Lenexa Kansas- On June 2, 2011, Crawford Supply Company held its first ever Dealer meeting. Everyone gathered at the new Lenexa Kansas warehouse. During the meeting, dealers got to hear from different speakers, enjoy a Traeger cooked meal, and get autographs from NASCAR Driver, Clint Bowyer.

Below are some pictures and the list of speakers a long with a summery of what they spoke about:

Dealer Randy Froelich, Trailers & Trails, talks about what they have done to become successful Traeger dealers.

Ron Deets, Deets Home Store, shares some of his successful tips & tricks.

*Introduction to Meeting*
Scott Crawford, Crawford Supply CEO Traeger Division

Scott Crawford lives in Hays, KS with his beautiful wife Taryn and new baby girl Chloe.  Scott has been selling Traeger grills for over 18 years.  Scott’s dad, Cecil, purchased 6 Traeger grills to be a dealer in Plainville, KS back in 1993.  It is amazing to see how a business went from nothing to becoming a distributor now for 16 states.  Scott is proud to be in charge of a team of 16 dedicated employees that are second to none in customer service.  Scott continues to help spread the “Traeger culture” and is looking forward to bringing Traeger grills to more households.

Traeger Dealers and Clint Bowyer Fans enjoyed getting to enteract.

*What’s New with Traeger/Technical Q&A Session*
Steve Seibers, COO Traeger Wood Pellet Grills
Mark Koster, Director of Distributors and Dealer Relations
George Koster, Service Manager

Steve Seibers is the Operations Manager responsible for Logistics, purchasing, customer service and our operations in China. He has been with Traeger about a year and a half.  He has a strong background in operations having spent nearly 15 years with a global athletic brand on the operations side of the business.  His areas of responsibilities have ranged from managing a customer service team of more than 75 people to Director of Sales Operations for the US. He has developed the logistical and operational infrastructure for startup companies and managed more than $900M in sales.

Mark Koster has been with Traeger Grills just short of 5 Years.
Positions he has held are Director of Dealer Development and Southern California, Arizona and Las Vegas Sales manager.
He has worked on the Blitz Team setting up dealers throughout the U.S. He is currently the Director of Distributors and Dealer Relations.

George Koster has been with Traeger for 28 years. In those years he has held many jobs along the way including fabrication, finishing, production manager and now service manager. He is married to his wife Jackie , of 28 years. They have two boys, Andrew 26, Cody 24, and a daughter Brooke 17. They are also blessed with three grandchild. Both Andrew, Cody and his daughter in-law work for Traeger.

He enjoys Nascar, fishing and camping. He loves to cook chicken, pulled pork, and steak on his 075. He enjoys all the relationships he has built while working with Traeger especially with Scott and his employees!!!!!

*Future Programs and the Direction of Traeger Grills

*Product Quality
*Warranty Information

Clint Bowyer, NASCAR Driver, signs autographs for dealers.

*Tips and Tricks on Hosting a Successful Traeger Demo*
Frank Werth and Kyle Deets,
Crawford Supply Sales Representatives

Frank Werth Traeger Representative for Crawford Supply Company in NEBRASKA, SOUTH DAKOTA, NORTH DAKOTA, WESTERN KANSAS, OKLAHOMA. He has been servicing dealers in Training, Demos, and also showing what our product can provide for you and your customer for the last 4 ½ years. Frank 100% believes that Traeger has the best GRILL, SMOKER, AND APPLIANCE on the market today.

Kyle Deets has been a Traeger Grill Sales Rep for Crawford Supply for the last 1 1/2 years. His territory covers Iowa and Eastern Nebraska. He works with Crawford Supply dealers to help expand their Traeger business. His favorite TV show is The Office and he also enjoys golfing, Bass fishing, and TRAEGER’ING!!

