Jarrett Harris, director of research at IronAdvisors Insights, returns to the podcast to talk about the latest construction equipment industry activities and trends. How is the industry behaving so far in 2025? “Stable but careful” is his headline. Tune in to find out the surprising thing OEMs are still doing and what the real deal is with OEM-authorized dealers’ inventories. Think it’s a good time to be in rental? Find out what Jarrett sees from his research cockpit. And independent dealers: Di...
Jul 18, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 58
What if your dealership’s existing systems held the key to 5x sales efficiency—and you didn’t even know it? In this episode, Kim Phelan sits down with Nick Mavrick, a seasoned industry insider and founder of BiltData, to uncover how construction equipment dealers can unlock powerful customer insights already hiding in plain sight. From the early days of NationsRent and Volvo Rents to building data-driven tools exclusively for the CE industry, Mavrick has seen it all—and he’s on a mission to elim...
Jun 20, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 57
With many mic-drop moments and a no-nonsense approach to the right to repair (R2R) movement, Gay Gordon-Byrne returns to the podcast for an update about state and federal legislative activity. Tune in to discover if the states where you do business have passed or are working on R2R bills, and consider contacting your lawmakers to weigh in on how OEM restrictions affect your ability to repair equipment in your fleet and for your customers. Join your host, Kim Phelan, for an insider’s perspective ...
May 23, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 56
When we don’t feel well, we can take our temperature or go for a checkup. When our car is not performing right, we can check different gauges and look at various fluids and things. But is it possible for a dealer to perform checks on his/her equipment business to determine if they’ve got any operational problems? This month’s guest, Troy Ottmer, has been diagnosing and treating operational issues at equipment dealerships for about 20 years, and his overall industry experience is twice that long....
Apr 18, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Your customer is on a journey – are you helping or hindering their progress toward a sale with you? In this month’s episode, our guest tells you how to attract more equipment shoppers to your business and clear the speed bumps that cause them to go somewhere else. The first thing Stephanie Smith, founder of The Grind Marketing Collective , wants you to know is that marketing doesn’t have to be hard or expensive. She’s going to help you tackle your marketing stumbling blocks and provide you with ...
Mar 21, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Buckle up for a deep dive into management with this month’s guest, Nancy Proffitt, fresh off a standout presentation at the IEDA Annual Meeting! A powerhouse in sales and operations, she’s packed with management wisdom and ready to share her playbook for construction equipment dealers. As a speaker and business coach, Proffitt has helped transform businesses—including a $6-million dealer that scaled to over $200 million. In this episode, she shares invaluable insights on trust (and what erodes i...
Feb 21, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 53
We’re kicking off 2025 with a bang! In this episode, CE product support expert John Dowling shares game-changing tools to make your service business more efficient and profitable. Surprisingly, it all boils down to one critical element: the paperwork. Drawing from a lesson taught by a gunnery sergeant during his Marine Corps days, John highlights why same-day service reports are just as crucial as fixing the machine itself. If your business services customer equipment, chances are bottlenecks in...
Jan 24, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 52
For our final podcast episode of 2024, we welcome Mets Kramer to the mic! Mets is the mastermind behind the new IEDA app, and in this episode, he gives us an in-depth look at how this innovative tool will transform the IEDA membership directory into a powerful, user-friendly digital resource right at your fingertips. Tune in to discover where to download the app and how it empowers you to manage your company profile in real-time. Plus, find out how you can easily connect and communicate with oth...
Dec 20, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Much of Brad Spitzer’s expertise can be summed up with three R’s: Rouse, Rentals, and Real-Time Insights. Yet, there’s so much more to the Director of Client Services at Rouse Rental Insights. Brad, a dynamic voice in the industry and a featured speaker at the IEDA Midyear Meeting in Nashville, brings an unmatched perspective on market trends in used and rental construction equipment. In this episode, we explore Brad's deep dive into the drivers behind earthmoving equipment rental utilization, t...
Nov 22, 2024•32 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Much of Milissa Wise’s life can be summed up with three M’s: Mexico, Marines, and Machines. Yet, there’s much more to the owner of Expert Heavy Equipment , an IEDA member distributor. Milissa has built a strong, well-respected brand among resellers and end-users throughout Mexico, as well as Central and South America. With 600,000 Facebook followers, her equipment ads consistently receive “overwhelming” responses. In this episode, we explore her unconventional business model, her insights into h...
