Key takeaways
- Sanders Supply wants its territory managers to be business coaches and storytellers for contractors, not order takers.
- Being a business coach depends on walking in well informed about where each customer stands and what it needs.
- After an anchor appointment was canceled, a rep used Lead Finder to search for HVAC businesses nearby and found a customer that now buys more than $250,000 a year.
- With a team ranging from their 30s to their 70s, ease of use mattered most when choosing a field tool.
- Reps who stay organized during the week use Friday to plan the next one, and most are done by 2:00 in the afternoon.
Who Sanders Supply is
Sanders Supply is a family-owned HVAC distributor headquartered in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with 24 locations across six states in the southeastern United States. The second generation runs the company today, and the third generation already works in it.
Chris met JT at a National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) roundtable in Dallas, where he was looking for an easier CRM for a team that spans a wide age range. Joe McDonald of Jasper Engines pulled him aside and recommended Map My Customers.
“I attribute part of my team's success over the past two years to this tool, because we've developed some processes that just work for us.”
Territory managers as business coaches
Sanders Supply's territory managers handle day-to-day relationships with contractors and grow their business. Chris describes their job as business coaches and storytellers for Sanders: they focus on service and on the homeowner the contractor serves, not just on price.
Chris shares the story of a Hot Springs contractor whose father had bought about $125,000 to $150,000 a year in equipment. After Sanders changed his salesperson and invested in helping him grow, he now buys about three quarters of a million dollars a year.
Turning a canceled appointment into a new customer
Early in the partnership, a rep drove about an hour and a half to an anchor appointment that canceled when he arrived. Two weeks earlier, the team had covered Lead Finder, so he searched for HVAC businesses in the area that had never bought from Sanders.
One of those businesses is now a customer that buys more than $250,000 a year.
Adoption and responsiveness
Chris's team ranges from reps in their 30s to reps in their 70s, and he notes that one of his 70-year-olds adopted the tool faster than some of his younger reps. He credits the focus on making it easy for the rep, along with manager tools like Exec HQ and email reporting.
He also points to responsiveness. When Sanders brings an idea, the Map My Customers team listens and works on it, and his reps can get help quickly so they stay on the road.
FAQs
What does Sanders Supply do?
Sanders Supply is a family-owned HVAC distributor headquartered in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with 24 locations across six states in the southeastern United States.
How did a Sanders Supply rep find a new customer after a canceled appointment?
The rep used Lead Finder in Map My Customers to search for nearby HVAC businesses that had never bought from Sanders. One of them now buys more than $250,000 a year.
Why did Sanders Supply choose Map My Customers?
Chris Zink was looking for a CRM that was easy to use for a team ranging from their 30s to their 70s, and for a partner that would respond quickly when his team needed help.
