Road rules

Supplier road shows generate excitement, making distributor cash registers ring.

by Rich Vurva

After the Red Zone Experience comes to town, distributors typically see double-digit increases in sales of Milwaukee Electric power tools and accessories. One Wisconsin distributor reported its largest single day of tool sales, making it a record sales month.

The Red Zone Experience is a 53-foot trailer introduced by Milwaukee Electric Tool earlier this year to tour the country to provide professional trades people with hands-on experience using Milwaukee tools.

It features pop-out sides that expand the rig into a mobile training center complete with a theater for video presentations, and a display area for visitors to test new products, view working product cutaways or participate in a training session. When visitors enter the trailer, they walk into a job site-themed theater with eight flat screen TVs for viewing a brief introductory video based on Milwaukee’s “Respect for the Trades” marketing message.

Jon Finch, Milwaukee product training manager, says the Red Zone Experience is an effective way to bring the company’s brand message to customers. He says the trailer is unlike any he has seen from competitors.

“We really wanted it to be an experience as opposed to just a rolling billboard. We offer product, safety and hands-on training at job sites, educational institutions or distributor locations. We didn’t want to be a me-too company,” he says.

For distributors, it’s a great way to boost sales.

“We probably sold close to what we would normally sell in a month,” says Robert Bailey of Bailey Tools and Supply in Louisville, Ky., which hosted the one-day event attended by about 300 customers in late May.

“Milwaukee made it very easy for us with their truck support staff. We just had to advertise and promote it; they handled most everything else,” Bailey says.

Introduce new products
Increasing sales might be one of your primary objectives for hosting a special event, but you don’t have to turn it into a sidewalk sale to be successful. Some companies use their vehicles to introduce new products or to promote safety training.

The M.K. Morse Company deployed two demonstrator vehicles in early 2003 as a way to draw attention to its new line of Metal Devil carbide-tipped metal-cutting circular saw blades. The sales demo vehicles proved so popular among customers that the fleet grew to six vehicles by mid-2004. The trucks travel the U.S., giving distributors and end-users a hands-on experience with the innovative Metal Devil metal-cutting saw blade and other M.K. Morse power tool accessories.

For M.K. Morse customers, it’s not the truck that commands their attention, it’s seeing the saw blades in action. Each truck is equipped with an assortment of Metal Devil blades, circular saw machines, a roll-out demonstration bed and a collection of metal, pipe and rod. The part of the demonstration that especially piques interest is when customers see the circular saw chew through 6-inch by 1/4-inch plate steel in less than 12 seconds.

“The end-user is amazed when they see this product cutting metal. They sign up to buy it right there,” says Peter Heenan, M.K. Morse director of marketing.

M.K. Morse demonstrators take the vehicles to distributor open houses and also schedule product demonstrations with distributors at end-user job sites.

“We bring our products right to the end-user and show them how they work,” Heenan says. “We want to teach our distributors and users how to get the best performance out of our blades.”

Training on tour
Dixon Valve & Coupling Company views its Mobile Connection trailer as an extension of the company’s end-user training program. Dixon introduced the trailer to hose and accessories distributors at the NAHAD convention in April, and immediately recognized how the trailer could help capture valuable face time with customers. It has been on the road non-stop ever since.

“We usually start off by holding a session at the distributor’s location to introduce them to the capabilities of the trailer. Then we go make joint calls together,” says Joe Dawson, Dixon vice president of marketing and business development.

One of the best uses of the trailer, which includes an attractive product display and a large-screen plasma TV for viewing multimedia presentations, is to help end-users learn how to make their facilities safer.

“It’s difficult to bring a lot of people into our test lab where we can blow up a hose, but it’s easy to show them a video,” says Dawson. A video and slide presentation includes photos of Dixon’s “Terrible 10,” a collection of commonly misapplied hose assemblies.  

John Wulff of Delta Rubber Company in Stockton, Calif., says the Mobile Connection trailer is an attention grabber.

“The trailer is first class and very professionally done. When customers see it in your parking lot, they’re drawn to it and want to see what’s inside,” he says.

Dixon already has a waiting list for distributors that want to take the trailer to customer job sites for training demonstrations.

“I could see a lot of benefit in taking it to large customer locations for safety training,” says Scott Moss of Moss Rubber and Equipment in San Francisco. “Companies have to hold regular safety meetings. At times, they run out of subjects to talk about or it becomes a chore to set up different safety topics. The Dixon trailer is a great way to bring a safety seminar right to their workplace.”

Promote the event
Most manufacturers provide advertising and marketing support to help distributors promote their vehicle’s appearance. Distributors build excitement prior to their events using promotional fliers, posters, counter mats and through local radio advertising.

“It’s a self-contained show. All I needed to do was contact customers to make sure they knew what day and what time. Everything else was pretty much handled by Milwaukee,” says Dave York of Illini Contractors Supply in Champaign, Ill.

York scheduled the Red Zone Experience to take advantage of another big event being held in Champaign, the Illinois Fire Service Institute at the University of Illinois, billed as the largest and oldest fire college in North America. The event brought 1,000 firefighters from throughout the state. An e-mail blast told attendees the Red Zone Experience would be at their hotel on registration day.

The event helped Illini Contractors Supply gain several new customers.

“I probably picked up five new fire departments from all over the state that bought more than $2,000 to $3,000 of product at the show. They loved it,” he says.

Companies that provide these rolling educational experiences have learned they help satisfy a thirst for product knowledge among end-users. Whether they’re watching a presentation on a state-of-the-art plasma screen TV, viewing a cutaway showing the inner workings of a tool or hose assembly, or donning safety glasses and cutting through a slab of pipe with a circular saw or a chunk of concrete with a heavy-duty rotary hammer, visitors find something that interests them.

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2004 issue of Progressive Distributor magazine. Copyright 2004.

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