CHICAGO - More than 40 manufacturer representatives were in attendance from all over the United States, representing 13 firms, at the recent ClimateMaster regional sales meeting. Commercial sales reps were briefed on new sales strategies and marketing activities that included the organization’s sales performance from the past year. ClimateMaster’s vice president of sales, John Bailey, began the meeting with an introduction in which he outlined ClimateMaster’s mission statement, sales and promotional tools, and covered all of the manufacturing improvements that have been made within the last year. With an eye on the future, ClimateMaster continues to optimize its manufacturing facility to ensure it is in the best position when the economy turns around and building begins again, according to Bailey.

“Innovative ideas, aggressive sales strategies, and partnerships were the key to our success this year,” said Bailey. “Improving the performance is an ongoing process and the best way we achieve that is by evaluating ourselves continuously against the targets set. We expect this and other regional sales meetings to bring in tangible results.”

ClimateMaster boasts 11 product lines ranging from ½-ton vertical packaged units to 20-ton rooftop units as well as energy recovery ventilators and 100 percent outside air units up to 100 tons. ClimateMaster sells products in the United States, Canada, and internationally. “It’s always important to provide the product our customers need,” said Tony Landers, director of marketing. “But in tough times, when our sales reps are fighting for every sale, it is vital to have a wide product offering so our reps can meet as many project specifications as possible.”

In addition to learning about products and marketing tools, sales reps learned about the increasing popularity of geothermal installations and the tax incentives that go along with them. These include the 10 percent tax rebates on all geothermal installations as well as five-year accelerated depreciation on commercial jobs utilizing geothermal. “Building owners would be crazy not to consider a geothermal system,” said Bailey. “When deciding which heating and cooling system to install, engineers should be educated on more than just the upfront cost - the total life cycle cost must be evaluated. Although geothermal systems typically have higher initial cost, the federal tax incentives, combined with lower maintenance costs, lower energy consumption, and longer product life, in most cases proves a geothermal system will be the best for the job. Building simulation software such as the DOE program, eQuest, which has a ClimateMaster plug-in for its products, provides detailed energy usage simulations to evaluate various systems.”

“Our company represents many diverse products from many different manufacturers and I can tell you that the sales training and product support we have already received from ClimateMaster is on par with the best of them,” said John Noyen of Weber-Huff Inc., an Ohio-based rep firm. “The online features and the volume of information available to us and our customers via the website are unparalleled.”

ClimateMaster Inc. will be holding its next commercial rep training in Las Vegas on Oct. 5-6. For more information, visit www.climatemaster.com.

Publication date: 08/16/2010