Inquiry Management

Managing Incoming Inquiries Is the primary function of the prospecting team. This team acts as the first layer of communication for Initial Inquiries, which are routed to prospecting In order to run through our qualification process. The heart behind this Is to take the best care possible of everyone who takes the time to reach out to Brindlee Mountain Fire, responding with resources appropriately matched with the customer to give them the best experience possible to assist In their discovery process In their fire truck purchase or service search.

The first thing to know about prospecting is that it’s our job to manage customer/seller information in the system. We are the first line of contact and therefore responsible for making sure everything is put in correctly according to the action needed. 

Incoming Inquiry Channels:

• Truck Inquiries Truck Inquiries come In from websites; they are an automated process which fires when a user enters their Information on a truck at www.firetruckmall.com or any other affiliate-managed site, (FTU & Co2 as of 8.10.2023), or any Dealer Fire Truck Finder site that we operate (~50 as of 8.10.2023). These Inquiries create a record In Salesforce In the object Truck Inquiries and are labeled as Truck Inquiry, and are managed by the Prospecting Team through the Inbound Web Dashboard.

• Internal Referrals these Inquiries come from a variety of sources within Brindlee Mountain Fire. Any Brindlee employee with a lead, who wishes to share this lead with another department, will forward the lead to Internalreferral@firetruckmall.com This creates a record In Salesforce In the Truck Inquiries object labeled Internal Referral, then are managed by the Prospecting Team also through the Inbound Web Dashboard. PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND THIS PORTION: When you send in a lead, once it has been received and processed by the internal referral system, you will receive an automated email back stating The Prospecting Team has received your lead. If you do not receive this email, the lead has not been received, and you need to forward to prospecting@firetruckmall.com, or call someone with prospecting, etc. to ensure the information gets to them. The responsibility for the lead lies with the sender until the automated email has been received.

  • For an example of how the Internal referral process works, watch an example here: Billy explains how the Internal Referral Process works with screen examples

• Trade Show Leads

Lead Management and Qualification:

It's our desire to serve each Inquiry with the appropriate response, being as helpful as we can within a reasonable expectation of response based on the quality of the lead. To quantify and give us a model through which we can operate, we have developed the following process that Prospecting will use to qualify leads and move them through the Lead Management Process. This graphic below represents the goal of how an Inquiry arrives Into Prospecting, then Is qualified by the "Inbound team/purchasing agent" then advanced either as a qualified lead to a Sales or Purchasing Department representative, or If not qualified Is entered Into certain automated email/text campaigns, or left alone In Salesforce.

BANT Qualification Method:

The BANT Qualified Method gives a model and clear goals of Information that the Prospecting Team has responsibility for obtaining as quickly as possible when making contact with a customer, following their Inquiry. There will be varying levels of required response as directed by the Sales Manager over time, who will define what metrics are used to determine what leads get a phone call, cadenced follow ups, and what leads are entered without follow up.

Budget: One of the most Important things to know from our leads Is how much they have to Invest toward the project. Finding this out tactfully, but quickly Is key to giving them a good experience.

Authority: When an Inquiry comes In, we don't know what role the person contacting us plays In making a decision about moving forward with purchasing the truck or service. Generally, the people are going to at least be In the conversation. But quickly understanding both the quantified methods by which purchases must be made, (board approval, city council approval, bid process, etc.), and understand the soft-side of the dynamic of who are the Influencers, decision-makers, etc. help tremendously In effectively delivering a quality experience, and utilizing our time wisely In the qualification process.

Need: Understanding exactly what Is driving the Inquiry, what Is the need the customer has, Is key to understanding a) If we reasonably can provide a solution, and b) which solution we should begin to propose.

Timing: Research and planning are big parts of any spending decision. The research and planning phase can sometimes last years when It comes to buying or servicing a fire trucks, or It can happen very quickly, (depending on the need). Understanding the timing allows us to match quicker the truck (based on release date, delivery date from shop, etc.), with the timing requirement of the customer.