IEDA Podcast

Does your equipment business routinely conduct credit reporting for every customer and every transaction?  In this episode, our featured expert, Yesinne Alvarez, walks you through the business case for understanding the current business health of every company you do business with, large, medium, and small. Regular and consistent credit checks are considered a business best practice, and it should...

On Sept. 30, the federal surface transportation bill — The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) — will expire. How will Congress act? Will Congress act on time? These are key questions, and the answers will have enormous impact on states' ability to keep up with ever-increasing maintenance and rebuilds of their roads and bridges.  In this episode, we welcome Rocky Moretti to the mic — he'...

Tune in for some customer intelligence and perspective, but not from an equipment buyer…but rather from someone who has a front-row seat on buyer activity every day. This month, we're talking to Mike Harmon, vice president of sales at IEDA Associate Member AFG. A well-known IEDA sponsor and advertiser, Harmon brings us some market insight through the back door, you might say, based on his daily in...

In the early days of your journey to build up a profitable equipment business, you might not have put a lot of emphasis on what it would be like to become a leader. Now that you've got a team, whether small or large, applying good leadership skills may be on your radar, especially when problems crop up. In this episode, we welcome a professional counselor to the mic, bringing a different kind of p...

If your equipment business struggles to find employees, you're not alone. Across all industries, businesses are battling to find anybody who will take their jobs...skilled or unskilled. And business owners are understandably frustrated. However, so are many young people. Some graduate college and can't get a job. Others can't seem to find their way, unable to connect their interests to a career an...

As the new year begins, many business owners are turning their attention to taxes. In this episode, we sit down with CPAs Marty McCarthy and Brian Marron, both directors at CBIZ who specialize in supporting construction-related companies. Together, they break down several key ways the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA) affects independent equipment dealers. One of the most significant benefits u...

In this last edition of 2025, we're unpacking two of the association's most important initiatives: (1) the Foundation's scholarships for deserving technician students and (2) some exciting changes and highlights for the Annual Meeting February 13–15. If you love the IEDA and love the construction equipment industry, this is a conversation you don't want to miss. Host Kim Phelan and IEDA Executive...

Mitch Helman, Sales Manager at Sandhills' AuctionTime, joins the program to talk about heavy construction equipment values, inventories, and other trends he's observing this fall.  To kick things off, we're unpacking highlights from the Sandhills October Used Construction Equipment Report, and making a few predictions on how November's report will compare. Mitch talks about different types of equi...

Sarah Martin from Dodge Construction Network returns this month to share the latest activity trends and her outlook for 2026 and 2027. As associate director of forecasting at Dodge, she brings insights into sectors that are thriving as well as those showing steady momentum. So, are contractors and construction business owners confident? Not exactly. But they have grown accustomed to—and perhaps mo...

In this episode, we're talking with Cody Bork, instructor at Western Technical College's heavy diesel program. His new fall students are wired for fixing equipment, and he's in awe of their technical savvy and thirst for learning. Bork has witnessed the effect of IEDA scholarships on several students. Thanks to the IEDA Foundation, individual merit-based scholarships of $5,000 each have a profound...

Although our title may not sound like it, this month we're talking about helping new and younger sales talent succeed in your dealership so that your dealership reaps success from their work. Our guest expert is Frank Hurtte, an industrial sales pro for almost 50 years and founder of River Heights Consulting. Author of "The New Sales Guy Project" and several other books, as well as a speaker and m...

Jarrett Harris, director of research at IronAdvisors Insights, returns to the podcast to talk about the latest construction equipment industry activities and trends. How is the industry behaving so far in 2025? "Stable but careful" is his headline. Tune in to find out the surprising thing OEMs are still doing and what the real deal is with OEM-authorized dealers' inventories. Think it's a good tim...

What if your dealership's existing systems held the key to 5x sales efficiency—and you didn't even know it? In this episode, Kim Phelan sits down with Nick Mavrick, a seasoned industry insider and founder of BiltData, to uncover how construction equipment dealers can unlock powerful customer insights already hiding in plain sight. From the early days of NationsRent and Volvo Rents to building data...

