If you think of a forklift dealership as simply a place to buy, lease, or rent a lift truck—and maybe get it fixed when something isn’t working right—then you are missing out. Today’s dealers also sell, lease, rent, and service other types of material handling equipment, from conveyors and chargers to racking and robots, to name just a few.
But as the forklift dealers we spoke with for this article took pains to emphasize, they don’t think of their business as being solely about equipment. Instead, they take a more holistic approach. Chris Cella, president of Heubel Shaw, an authorized Raymond Solutions and Support Center, for example, describes his company as “business partners who can provide everything a customer needs to not only keep a facility running smoothly, but also to ensure that [its] facility and operations are optimized for efficiency.”
Or, as Jerry Weidmann, president of Wolter Inc., puts it: “What we really sell are solutions to meet the productivity needs of our customers.” Indeed, Wolter refers to its array of material handling, automation, fleet management, financing, and power products and services as its “productivity toolbox.”
Forklift dealers believe they have a responsibility to work in their customers’ best interests. “What we bring to the customer is a sense of stewardship,” says John Wieland, CEO and principal owner of MH Equipment, a Hyster and Yale dealer. That means helping customers improve efficiency and reduce their total cost of ownership—even if it proves costly for the dealer in the short term. He cites the example of one customer who had been renting over 100 pieces of equipment on a monthly basis. After a lengthy effort, account managers convinced the customer that leasing with full maintenance services would greatly reduce costs and inefficiencies. The switch cost the local service branch over $200,000 in net income annually, but it was the right thing to do, Wieland says. That’s because the company’s objective is to protect its long-term health, which aligns with doing the right thing for its customers, suppliers, and employees. And that fleet operator, he adds, will be a loyal customer for years to come.
No matter how dedicated to service they may be, though, forklift dealers can’t deliver optimal results without the customer’s active support and participation. Here are 10 practical steps they recommend that will help you achieve a mutually beneficial, long-term partnership that produces great results.
- 1. Invite them in early. Including the dealer at the planning stage of a material handling project can help ensure a “best fit” solution. “The earlier we can be involved, the better we can understand the customer’s challenges,” says John Ventre, vice president of product support at Equipment Depot, which represents parent company Mitsubishi Logisnext America’s Cat lift trucks, Mitsubishi forklift trucks, and Jungheinrich and UniCarriers forklift brands. “If we are involved at the concept and approval phase, we understand more about the application and may adjust [what] equipment we suggest.” That additional leadtime also helps the dealer meet expectations under tight timelines.
- 2. Define your operational goals. With a clear, detailed picture of your operational goals, the dealer can be certain the solution offered will achieve the improvements you’re looking for, Cella says. The dealer can then help you develop a set of metrics to “measure what success would look like”—for example, moving so many pallets per hour, per operator. Articulating your objectives also gives you a “common language” as you work together, he explains.
Another benefit of defining your goals is that it allows the dealer to bring in the right expertise early on. “We have a plethora of services and solutions, so it’s very difficult for any one account manager to have a full understanding of every type of application and product or solution,” Weidmann notes. With complete information about what you want to achieve and why, an account manager can bring in specialists in areas like high-velocity warehouse applications and automation, an approach Weidmann compares with a medical internist/specialist model.
- 3. Make sure the dealer knows who the “go tos” are. A walk-through of your facility and “meet and greet” with important contacts facilitates decisions and makes for efficient on-site work. Toyota Forklift dealer Southern States Toyotalift, for one, has a formal “onboarding” process for new customers, according to David Bailey, the company’s president. One part of the onboarding process is to identify decision-makers in various areas of responsibility, so technicians know, for instance, who can quickly authorize repairs. A walk-through shows them where they should park their truck and where they are expected to work, eliminating uncertainty and wasted time.
- 4. Commit to a culture of safety. When the customer creates and maintains a culture of safety, backed up with ongoing training and education, it is beneficial for everyone, Cella says. Assuring proper equipment use and adhering to a “rigorous and regular” maintenance schedule enhances the safety of both the end-users and the dealers’ technicians, he observes.
In Ventre’s experience, providing “an out-of-the-way area for our technicians to work while at the customer’s site, so they can be safely out of the flow of traffic” is one of the most important ways customers can be helpful. And don’t ask them to compromise when it comes to safety. “The safety of my employees is my responsibility,” Wieland says. “If one of our technicians does not feel that they are working in a safe environment, they are told to stop working and leave the customer’s premises.”
- 5. Share information openly and regularly. To design the best solution for you, the dealer needs comprehensive information about the scope of your requirements as well as your material flows, the products being moved, and operational constraints, among other topics. Even when there isn’t a big project in the works, regular, frequent communication is beneficial.
Wieland is an advocate for regular meetings with larger customers. Without “meaningful conversations on a regular basis, little things can become big things,” he says. Making the time for honest and open discussions leads to better service for fleet owners because “little things stay little things, and we’re all rowing in the same direction.”
