Monthly Archives: March 2018

Only the best salesman can sell heavy equipment

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We all are in some way or the other are into the profession of a salesman. Some try to sell their qualification to get a job, some try to sell their capabilities to get more business. In a way we all are into the selling mode and still many of us feel that selling is not our cup of tea. Well, selling a specific product may require some sort of skill and perhaps this is the reason why many get jittery when they know that their work demands them to sell stuffs. Frankly, selling a product can prove to be quite stressful for a person who does not have the knack to sell things. In the end he might get frustrated when he finds that he is failing to sell the stuff and that might lead him to quit the job. Therefore, before you end up in a profession where you need to sell products check how good you are in convincing people. If you are really good at it then perhaps you should pursue it or else simply do not take it up.

When it is about picking salesman to sell heavy equipment, the heavy equipment companies prefer to have the best men with them. They understand the level of stress a salesman will have to go through while selling expensive items. This is reason they want to employ salesman who has experience in selling heavy equipment and also enjoys his work. It is quite natural that a person who enjoys doing what he does will excel in his career. No matter how difficult the work is, as long as he is content with what he is doing there is nothing that can work as a barrier for him.

Selling heavy equipment is an art:-

We all know that selling products is an art and so is selling heavy equipment. As everything has an extent, it is believed that selling heavy equipment falls in the upper category when it is related to the art of selling. The reason is that it is an expensive product and people specific to an industry will want to buy it. This means that the salesman can’t sell his product to everybody. He has a specific market where he can move around and he will also find many other salesmen within that limited market who are also selling similar products like him. This is why if he is really excellent in the art of selling, then he may find his place in selling heavy equipment.

Know your products well:-

In order to become one of the best salesmen in the heavy equipment industry, it is crucial that you should know your products well. Do as much research as you can on the machine that you are selling. Knowing heavy equipment is not an easy thing. It requires tremendous effort on the part of the people who are involved with the machine. Right from an operator to the guy who gives signal to the salesman who sells the machine, they all need to know as much as they can. If you know your product well then perhaps you will not find much obstacle in your journey to become an accomplished heavy equipment salesman.

Take rational decisions when it comes to budget of your construction company

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The success of every business is largely determined on the way you plan it out and also the manner you execute those plans. It is evident that the actual will never be at par with the estimate, which means that things will never go exactly the way you planned it will work. There will always be some sort of deviations from what you have estimated. The ground situation will differ from what you have contemplated; but the thing that is crucial is the difference between the estimated and the actual. If the difference is huge then it is a problem. This means that you do not have complete control on your work and there is a chance that it is going in a haywire direction. Pertaining to construction business, one can never afford to let his budget go haywire. It will cost him more than anything else. Also, the company needs to ensure that the completion of the project happens within due course of time because if it kind of lags then it will eventually cost to the company.

Plan by considering every possible situation:-

When you prepare a budget for a construction project, you should take into consideration every minute detail. Right from the operating cost to the miscellaneous everything should be accounted. If you foresee any increase in the price of raw materials that should also be included in your budget. Try to keep your budget on a higher end so that if price of any commodity shoots up in the mid of the project you should not get a shock of your life and should rather take the inflated price comfortably. Also consider the cost that the company will have to bear for any unknown reasons. For instance, during monsoon if it rains a lot leading to blocking the roads then you might not receive the materials in time which will delay the work. However, you still have to pay your employees for the day. There may be other such instances that may crop up which will be temporary in nature but can have quite an effect on your business. So it is advisable to account those situations in your budgetary.

Review the ground situation with the estimates:-

Once you have laid your plan, it is highly significant that you review the ground happenings with the estimates on a periodical basis. This will let you know if you are falling short or if things are in your control. Also, if you figure out any complication then that can be taken care right at the beginning. You should weed out any problem right at the beginning and not keep it for the last minute. This is possible only if you do a reality check periodically. While you are reviewing the plan with the actual, get involved the men who are in charge of different departments so that they all know the ground reality and can pass on the message of the meeting to the lower ranks.

