80+ years of Connecting Global Agriculture Manufacturing with EMDA

[00:00:00] All right, welcome everybody to another episode of the Flowing Sales podcast where

[00:00:08] really honored today to have some representatives of EMDA with us, the equipment marketing

[00:00:14] and distribution association. So we know associations are super important in the

[00:00:18] manufacturing rep space so we really wanted to kind of highlight some work that some

[00:00:22] of these associations are doing and EMDA was kind enough to join us today. So we have Celeste

[00:00:27] Lindsey and Chris Yancy. I would like you guys to give a brief maybe buy a

[00:00:31] introduction for yourselves and then maybe we'll kick it off from there.

[00:00:34] My name is Chris Yancy thanks for the introduction. I'm with implement sales, I

[00:00:38] distribution slash rep firm in a little town in Georgia called between

[00:00:43] between Athens and Loganville. We implement sales has been in business for over 65

[00:00:48] years and I have been a part of the business for 28 of those years. I was a

[00:00:54] a territory manager for implement sales for right at 23 years and I covered

[00:01:00] North Alabama East Tennessee. I would take those products to implement sales

[00:01:04] represented or ball and set up dealers. I eat Caboda, Luhal and Cat, Camotsu, John

[00:01:12] Deer. I would take our products to them, wholesale them to them then they would

[00:01:16] retail into the public in 2019. I bought implement sales from the two previous

[00:01:21] owners and we moved the company from Stone Mountain Georgia to Monroe Georgia.

[00:01:26] And we have currently expanded a little bit, we've moved into a couple of different

[00:01:30] states and our new building and we're glad to have Celeste here Celeste came

[00:01:35] on board with us a couple of years ago. She's doing a wonderful job. Celeste is our

[00:01:39] director of EMDA and she is the glue that holds us all together. She's kind of

[00:01:46] like the director at the Pentagon, the warmest. She brings manufacturers from

[00:01:53] all over the world to this little town called Beteween. She may bring a

[00:01:57] manufacturer from Spain to Beteween and then we take their products to the

[00:02:03] southeast so Celeste doesn't want to for job keeping us all together. And the

[00:02:07] industry is very small but also the world is very big and she does a great job

[00:02:13] bringing us all together. It's awesome. Thank you guys for that. Well let's let's talk

[00:02:17] about the war room a little bit. Tell us about EMDA maybe how long it's been around

[00:02:22] what its core mission is and talk a little bit about that. Yeah, I'm just been around

[00:02:25] a long time we got a lot of old past presidents they even come in with

[00:02:28] chains at the past presidents and then we do with the fall convention every year.

[00:02:33] The war room there are little and big manufacturers of attachments all over

[00:02:39] some domestic some foreign. And what in the Celeste and our war tries to do is if they

[00:02:48] are foreign we try to help them become domestic help them become America. You know when you

[00:02:53] take a product to market if your owners' manuals are not perceived or read we look at inches and

[00:02:59] pounds by the parts of the world looks at millimeters or kilograms and there's everybody's

[00:03:05] different and when you come to the United States you have to be whatever body needs.

[00:03:10] Insurance, Celeste helps out with that. There is a certain liability when you manufacture a product

[00:03:16] internationally and then when you come here you have to have the proper coverage in case

[00:03:22] something was to happen somebody gets hurt what what had you him to help springs domestic and

[00:03:27] foreign manufacturers here and really assist getting them Americanized and I don't want to

[00:03:34] more take a look at the whole podcast of everything that imposes far spring and everybody together

[00:03:39] but more than anything it's just it's a hub of all these people and all these companies all over

[00:03:46] the world that I eat don't have the power to get their products to market through a dealership

[00:03:54] cabota who all in John Deer want to be gracious to every that may be brand that maybe watching this

[00:04:00] cap it takes relationships people not from people that is still happening I think it's always

[00:04:05] gonna happen and the people that are involved with it have great relationships with their customers

[00:04:10] we currently I think service 14 hundred to 1500 different accounts and it takes a lot to do that

[00:04:18] and we've been service in those customers a long time I eat all the other reps and distribution companies

[00:04:23] that are involved and then to have those relationships too so it is more of just a

[00:04:29] less knows everybody she communicates with everybody she keeps us all organized we go and do our job

[00:04:35] and then select is always kind of like this this little point guard on the NBA basketball team

[00:04:41] past the ball here past the ball here she doesn't really shoot she just kind of makes assist

[00:04:46] all over the world with different companies helping us put together typically would say I'm the bridge

[00:04:50] I kind of link people together try to get everybody connected so I love his analogy though

