FocusOn Global Insights are interviews with executives from the manufacturers that serve the industries you, our readers.
One year later and much of what the Kress team said they would do is being done. They are gaining a foothold in the marketplace as their line of commercial grade battery powered products gain in popularity.
In October (2023) Rick Vandekieft met with Todd Zimmerman, Vice President –Product Management, at Kress at Equip Exposition to discuss year 1 and the plans moving forward.
Rick Vandekieft (RV FocusOn) It was quite the experience, the North American launch of Kress exactly one year ago. Quite the experience- you had a couple of hundred of the top power equipment dealers in North America fly into Los Angeles, none of whom were Kress dealers, to hear about this new brand. As you probably know, most if not all, were NOT looking for a new line to add to their dealerships. They just couldn’t pass up the all-expenses paid trip to a nice resort that Kress had offered them. That was one year ago. What has this past year been like for you and your team?
(1) Zimmerman is referring to Vandekieft’s past positions as President of ECHO in Canada and Director of Marketing at STIHL Canada)T Zimmerman So, launching a completely new battery platform that nobody has seen or has been used to. Explaining the message behind that battery platform, not only to dealers, but to landscapers. And then the trust that the dealers are giving us by coming on board with Kress. I mean, they’ve got Stihl, they have us, they have that goal, they’ve known battery is the direction of the industry so they can go Greenworks, or now Kress. But they see what our technology can do differently than what everybody else does. So, now that Kress is here, it’s up to us to work with those dealers and their landscapers to create that pull through.
Dealers have been around all those wonderful companies. The big thing is, is do they trust them? Do they trust Kress? They say: ‘Well, you just launched so no track record, products seem really impressive, is the product really going to do what you say it’s going to do?’
To overcome that, since mid-August, we’ve been offering 10-day free trials. No questions asked, no money, just try it, right? Give us feedback.
RV FocusOn Is it working as you had hoped?
We will be the first ones to tell you, we’re not going to have the answers to everything. What we do believe is that we’ve provided product that can be a direct replacement from what they’re using right now. And we’re fully committed that Kress has developed a battery pack that can truly replace gas. Cyber Pack batteries are able to charge in 8 minutes and with Cyber Tank on the trailer, ready to charge. With the Cyber Packs, the landscaper doesn’t need to purchase a bunch of extra batteries to get through a day. The pro now has an opportunity to truly convert from gas and feel like their equipment is delivering gas-like performance. But even with what our products can do and the Kress battery technology, there is still a lot of learning needed to increase the awareness.
RV FocusOn Agreed – remember the conversations we had at the invitation only launch of Kress Comes to North America event? It was my opinion that there is no room for another competitor. But when I came to the presentation, I learned the philosophy you guys were taking to market, I started to be more open minded. And then, hearing the support plans for the dealers and the end users, and the presentation of the technology, I agreed, ‘This may actually work’.
While at the event, I interviewed Don (2), many of my questions were going to be based on my initial thoughts that there was no room for a new competitor so why bother? But I crossed out those questions because all the presentations that had preceded my interview addressed my doubts.
(2)Don Gao, Founder and CEO of The Positec Tool Corporation, parent company of Kress)
Yes, if we were just another lithium-ion battery, nobody would give us a second look. You see it here at the show, many booths with lithium-ion battery products but very little interest so if we were just another battery tool brand with nothing special, our booth would be empty as well. But just take a look around – people are walking in and having real conversations with our team.
RV FocusOn OK, the Kress products and support is impressive. But what I do see is quite a gap in the retail pricing of Kress products versus competition. Is the 7-day no obligation Free Trial designed to help bridge those concerns?
Yes, we know there’s challenges, and we know that some people are going to tell us ‘no.’ At this point, what we’re doing from a cost standpoint, we’re trying to eliminate that all together. We have valid arguments to support our price points, but we still have to explain why converting to Kress Cordless is the right solution for Commercial landscapers. So that’s our no risk, go try it program. And if you don’t like it, just tell us why so we can solve for that and understand truly what it is. But again, we do not have the answers for everything, we just want to understand what the next challenge is. That’s really what we’re trying to accomplish.
RV FocusOn Since the launch, the product line is expanding quickly. A product that was discussed as “in development” was a commercial autonomous mower.
We have our product; our commercial product is still in testing with AGZA (American Green Zone Alliance).
To become a Green Zone Alliance, AGZA first needs to put it through their own testing. AGZA is not going to support anything unless they’ve tested it with their landscapers and their landscapers give the product the thumbs up. Kress 60v prosumer products have been tested and are now AGZA certified.
RV FocusOn Looking around I see lots of landscapers in the booth, and I expect they are waiting to ask questions, so I’ll let you go and continue to tell the Kress story to the people that matter the most, the professional landscaper.
Thanks for your time and congratulations on a successful first year and we at FocusOn look forward to keeping our readers informed about any Kress news as it becomes available.
Click HERE for more on the KRESS line of Commercial Product and to locate the dealer nearest you.