ConEquip Parts is a leading supplier of construction equipment parts with buyers throughout the world. Based in western New York, the company’s motto is “A world of parts with a personal touch,” and is engrained into the company culture. The staff is dedicated to meeting the needs and exceeding the expectations of their customers by providing personalized care with every customer contact.
The Challenge:
ConEquip salespeople field incoming phone calls from current customers and prospects who find them online. Because all sales activity is done via the phone, it became increasingly difficult for management to monitor calls and provide coaching and feedback to their salespeople.
In addition, the company was growing and needed an effective tool that would help onboard and train new salespeople.
“We wanted something that would quickly provide customer feedback so we could understand how they thought the conversation with their salesperson went,” Albert Alexander, ConEquip Co-owner, said. “This would not only help us provide real-time coaching for our salespeople, but also it would be a great tool for training new salespeople as they got up and running.”
Through their own research, the company found that returning customers were five times more likely to purchase from them than new customers, so converting prospects to customers was critical.
“Our goal with each new prospect is to provide such excellent service that they not only become a customer, but a customer for life,” Alexander said.
The Solution:
ConEquip began using Autopilot Reviewsto request customer or prospect feedback after every call with a salesperson. Eventually, they started to use it after every touch point a customer had with anyone in the company.
“We want our customers to feel heard with every interaction, whether it’s with sales, service, accounting, or someone else, and it’s extremely important to us that they know that,” Alexander said. “We live our motto of ‘A world of parts with a personal touch every day and Autopilot Reviews reinforces it.”
After each phone call, the customer is sent a text survey with a series of questions about the service they received and the prices they were quoted. Alexander admits they infuse some humor into the questions to make it fun for everyone.
“It’s a seamless process that’s easy to set up. Every day, I receive a report with the results, and I share them with the whole company,” Alexander said. “It helps us all feel part of the same team and I believe has played a key role our growth – we are all driving toward the same vision and goals.”
The Results:
ConEquip has grown, quickly. Over the last six years, its annual sales have increased from $12 million to $70 million, and since first implementing Autopilot Reviews almost five years ago, the sales staff has grown from 16 to 42 people. Currently, the company is growing at an annual rate of 35-40%.
“It’s all connected. Autopilot Reviews enables us to lean into the feedback we receive – the good and not-so-good – and continually strive to improve. We are able to listen to the customer and if they had an issue, coach their salesperson through it. This is invaluable and we know it works because we see the scores improve,” Alexander said.
He continued, “That feedback provides great learning opportunities for everyone, including the new salespeople which are important because we want to get them up and running quickly.”
The company receives around 600 new leads coming in a day, most of which go to the new reps because the veterans have their stable of regular customers.
“And remember, a current customer is five times more likely to buy, so it’s critical those new reps convert their new leads into customers, so they are more likely to come back,” Alexander said. “It’s a critical component to our current growth and will continue to play a role in our growth moving forward.”
Want to learn how Autopilot Reviews can do the same for your organization? Contact us to request a demo today!
