How to Sell TFL | TFL Roadside Blog

Nearly 16 years ago I made the transition from engineering to sales. A Product Manager at the company I was working for at the time; a person I highly respected, told me that if I wanted to move up the corporate ladder I “had” to get into sales. So, without any sales experience, short of a lemonade stand whose customers consisted of Mom and Dad, I made the switch. I joined a smaller company that asked me to manage their engineering department, as well as take a small sales role. Little did I know that there is no such thing as a “small” sales role. On my first day I was given Jeffrey Gitomer’s Sales Bible. From there I extracted everything I could to master the art of the sale. I called a Sales VP friend who sent me a Power Point of sales tips and “qualifying questions”. I learned marketing from the first three seasons of The Apprentice. Google search was my best friend.

I’ve come a long way since those days. If not for the resources that were graciously given to me and utilizing those tools toward my day to day grind, I don’t think I would be where I am today. I believe there is no time like now, to give back, and help our sales partners leverage what has already been accomplished and succeed in this ocean of opportunity known as IoT. So without further ado, let me tell you, “How to sell TFL”.

1. Never sell TFL alone

I and my team will always be available to support you the reseller partner/customer. Think of us as an extension of your engineering and technical support team. We will be available for conference calls with your end customers to answer questions on all levels as well as provide online demonstrations. You don’t need to go at it alone.

2. TFL should be sold to anyone who cares about “where and how” someone or something is doing

We can break these down into three categories:

Personnel
Knowing the whereabouts of employees in the field can make for more efficient operations, triggering an SOS button provides added security in case of threat, and notifications in case of injury.

Vehicle
Knowing the location of vehicles can assist in dispatching the nearest technician or first responder to an urgent job. TFL can also monitor engine health for preventative maintenance.

Trailer/Asset
Utilizing TFL on assets like a trailer or high value item can help in the recovery of stolen property. It can also monitor the trailer/asset’s environment like temperature and door open/door closed situations.

3. TFL should be sold into (but limited to) these market categories:

Personnel
Lone workers, housekeeping, and field employees

Vehicle
Service fleets (plumbing, HVAC, mobile dog groomers, etc.), public safety, first responders, and mass transit (buses and trains) as well as marine vehicles.

Trailer/Asset
Refrigeration containers/trailers, powered and unpowered trailers, mobile detailing rigs, construction tool cases, camera equipment cases, fire arm cases, and other high value packages/shipments.

4. TFL is a problem solver and solutions provider

While some may think tracking and monitoring are basic solutions that available through a ton of other resellers, TFL is more than just dots on a map. TFL technology can be leveraged in a variety of different use cases that can meet the most unique requirements such as:

TFLScans

In partnership with IDScan.net, we are able to scan government issued IDs (drivers license, state IDs, passports, and permanent resident cards, to create passenger manifests that can be tied to a tracked vehicle such as a shuttle or bus. This is especially useful for charter bus companies who are transporting individuals to facilities that require age verification and/or background checks and want to identify whether customers boarding those buses are of legal age or not on a banned list.

TFLTags

With the use of Bluetooth and RFID technology, we are able to associate people and assets to vehicles based on proximity. Today we are able to track students as they get on and off school buses using active RFID technology. No swiping needed.

Conclusion

When it comes to tracking and monitoring, TFL is the easy button to IoT solutions. From soup to nuts, we are here to provide you support throughout the entire sales cycle. We will work, in partnership with you, to provide the answers to your customers’ IoT needs. We will coordinate with your distributors to ensure your orders, large or small, are complete and well documented so that your install team and customers have the best purchase experience possible. We will also continue to provide the highest level of post-sale support. Allow TFL to be your partner and I personally look forward to the chance of meeting you face to face and exchange stories of how we started, where we are now, and the bright future we have together.