When you’re running parts and logistics for a Caterpillar dealer, “good enough” is never good enough. Between tight OEM standards, demanding customers, and busy counters, every interaction has to be efficient, accurate, and worth coming back for.
That’s the world Bob lives in as Director of Parts & Logistics at Blanchard Machinery, where he oversees parts operations and logistics for a network of branches across the state. His mission is simple: grow the business, make operations more efficient, and turn those efficiencies into real profit.
Before Prokeep: Phones, Counters, and Missed Opportunities
Before Prokeep, Blanchard’s parts team relied on phone calls, counter interactions, and manual tracking to manage orders. It worked, but only just—associates were tied to single conversations, follow-ups were inconsistent, and opportunities for add-on sales were often missed.
Challenges before Prokeep:
Limited ability to multitask, resulting in reactive selling only
No centralized record of customer interactions
Hard to capture additional parts needs or ensure follow-ups
Inefficient processes slowed response times and impacted sales
This setup made order-taking reactive rather than proactive, leaving orders on the table.
With Prokeep: Streamlined Orders, Proactive Selling, and Real-Time Visibility
Since implementing Prokeep, Blanchard’s parts team can manage multiple conversations at once, centralize customer interactions, and proactively drive more orders. Associates can now see the full context of each request, suggest add-on parts, and confirm orders with confidence—all without slowing down the counter or phone lines.
Successes with Prokeep:
Associates can proactively reach out first
Increased associated parts sales and add-on orders
Clear, real-time visibility into every customer interaction
Consistent, professional communication across all branches
Reduced errors, returns, and rework through annotated images and clarifying messages
Prokeep transformed reactive order-taking into proactive selling, giving Blanchard the efficiency, consistency, and control needed to grow both customer satisfaction and the bottom line.
Since rolling out Prokeep, those goals have started to materialize—Prokeep has sharpened communication, boosted efficiency, and helped the team drive more orders.
Turning Order Takers Into Proactive, Multitasking Sellers
Blanchard’s parts counter associates have always been strong at helping customers, but they didn’t always see themselves as proactive salespeople. As Bob put it, “From my experience, parts counter associates are not so much a proactive sales person.”
Prokeep changed that by giving them a new way to work: instead of being tied to a single phone call, reps can juggle multiple text threads at once.
That extra capacity doesn’t just make them faster—it makes them more proactive. In a text thread, reps naturally suggest everything tied to the job:
Because it’s via text, not face-to-face, they’re more comfortable asking for that additional business:
“Parts counter associates are much more comfortable texting and asking for that additional business… It does make it easier, I think, for them to ask because it’s not in person, it’s via text.”
The result:
More associated parts sales
- More promo add-ons
- Quick, concise conversations that free up time and grow revenue
“Because they can work on multiple threads very quickly, it is a game changer.”
Greater Net Loyalty Scores
Like many dealers, Blanchard tracks a Net Loyalty Score (NLS), similar to a traditional Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI). It reflects how customers actually feel about their experience.
“Net Loyalty Score, in my prior life, would be your CSI or your Customer Satisfaction Index. What do your customers perceive as you? How satisfied are they as a customer?”
In the Caterpillar world, the bar is high:
- CAT’s parts NLS standard hovers around 75–76%
- Blanchard’s internal goal is mid-80s
Customers wanted clearer, faster, more consistent updates. Bob knew that if the team could solve that, it would move the needle on loyalty and, eventually, more orders.
Across all stores, Caterpillar saw about a 1.5-point increase in Blanchard’s overall NLS, the stores using Prokeep were the outliers with a near 10-point increase. That might not sound huge on paper, but at the pilot locations using Prokeep, the story was very different:
“Stores that we brought into Prokeep, we saw near a double-digit lift in NLS scores… we were real close to a 10-point lift.”
Those first branches weren’t the top performers, either. They intentionally started with lower-performing stores to see if better communication could really move the needle. The result was positive.
Every Customer Gets a Text: Building a New Habit
Once they saw the impact, Bob and his team got very intentional.
The goal was simple:
“We’d really like to see 100% of every single customer or prospect that walks in the door to a branch receive a message from us.”
So they built a new standard:
- Every customer who visits a branch gets a text, whether they purchase or not
- The message: a quick thanks and a reminder they can text or call the branch if they need anything
- If Blanchard has a customer’s mobile number, they use it to keep communication easy, clear, and real-time
Bob compares it to walking into Chick-fil-A and knowing you’ll hear “my pleasure” every time.
The impact on activity was immediate:
- They went from 30–40 text threads
- To 800+ sent threads in a short period of time
“Surprisingly, it happened very quickly… it really created a bit of a storm and now it’s just habit.”
Getting It Right the First Time With Images and Annotations
Another big win: fewer mistakes and miscommunications on parts.
The team regularly uses images and annotated diagrams through Prokeep to confirm exactly what the customer needs:
- Customers send photos from the field
- Associates circle the exact items on exploded diagrams
- Then text those back with clarifying questions and add-on suggestions
That makes it easier to:
- Verify the correct part
- Catch associated components like clamps, hoses, and hardware
- Reduce returns and rework
“When they’re sending that image now, it’s not only do they see it, they’re looking it up and they’re responding to the customer… There’s a hose, there’s a clamp, there’s this, there’s that. It does make it easier, I think, for them to ask.”
Loyalty, Consistency, and Profits That Follow
For Blanchard, Prokeep isn’t a “nice to have”—it’s a key driver behind better communication, higher NLS scores, and a stronger bottom line. Every visit gets a text, every branch reinforces the same message, and customers feel the difference.
As Prokeep surveys roll out and more branches come online, Bob’s team isn’t just talking about improving loyalty and efficiency—they’re doing it, every day, and seeing those gains show up in their profitability.
.png)
.png)
