ATTRACTING FLEET ACCOUNTS !

[TonyD]

hI EVERYONE HOPE ALL IS WELL. MY QUESTION IS WE WOULD LIKE TO ADD SOME NEW FLEET ACCOUNTS TO OUR LIST AND WE ARE INA PRETTY INDUSTRIAL AREA. AND HAVE QUITE A FEW ,BUT WITH THE ADDITION OF A NEW ALIGNMENT SYSTEM AND TECHS I WOULD LIKE TO BREAK INTO MORE GRAVY WORK. JUST LIKE HEARING YOUR APPROACHES OUT THERE, THANKS IN ADVANCE

[tirengolf]

hI EVERYONE HOPE ALL IS WELL. MY QUESTION IS WE WOULD LIKE TO ADD SOME NEW FLEET ACCOUNTS TO OUR LIST AND WE ARE INA PRETTY INDUSTRIAL AREA. AND HAVE QUITE A FEW ,BUT WITH THE ADDITION OF A NEW ALIGNMENT SYSTEM AND TECHS I WOULD LIKE TO BREAK INTO MORE GRAVY WORK. JUST LIKE HEARING YOUR APPROACHES OUT THERE, THANKS IN ADVANCE

Tony, About 4 years ago I hired a retired salesman part time to sell to fleet accounts, 75 year old retired local guy ex football jock, knew zero about cars but could sell, he is honest and sincere. learned quickly, I rode with him first couple days. I will tell you this as a business owner ,if you walk into a business and say I am the owner of XX auto repair and I want your business you will probably get it. I had to slow him down after one year because of all the work. Just do not l put all your eggs in 1 basket, go after the smaller 5 to 10 trucks or vehicles. Now, i give him a list once every 3 weeks and he goes and sees people, this has worked great for me. Even does a little blll collecting for me !!! Good Luck.

[TonyD]

great approach makes sense, our current fleet accounts are roughly that size and it works well for us . I will be giving it a try

[tirengolf]

Tony, Don't forget about the local schols , my outside guy goes into the schools with there permission , He has a good relationship with them , we give to a few of there programs for kids needing financial assistance. Teachers here are underpaid, We give the teachers some pretty good discount cards and specials. My salesman is smooth and starts with the receptionist in the front office, next thing you know we have some flyers in the teachers lounge. I have built some trust with quiet a few teachers and principals over time. You will be giving back and helping people that really need it. Good for the soul. Good Luck

[phynny]

Too hard to read in all caps...

[TonyD]

sorry about the caps a&C auto. maybe you can read my next post ill be sure to make sure its not in caps . Thanks auto save all very good advice we try and be as active in our community as possible but being an owner operator i do not get out as much as i would like, to to shake hand and kiss babies but will be working on that also. that is why i like your sales rep approach

[Handson]

Sales rep sounds like a really cool idea actually. Might try that if I expand

[carolinahigear]

Most of our fleet accounts pay with a credit card, or we fax an invoice and it's paid within a week. Do NOT extend terms (30 days) to your new accounts or you will regret it. You will be in the collection business instead of the fixin' business. 30 day terms went out with the carburetor IMO. I don't do free rotations on their service trucks, either. LT245/75R16E'S get heavy and we get paid for rotations.

 

Hi-Gear

[ScottyP]

I stop and visit them myself and I've probably gotten 80% of the businesses that I walked into. Most are smaller fleets of 5 - 10 which I prefer. Had a local engineering and enviromental company ask me if I was interested in maintaining their fleet of 30 trucks just recently. A little big for me but they'll rotate them all through in the winter when I'm not so slammed and the trucks are just sitting.