Twenty years ago, MDS (Manufacturer’s Diversified Services), a manufacturers’ representative company based in New Holland, Pennsylvania, was established with the commitment to become “Attachments Specialists,” focusing on attachments to be used on skid-steer loaders, compact tractors and larger construction equipment.

For its hundreds of dealers in eastern USA, MDS has offered a number of popular benefits through the years, including hands-on training seminars, quotes and orders confirmed by FAX or e-mail, product demonstrations and help with open houses, regular visits by trained personnel and research to find rare attachments. At MDS, everyone knows that dealers need to talk to a human being when their customers want help with attachments. Whenever dealers face several alternatives, have problems to be solved, or tight delivery schedules to meet, MDS prides itself in being there to help, person to person.

Many dealers say they are trying to reduce their inventory. MDS understands that goal, and works closely with all its manufacturing suppliers to make sure they can respond quickly to orders and can deliver product as soon as possible. Dealers who use MDS services on a regular basis have praised its personal touch, efficiency, quick response time, and its genuine desire to help. MDS has always been, and continues to be, very open to suggestions as to how it could help dealers even more.

For end users, MDS also offers a number of benefits, such as free product literature, the name and number of the closest dealer, answers to technical questions, choosing the right model attachment, and handling MDS product retail sales in areas not covered by dealers.

John Bentley, founder of MDS in 1988 and currently its president, comments on the four-part commitment that has guided the company through the years, greatly contributing to its success, “First and foremost, we’re very proud of our friendly, knowledgeable people, all well trained and with a sincere desire to help dealers. We amplify dealers’ efforts by helping them train people, at their locations and during our “hands-on” attachments seminars.

Secondly, from the very beginning, we vowed to use electronic telephone answering services only when we were out of the office or just too busy to handle all calls at once. We know our dealers want to talk to a person, not a machine.

The third part of our commitment was to use the latest computer software and FAX services to the fullest extent in order to provide dealers with complete and accurate, written quotations quickly and to process their orders with a minimum of errors, or trace the shipment of orders easily and rapidly.

The fourth part of our commitment was to get back to dealers as soon as possible with answers and solutions. We understand very well that dealers must react quickly to capture all available sales opportunities. If we can’t respond immediately, we pledge to reply just as soon as we possibly can so we don’t keep dealers and their customers waiting.”