[00:04:56] that's cool and how many organizations did you say that that you guys fan we have a little over

[00:05:01] hundred and fifty okay quite a few folks that come in and I imagine you have a mix of

[00:05:06] manufacturers the tubiators, ruff firms in that mix we talk a lot about ruff firms in particular on

[00:05:12] the show and about kind of their role and you guys see a lot of that right how they interact with

[00:05:17] manufacturers what their role is and helping move sales forward Chris like he said people buy from

[00:05:22] people right can you talk to us a little bit about maybe and specifically in your industry how

[00:05:26] you see the role of reps and maybe how that's changing or maybe it's staying the same like what

[00:05:31] do you see that I think that it's always evolving the manufacturer needs to be at a certain

[00:05:37] price point in order to make their product competitive within the market and if that manufacturer is

[00:05:45] looking to go to market one way to go to market is to find a firm that has reps and has those

[00:05:52] relationships and helps get their product from point A at a point B A would be from the factory B

[00:05:59] would be to the dealership and then hopefully that dealership gets the product retail. I think over

[00:06:06] time how that has evolved is some companies don't want to hold the receivable and they're looking

[00:06:14] for more of a quick you know hey pay us in in eight days you know you know it shifts you know they

[00:06:21] get wired the money and their cash flow is is turning really quickly they don't want to hold the

[00:06:25] receivable and that won't the liability they just want to be in the manufacturing business and

[00:06:29] there's some companies that don't mind holding the receivable and they do want rep firms that they can

[00:06:34] be they can pay a commission for that firm getting their product from A to B I think it's just a

[00:06:40] really good mix that the rep firm brings and the distribution company brings and I think it

[00:06:46] really just is up to the manufacturer I don't think that one is better than the other one I think

[00:06:51] it's really just up to the where the the product is being born and how they're environment

[00:06:58] and how they want to go to market and how they want to either hold or not hold any type of

[00:07:04] debt is what it comes down to. What do you see in terms of successful collaborations right between

[00:07:10] manufacturers and rep firms the ones that do it well what are some patterns or things that you see

[00:07:14] specifically again for EMDA and I'm assuming you guys help facilitate that right as an association here

[00:07:20] what makes a good manufacturer rep firm relationship really work. There would be two different answers to

[00:07:25] that it would be a domestic manufacturer with a rep firm that is currently in the United States

[00:07:33] that relationship I will talk I'll speak a lot more than I'll speak on the four and one. The domestic

[00:07:38] manufacturer with the rep firm and Craig would probably agree with this when you're selling something

[00:07:43] and there's four different people that you can buy from and you're one of the four and you

[00:07:47] represent that manufacturer usually the smartest man in the room wins and when I'm not talking about

[00:07:54] smartest bars mathematics or English or history I'm talking about the knowledge he has about

[00:07:59] that product that he is trying to get across the curve into that dealership and the best collaboration

[00:08:05] that I have seen over my tenure in the business is that manufacturer pouring into that rep firm

[00:08:11] or distribution company with a knowledge about their product benefits and features about

[00:08:16] how it affects IE maybe the Ag farmer how it affects the plumber construction home builder what

[00:08:24] had you how their product is going to better serve whichever customer it's going to and what a lot

[00:08:31] of our manufacturers do is they do a lot of training and we take their training we get from

[00:08:37] their from our manufacturer then we make it smaller back in April in the sales I was a cat for three

[00:08:43] years and cat I'd stole it from them cat makes all their sales guys do walk around so we get her product

[00:08:51] and I learn it and then my guys have to go out and sell it to me and if they can sell it to me

[00:09:00] I feel like they can go sell it to the principal at the local equipment dealership or rental

[00:09:05] house that we are trying to serve. The foreign with the rep now that collaboration is there's an

[00:09:11] infestage a lot of the times that foreign manufacturer that hasn't come to the United States

[00:09:17] we got to teach him how to talk walk, roll, run with all the products the information that goes

[00:09:25] with that product owners maintenance parts maintenance parts look up part service parts availability

[00:09:30] warranty insurance the list could go on and on so that collaboration goes much it starts really

[00:09:37] at you know we have to birth it and then it starts to grow and then we try to apply what we do with

[00:09:43] our domestic manufacturers with our foreign manufacturers and really it just comes down to knowing

[00:09:49] when they out of your selling and making sure that what you're saying is right when that leadership

[00:09:56] is trying to get it into the hands of the retail customers would you agree so much? Yes

[00:10:01] and I think about you know you build relationships with these people but they trust what you're saying

[00:10:06] the show. Sure. Sure. And everything like that so yes I agree. Have you all seen

[00:10:11] influx of foreign manufacturers with supply chain issues that we've seen I guess we we've definitely

[00:10:18] seen it in an electric utility space where you know demand is here and its supply just cannot

[00:10:26] catch up so we've we've seen in our world these foreign manufacturers look at okay this is their

[00:10:31] they're in to get into the market and some are even discussed and having putting something

[00:10:36] state side for manufacturing facility but if you've seen foreign manufacturers take advantage of the

[00:10:42] supply chain you know imbalance or you guys is it been that big of a deal in the world that you live?

