Tour Support Program Helps Sell Buses
We introduced our Tour Support Program in late 2015, and it has been a huge success. To date, 12 dealers have hosted 14 tours with guests from over 40 school districts. For the tours hosted last year, Blue Bird dealers saw a staggering 66-percent of the districts purchase propane that same year. This year is shaping up to be even better.
Last week, School Bus Sales in Iowa brought their 3rd tour group through ROUSH CleanTech, this time with 10 districts in attendance. They haven’t let the 8-hour drive from Iowa to Michigan scare them from using the program; they’ve rented a motor coach and driven their customers to Livonia in comfort.
School Bus Sales says that they have a whopping 100-percent close rate when it comes to ROUSH CleanTech tours. They hope to see the same results from the group they just brought in.
“We appreciate the opportunity to bring customers and potential customers to ROUSH CleanTech for a tour. They’re able to see first-hand how the fuel system is manufactured and meet the team behind the product. It’s a great sales tool and we plan to continue taking groups to Michigan in the coming years,” Dwight Houseal, sales manager, School Bus Sales.
At the end of July, MacAllister Transportation in Indiana will bring a mix of current and potential customers to experience technician training with the ROUSH CleanTech team. Our guests will experience classroom and hands-on training.
MacAllister has found great success with these types of tours. “Tours help validate ROUSH CleanTech’s name in the school bus industry and show customers that they truly are ‘all-in’ with propane autogas,” said Ryan Campbell, transportation sales manager at MacAllister. “We’ve seen about 80 percent closing rate for customers who visit ROUSH CleanTech.”
Interested? Here’s what you need to know about our Tour Support Program.
We want you to bring potential customers and dealer personnel to our headquarters in Livonia, Michigan — and we’ll help pay a portion of your expenses based on where you’re coming from. Check out the map below to determine how much we will cover, per person, for visits from your state.
The typical tour itinerary includes:
- Afternoon arrival of dealer personnel and customers.
- Dinner hosted by ROUSH CleanTech and Blue Bird.
- Morning tour of the ROUSH CleanTech manufacturing facility, product review and service presentations.
- Break for lunch provided by ROUSH CleanTech and Blue Bird.
- Afternoon demonstration of propane autogas fueling, tour of ROUSH Performance, and a tour of the ROUSH Automotive Collection museum, featuring Jack Roush’s personal collection of cars.
- Afternoon departure.
Tours are available at any time, but the following criteria must be met:
- The attendees must already be qualified, meaning current or prospective customers who plan to purchase in the next 12 months.
- Maximum group size is 30 people.
- Background information, including attendees’ names, titles, district and contact information, must be provided to ROUSH CleanTech in advance of the tour.
- At least one dealer representative is required to attend.
Our Tour Support Program is available year-round, so contact your ROUSH CleanTech rep today to schedule a tour and help increase your close rates.
