A PLACE OF HIGHER LEARNING.

Whoever first said “Knowledge is power,” certainly never heard the thunder of a Cat® engine, but the sentiment was pointed in the right direction. Knowledge is a powerful tool. Especially when you’re in the business of selling equipment, you can never have too much information at your disposal. With that in mind, rental, sales and product-support staff recently converged on the Meridian campus for some Building and Construction Products (BCP) training.

The training was delivered by representatives from Caterpillar headquarters with a focus on models 938 and smaller. The purpose was to get employees more familiar not only with Western States’ machines, but the competition’s machines as well. “We really wanted to get everyone up to speed on what sets our equipment apart,” Gerald Coulter, Inside Sales Manager, said. “Caterpillar had done the research and they agreed to come out and let our people know what our competitors are doing and what we can do to counter.”

A mix of classroom-style sessions as well as hands-on experience running machines helped drive discussion and enhance familiarity. “In the end, [the training] helps us sell against the competition,” Coulter said. And that’s why gaining this knowledge is a big deal — it gives our people on the front lines a full toolbox of information to use, to educate and ultimately drive sales.