More than 300 "over-the-top excited" customers
Our first stops were BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) and Chevron in Burnaby, BC. The van toured more than 14 locations and logged in thousands of miles. From southern BC, the van moved north to Alberta and the boom town of Ft. McMurray. From that point, stops were made in Edmonton, Ft. Saskatchewan, Calgary, Joffre and Medicine Hat. More than 300 customers visited the van and all were "over-the-top" excited with this very impressive marketing tool.
Limited resources not a problem
The month we had it here in Canada was very productive. We received many new leads and opportunities despite our limited resources. We required that no less than two Yokogawa employees be with the van at all times and staged many events on Monday in order to take full advantage of the week. This required many of our guys to travel every Sunday for the month of June to be ready for a Monday start. Customers we visited along the way included: Chevron, BP Noel, Canfor, Daishowa, Syncrude/Exxon Mobil, Suncor, CNRL, Esso Resources, Husky, Dow, Enbridge, Thermo Design, Cominco, and Canadian Fertilizer.
VPVan helps snag order
To bring an exciting end to the van visit, Scott Cadger, Systems RSM picked up a $2.2M PO from Canadian Fertilizer during our visit there at the CFI plant in Medicine Hat, AB. The van generated many new leads and our channel Partner CB Engineering was with us on all visits as well.
Event timed with Calgary Stampede
Because of logistical issues and budget, we could not find a viable location in downtown Calgary so we had the van parked in front of our building in Calgary. Since it was the week before the Calgary Stampede, we staged a pre-Stampede event at the Yokogawa Canada office and invited customers out for a BBQ burgers and hot dogs lunch on the 25th and 26th of June. The attendance was tremendous as we had more than 100 customers come by to join us. We took full advantage of this opportunity to give them all a tour of our facility as well as tour the VPVan.
Special thanks
I would like to express my thanks to everyone who helped us make the VPVan’s visit to Canada a successful one. Thanks to:
- CB Engineering and their account managers
- The Yokogawa Canada office staff for their assistance with making the two-day Calgary event so successful
- All of the Yokogawa Canada RSM’s for giving up your Sunday’s for the month of June
- And last, but certainly not least, a very special thanks to Chris Delahoussaye, our VPVan driver. The success of this Canadian trip would not have been possible without his help and support at all these locations. Thanks for being a part of our team.
In conclusion, we have already started planning our next visit. It is scheduled for eastern Canada. Our enthusiasm is high and the water cooler talk has already begun based on feedback from our customers. This mobile demo room has been the best marketing tool we have ever invested in and I personally would like to see more tools like this as it is the best way for us to get the products and message to our customers. I find this tool to be more valuable that any trade show I have ever attended and would see far more benefits by having access to this vehicle to support the growth of our business.
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