Mike Holt Delivers Demand for Atlantic Coast Electric Supply

The market for many is reportedly “slow”, especially when compared to the supply-chain, inflation-driven market of the past few years. We’re hearing the market in the southeast and southwest are better and that those with intentional strategies in other markets are succeeding. But for everyone doing well, there are others muddling along.

The key is developing demand generation initiatives. Email isn’t cutting it. It’s about connecting with customers and prospects. Last week we highlighted an event for engineers that Yusen held, highlighting how a manufacturer representative can deliver “extra” to engineers and their manufacturers to generate demand. LEDucation is an example of how New York lighting agents do similar within their market (and it is now benefiting many outside the NYC area.) Let’s turn to how a distributor recently used training and an industry icon (and contractor trainer) to generate demand.

Atlantic Coast Electric Supply recently held an event designed to interact with prospects and customers and, most importantly, create environments where these local “buyers” could interact with suppliers.

Atlantic Coast Electric Promotes Grounding and More

Atlantic Coast Electric Supply, also known as ACES, hosted a NFPA NEC Grounding and Bonding Seminar with renowned expert Mike Holt on April 29^th.

As many know, Mike Holt is a nationally recognized expert on the NEC standards. Bringing in a third-party resource adds credibility to training as the training is application-driven, not perceived as having product-bias. Nearly 200 participants attended the seminar, which lasted eight hours, and qualified for continuing education credit hours in multiple jurisdictions.

John Marshall, President, and CEO opened the event proudly announcing that he was pleased to have Mike Holt join ACES again in South Carolina to cover such an important topic. He went on to explain that Mike would be doing the entire presentation and would also be appearing for additional questions at an industry tradeshow that would follow this event.

The event, held at the Lowcountry Conference Center in Summerville, South Carolina, occupied 15,000 square-foot space for classroom and meeting space. Participants enjoyed a continental breakfast, a luncheon reception, and course materials including a personal copy of Mike’s Illustrated Guide to Understanding the NEC requirements for Bonding and Grounding. Holt commented, “It was great to join ACES in South Carolina and to meet so many industry professionals at the seminar and trade show … it’s so important to stay on top of the industry changes and classes like this help ensure that electricians work safely and are in compliance with Code and are the best professionals possible.”

Attendees described the event as informative and practical. Jonathan Brantley commented, “I got Mike’s book a few months ago and have been studying a lot. This presentation was very helpful to my understanding of grounding and bonding.”

The bonding seminar was followed by ACES’s 2024 Industry Tradeshow.

The 2024 Industry Trade Show brought together over 40 notable vendors, including industry leaders such as iTOOLco, Siemens, Legrand, ABB, and Satco. The event provided attendees with a focused opportunity to explore the latest tools, technologies, and solutions shaping the industry landscape.

The event was attended by nearly 400 participants, ACES employees, and vendors. The trade show served as a vibrant hub for professionals to connect, learn, and discover innovative solutions to drive their businesses forward.

One of the highlights of the evening was the chance to win exciting prizes, including the grand prize of a golf cart. Attendees eagerly participated in ACES EXPO QUEST, a digital game where attendees scanned exhibitor QR codes to answer polls, surveys or trivia questions related to the exhibitor to earn points adding to the excitement and camaraderie of the event.

Following the event, the exhibitors were given game insights about their booth’s performance. These insights provided each exhibitor with valuable data about the attendees at their booths, allowing them to team up with ACES employees for follow-up.

Thoughts

Yes, many distributors do customer appreciation events / tradeshows. They invite suppliers to buy a booth, position it as a tradeshow, offer specials, food and prizes. Some take it the next step and have “educational tracks” where manufacturers present on topics of importance to the manufacturer (and hopefully the market.) Sometimes the presenters are product managers / engineers (so “specialists”), however, sometimes they are salespeople / regional managers.

The most effective shows, from a customer perspective, is when there are true educational opportunities and perhaps some tool demos. The educational opportunities, like what ACES did, enable customers to earn CEUs to help them professionally.

I’ve also seen some where the educational focus is so strong that the event attracts prospects!

The key, however, is in the follow-up. This is where, unfortunately, most fall down due to inability to capture information on what is of interest to customers (and it could be different things to each individual who attend from a customer), lack of sales resources and/or an inability to coordinate follow-up with manufacturer sales representatives / manufacturer salespeople due to their resources. This is where the role of inside sales as a resource can also be effective.

Congratulations to ACES for an effective event. Let’s hope the follow-up from the Grounding and Bonding seminar generates opportunities for ACES and its key manufacturers.