Navistar International held its Customer Solutions Rodeo last week, an event that allows dealers to demonstrate their expertise and working knowledge of International trucks, as well as OnCommand, the company's newly branded suite of customer service offerings.


The winner of the first International Truck Customer Solutions Rodeo was Phil Johnston, sales representative, Selking International in Fort Wayne, Ind.

"I'm looking forward to applying what I've learned to help deliver to our customers a comprehensive level of after-sales support," Johnston said.

As the 2010 Customer Solutions Rodeo winner, Phil will receive $5,000.

"More than 700 sales folks from across the United States and Canada completed the required Navistar Education training courses to qualify," said Tom Abbott, manager, dealer education, Navistar.

In addition to completing several online courses, contest applicants were also required to prepare a sales presentation.

During the competition's early rounds, Navistar's management sales team judged competitors in walk-around presentations, scoring competitors not only on their explanation of product features, but also on their ability to relate the features to specific customer issues such as appearance, serviceability, driver acceptance and safety.

In the second portion of the competition, the sales representatives demonstrated their knowledge of OnCommand by Navistar, which includes programs such as Fleet Charge, Customer Parts Recovery, Service Partner and Fleet Education.

The competition finalists included:
* Phil Johnston, Selking International
* Lyndell Pannell, Southwest International
* John White, Western Toronto International Trucks
* Jim Ramsay, Liberty International Trucks
* Jeff Roberts, Rush International Truck Center
* Ken Barton, Lake City Trucks