Steps taken to prevent early ageing of heavy equipment

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There is no denying the fact that the heavy construction equipment come for quite an expensive price. However, they are very vulnerable to damage and premature ageing, especially when they are mishandled and not taken care of properly. Hence, if you want to make sure that there is no early ageing of heavy equipment, you need to take some preventive steps.

  • Add and Test Lubricants Frequently:

Lubricants play a very important role in any machinery function. It reduces the friction. When you use the good quality lubricants, it will work as a maintenance for the equipment and increase its life-span and performance.

You must also be careful about checking the oil and grease deposition on the pistons of your heavy equipment machinery. Always follow the recommendations and guidelines regarding the choice of lubricant.

  • Keep the Heavy Equipment Clean:

One of the most important steps that you need to take in order to increase the life of the heavy equipment and prevent its ageing is to keep it clean. The heavy construction equipment almost always works in a dusty and dirty environment, being exposed to mud, concrete, cement etc. these need to be cleaned off properly. Otherwise, it can deposit on the equipment or the machinery and make it weary. The machinery might be jammed and stop working.

  • Check for Signs of Wear:

What makes it easy to maintain the health and condition of your heavy equipment is that it will give you signs of wear. You should be careful about –

  • Any sort of vibration that comes from belts and gears
  • Any sort of sudden and high temperature increase
  • Any sort of shock in the machinery.

These can be the result of poor alignment, poor operating technique and poor use of lubrication. As soon as you experience any of these, you need to take special care of the equipment and get rid of these problems as soon as possible. What most people make the mistake about is that they continue using the equipment in that condition, until it completely stops working. And that is too late for the equipment to be saved.

  • Take for Regular Servicing:

Just as the private vehicles and commercial vehicles need maintenance and service for better performance, it is also important for the heavy equipment and construction machinery to be taken for service. Servicing will make sure that the machinery is cleaned, lubrication is proper and every single part of the equipment is in perfect working condition.

When you take the heavy equipment for service, they will take care of the –

  • Power transmission
  • Pulleys and V-belts
  • Seals, bearings, gaskets and other friction materials
  • Do a torque check on the bolts?

These are just a few of the many maintenance services that they will run.

  • Always have Trained Professionals:

The last but not least important step that every heavy equipment owner must be careful about is that only trained operators run the equipment. It is because; trained operators would know how to run the equipment and when to report a problem. This is crucial for the life of the machine and for preventing it from early ageing.

Buy and sell heavy equipment online

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E-commerce has evolved majestically during the last 2 decades. Almost every company in today’s time is in some way or the other engaged in the online business. It means they either buy or sell their products online and this being their core business they tend to make good money from it. Probably a couple of decades ago, nobody must have thought that the E-commerce business will become such a big thing in the global market. However, now we are all in some way or the other are connected to it. We use all sorts of applications to buy and sell things online and this has been the trend of the day it seems. Taking this trend as the opportunity, the owners of heavy equipment have also plunged into the business and now want to sell heavy machines online. The buyers also prefer to buy it from an internet platform.

Connects you quickly to a lot of prospects:-

When you use an online platform to sell heavy equipment you are exposed to a lot of people who have similar needs for their business. They check your listing and if they find the machine valuable for their business they buy it online. The payment is also done through an internet gateway and once the seller receives the money, the item is shipped across. Unlike the conventional method where you do not get much exposure and hardly anybody get to know if you are selling a machine, the online platform just works the way you want it to. Remember that you are also exposed to international businesses and you should make it very clear on your listing if you are ready to ship the machine internationally. A seller needs to follow a lot of legal process to ship the item outside US. So before you take the call to go international, make sure that you are prepared to deal with the government procedures.

Buyers get multiple options:-

The buyers in turn have a lot to get by buying heavy equipment online. They get multiple options at their disposal and can make their choice from the given options. They can also review the ratings of the seller and accordingly can take a call if they would like to deal with that seller. Ideally, at the end of a transaction every seller is given a rating on the basis of how effective and transparent the transaction was. The buyer leaves a feedback mentioning his experience with the seller. So if the buyer had a good experience he can give him a good rating or else he can mark it as “Poor”. This will help others to know if the seller is at all worthy to be dealt with and the can accordingly decide on what they should do. So the buyer always has the option to check the listing of another seller and can also expect a better price as compared to the earlier guy.

