Dealer Spotlight: Hoover Truck & Bus Centers
Dealer Spotlight: Hoover Truck & Bus Centers
Interviewee: Bob Hoover
Title: Owner
Propane school buses have revved up the 2018 sales year for Hoover Truck & Bus Centers in New Jersey. One very successful trade show and positive feedback from a recent district adopter were pivotal for the dealership’s increased interest in propane.
“We exhibited at a state show this fall where the attendees included all of the area’s school bus officials,” said Bob Hoover, owner. “We partnered with the New Jersey Propane Gas Association and brought in ROUSH CleanTech to display at the event.”
The dealership used multiple tactics to feature propane school buses at the event. They had a booth to review and discuss the benefits of propane with attendees. They had a propane school bus at the Ride & Drive for attendees to experience firsthand. They also secured a panel presentation spot and asked a current propane bus customer from Randolph Township Schools to talk about their propane experience. Reports from customer testimonials hold a lot of weight.
“Our efforts during this show gained interest from at least five school districts after the event that stated they would like additional follow up,” Hoover said. “We knew we needed to keep the momentum going.”
About a month following the trade show, Hoover invited everyone who they spoke with during the show to Randolph Township’s facility to see first-hand how a propane end user experienced the benefits on a day to day basis. This smaller forum created a more targeted pitch to the interested customers where Randolph could go over the TCO (total cost of ownership) analysis that Blue Bird and ROUSH CleanTech had conducted with them on how they were saving over $2,000 per bus per year in fuel and maintenance costs. The school district staff performed a fueling demonstration, tour of their garage and hosted a Ride & Drive on one of their brand-new propane Visions to further sway the 25 attendees.
Randolph Township school district spoke about their propane school buses and their experience to attendees, including technicians, transportation directors, finance directors, and superintendents, which, according to Hoover, “helped seal the deal.” One of Randolph’s technicians was even overheard saying “if all we had to work on was ROUSH and propane, our lives would be so easy.”
Hoover recommends other dealerships look for trade show and events that bring together school officials in their state. Then, invite those prospects to one of your current propane bus customer’s facilities so they get information straight from the source.
