Wed May 19, 2021
By Sharon Swanson
Adaptation in the COVID era is inarguably an important element of business success.
Curry Supply Company has adapted in more ways than one, including communicating with its customers. The company recently held a live stream event from its new facility in Gilbert, Ariz., to present its line of work trucks to customers and potential customers across the United States.
Hour-long broadcasts highlighted each of the most sought-after trucks including crash attenuators, water trucks, service bodies and more.
Curry's crash attenuator, featured in the first broadcast, features the TrafFix Scorpion TMA Model TL-3 attenuator and is crash rated up to 65 mph. Crash attenuators are available on all 26,000 GVWR or greater chassis, regardless of make and model.
The second broadcast highlighted their 2,000- and 4,000-gal. rust resistant water trucks. While these on-road trucks are in high demand, Curry also makes articulated and rigid frame off-road trucks with capacities up to 70,000 gal.
On-road open fuel/lube trucks were featured on the second day along with presentations on the Stellar TMax mechanic trucks and a special broadcast featuring opportunities for rental houses.
Curry Supply's on-road open fuel/lube trucks are built from the ground up and configured to any specifications with custom options. With 1,000 or 2,000-gal./diesel fuel tank sizes available, Curry can engineer fuel/lube tanks to accommodate a variety of product tanks and cabinet configurations.
Curry Supply mechanics/service trucks are built to meet the needs of different industries from heavy construction to mining, railroads, agriculture and others. Its trucks feature TMAX heavy duty mechanic and service truck bodies by Stellar.
"The Rental Hour" broadcast zeroed in on training rental house personnel on key selling points for Curry products, including the crash attenuator, dump trucks and water trucks.
Presenters over the two days included Jeff Shaw, vice president of sales and marketing; Will Buddin, director of sales; Marc LaBorde, director of national accounts; and Pat Hanlon, national account manager.
This virtual event was designed for its customers to log on and be part of the discussion and learn specifics and customizable options for each piece of machinery. This live event was developed in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic, not only to have an official grand opening event for its newest location, but to continue its partnership with its customers in highlighting the many things it has to offer.
"As the pandemic began to change the landscape of how we do business in 2020, Curry was quick to adapt, plan and forecast for the future", said Shaw. "We realized that the landscape of how business was currently done was about to change. Because much of our business is built around personal relationships, we knew that we had to find a way to be proactive and quickly adapt to the situation that was facing the nation. We brainstormed about ways to adapt that would not affect client acquisition and training and by June 1, we went fully virtual."
"The live broadcast was a great way to connect, not necessarily on a personal level, but a much more thorough level, where we could cover the aspects and benefits of each work truck," said Marc Laborde.
Curry Supply has not slowed down, it has continued its growth pattern, strategically adding facilities to better serve each region. This newest location in Gilbert, Ariz., was chosen specifically for its easy access to the western region and was designed to better serve its customers on the west coast including Arizona, California and Nevada. Rick Romney, regional sales manager of the west coast, is excited to have this Phoenix location to better serve his area customers. This facility was completed and opened in December 2019, with a soft launch in January 2020. There were plans for a full grand opening event in the spring of 2020, but the pandemic had other plans, not just for Curry, but for the nation.
Throughout the challenging year in 2020, one thing became clear, according to Shaw.
"Our people truly set us apart," he said. "We provide an excellent product, but our people really set out to be solution providers. We do not want to build a product and stick it on a shelf, we want to drive value back to the end user.
"The team at Curry has adapted, the sales cycle changed dramatically, and as the pandemic affected hands on demos, they learned how to excel at virtual training, even with client acquisition, where it is difficult to make an impact virtually," Shaw added.
Being vertically integrated in its business development has allowed Curry to control the disarray happening over the last year, Shaw noted.
"We pride ourselves in being solution providers," he said. "When we make a delivery it is complete from logistics, decals, title assignment, GPS, etc. so our customer never has to go to a third-party vendor. We have been busy adapting, growing, and changing as a customer focused, end user partner," he concluded.