Jennifer Bishop was named Dynapac North America’s dealer sales manager for the Southeast following a 16-year-long career with the company.
Jennifer Bishop has always been one to go toe-to-toe with the toughest issues in her professional life. And, inevitably, her self-confidence and perseverance lead her to success.
That fire within Bishop has also led her to a new position in 2020 as Dynapac North America's dealer sales manager for the Southeast following a 16-year-long career with the company. Her sales territory has quite a range, from the two Carolinas west to Tennessee and Mississippi and back east to Florida.
Dynapac, the Swedish/German manufacturer of compaction, paving and milling equipment for road construction worldwide, supports the U.S. market from its North American headquarters in Fort Mill, S.C., just across the state line from Charlotte, N.C.
Bishop was an important part of the rollout as the marketing communications manager. Her new role is to increase Dynapac's market share in the Southeast.
"From 2013 to 2017, during our previous ownership, Dynapac equipment went through a complete rebrand," Bishop explained. "That changed when we were purchased by the Fayat Group, the French global construction company, and we were able to re-establish the Dynapac brand in 2018."
Today, Dynapac's compaction machinery includes a variety of different types of rollers, as well as a tamping compactor. The manufacturer's paver models include those for compact, city, commercial and highway work. Large tracked pavers and wheeled pavers also are part of the product line, as well as mobile feeders and screeds."
Pandemic Forced Bishop to Adapt
When Bishop was promoted to her new role in mid-March, she at once faced a huge challenge.
An important requirement of her job was crisscrossing the Southeast to market Dynapac's line of equipment. But Bishop, like most Americans, had to adapt her work around the coronavirus.
"My new role started two days after ConExpo-Con/AGG ended and we all know what happened then," Bishop recalled. "So, COVID-19 has been kind of a challenge on my new outside sales role, having to adhere to coronavirus regulations from state to state."
Dynapac Sales Starting to Ramp Up
Now, Bishop has started to see a breakthrough in placing Dynapac machines into dealerships and increased retail sales of the compaction and paving lines.
"We recently sold a CT3000 tamping compactor with our Tennessee dealer, Heavy Machines, a new product offering for the distributor," she said. "It's a massive machine that can almost replace three 84-inch soil rollers and includes a strike-off blade. The unit has been extremely successful in the Texas market, where contractors there love them. So, the seeds have been replanted in the Southeast market."
She also proudly points to Dynapac's MF2500 material transfer feeder, another new product in the North American market that has been available in Europe for several years. The core of the three Dynapac MF2500 models is their high-performance conveying system, which can transport 30 tons of gravel, sand or asphalt to its destination in just 35 seconds.
‘Accidental' Executive
The drive and determination found within Bishop is most impressive when you consider she entered the construction equipment sales and marketing field 16 years ago with no experience in the industry.
In her words, she said she got into the business "purely by accident."
"I was in school part-time and working for a professional recruiter," she explained. "The position at Dynapac in San Antonio came across my desk and, honestly, I wanted to work closer to home to be near my children. The rest is history. I was the sales coordinator for heavy compaction at Dynapac, at that time headquartered just outside San Antonio, Texas."
When asked if the new position presented much of a learning curve for her, she laughed and responded, "I would say so."
She credits the people she worked with during her 16-year career in the construction equipment industry with believing in her abilities and self-reliance — the traits she needed to flourish in the business."
"I think what is unique about me is how well rounded I am within this organization," she continued. "I have been in inside sales, after-market support marketing, and now two outside sales roles."
Forget Gender, Bring Knowledge
Her own boatload of self-confidence also helped her succeed in the construction equipment industry, one that has traditionally been a male dominated field.
"Well, I will say it was a trial by fire," she admitted. "But I've had a lot of positive influences and mentors throughout my career in the construction equipment industry."
The fact that Bishop is a woman marketing construction equipment has always been a non-issue for her because of the certainty she has in her abilities and the fact she possesses a storehouse of industry knowledge.
To Bishop, that is what is most important when dealing with customers, no matter your gender.
"At the end of the day you must know what you're talking about and provide help with the issues customers are experiencing," she said. "You need to be a problem solver for them. They don't care if you are a male or a female, they just want to know that you know your products and you understand how to support them by working side by side as partners.
"To me, the fun part of my job is the problem solving — helping customers and contractors come up with the solutions they need to work faster, safer and more efficiently." CEG
Eric Olson
A writer and contributing editor for CEG since 2008, Eric Olson has worked in the business for more than 40 years.
Olson grew up in the small town of Lenoir, NC in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where he began covering sports for the local newspaper at age 18. He continued to do that for several other dailies in the area while in college at Appalachian State University. Following his graduation, he moved on to gain experience at two other publications before becoming a real estate and special features writer and editor at the Winston-Salem Journal for 10 years. Since 1999 he has worked as a corporate media liaison and freelance writer, in addition to his time at CEG.
He and his wife, Tara, have been married for 33 years and are the parents of two grown and successful daughters. His hobbies include collecting history books, watching his beloved Green Bay Packers and caring for his three dogs and one cat.
Read more from Eric Olson here.
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