Oct 25, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 49
VizaLogix Augmented reality is an actual reality for construction equipment dealers today–no big ARglasses required. This could be the disruptive service your business needs to differentiate yourself from buyers and rental customers. A software called TethrIT Now from VizaLogix uses your customer’s cell phone (whether Apple or Android) to get immediate video access into a machine failure event, so your technician can either help your rental customer solve it remotely or know exactly what to brin...
Sep 20, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Dealer software expert John Andersen has worked with equipment dealers for many years to become more efficient, savvy, and competitive. He does this by putting his deep knowledge of equipment distribution together with his great expertise in dealer management systems. And it’s an equation that is always a win-win for dealers. John’s 35 years of experience with PFW, ADP, e-Emphasys, CDK, and now as a consultant for DIS, puts him in a category of 1. For the next half hour, listen in as John and Ki...
Aug 23, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 47
One fleet manager has estimated his company loses $112K every day a machine is down. If your customers had a theme song, it would be “Stayin' Alive,” because their No. 1 priority is keeping their iron running. To do so, they need parts–and fast. But besides speed, they also need an easier path to their dealer’s expertise and an overall better buying experience. Luke Powers, founder and CEO of Gearflow , says contractors don’t want to shop online for the parts they need–they want and need the exp...
Jul 26, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Can data really help your business? You bet! Data is knowledge and it makes you more savvy and strategic about finding and seizing equipment sale and rental opportunities. Now that 2024 is at its midway point, it’s a good time to assess the market and get a good grasp on the big picture. In this episode, Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network, unpacks the sectors that are flourishing and those that are slowing, and why. She discusses the two big wild cards ...
Jun 21, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 45
If you like to talk and sell, then digital marketing is right up your alley, and you probably didn’t even know it. This month, we welcome Laurie Stogniew and Nick Riggs from CONAG Marketing, a division of Bayshore Marketing, founded and owned by Stogniew. Although they give the used equipment sales industry a ranking of 5 or 6 on a scale of 1–10 for digital marketing, they’re optimistic that independent dealers are on an upward trajectory with ever-growing awareness and action toward reaching eq...
May 22, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Here’s a conversation that reveals a whole demographic of potential customers for independent equipment dealers. Meet Dan Maitland, the fleet manager at Ajax Paving, located in Southwest Florida and a new board member at the Association of Equipment Management Professionals. He spoke on a customer panel at the IEDA Annual Meeting – if you missed him there, here’s your second chance to get acquainted. Dan manages a fleet of 600 pieces of equipment and oversees a team of technicians, as well as ad...
Apr 17, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Some experts are predicting that the second half of 2024 through 2026 are going to be strong economic years. This month’s podcast guest, distribution expert Mike Marks, believes it could be an opportune time to expand through acquisition or merger, or to exit the business profitably, depending on your strategy. He also says there are great advantages available to the independent dealer on both sides of an M&A deal, and in this month’s interview he highlights the benefits to buyers and seller...
Mar 27, 2024•32 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Today’s customers have much more of a “self-serve” mindset in terms of how they prepare and educate themselves long before they talk to you. The Internet has shortened the sales cycle, but it hasn’t removed the valuable role of the sales person. What customers want and need from you is transparency, honesty, and continued insight about their jobs and the right machines. What you need to figure out is how to harness the Internet so you show up when and where the customer is, providing what they’r...
Feb 28, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 41
To kick things off in 2024, I'm excited to be chatting again with our go-to financial guru, Garry Bartecki. Garry served as CFO for several major equipment industry players and currently writes for Equipment Today. If there's a hot financial topic facing dealers, he's the guy with insight. Today we're tackling the 800-lb gorilla that dominated 2023 - inflation. Prices may have peaked, but inflation is still raging. Garry and I map out cost control strategies to help dealers effectively navigate ...
Jan 24, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Listen in to the final podcast episode of 2023 – it’s a lighthearted dialog with IEDA Executive Director Dave Gordon and podcast host Kim Phelan. Hear about the upcoming IEDA Live Auction that kicks off the Annual Meeting on Friday, February 16 at 10 a.m. under the big white tent in front of the Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Florida. It’ll be a fun and festive time to gather with your IEDA friends while bidding on equipment and exciting donated prizes. Hear how EVERYONE can participate in the auc...