[00:10:49] You know a mind absolutely during COVID there there was supply issues and the foreign

[00:10:56] and domestic most struggled so it wasn't like one was better than the other the ones that

[00:11:01] were successful were the ones that said hey this up has and we're just gonna keep the train going

[00:11:06] the ones that struggled and right now continue to struggle slow the train way down during COVID

[00:11:13] and once you slow a train down in manufacturer it is real hard to get that train going back. I

[00:11:18] either train is all the bulk goods that have to be procured in order to make your widget so

[00:11:26] I don't know what the percentages would be crank but I will tell you this that domestic and foreign

[00:11:31] the ones that push through are doing really good the ones that slow the train down because they

[00:11:36] were nervous of what that would bring or really struggling to get it going back so we're seeing

[00:11:41] it on both sides of the fence it's just once not heavier than the other. Now chill, nice thanks for that.

[00:11:47] Yeah and you guys see you know a lot of trends and things maybe talks about are you seeing any

[00:11:53] trends in technology technology usage any technologies that some of your folks are picking up

[00:12:00] and using as we get further here into the future what's gonna be necessary for folks to

[00:12:05] use from a technology front which should they be aware of and what are you kind of seeing people

[00:12:09] have success with equipment or the business just you know sort of as we've seen right AI is a big

[00:12:14] thing right now technology is kind of exploding is that affecting your folks at EMDA is it not so much

[00:12:21] where do you guys see that going? I think that it's definitely evolving for sure like with the equipment

[00:12:25] you know you'll add it what's it called onto the GPS and it's not extra here. So that's constantly

[00:12:31] evolving within the equipment but like within the businesses you know on a years ago we weren't

[00:12:37] worried about AI or social media or maybe even a CRM system or websites and like I think

[00:12:44] your biggest selling factor was going to those trade shows right where now more people come onto

[00:12:49] your website and kind of order through that so I just think that it's constantly evolving and it's

[00:12:55] important that companies say stay focused on what's what's evolving and continue with it to stay

[00:13:01] relevant. Are you guys seeing a kind of a shift in maybe implied buying behavior in folks like

[00:13:08] on one extreme right we have Amazon which you go you buy it's very transactional on the other

[00:13:14] extreme it's very the relationship wins you know who you're selling to you you're in a room face

[00:13:19] the face with them is there are we kind of in the middle here with with where we're out or

[00:13:24] where would you say that is a buying tab it when we have a sales meeting that implement sales I

[00:13:30] talk about buying habits when the guys come in and they have a brand in their hand I eat you know

[00:13:37] a duck and don't let's coffee or a Starbucks coffee or whatever race track you know there's

[00:13:44] normally three different brands in the hand and Aaron and I say why did you do that why did you go

[00:13:50] spend your money with that brand and more than anything yeah the product is good you know but if

[00:13:57] you have a Starbucks and you have a race track and you have a nothing else they're all equally good

[00:14:03] more it comes down to habitual things that people do they get into a routine and a habit of buying

[00:14:10] so what we try to overcome is we don't sell through our website we don't sell to the public we do it

[00:14:19] the the old way we have guys on the road and there be the bushes they're powering the pavement

[00:14:26] and we are making face-to-face calls every day to one strengthen old relationships and two

[00:14:33] gone-our new relationships and we want to stick with people do business with people so we try to

[00:14:40] change buying habits by giving good service by taking care of people sometimes when the manufacturer

[00:14:45] won't cover the warranty we will we know you can't win every battle but you do want to win the

[00:14:51] poor so we try to win win the war so I think with the internet that in our industry that there

[00:14:57] are a tremendous amount of sales that happened over the internet with that there is also

[00:15:03] a trend that is happening when you buy a let's just say a Harley break it's a tool that turns

[00:15:08] the brand and gets it ready for side you live in Georgia and you buy that from let's just say

[00:15:14] you buy it from New York an internet company in New York well when the bearing goes out in the right

