IronPlanet SOLD! on UCC Data

In any business, acquiring new customers while retaining existing ones is essential for success. For sales professionals, making lead generation and sales processes as efficient and effective as possible equates to bigger bottom lines.

IronPlanet, the world’s leading online auction company for buying and selling used construction and agricultural equipment, has been working toward these goals using Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings under the direction of Franklin Langham, Manager of New Business Development. 

As a loyal EDA customer for close to 10 years, IronPlanet facilitates the use of UCC data for both sides of their unique business model. When they began utilizing UCC data, it was for their “buy side”, the area that markets directly to buyers of equipment. Says Langham, “We use the data in a number of different ways in our marketing efforts. We use the EDA database to search for new buyers and drive or direct them to the IronPlanet website. UCC data also gives us a better insight and a longer history of the buying behaviors of those buyers which, in turn, helps us with direct marketing.”

But what is truly unique about IronPlanet is how the company uses UCC filings to create efficiency on the “sell side” of the business – the sales team that brings in their equipment supply. “UCC data is a fabulous tool for our sales force,” says Langham. “We have a sales force of 80 and growing out in the field across the US. A lot of our guys know our sellers and dealers and where to go to get supply for our auctions. But they are not always aware of those in their area who may not be the biggest buyers but are still significant to our business. You want to maintain the customers you have, but you’re always looking for places to go to find the new business – this is what EDA helps us find.”

Langham and his sales team find considerable value in Catapult because of the constant nightly updates to their account. “That’s what’s so great about EDA data,” he adds. “It’s not just a snapshot in time. [They’re] constantly updating the database and it’s always letting us know who’s coming in and out of markets and which buyers and sellers are ramping up their fleets. It allows us to focus on those and put concentrated efforts on them.”

Langham’s sales team primarily goes after buyers using the Query tool in EDA's online application - Catapult. They’ll search by counties or zip codes for sales calls in the upcoming weeks and touch those they haven’t contacted in a while or haven’t spoken with at all. With the addition of Google Mapping tools, the IronPlanet sales team can use the query results to plot their sales routes and plan prior to their travels.

“When you start getting a sales force the size of ours,” says Langham, “it’s a big expense to go after your customers and you want ROI to be as high as it can be. Google Maps allows our guys to more efficiently plan their sales calls so they can look at a region and say, ‘I want to go here, here, and here.’  It saves them drive time, too, with satellite images and directions. It puts the customer right there in front of you.”

And because of the way the Mapping tools color-code buyers by fleet size, their sales force is able to prioritize their calls based on potential. Langham adds, “If you’re a sales guy, you want to go after your big fish first. Google Mapping allows them to determine their Tier 1, 2, and 3 customers and go after them.”

Once the ideal buyers are found, Langham’s sales force uses the Finance Summaries exported from Catapult to learn as much as they can about the buyer prior to the sales call. “I’ve definitely heard on more than one occasion from our guys in the field that they like the ability to see what type of equipment a buyer has. It allows them to go in and have an intelligent conversation with their customer.”

As IronPlanet continues to find success in the market, they intend to grow along with their UCC data. “More and more, we will rely on the data to mine new accounts that we haven’t otherwise touched in the past,” says Langham. “Along those same lines, the bigger we get, the more we’ll market. And we’ll leverage EDA's UCC data to help get our brand out in the marketplace.”

Based on their current achievements with UCC data, IronPlanet is fast on their way to reaching those goals.

Jennefer Pizza is a Customer Experience Account Manager at EDA
jpizza@edadata.com | 704-814-1411