A grand opening and the great shutdown

Mark Habben saw an opportunity to grow his business and took a chance: The president of Albert Lea, MN-based Crossroads Trailer became aware of an available territory in the Great Dane network and, even though the potential dealership was some 750 miles away, he “jumped on it.”

Except, after months of planning, and of staffing up and stocking the Hudson CO store—located about 25 minutes north of the Denver International Airport—the early March official opening hit a snag: “It was about the same day the coronavirus shut the state down,” Habben says.

“It’s just tough. Part of it was just brought on by COVID and I couldn’t feel comfortable—I didn’t want to jeopardize the health and safety of our employees in Albert Lea to go out there,” he explains. “So from March to June, all we could do was telecommute; they’ve just been out there on an island. We’d talk to them 15 times every day, but it’s about being there. We couldn’t do anything.”

Habben puts the investment in the new store at about $4.5 million. The facility features a sales office, a large parts room, and seven trailer bays with additional outside pads and “ample room for growth.” About 20 people work there, and Habben notes that the key to staffing a new location is identifying those who would be a good fit for the Crossroads culture.

“We understand it’s a relationship business and industry: People will buy from people, and it’s not contingent on product lines,” he says. “So we try to align ourselves with the right people who are passionate about our vision and our morals and beliefs. We’ve been able to find people that share that same conviction and want to put a good product out there, repair a good product, and take care of the customers.”

And that “people-to-people” emphasis has been acutely problematic during the early weeks for the new store.

“We’ve been hitting the phones hard and working through our contacts,” Habben says. “But it’s hard to go out and see people and build that relationship to prove your value to them when their doors are locked and they won’t let people in. That’s been the hardest thing.

“But, Crossroads Trailers has got a good reputation and the name goes a long way.”

Indeed, learning of the opportunity to represent Great Dane in Colorado, Habben worked “hand in hand” with the manufacturer to establish a presence in the West for Crossroads, recognized as a Great Dane Dealer of the Year in both 2018 and 2019.

“The fleets that we work with are getting bigger and bigger, and for these big companies the only way that they can grow is through acquisitions—the organic growth model of the past is extremely tough for trucking companies today,” Habben says. “So, in being confined by certain areas of responsibility, we kind of get handcuffed to a geographical area. As customers continue to change and morph, we needed to have a larger footprint.”

In addition to the headquarters location, Crossroads has a sales office in Luverne MN; a shop in Sioux Falls SD; and now the Hudson location. Along with Great Dane and Carrier, the dealership represents XL Specialized Trailers for heavy-haul equipment and Cross Country Trailer for end dumps and belly dumps.

The new Hudson staff brings the Crossroads headcount to 100 people.

Approach to success

Crossroads follows “a three-pronged approach” to dealership success.

“When you’re selling a premium product in this industry, you need to have that backend support because price is just one factor in the purchasing decision,” Habben says. “But how can you handle the trade? How can you handle the backend support from a parts and service standpoint? That support, in today’s market, is more valuable to a fleet than that initial price in many instances.

“You want somebody who’s going to answer the phone when you call when you have a problem: We’re that type of dealership.”

Crossroads customers range from large trucking companies to owner-operators.

“Obviously you need to have a big fleet in order to get the economy-of-scale pricing, and that allows you to get the trades that you can then sell,” Habben says. “We cater to everybody: We sell a lot of high-end, high-spec stuff, and we sell to big fleets, and anything in between.

“We pride ourselves that you’re never too big or never too small for us to care. We get excited about one trailer almost as much as we do about a deal for 200. We just enjoy helping people, taking care and being the problem solver that they need on the trailer and equipment side.”

Habben learned those lessons early on.

Like a lot of children, he spent several of his teen summers pushing a broom, “holding the dumb end of the tape measure,” and running parts at his father’s dealership. (Dad Darv Habben still serves as Crossroads Trailer’s CEO.)

Even though Mark recalled a ninth-grade career day when he proudly proclaimed he’d work at the family business when he grew up, he “wasn’t ready to commit to small town life” in southern Minnesota when he finished college.

But, after exploring opportunities elsewhere, he came home in 2011, moved into sales, and a wife and two young sons later, “I’ve never been happier in my entire life,” he says.

Managing the crisis

While the coronavirus closings were a particular challenge for the Colorado store, the pandemic-driven economic downturn is a nationwide issue.

Habben reports Crossroads is “sitting okay” in terms of new inventory, but the company is “working through” an elevated level of used inventory.

“It’s a pretty challenging time for the whole industry right now, for the equipment side, trucks and trailers,” he says. “But we’re in a good position. As the spot market hopefully rebounds, the smaller guys and owner-operators will continue to buy. We have seen it stabilize here in the last few weeks [heading into June].”

So Habben can return his focus to the new location. And now that travel restrictions are loosening somewhat, Habben anticipates frequent trips to Denver where he’ll work to ensure the Crossroads processes are being implemented properly.

“It’s starting a business from the ground up,” he says. “We’re not transplanting anybody out there from Albert Lea and, with everything going on, that’s been a little bit of a challenge. But we’ve got the right people that are business minded and have the vision for what we want to do.

“We’re hardworking people that really enjoy being problem solvers for our customers. First and foremost, we want to build partnerships. We understand they need to make money and we need to make money, but it’s finding that common theme so we can build that trust. We treat everyone as fair as we possibly can because it’s a cyclical industry.

“And we’re getting that in all of our locations.”