(L-R) are Constantino Lannes, president SENNEBOGEN LLC; Brooke Tyler, VP of Tyler Equipment; Erich Sennebogen, managing director of SENNEBOGEN GmbH; Colleen Miller, national sales manager of SENNEBOGEN; Bill O’Keefe, Tyler Equipment; and Greg Roberts, SENNEBOGEN tree care specialist.
According to Brooke Tyler IV, vice president of product support and Bill O'Keefe, SENNEBOGEN specialist at Tyler Equipment, "Sales is not about sales. It is about service, support and stocking inventory. That's how one becomes the Top SENNEBOGEN Tree Care Dealer in North America."
"We know that a SENNEBOGEN tree care handler is a purpose-built machine. Therefore, everything we have for this machine is also purpose-built," they said.
Tyler Equipment, a 101-year-old company, understands the market and the needs of its customers.
"We now have five SENNEBOGEN factory-trained, road-service technicians on staff who are ‘purpose-built'," O'Keefe said.
"They only work on SENNEBOGEN material and tree care handlers. Their service trucks are also ‘purpose-built'. They are stocked with UPtime Kits and all the special tools they might require on any piece of equipment, including being Wi-Fi enabled.
"Also, we have a dedicated SENNEBOGEN parts person and all warranty claims are submitted by the service technicians in the field, eliminating any hiccups or comebacks to the customer. We look after it all."
O'Keefe then explained that after the owner has had the machine for a little bit, the SENNEBOGEN User Experience person meets with the customers and makes sure that they are maximizing the capabilities of the machine.
According to O'Keefe, "This makes our customers very happy as the tips and tricks they learn makes their machine even more productive and their operation more profitable."
O'Keefe recounted a recent event where one of its tree care machines was on a highway job in Rhode Island. The company got a service call early in the afternoon and within three hours of the initial call, the machine was up and running.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about," said O'Keefe.
"The SENNEBOGEN tree care handlers are unique machines. You have to spend a lot to own one," said O'Keefe. "But it's a great deal easier to spend that money when you know the support is there and that if your machine is down it will be back up quickly. The other key factor is inventory. The Tyler family, who are actively involved on a day-to-day basis, have invested heavily in inventory based on their belief that if you don't have the machine when a customer is looking for it, you are going to lose the sale."
Small Territory But Big Rewards
Tyler Equipment has a small geographic footprint, which covers three out of the seven smallest states in the United States: Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. But that hasn't stopped it from being a top SENNEBOGEN dealer, having finished as one of the top three last year and as Top Tree Care Dealer in 2022. So how do they do it?
Brooke Tyler and Bill O'Keefe explained it very simply: "Our customers are not only our friends, but our partners too. Today, we're proud of our business reputation and the overwhelming majority of our deals with our ongoing customers are done with a handshake. We also encourage prospective customers to ask one of our existing customers about Tyler Equipment. We are confident that they will give us a five-star review and then go on to tell them about our service. It's that simple."
"Many of our customers help us with demos. They believe in the product as much as we do and they feel that growing the industry is going to make the industry stronger," O'Keefe added.
Additionally, with regards to the tree care industry, Tyler Equipment has taken the time to listen to their customers and identify the type of work they do. This means segmenting the tree care market into several smaller markets with DOT contractors as one segment.
Another segment breaks down into residential, university, parks & recreation, commercial, and municipal contractors. Then there are the rail/utility right-of-way contractors. One contractor even mounted his 718 with rail trucks like a modern-day self-propelled handcar.
Other segments that Tyler has identified include those specializing in storm cleanup and biomass operations.
"To continue to be number one we are constantly beating the bushes and guess what? New opportunities arise. Tyler didn't get to celebrate over 100 years in business by waiting for the phone to ring," O'Keefe said.
"The key reason we are successful at selling SENNEBOGEN tree care and material handlers is because our service just knocks it out of the park. Granted, the SENNEBOGEN tree care machines are in their own category without a lot of competition. However, before a customer spends that kind of money they want to know that they have Tyler Equipment behind them. That's exactly what we do."
For more information, visit www.sennebogen-na.com.
This story also appears on Forestry Equipment Guide.
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