It is not just heavy equipment but also ancillaries are sold on online platform. So if you want to buy an attachment or a part of the machine has gone faulty, you know where you can find them.

 

Renting an excavator

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Since the construction and heavy equipment industry has risen over the years so has many other industries that are associated with them have developed in these many years. Out of the many industries, one is renting heavy equipment. It is now never a problem to let out your machines as you will always find takers for it. Gone are the days where a person had to struggle giving ads in newspapers to find someone who wants to take the equipment on rent. Now people are educated about how to move ahead with renting equipment. There are number of ways by which you can rent your machine. You can get in touch with a rental company whose main focus is to find parties who have need to give the machine and rent as well as take it on rent. So primarily, they try and bring both the parties at a common place and strike a deal between them. The other option is going online and listing your machine there.

The heavy equipment that people take more than anything is an excavator. It seems that an excavator is quite a flexible machine which can be used for multiple purposes unlike other heavy equipment. You only need to change its attachments and it gets ready for work other than excavating. Due to its flexibility, it is probably the only machine that is high in demand and often gives the owner a good rental value. You can try and know the rental value of your machine from rental companies or from websites where people list their excavators on rent. That is really not a tough job and can help you to know the correct value of the excavator.

Ensure that the excavator is in good shape:-

Before you rent your excavator, it is very important to you ensure that the heavy equipment is in good working condition. If you see any issues with it, get it fixed before you rent it to someone. It creates unnecessary hassles if you hand over the stuff with some faults in it and without informing the user about it. They might even feel cheated and many not want to do any further business with you. This all puts you in a negative light which may turn uglier if he spreads it out to other people. You may find it hard to rent the excavator to anybody else. Also, paint the machine and make it look new every time before you rent it to a new person.

An agreement is mandatory:-

You are required to make an agreement where you explicitly state that you are giving the excavator on rental basis and the person will return it with no or minor wear and tear. Also mention the amount you will receive as rent on a monthly basis as well as the tenure of the contract. Any other details that you feel is important should be mentioned in the agreement. You can appoint an attorney for this purpose who can take care of this part.

Do not keep old heavy equipment for long – Sell them off

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To expect a re-sale value on a used commodity is not wrong but if you expect to get a good price on an item that has nothing left in it, you may become highly disappointed. When it comes to heavy equipment you will also come across people who do not believe in buying new stuff. They see profit in buying old machines, renovating them and make them new. In this way they get heavy equipment at a cheaper price. But these guys do not buy machines that are extremely old and has absolutely no use. You can’t do any modification on them nor are they compatible for installing any modern features. It is just scrap and needs to be re-built all over again. This means that the seller if tries to sell such a stuff will get nothing but peanuts.

List it in an auction site:-

There are plenty of online websites that deals with auctioning heavy equipment and its parts. You can select one such site which is popular with people and list your heavy equipment out there. Please do mention the model number and the year the machine was made. Do mention about the recent changes that you have made in the machine. For instance, if you have painted the machine or have replaced any critical part of it that needs to be stated. The members of the site should know about the improvements that you have made on the machine. It will only help them to gain confidence on you and your product.

Sell it to a friend or amongst your peers:-

This is perhaps the safest way to sell your used heavy equipment. Your friend might have a need for the equipment and he has a lower budget. You can help him by selling your stuff at a lesser price. In this way, you do not have to hang around looking for buyers when you have one next to you. Let your friend inspect the machine and if he find it worthy, he will make an offer. However, if you offer him to buy quite an old model, he might not show any interest. For that matter, nobody will show any interest if you sell machines that are way back in time. They need machines that can support the modern technology and are also less expensive.

Sell it to heavy equipment workshop:-

If you do not get any buyer for your heavy equipment, you can sell it to a guy who runs heavy equipment workshop/company. They might be interested in buying it but they will not be ready to pay you the price that you expect. Ideally, these guys are the last option that people go for and they also know that. If you have to really do away with your machine and are not getting any takers then you have to take this as an option rather to sell it as scrap. These guys will anyways pay you more than a scrap dealer.