Below is Matt Leuschner, President of Wingmate – Insights from the Las Vegas Waste Expo. Matt was a featured panel speaker on “Unlocking Potential: Utilizing Drivers to Improve Sales & Enhance Your Brand. The keynote presentation from the expo is linked at the bottom of the post. Wingmate premiered their New Field Service Software.

1:30 AM on the edge of Sin City. My sales associate, Brandon and I are looking out our taxi window at the illuminating lights. After an 8 hour commute from Toronto, we had finally arrived at our anticipated event: Las Vegas Waste Expo. The refreshing desert air immediately brought us to life and quickly elapsed the champagne from the flight. Even though I had a big speech to deliver in less than 8 hours, I wasn’t at all tired. This was the first time I had the chance to speak on how we were changing the industry and allowing companies to tap into their frontline drivers for sales. I was invited down by one of the best minds in the industry, Will Flower, VP of Winters Brothers to be featured on a panel – Unlocking Driver Potential (my keynote is linked below).

Sooner than later, we found ourselves in the lobby of Ceasars Palace. Brandon, our top sales associate, assured me it was the place to be (you can’t argue with an ex-Vegas resident who played poker for a living). I was amazed that at 2 AM there was an hour long line up at the Ceasars Palace check-in. At this point, we turned lemons into lemonade and decided to use the long wait to our advantage. When we arrived at the front of the line, with a little persistence, we were offered the Penthouse suite from the movie The Hangover (at a substantial discount). Did we take it? That’s a whole other story.

My speech was at 10:00 AM, so we had to get to bed before 4:00 AM.

The Presentation

The morning came fast, and before I know it, I was in the speaker’s room with more people than I could count. I had scribbled down some notes, but I planned to take this one from the heart. Luckily, my speech was on the first day of the expo, so it allowed me to get it out of the way and then enjoy the show and everything Vegas had to offer. After an informative speech and introduction from Will Flower, I was up to bat. I talked to the crowd about how to leverage the eyes and ears of their drivers for sales. After all, companies already pay their employees for their arms and legs, and if they can tap into their mind for sales, the potential to grow organically is vast.

Below are some bullet points from the keynote, for the full presentation, click the link here.

We’ve got twenty-five years of industry experience (how we built driver psychology into the app). Drivers see everything and have a lot to contribute. How can we effectively leverage this?

Keys to success with your drivers

• Make it fun & easy
• Provide 2-way communication (feedback)
• Track everything (timely & rewarding)
• Awareness

Some Ideas

• Contests, leaderboards, posters
• Sales ride along
• Incentives and cash

What drivers should look for and what you should reward them

Results that we’ve seen

Your people in the field are a precious resource of knowledge. They see everything – know the most common customer complaints, hear all their repeated requests, notice trends and pass upcoming opportunities all the time. In most companies, however, there is no practical way for the people to share this valuable intel with management. The most influential companies effectively leverage the assets they already have – their people! Capture everything they see with Wingmate’s new field service software.

After completing the speech, we had a very positive response from different Owners, CEOs, VPs, and so forth. Everyone was interested in learning more, which was great after being up for 24 hours.

Insights from the Las Vegas Waste Expo

Spending three days at the expo was a fantastic experience. Not only did I have the opportunity to be a speaker, but Brandon and I made relationships with many key people in the industry. It was an extremely professional event, and it’s an absolute must for everyone in the industry to attend. After all, I believe this year pulled over 15,000 attendees. For those who have not participated in the expo, I recommend setting your meetings before you arrive and to engage in all the extracurricular events surrounding the show.

Also, when you’re not at the expo, be sure to check out Top Golf, Ceasars Poolside Black Jack, and Hell’s Kitchen for the meal of a lifetime.

Download Presentation from the Expo

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