With many mic-drop moments and a no-nonsense approach to the right to repair (R2R) movement, Gay Gordon-Byrne returns to the podcast for an update about state and federal legislative activity.  Tune in to discover if the states where you do business have passed or are working on R2R bills, and consider contacting your lawmakers to weigh in on how OEM restrictions affect your ability to repair equi...

When we don't feel well, we can take our temperature or go for a checkup. When our car is not performing right, we can check different gauges and look at various fluids and things. But is it possible for a dealer to perform checks on his/her equipment business to determine if they've got any operational problems? This month's guest, Troy Ottmer, has been diagnosing and treating operational issues...

Your customer is on a journey – are you helping or hindering their progress toward a sale with you? In this month's episode, our guest tells you how to attract more equipment shoppers to your business and clear the speed bumps that cause them to go somewhere else. The first thing Stephanie Smith, founder of The Grind Marketing Collective , wants you to know is that marketing doesn't have to be har...

Buckle up for a deep dive into management with this month's guest, Nancy Proffitt, fresh off a standout presentation at the IEDA Annual Meeting! A powerhouse in sales and operations, she's packed with management wisdom and ready to share her playbook for construction equipment dealers. As a speaker and business coach, Proffitt has helped transform businesses—including a $6-million dealer that scal...

We're kicking off 2025 with a bang! In this episode, CE product support expert John Dowling shares game-changing tools to make your service business more efficient and profitable. Surprisingly, it all boils down to one critical element: the paperwork. Drawing from a lesson taught by a gunnery sergeant during his Marine Corps days, John highlights why same-day service reports are just as crucial as...

For our final podcast episode of 2024, we welcome Mets Kramer to the mic! Mets is the mastermind behind the new IEDA app, and in this episode, he gives us an in-depth look at how this innovative tool will transform the IEDA membership directory into a powerful, user-friendly digital resource right at your fingertips. Tune in to discover where to download the app and how it empowers you to manage y...

Much of Brad Spitzer's expertise can be summed up with three R's: Rouse, Rentals, and Real-Time Insights. Yet, there's so much more to the Director of Client Services at Rouse Rental Insights. Brad, a dynamic voice in the industry and a featured speaker at the IEDA Midyear Meeting in Nashville, brings an unmatched perspective on market trends in used and rental construction equipment. In this epis...

Much of Milissa Wise's life can be summed up with three M's: Mexico, Marines, and Machines. Yet, there's much more to the owner of Expert Heavy Equipment , an IEDA member distributor. Milissa has built a strong, well-respected brand among resellers and end-users throughout Mexico, as well as Central and South America. With 600,000 Facebook followers, her equipment ads consistently receive "overwhe...

VizaLogix Augmented reality is an actual reality for construction equipment dealers today–no big ARglasses required. This could be the disruptive service your business needs to differentiate yourself from buyers and rental customers. A software called TethrIT Now from VizaLogix uses your customer's cell phone (whether Apple or Android) to get immediate video access into a machine failure event, so...

Dealer software expert John Andersen has worked with equipment dealers for many years to become more efficient, savvy, and competitive. He does this by putting his deep knowledge of equipment distribution together with his great expertise in dealer management systems. And it's an equation that is always a win-win for dealers.  John's 35 years of experience with PFW, ADP, e-Emphasys, CDK, and now a...

One fleet manager has estimated his company loses $112K every day a machine is down. If your customers had a theme song, it would be "Stayin' Alive," because their No. 1 priority is keeping their iron running. To do so, they need parts–and fast. But besides speed, they also need an easier path to their dealer's expertise and an overall better buying experience. Luke Powers, founder and CEO of  Gea...

Can data really help your business? You bet! Data is knowledge and it makes you more savvy and strategic about finding and seizing equipment sale and rental opportunities. Now that 2024 is at its midway point, it's a good time to assess the market and get a good grasp on the big picture. In this episode, Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network, unpacks the sec...