As a mature company servicing a mature market, ASC Construction Equipment USA Inc. is accustomed to creating new opportunities for growth. So when Sennebogen’s former exclusive dealer in North Carolina and South Carolina decided to get out of the equipment business, ASC didn’t hesitate signing a dealership agreement with a manufacturer that shared similar business philosophies.
Constantino Lannes, president of Sennebogen LLC, recently announced that ASC Construction Equipment USA Inc. has been appointed as the newest addition to the company’s growing distributor network for Sennebogen. ASC will represent Sennebogen products from eight branches located in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Brad Stimmel, president of ASC said that Sennebogen first came to his attention as ASC was refocusing on new markets.
“I made a list of the other non-traditional market segments that I felt needed more focus. On top of that list was aggregates, road paving and scrap. When I started to investigate the scrap industry, I saw that there were several good manufacturers. But, after studying the market and the options, Sennebogen became my first choice,” explained Stimmel. “Sennebogen is the market leader and their business philosophy is similar to ours, to become partners with their dealers in order to better serve customers.”
Stimmel said the addition of Sennebogen’s green line of material handling machines will work well to complement ASC’s total product offering.
“There is some overlap of the customers we serve. We are already serving some markets with our current product mix, but the Sennebogen line provides us with the opportunity to meet the needs of the yards where we are not as well established. More importantly, it gives a more rounded and complete line-up for that client so we can go in and talk about their needs for everything from wheel loaders to material handlers and everything in between,” he said. “Essentially, we now offer another tool. There is a lot of synergy between the Sennebogen and the Volvo line and customers who we are already doing business with will benefit from this.”
Stimmel felt that Sennebogen provides ASC with an ideal line to further penetrate markets that it is already serving with its material handling equipment for scrap, C&D, transfer stations, ports, forestry and terminal operations.
“Sennebogen offers purpose-built machines, but it also is a purpose-built company highly focused on the market it serves. During our research, we realized that the other OEMs for material handlers has a less focused approach and are involved with a lot of other businesses,” he said. “Sennebogen is strictly focused on the material handling business and they are focused on making the best product for that industry with the most complete line.”
Raising the Bar
Having taken over the Sennebogen line from the previous dealer that had already set a high bar for service support, Stimmel said the challenge for ASC will be to maintain that bar and raise it even higher.
“From Sennebogen’s perspective, the company already has a strong presence in the scrap industry so we are going to continue on with that legacy. What we bring to the table is a focus in the forestry, waste, and aggregates industry, as Volvo already has a significant presence in those industries. With Sennebogen in our portfolio, we can now be a one stop shop for our customers.”
In order to achieve that objective, Stimmel indicated that ASC has been fortunate to be able to recruit several of the previous dealer’s employees. Additionally, ASC and its entire sales and maintenance staff are undergoing extensive service and sales training on the Sennebogen line.
One method used by ASC is to employ segment specialists. These are highly trained and experienced process specialists in a given industry. With advanced knowledge of machines and their applications, the segment specialists act as consultants for their customers who use them as a resource for technical specification on certain machines.
“We started this two years ago. The first one is for aggregates, the next one was for road paving, and a third for portable air compressors. We are going to add a material handling specialist also. Having this will allow us to offer a complete solution to many of our customers.”
ASC has a number of machines already on order and they will be parked on display at the company’s location in Piedmont, S.C., which is located right on the Interstate Highway.
“There is a lot of traffic going up and down that road and these machines will be highly visible,” said Stimmel. “It is important for us that people recognize ASC as a Sennebogen dealer.”
Stimmel officially signed the new dealer agreement with Sennebogen during its open house on March 11 at its new North American headquarters in Stanley, N.C. He said that attending the event also gave him some insight about Sennebogen, which positively reinforced his decision to partner with the company.
“I got a very strong sense of dealer support from Sennebogen, and this company truly exemplifies how to be a partner in the business,” said Stimmel. “That message came through loud and clear at their 10th Anniversary and Open House, as they showed dealers and customers that we are all in this together. My sense from Constantino Lannes and his team is that they are always doing something to support the dealer so that we, the dealers, can support our customers. This is more like being a business partner to me and I had a really good feeling that they want to go beyond the traditional dealer/supplier relationship,” he said.
“Being in this business for 36 years has taught me to have certain expectations from suppliers and Sennebogen has exceeded those expectations.”
For more information, call 704/347-4910 or visit www.sennebogen-na.com.
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