IEDA Podcast

If you like to talk and sell, then digital marketing is right up your alley, and you probably didn't even know it. This month, we welcome Laurie Stogniew and Nick Riggs from CONAG Marketing, a division of Bayshore Marketing, founded and owned by Stogniew. Although they give the used equipment sales industry a ranking of 5 or 6 on a scale of 1–10 for digital marketing, they're optimistic that indep...

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 acquaint...

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 si...

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...

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 inflatio...

Listen in to the final podcast episode of 2023 – it's a lighthearted dialog with IEDA Executive Director Dave Gordon and podcast host Kim Phelan. Hear about the upcoming IEDA Live Auction that kicks off the Annual Meeting on Friday, February 16 at 10 a.m. under the big white tent in front of the Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Florida. It'll be a fun and festive time to gather with your IEDA friends...

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 equ...

What do you think about when you consider the subject of AI and your business – or more specifically, AI and your sales team? No question, the latest mainstream artificial intelligence offerings like Chat GPT have "skills," but they don't outperform what your people can do in terms of empathy, building relationships, asking great questions, and intuitively thinking on the spot. AI is just one of f...

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...

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 busine...

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...

Is your dealership leaking leads? This month's IEDA podcast guest says data shows there's a good chance your company is missing web inquiries and maybe even mishandling phone call inquiries. James Hamilton is the senior product manager at Randall Reilly, and his time with us in the virtual studio is jammed with great data and advice. Pull up a chair (or your steering wheel) and listen in to fresh...

If your sales reps were sea lions, would you find them reclining at Sea World while gulping fish tossed into their mouths … or would they be out doing the hard work, hunting and surviving in the treacherous ocean depths? Tune in as our guest, Elliott Vigil, helps you think about how to help all your reps stay on their game. Everyone makes mistakes – what you don't want is for a sales rep's mistake...

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 transact...

In our third interview with Jarrett Harris, he fills us in on highlights from OTR's latest Used Heavy Equipment Report. Harris, who is director of Cyclicals Research at Off the Record, provides fresh insight on used equipment supply and pricing, auction outcomes from February, plus a first-hand report from his personal interviews at ARA's Rental Show last month.   What kind of pricing correction i...

Meet the affable, insightful Cody Bork, the youngest member of the faculty at Western Technical College's Diesel and Heavy Equipment program in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. In this episode, he talks about the motivations and expectations of students training to become the next generation of service techs in the construction equipment industry.    And he should know. Not only does he spend five days a week...

Is your website doing its job, pulling its weight as a member of your sales team? Is it meeting your goals? Before you answer that, consider first of all: Do you have identifiable, measurable objectives for your website? Does it have a job description – do you know what you want it to do for your equipment business? Whether you answer yes or no, you're going to pull valuable advice and ideas from...

Section 179 of the IRS tax code has been around for decades, and it can be an effective strategy for lowering your tax liability year to year. In this program, find out what the deduction limit is for the 2022 tax year, and learn the nuances of Bonus Depreciation and how it differs from Section 179. Using these tools comes with rules, and it can get confusing – that's why we're talking to tax expe...

The Fed has far from finished adjusting interest rates to slow the economy and stave off recession, but a downturn has already begun, says attorney James Waite, our guest on this thought-provoking episode. He may specialize in law, but he's about to give your business a lesson in self-defense. Waite's practice in the Denver, Colorado, area is the premier resource for contractual law in the constru...

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...

Stolen cars, on average, are recovered at a rate of over 85%. Conversely, only about 20% of stolen construction equipment is recovered. Additionally, equipment theft is on the rise. Typically a crime of opportunity, stealing equipment became a new pastime for idle hands during the pandemic, and now that economic downturn is upon us, more machines are disappearing. Now's the time to get vigilant ab...

Construction equipment industry financial guru Garry Bartecki is the Category-of-One expert you want to pay attention to in times like these – soaring inflation, rising interest rates, crazy fuel prices, a labor market in crisis, and a recessionary economic environment, not to mention Washington's alarming focus on adding a small army of armed IRS agents. Even if you're not feeling pain yet, warni...

Got company vehicles on the road? Then don't miss this month's conversation about a serious but preventable problem that could cost you a bundle- or even put you out of business. Insurance broker Mike Bell, CEO of Robert Bell Insurance, cautions IEDA members on the potential fallout of a blemished DOT record, which starts with voracious injury lawyers who are prepared to pounce if one of your deli...

Along with the rest of the world, the equipment business is becoming a strange twilight zone in which independents are experiencing price euphoria on the one hand and evaporating inventory to sell and rent on the other, not to mention the scarcity of parts and labor. Jarrett Harris, director of Cyclicals Research at OTR (Off the Record), returns to the program to put some perspective on what's hap...

What does IEDA need more of? IDEA SHARING. So says IEDA founding board member Marlin Smith, owner of TKO Equipment. Listen in as he discusses some of the big challenges independent dealers are wrestling with today, from customer rental expectations to machine and part shortages––as well as perhaps the most formidable obstacle: being handcuffed by OEMs and authorized dealers when it comes to indepe...