Since opening its new location in Charlotte, N.C., in June 2012, Atlantic Coast Toyotalift’s mission has been clear.
“We want to be a premier dealer of quality compact equipment and accessories,” explained Patrick Cudicio, regional operations manager of ACT Construction Equipment. “Charlotte remains one of the most robust markets in North Carolina. As a result, it provides our dealership with the perfect opportunity to expand and grow by offering our line of quality products and services. Takeuchi, our line of compact track loaders and excavators, has a proven record of manufacturing top-notch equipment. We have been very successful with Takeuchi and are excited to enter the Charlotte region with them.”
With six employees in the new Charlotte store, ACT’s staff handles everything from sales to aftermarket support. The full-service dealership provides sales, service, parts and rentals. Besides Takeuchi, it carries a professional line of Stihl products, aerial work platforms by JLG and Absolute EZ-Up and Chicago Pneumatic construction equipment and tools. For excavator and loader machines the business also offers a variety of buckets and attachments manufactured by CID, Loflin and Fecon.
“Our customers are entrepreneurs — big and small,” said Cudicio, who oversees operations in eastern North Carolina, as well as in the Charlotte area. “We see everyone from plumbers, landscapers, mulch and stone suppliers, builders of retention walls and pools to residential, commercial or civil contractors and anyone else who needs to dig or move dirt. However, we tend to work closely with that niche of the market that feels underserved by the larger, big name dealerships. Building a relationship with the owner/operator of a company who depends on others for their success can be really rewarding.”
According to Cudicio, customer service and quality merchandise are crucial to success at the company.
“Products that are reliable year after year keep customers profitable. However, customer service keeps them coming back. It’s more than just having something available when they need it or fixing it the first time, every time. It has more to do with building lasting relationships and maintaining effective honest communication. It’s the execution of customer service that makes up our culture at ACT.
“Our short-term goals are encapsulated by the single premise — to build relationships. We want to go out and make face-to-face contacts and begin inroads towards a business cycle that revolves around sales, service, parts and rentals. Our goal is to get our message out regarding who and what we are about, and the advantages ACT brings to the marketplace. Our long-term goal is simple in that we don’t measure our success against any other industry or competitor, nor do we gauge our success purely on a balance sheet. We are successful when we are recognized for what we are, which is a high-quality company that offers value-added products and services.”
Seeing things from the customers’ point of view is one thing that the team at ACT takes a lot of pride in.
“Each and every person at ACT is passionate about one thing, and that’s helping make someone’s situation better. At ACT we understand that the customer calling is not happy that they need a part, or that they need a service technician to fix their machine sitting in a half dug out foundation. They have a problem that needs to be resolved, and usually sooner than later. A panicked foreman looking at missing a deadline becomes a loyal repeat customer when you get him out of that jam. The passion for our work stems from remedying an issue and getting machines and people back to work.”
Another aspect of customer relationships emphasized at ACT is not just being a business in any given place, but being a business that understands the community and its needs as well.
“We are an established company with a long history of providing experience based solutions,” added Cudicio. “Though we may be new to the Charlotte region, we have been in business for more than 40 years and have been, and remain, affiliated with many of the top brand names in the industry. Furthermore, we have a proven track record and are not going anywhere. Our aim is to be a member of the community for a long time. We understand how hard business is today, and more so how hard the past few years have been. We strive hard to provide sound, fast solutions when a machine is down or when more equipment is needed to complete a job. We are ready to implement creative solutions to challenges while maintaining the highest level of teamwork and integrity.”
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