NORMAN, Okla. - In its third boot camp class for this year, Luxaire Heating and Air Conditioning recently hosted 15 territory managers, who completed basic training. Held at the Norman, Okla., headquarters of York Unitary Products Group (UPG), which manufactures Luxaire brand equipment, the boot camp is the first in a series of three sessions that reinforce the performance partnership among Luxaire and its distributors and dealers.

According to Andy Fracica, a UPG marketing manager and boot camp organizer, Luxaire extended an invitation to all of its distributor territory managers (TMs) to attend the event. "The goal of the camp is to help raise the performance level of distributor territory managers," said Fracica.

"It's critical that TMs understand the dealer-level business and marketing programs available from UPG. We want them to become an expert at explaining these programs to Luxaire dealers. Ultimately, we want TMs to be able to focus on consultative selling, helping dealers plan for and achieve success in their businesses."

The five-day classroom-style boot camp began with what Fracica described as a foundational day. "We introduced the enlistees to our backend systems," he explained, "including an overview of the Unitary Products Group, the distributor and dealer Extranet, the industry and marketplace, click commerce business-to-business Web sites, pricing, and aftermarket service."

Day two introduced TMs to Luxaire's dealer recruitment kit and explained the company's Liberties Program. The program provides a host of cost-effective services designed to help participating dealers manage their businesses.

Marketing programs were the focus of the third day, and on the final two days of the boot camp, attendees turned their attention to sales training and a presentation by Mark Matteson, president of Pinnacle Service Group and author of Freedom from Fear.

Publication date: 11/22/2004