Any foodservice equipment manufacturer that wants to claim a significant share of the spec market must be easy to work with from a consultant's viewpoint. According to Mark Whalen, president of Victory Refrigeration and Aga Foodservice Equipment, Victory has both the technical infrastructure and the knowledgeable industry professionals in place to enable the company to provide consultants with the information they need, quickly and accurately.

    "We work hard to make ourselves a very user-friendly factory from the standpoint of design/build dealers and consultants," Whalen emphasized.

    Much of the information consultants need and many of the tools they find useful, Whalen stated, can be found on Victory's newly redesigned web site. The new site, which launched earlier this year, is easier to navigate than its predecessor and includes downloadable spec sheets, product images, point-of-sale materials and a list of the company's authorized service agencies.

    Since more than 500 Victory models have earned ENERGY STAR® certification from the Department of Energy-run program, the company's site also includes links to refrigeration life-cycle calculators on the ENERGY STAR and Food Service Technology Center web sites. Given the high cost of kitchen operations, Whalen pointed out, these tools are especially useful to consultants who seek to keep their clients' operating costs under control.

    From a person-to-person educational viewpoint, Victory has assembled an experienced network of manufacturers' representatives whose primary job is to inform consultants about the differentiating features of the company's Spec line of products, including product options specifiers often request, such as pass-through features and remote refrigeration options.

    "Another of Victory's strongest areas in the person-to-person arena is an internal team that is charged with providing quotes for spec orders, and which is noted for its reliability," Whalen stated.

    "The guy who heads up our quoting department and a lot of the people who work there are 25-, 30-year employees of Victory," he noted. "They know our products and they know our competitors' products very well. When they're asked to quote a job, they are as reliable as they come."

For more information on ENERGY STAR-qualified Victory models, visit Victory's web site at www.victory-refrig.com