Dec 20, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 39
No one goes to college to become a fleet manager and no one is just born with those skills, laughs fleet expert Steve Fooy. But once you’re in it, you discover there are basic protocols, knowledge, measurements, and skills that must be applied to ensure the company’s fleet itself runs like a well-oiled machine. Fooy has managed many millions of dollars’ worth of assets throughout his 38-year equipment career, which included various fleet leadership positions for two national rental companies, tw...
Nov 15, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 38
What do you think about when you consider the subject of AI and your business – or more specifically, AI and your sales team? No question, the latest mainstream artificial intelligence offerings like Chat GPT have “skills,” but they don’t outperform what your people can do in terms of empathy, building relationships, asking great questions, and intuitively thinking on the spot. AI is just one of four huge trends that are altering the landscape of sales. Our guest this month, Troy Harrison – “the...
Oct 25, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Experiences happen to your customers, no matter what. They just do. But ask yourself: Are my customers’ experiences with my business happening by design … or by default. The choice is yours. Customer experience expert Doug Johnson is this month’s featured podcast guest, and his wisdom, creativity, and stories will blow you away – or, more important, will hopefully inspire you to put fresh eyes on your equipment business and apply your own creativity in ways that could totally separate you from t...
Sep 20, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Independent dealers thrive on the pursuit of getting in front of more and more of the right people – expanding their reach to new people who buy what they’re selling. The bigger the relevant radius you can engage, the more you sell. IEDA Member Jared McGaffee, owner at Skye Equipment, says he isn’t a marketing expert, but he will tell you that marketing equipment on Facebook has changed his business. Learning the Facebook tools that enable highly specific target marketing has been nothing short ...
Aug 23, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Do you always know who you’re renting to? This month’s guest says vetting your rental customers is one of the most important things you can do to avoid serious losses from fraud and uninsured contractors. Jayme Bates, CEO of JT Bates, has over 13 years of experience as an insurance producer and an extensive background in accounting and contracts. Her dedication to the dealers she works with sets her in this industry – join us for a first-hand look at what dealers in the equipment rental business...
Jul 19, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Is your dealership leaking leads? This month’s IEDA podcast guest says data shows there’s a good chance your company is missing web inquiries and maybe even mishandling phone call inquiries. James Hamilton is the senior product manager at Randall Reilly, and his time with us in the virtual studio is jammed with great data and advice. Pull up a chair (or your steering wheel) and listen in to fresh info about the customer mindset and buying and selling patterns, as well as rental market insights, ...
Jun 21, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 33
If your sales reps were sea lions, would you find them reclining at Sea World while gulping fish tossed into their mouths … or would they be out doing the hard work, hunting and surviving in the treacherous ocean depths? Tune in as our guest, Elliott Vigil, helps you think about how to help all your reps stay on their game. Everyone makes mistakes – what you don’t want is for a sales rep’s mistake to turn into a rut or a bad habit. Of course, you have to see what’s happening before you can inter...
May 24, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 32
During the first quarter of 2023, IEDA conducted an anonymous survey among a small group of members about their financial performance. In this episode, we asked our dealer financial columnist, Garry Bartecki, to provide commentary about the responses, as well as cautions and insight about opportunities. A long-time equipment business CFO and financial expert who has advised dealers in M&A transactions, succession planning, and more, Bartecki has also conducted Cost of Doing Business Reports ...
Apr 19, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In our third interview with Jarrett Harris, he fills us in on highlights from OTR’s latest Used Heavy Equipment Report. Harris, who is director of Cyclicals Research at Off the Record, provides fresh insight on used equipment supply and pricing, auction outcomes from February, plus a first-hand report from his personal interviews at ARA’s Rental Show last month. What kind of pricing correction is likely to occur in Q2 – Q3 of 2023? Is rental overtaking market share from used equipment purchasing...
Mar 22, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Meet the affable, insightful Cody Bork, the youngest member of the faculty at Western Technical College’s Diesel and Heavy Equipment program in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. In this episode, he talks about the motivations and expectations of students training to become the next generation of service techs in the construction equipment industry. And he should know. Not only does he spend five days a week with his students for two years, but he himself graduated from this program – he brings an insider loo...
Feb 22, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 29