*Introduction
*Advertising your Traeger Demo Day.
*Major Objections to over come when selling Traeger grills.
*Value added selling
*Plan an all Traeger BBQ contest in your area.
*Questions/Comments

Dealers enjoy the Traeger cooked meal and "Taste the Difference."

*Success Stories as Top Crawford Supply Traeger Dealers*
Randy Froelich, Trailers & Trails

Randy Froelich is the sales manager for Trailers & Trails. He says  of all the things they sell Traeger is the easiest. He has been selling Traeger grills and supplies and doing yard and garden shows for about 10 years. I enjoy cooking all kinds of meat but my onions and jalapenos are always a hit, as well as steak fries and peach cobbler. Often when selling a grill a customer comes in to buy pellets or accessories and I let them sell the grill for me by saying  “tell them about your grill.”  The customer looking for a grill expects me to be a sales person but not the other
customer.

Clint Bowyer, NASCAR Driver, signing a Texas Style Grill.

*Success Stories as Top Crawford Supply Traeger Dealers*
Ron Deets, Deets Home Store

Ron was Born and Raised in Madison County Nebraska…..Ron and Sharon, his wife of 26 years, have spent their entire married life in Ron’s 100 year-old boyhood home in the small town of Madison, Nebraska  ….and have raised their  3 children there as well…  Kyle  25   Braxton  23   and Emily  19.

Retail Experience:  29 years in the furniture, mattress and flooring business…..all with Deets HomeStore Corporation…a 50 year old family owned and operated store in Norfolk, Ne, where he is President of the Company and oversees all aspects of sales and marketing…..Norfolk has a population of 25,000 and is a mixed blue/white collar agriculture based town located 2 hours NW of Omaha. Deets HomeStore serves customers from the immediate Norfolk area and a 50 mile radius, mainly small farming communities, in NE Nebraska.  Norfolk is the Hometown of Johnny Carson and a large Nucor Steel mill.

# of employees:  34 including managers and owners

Deets HomeStore has been an Authorized Traeger Dealer since October of 2005.
Since then, The Deets operation has retailed over 1200 Traeger Grills at great profit margins and have had a helping hand in helping establish many dealers for Crawford Supply in the Nebraska Territory.

They now enjoy a brisk pellet business, selling around 200 bags a month.
Today, Deets HomeStore has a full display of Traeger Grills, Accessories and Flavor Filled Products on Display near the check-out counter for all to see…..and they have all the varieties of pellets in stock for immediate delivery.

At 6’5” and 270 lbs. and with an obvious passion for cookin’ on a Traeger, Ron has developed a few nick-names along the way such as XXL and ChefBoyRD and has become an iconic figure in grilling circles all over Eastern Nebraska…..

1: Putting People in the ‘PipeLine’  ( the power of demonstration )
2: How can One Grill result in 4 sales  ( the power of referels-just Ask )
3: 4 Key Elements of a Successful Traeger Dealer  ( the power of exclusivity )
….Questions and Answers

Scott Crawford's daughter Chloe got to enjoy the meeting as well.

*Marketing and Advertising Tips and Tricks*
Courtney Brunswig, Crawford Supply Marketing and Sales

Courtney Brunswig is the Marketing person for Crawford Supply. She has been working with Crawford and Traeger since last August. Her main goal is to help all of our dealers with any marketing and advertising they may need to make their dealership successful. Her most exciting experience with Crawford Supply and Traeger so far was producing the Clint Bowyer Television Commercial this Spring. Courtney married her husband Ty last July.  They are currently living in Manhattan, Kansas. Ty is a student at the Kansas State School of Veterinary Medicine. GO CATS!! Courtney’s favorite thing to cook on the Traeger Grill is Salmon.

*Why Marketing is Important
*What Crawford Supply is Doing to Help
*Comments/Suggestions and Questions

Clint Bowyer, Cecil Crawford (Creator of Crawford Supply), George Koster

Clint Bowyer, Scott Crawford, George KosterClint Bowyer, Cecil Crawford (Creator of Crawford Supply), George Koster