[00:15:20] side of that housing and you bought it from New York who's going to service that machine well

[00:15:26] you got to get it back in New York you have freight getting it down here now you got to put

[00:15:29] it on a pallet you got to get it freight back you hope they do it in a timely manner if they can't

[00:15:34] even do it a lot of the internet companies that are out there selling in our industry don't have

[00:15:38] any technicians don't have any people in the ground they have a computer they have a website they

[00:15:44] have a shopping box you've going to put it in and it shifts from somewhere all over the world

[00:15:49] then there's nobody there to take care but so we've got a battle that crag and Curtis that hey look

[00:15:54] it's easy to hit a button but how easy is it when a machine goes down who's taking care of you

[00:16:00] then so we think that and we're going to dial that hill we're we're not going to develop a shopping

[00:16:06] car we're not going to have internet selling now we think that in our industry and it may be

[00:16:14] near side of the mop park but we think that over time that the bricks and mortar and the people

[00:16:18] in those dealerships and the train technicians to get that guy that plunder that needs that

[00:16:23] trencher up a morrow is much more valuable than the ease of hitting a button and it's showing

[00:16:30] up on your doorstep a seven or eight days later yes I do think there is a trend of the internet

[00:16:36] buying but I also think there's also a trend of an internet buying learning to yeah I did get that

[00:16:42] but this is what happened so I think it's a fab more than anything in our industry fashion's coming

[00:16:48] go I think that the bricks and mortar and the train professionals that are in these dealerships

[00:16:52] and the technicians they're in the back keeping really American going I think that'll get it in the end

[00:16:58] just like when we call we don't want to speak to somebody automated on the phone right we want to

[00:17:02] speak to somebody who can take care of our problems not somebody that's like give me a list of what

[00:17:08] you need and then they send you to the right person so I do think that we like relationships and

[00:17:13] we like see people face to face and I think that's what we help with like with our conventions and

[00:17:18] stuff like that kind of keep in that relationship based on this we have some of the same values

[00:17:24] that are foundational thoughts on selling is it's probably like y'all when we talk about B to B

[00:17:30] it's not what you would think it's Billy to Billy right you gotta be in one of those people

[00:17:35] and you gotta be building those relationships and to me service is a huge part of it I mean as a

[00:17:42] rep the service side to your customers well as your manufacturer that's your competitive advantage

[00:17:48] versus the rep down a street a direct sales force whatever it's okay what kind of value can we bring

[00:17:54] to both sides of the equation and you got that belly to belly one of our guests I guess it was last

[00:17:59] week her is talk about emotional favor too and that kind of speaks to the relationships side

[00:18:04] he's a manufacturer and he always says he's like look I want to be the emotional favorite

[00:18:09] for our reps I want to be the emotional favorite for our customers and that has to do relationships

[00:18:15] and to me it's not going away there's certain transactions there's certain businesses where

[00:18:20] you know the Amazon's of the world you know they'll win every day but there's a lot

[00:18:23] you know the technology is not the end all be all the technology becomes a tool for us

[00:18:29] to provide better service quicker answers things like that I think that the way we we look at

[00:18:36] technology and I think it sounds like you guys as well is that it's a tool it's not the end

[00:18:41] I'll be all so I mean is that because that correct and saying yeah yeah we have definitely

[00:18:47] stuck our toe into water of technology we've developed on app we've developed on CRM system

[00:18:53] we're fixing the launch with our retail sales guys that when they scan our barcode we know where it

[00:19:01] goes they get money put in their account then we want to become the Google for

[00:19:07] the person that's buying that tool so they can see everything that we have to offer and

[00:19:13] implement sales so yeah yeah yeah we definitely look at technology as not an enemy but as a friend

[00:19:19] and how it can make us better with AI now I did write an email the other day with AI

[00:19:26] and I showed up to my wife as she said you definitely can't send that out

[00:19:34] you got to be careful with the AI nowadays you know it sounded a lot more intelligent than

[00:19:40] I'm really you know is that you could have never come up with that and there's no no no no

[00:19:44] well guys I know we're coming up on time here maybe we could close off there's a couple of

[00:19:48] things I just wanted to again talking about relationships EMDA people come together like you're

[00:19:53] saying to be with other folks get to know them do business together can you maybe tell us if

[00:19:59] you're a new enterant to EMDA or you're coming to EMDA how do you how do you take the most

[00:20:05] advantage of the association like why you're at the event being a member of the association how

[00:20:10] you really be a part of it being active part of it and get the most out of it by being actively engaged

[00:20:16] we have a membership directory so kind of reaching out to them in advanced and planning meetings