- 6. Provide accurate, up-to-date information. Before any forklift project can proceed, it’s essential to conduct a fleet study as well as map out how and when goods move. The aim, Wolter’s Weidmann says, is “to look at the equipment and the material flow in totality, including how it all fits together.” At many companies, though, the data required for that analysis is not easily available, making things more difficult and time-consuming for the dealer. In such cases, Wolter uses techniques like heuristic models to supplement the information that is available to develop flow studies. While not pinpoint-precise, those studies “provide insight and the ability to have a conversation about the overall flow” while providing a baseline for gathering data in the future, he says.
Accurate, up-to-date information also helps dealers make repairs more efficiently and cost-effectively. Customers of Southern States Toyotalift, for example, can use a cellphone app to scan a QR code and send emails and photos to immediately report a problem. “That helps us make sure we have the right parts before we show up, or get an order for a part moving right away,” Bailey says. Telematics systems that collect data and create performance and maintenance reports are enormously helpful; what’s more, they have come down in price and are now affordable for mid-sized fleets.
- 7. Think beyond the forklift. Customers often rely heavily on equipment RFPs (requests for proposals) that “commoditize or marginalize material handling decision-making,” says Bailey of Southern States Toyotalift, but that can be counterproductive if safety, overall productivity, process efficiency, and long-term goals are not considered. “You can get all the equipment in the world, but if your processes are not optimal, then you won’t see the benefits,” he observes.
He recommends an on-site analysis that considers all of those factors in addition to the price of equipment and labor. Bailey tells customers to think of material handling decisions as an iceberg. “Can we go underwater with you to look at all the other elements that should factor into your decision?” Looking at all the variables will also allow the dealer to uncover what he calls “hidden profitability leaks.”
- 8. Be open-minded. Customers who do some research online and then assume they’ve covered all the possibilities could be leaving a lot of money on the table, the dealers agree. One reason is that they may not be fully aware of new equipment options, material handling methods, or technology. Furthermore, dealers have experience with a wide range of customers and applications, so they may know of a cost-effective solution that the customer hasn’t considered or read about, Ventre points out.
Similarly, making decisions based on “the way we’ve always done it” is not helpful to either party. For example, rather than replace existing equipment with the same products, consider whether your business parameters have changed and whether the lift trucks you needed 10 years ago are still the same ones you need today, Wieland suggests.
Cella of Heubel Shaw agrees. “It’s ideal when a customer is open-minded and understands that, in some cases, there may be more than one way to solve a problem.”
- 9. Recognize that when a dealer says no, it’s for a good reason. There are times when dealers feel they must turn down a customer’s request, such as when that request—for example, to use a piece of equipment in a manner it’s not designed for—would compromise safety. Another is when a dealer is asked to quote products or services that are not appropriate for the application, or when the solution requested would not deliver the outcome the customer wants. In such cases, Equipment Depot’s Ventre says, “we present an alternate solution that will deliver the desired outcome.” While that’s successful most of the time, he says, “sometimes we have had to walk away.” It’s the same with a customer who asks for unrealistic leadtimes the dealer cannot meet. “Our business is built on integrity; we can’t accept a request we know we can’t honor,” Bailey says.
On rare occasions, a dealer will feel compelled to “fire the customer.” This can happen when their demands are consistently unrealistic, MH Equipment’s Wieland says. While there’s nothing wrong with having high expectations, he adds, it may not be a reasonable use of a dealer’s limited resources to spend a lot of time on a customer with a forklift or two who “doesn’t pay the bills, argues over every little thing, and tries to nickel and dime you on everything.”
- 10. Provide constructive feedback. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, forklift dealers want to hear it. “If there’s something of concern, please share it and let us know how we can help,” Cella says. And be specific about what your desired outcome is: “Our goal is to help customers achieve their own goals, so the more information they can provide, the better the outcome will be.” Saying “we’re just not happy with the way things are going” is not the kind of feedback that will allow the dealer and customer to work together toward a mutually agreeable solution.
Dealers hope you will complete those “How did we do?” surveys. Ventre notes that his company’s general managers and executive team use those survey responses to guide decisions on how to better serve customers. And it doesn’t have to be constructive criticism: Surveys are also a great way to let the dealer know about an employee’s exceptional service.
GO FOR THE GOLD
The key to achieving and maintaining a mutually beneficial, long-term partnership is candid communication and the open sharing of information, with regular meetings to review fleet performance data and project milestones. “That has been a tremendous relationship-builder for some of our most loyal customers,” Ventre says.
Weidmann believes that if relationships are based on trust and disclosure, the result will be a solution that’s fair to both parties. “The best relationship between a customer and a solutions provider looks more like a partnership than a customer/supplier relationship,” he observes. “As Michael Jordan said, ‘Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.’”
