turn It Around
Sales
By Christine Corelli
A few years ago, a new sales manager inherited an eight-person sales team that was ranked dead last out of six dealer branches. His one decent producer was an 18-year veteran with the company. Other than that, no one on the sales team had more than one year of sales experience or any formal sales training; they had only received product training from the manufacturer's sales schools. To make things worse, the sales staff had a pitiful attitude. In the first two weeks, the manager consistently received excuses for poor performance: "I have a lousy territory!" "Our prices are too high!" "Contractors are loyal to our competing brand!"
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- Renting Aerial Work Platforms Safely
Rental
By Bill Hindman
Take the time to understand the application so your customer gets the right machine.
For some rental operations, scissor lifts, boom lifts and vertical mast products comprise a part of the business; for others, they are their business. But no matter how many you have in your rental fleet or how often you rent them, it's important for you to know what your customer is going to do with the equipment before they rent it so you can help select the right machine for their needs. You also need to be aware of your responsibilities with regards to operator training, product familiarization upon delivery, and more.
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- Acting Upon Our Priorities
From the Chairman
By Dennis Kruepke
Time for Baby Boomers to step up to the plate, just like the generation before.
As a "Baby-Boomer," I have to wonder: Are we giving future generations the same opportunities we have?
Make no mistake about it, baby boomers have accomplished much. We have more billionaires and more millionaires than any other generation. We are known to be hard working, goals-oriented, and are motivated by positions we hold and perks we receive. Being better educated than past generations, we welcome challenge and strive to make a difference. That all sounds great, but will future generations have the same opportunities to grow and prosper?
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- This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land
Editor's Note
By Kim Phelan
Abe Lincoln said, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt." But if you’re silent in government issues, you get what you deserve.
"Thank God we have a government." Probably kind of difficult to imagine yourself saying those words sometimes, isn’t it. Let me tell you the story of who did say them and in what context.
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- AED Performance Groups - The No-Brainer of the New Universe
On the Numbers
By Garry Bartecki
Nothing will improve your profitability like benchmarking with other dealers.
Here at AED, we understand there are perennial subjects about which dealers continually need to be updated. But we're vigilant, too, about keeping you well informed about new topics that crop up and bring change and opportunity to the equipment industry. Our CFO Conference is one important example of AED's everadapting program agendas. To show you what I mean, let's look at the topics we just covered last month.
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- Construction Equipment Remains Hot – Construction Spending Not
Business Outlook
By Eli Lustgarten
Data supports that 2011 purchasing is still on course for 30 percent increase.
Construction spending in the U.S. remains challenged with current data pointing to minimal growth at best in 2011. Yet purchases of construction equipment in the U.S. improved dramatically in the first quarter of 2011. Just ask anyone who was part of the nearrecord attendance at the recent highly successful CONEXPO exhibition in Las Vegas. The atmosphere was as upbeat as it has been in years, and the buzz on the floor was for strong order activity and lengthening delivery lead times.
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- Don't Choose Between Customer Satisfaction and Profitability
Aftermarket
By Ron Slee
Your market capture rate is a telling indicator of both, but measuring is crucial.
If you have a choice between customer satisfaction and profitability, what is your choice? I would take customer satisfaction - without satisfied customers the ability to make profit will be short-lived.
How to measure customer satisfaction becomes the challenge. Some people define it as repeat business; others measure the change in sales from one period to another; still others use surveys.
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- NLRB's Pro-union Pattern is Cause for Alarm
Washington Insider
By Christian Klein
Current cases (1.) pose threat to companies' freedom to make choices about where to do business and (2.) seek easier organizing among employee groups within the same company.
Recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) actions have confirmed the business community's worst fears. Stymied on Capitol Hill, unions and their White House allies are turning to the administrative process to dramatically reshape the nation's labor laws.
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- AED Public Policy Survey Highlights Distributor Policy Priorities
Inside AED
By Christian A. Klein
AED's 2011 U.S. Public Policy Survey, which was conducted in April, has yielded important insights about equipment distributor legislative priorities and new data that support the association's policy priorities on Capitol Hill.
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- Iowa Community College and Caterpillar Technology Programs Reaccredited
Groundwork
AED Foundation's technical standards continue to keep academic bar high for real-world dealer service department preparation. Des Moines Area Community College's (DMACC) diesel/equipment technology program was recently reaccredited by The AED Foundation. First accredited in 2005, the Ankeny, Iowa, school offers Associates of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees in diesel technology and Caterpillar technology.
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- Casey Equipment Celebrates 40 Year Milestone
Industry Beat
Company was the first North American JCB Dealer.
Casey Equipment Company turns 40 this year. The construction equipment rental company, with locations in Arlington Heights, Lemont and Rockford, Ill., was founded in 1971 by John Case and Don Cox. Today, Don’s son James (Jim) A. Cox, current president and two-time past president of the Illinois Equipment Dealers Association, leads the business.
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- No Standing on the Sidelines
Best Practices
By Joanne Costin
Wagner Equipment steps up its involvement in local and national legislation.
There wasn't one issue that motivated Wagner Equipment to take a more active role in government over the past few years. There were many. Historically, the Caterpillar dealer serving Colorado, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, would support local contractor groups on infrastructure spending legislation while staying tuned to legislative matters. But over the past four years, their political involvement has ramped up dramatically, along with their resolve to make their voices heard on issues such as energy regulation, health care, LIFO and the Employee Free Choice Act.
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- Volvo's L250G Fills an On-HighwayTruck in Two Passes
New & Improved
Construction Equipment combines the optimal mix of lifting force and traction resulting in high bucket penetration. When loading triaxle on-highway trucks, a new 9.0 cubic yard rehandling bucket quickly fills the truck in only two passes. The loader features a new engine and driveline system for improved productivity, lower emissions, greater smoothness, serviceability and operator comfort. A powerful Z-Bar loader linkage allows for high breakout force for digging in hard materials. Its heavy-duty linkage, lift arms and cylinders also offer high lift capacity and rapid hydraulic reaction, resulting in faster work cycles.
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- March Construction Stays Even With Prior Month
Dealer Data
Extended low-level stability pushes back the time when renewed expansion is likely to take hold.
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- Dealers Connect With Lawmakers at Fly-In
With a full day devoted to scheduled meetings directly with elected officials and their staffs, AED member executives took to The Hill, many squeezing in four, five and six visits to lobby on behalf of their own businesses and the construction equipment industry as a whole.
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- Maintaining OSHA Compliance at Your Dealership
Play It Safe
By Randy Dombrowski
Five basic safety training topics you must document for every branch location.
A former employee, upset about being terminated, calls OSHA to complain about alleged safety hazards at your dealership – including an overall lack of management engagement – which are leading to employee injuries. OSHA responds with an onsite inspection to investigate these reported problems, resulting in fines of thousands of dollars for serious safety violations.
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