[00:20:22] to meet them at the fall convention our fall conventions in Addison Texas this year

[00:20:27] October 22nd to 24th and so I think what I see is that people that reach out in advance

[00:20:32] set up those meetings tend to be a little bit more prepared and check a lot more boxes

[00:20:38] recently we started a mentor program to kind of help guide our new members on how to reach out

[00:20:45] and what to do at the fall convention and these mentors are people that have been with our

[00:20:50] organization for a long time some of them have been past presidents and stuff so we feel like that's

[00:20:57] been really helpful for them which as well yeah I would I would agree with everything so let's

[00:21:02] said come into a spring meeting or fall convention EMDA can absolutely be overwhelming

[00:21:08] and so the mentorship program that's the last has implemented is definitely going to help so

[00:21:14] we have new members and they would be the mentee and maybe I would be a mentor and

[00:21:20] I would reach out to them and tell them when it gets started trying to get in touch with a

[00:21:26] potential buyer or seller and do it early you don't want to wait the week of because that book

[00:21:33] that you fill up here you've got one week to get all these meetings and you want to get in there early

[00:21:37] so the mentorship program is definitely working and I would also say do your homework before you go

[00:21:43] there's so much there that be be pinpointed be laser pinpointed if who you want to see

[00:21:50] who you want to talk to and have a really good 20 minute presentation in case you do get that

[00:21:58] meeting that is you know not an hour but you have a quick meeting in the lobby maybe at

[00:22:04] the showcase at different avenues that have your literature your brochures your products

[00:22:11] whatever you want to show have that ready to go if you're a seller you know if you're a

[00:22:17] rep firm or a distribution firm you know have a quick something that you can hand that

[00:22:22] manufacturer that gives a really quick synopsis of who you are and what you do and how long

[00:22:28] you've been there and maybe some success story so just really be prepared because it is a very

[00:22:34] busy week for a lot of people and it can be overwhelming if you're starting day one trying to put

[00:22:40] they need to reach out to Celeste and Celeste has all those relationships she can send a

[00:22:47] quick email introducing you make a phone call a conference call a text and when the email

[00:22:52] comes from Celeste Lindsey with the members on our group that email doesn't go to Spam

[00:22:57] and they click on it and they read it so if you have Celeste name in the email when it comes through

[00:23:04] and you're copied on it that is a great way to get through to either a manufacturer or a

[00:23:10] rep firm or a distribution call Craig you can attest him I don't know how many I'm sure you like me

[00:23:15] you get so many emails every day you generally just read the ones that you know you need to get to

[00:23:22] and a lot of the mother ones go to where yeah now yeah if you see the point guards in email you

[00:23:27] gonna respond to that on site and I made a note of that all right you gotta make sure you

[00:23:32] utilize the point guard because she can help you get in some doors awesome we'll take you guys

[00:23:36] last thing before we end here what what are you guys most excited about next five years where's the

[00:23:40] MDA going what's uh we yes excited about we've had a great leader Pat Collins that has led

[00:23:46] MDA for a long time and Celeste is coming in with a new set of eyes and some new experiences

[00:23:54] and some great ideas and I think Celeste is going to and has taken MDA to the next level

[00:24:01] and uh I'm really excited about having Celeste Lindsey as being our director keep him

[00:24:06] a solid together she's got a lot of energy got a great personality and she's doing a really

[00:24:11] good job so I'm excited to have Celeste on board and I would tell you that the next thing I'm

[00:24:16] excited about there's a lot of new members coming on board MDA is getting seen more and more now

[00:24:21] that Celeste is really a lot more educated than we were with social media the internet and

[00:24:28] getting our name out there so it's exciting now I'm looking forward to the fall convinced because

[00:24:32] of a lot of new people come in and there may be some great opportunities for me to bring on

[00:24:38] some new relationships that could be a success story for an opponent set so a lot of a side

[00:24:44] things go wrong yeah I'm excited for the fall convention and the spring meeting we've been

[00:24:48] really working towards those and bringing in new memberships into our association so we just

[00:24:55] have a lot of things changing that I'm super excited about and hopes to bring more and more people

[00:24:59] to that spring meeting spring meeting is very educational but also very fun too yeah awesome guys

[00:25:05] well that's that's great thank you for joining us here we appreciate your time your perspective

[00:25:09] sounds like EMDs doing some awesome stuff helping lots people so we appreciate your uh

[00:25:14] you're being honest show with us yeah nice to meet you yeah thank you for inviting us yeah absolutely

[00:25:19] thanks for your time