How AssetTrade.com Sold More Than $5 Million of Equipment in Its First 5 Weeks

AssetTrade.com is a new online marketplace for used industrial equipment and machinery. Along with the usual e-market functions, “we also provide offline services such as appraising and cataloguing of equipment up for sale,” says VP of sales and marketing Lynn Nowicki. Dupont recently inked a deal with the company to dispose and acquire used equipment via AssetTrade.

AssetTrade.com was incredibly lucky in inheriting a prospect database of 350,000 equipment buyers who have either bought or inquired with AssetTrade’s established elder brick and mortar siblings, including Henry Butcher International, the largest industrial auction firm in the world. The list covers a range of verticals (chem, pharm, metal, auto, etc.) from Fortune 500s down to small machine shops. “That’s the base of all our marketing efforts,” Nowicki tells us.

MARKETING MIX: “Direct sales, mail, trade shows, trade pubs, online, and even telemarketing,” says Nowicki. With its list segmented into companies of all sizes everywhere in the world, “different levels require different marketing mixes,” she says. One fascinating fact, “Email marketing is more important for Fortune 500s -- less important for small shops and smaller countries.”

TELEMARKETING: The company maintains a telemarketing sales force of more than 25 -- organized by market segment – that works off the core database. They do not currently outsource any sales functions, says Nowicki, “because you need technical expertise to sell our equipment,” and most independent telemarketers don’t have it. “But if you know of one that does, I’d be interested,” she says.

TRADE SHOWS: “This is the best way to demonstrate our capabilities to prospects,” Nowicki says. The company has a team of more than 20 staffers trained to deliver live Web demos to trade-show visitors. Demos are tailored to the show’s subject matter instead of a one-size-fits-all canned presentation. “In some cases, we’ve actually helped folks find equipment right there.” AssetTrade also tries to place its booth right next to its sibling’s offline company booths, so the brick and mortars borrow some Internet coolness while AssetTrade borrows some old-world credibility.

RESULT: In the five weeks since launching, the company has sold more than $5 million in equipment. “I can’t point to any one marketing channel that’s carrying the load,” Nowicki, tells us. “They’re all adding up.”