Opening up new markets is a business goal Dale DuBord, vice president of Four Seasons Equipment Inc. (FSEI), always is interested in pursuing. So when Woody Ferrell, vice president of sales and marketing, Champion Motor Graders, presented DuBord with the opportunity to become an authorized dealer for the Champion line of compact graders for the area surrounding Houston and Dallas in October 2008, he seized it.
“Up to this point, Four Seasons Equipment hasn’t had a good reason for pursuing new business very hard in the parking lot and paving contracting sector,” said DuBord. “Our Champion line of motorgraders now opens up opportunities for us to expand into that area. It opens the door with customers who are probably already using our other product lines. There are fewer competitors in the compact motorgrader business than in the other products we carry. We believe that our Champion line will separate us from the masses.”
FSEI has served the sales, rental and service and parts needs of its heavy construction equipment customers in the Lone Star state since 2001. With its corporate headquarters located in Houston, FSEI also has branches in Dallas (and Lake Charles, La.). In addition to its new line of Champion motorgraders, the company carries cranes, excavators, articulated dump trucks, bulldozers, compactors, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, shears, and hydraulic hammers and specialty attachments from a variety of suppliers including Terex, Liebherr, Hyundai, Sakai, Swenson, and Indeco.
In terms of competitive strengths, DuBord said FSEI is known for its rental fleet of more than 300 like-new heavy construction equipment machines and its very strong parts and service support system.
“We’re long-term players who understand that after-purchase service is how you generate repeat customers,” said DuBord. “We appreciate the importance of up-time and the pain of lost production due to malfunctioning equipment, so we really focus on that aspect of the business and we take great pride and satisfaction in keeping our customers up and running.”
Champion Line to
Generate Business
According to DuBord, FSEI has traditionally specialized in heavy civil site work and municipal projects. With the acquisition of its new Champion line of products, DuBord said he hopes to cast a larger net.
“We’ll be pursuing new business with independent parking lot and paving contractors, construction fleets and public works department including Texas DOT. The Champion graders are ideal for everything from site preparation and landscaping to finish and detail grading. The machines are versatile and cost effective enough to bring projects in on time and within budget. We can also now offer one-stop shopping to all of our customers.”
Dubord said the key in bringing FSEI onboard was Ferrell, Champion’s recently appointed vice president of sales and marketing.
“Woody was very instrumental in getting us set up,” said DuBord. “He’s a very energetic, knowledgeable guy about the market and the product — he also shares a similar philosophy to ours, ’Take care of business and things will be good.’ He really stoked the fires under us to get us going.”
In line with its philosophy of “Rent to sell,” FSEI has ordered a number of Champion rental units to demo where they can as well as making them part of their rental fleet.
“We’re looking for some exposure by getting some Champion C80 C Series units in the rental fleet — certainly looking for retail business all the time. We’ll start with the C80 C, earn some stripes and see where it takes us,” DuBord said. “Preliminary discussions and surveys with our customers suggest that there is already a large degree of interest in the new line of Champion production class graders — the larger C110 C and C116 C Series production class graders.”
Once the rental/demo units arrive, hands-on training will be given to FSEI sales and service staff.
According to Ferrell, “It is truly a privilege to get FSEI on board as part of the Champion organization. Dale’s team of professionals is dedicated to customer service and they truly understand what their customers need to maintain their productivity and profitability.”
“We’re very excited about the opportunity to represent the Champion line,” said DuBord. “It’s refreshing to be associated with an organization that hasn’t out-grown its purpose — one where the company principals all care and have a vested interest in what’s going on with their dealers and customers. There’s something to be said about an organization where the upper-management people have their hands on the business every day of the week. A family-run business like Champion is something we at Four Seasons Equipment can relate to — as the management team here pre-dates FSEI and has been together for 15 to 20 years.”
For more information on Champion Motor Graders, call 704/392-1038 or visit www.championmotorgraders.us.
For more information on FSEI, visit www.fourseasons-equip.com.
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