Get Financing4K Lift Co Expands Its Reach With LiftsToday
Reconditioned-Forklifts.com is one of those prized web addresses that perfectly describes the business it belongs to. 4K Lift Co., located in Dallas, Texas, specializes in refurbishing and selling a huge variety of used forklifts at a lower cost than its bigger competitors.
“Like our logo says, ‘Good Equipment, Great Prices’ has been our motto for many years,” says company owner Rick Kahle.
Part of 4K Lift’s success and customer base growth over the past year is due to LiftsToday, Sandhills Global’s niche platform specific to forklifts, telehandlers, boom lifts, and other lift equipment. “We have noticed our sales have picked up a good bit from it,” says Kahle. “It’s money well spent.”
Industry Focus, Wide Exposure
LiftsToday is a natural fit for 4K Lift and its inventory, said to be one of the largest collections of used forklifts in the U.S. The retail equipment platform focuses on the pneumatic tire, cushion tire, and rough terrain forklifts and telehandlers on offer from 4K Lift, with brands such as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Hyster, Caterpillar, Clark, and many more for sale.
“For me as a business owner, it’s done well for us,” says Kahle. “I think it helps the customers because they’re not having to search through a lot of other equipment to try to find forklifts.”
To get the word out to the right audience, Kahle runs a full-page ad in the biweekly LiftsToday magazine, which is distributed nationwide throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The equipment Kahle showcases in his print ads appears as featured listings on LiftsToday.com and its industry-leading parent site MachineryTrader.com . At the same time, the consistency of his advertising lets him expose the remainder of his 300-plus inventory to a worldwide audience as general listings on both sites.
A Family Business
Kahle first learned about forklift sales while working for his father-in-law. He established his own company, 4K Lift Co., in 1989.
“Forklifts are one of those markets that people don’t think much about,” he says, “but yet, when they get to thinking about it, they realize that 70% to 80% of businesses could use a forklift, so there’s a pretty good market out there for them.”
Today, Kahle’s son works with him, as do trained service technicians capable of major repairs and rebuilds. The company also carries parts for all forklift makes and models.
“We try to give similar quality to what the big companies provide but for less money, because our overhead is a lot less,” says Kahle. “We don’t have to generate as much profit off of each sale like the big companies do.”
Reaching Beyond State Lines
Approximately 40% of 4K Lift’s business in Texas is local to the Dallas area, with the remaining 60% coming from Houston and other parts of the state. However, one major effect of the company’s ads in LiftsToday has been an influx of calls from new customers outside of Texas. In fact, Kahle says, out-of-state buyers now account for about 25% of his business overall. When a long-distance call comes in, he says he sometimes feels like, “I didn’t even know we were advertising there! Surprises like that are good.”
A Good Rep In His Corner
Sandhills sales rep Jared Keller is Kahle’s single point of contact for his ads in LiftsToday and on MachineryTrader.com. “I appreciate Jared. He does a really good job,” Kahle says, noting that Keller often volunteers to help him with ad changes and updates.
“He works hard for the company,” Kahle says. “It makes it easy when you’ve got a product you believe in, and he definitely believes in what he’s doing. And for us, it’s worked. If it wasn’t working, we wouldn’t have been with him this long, and we wouldn’t continue on.”
The Road Ahead
Going forward, 4K Lift Co. may list a few more one-off pieces on AuctionTime.com , like the non-running Doosan forklift Kahle auctioned off in the site’s 2023 end-of-the-year sales.
But mostly, he says his time and energies will continue to be focused on 4K Lift’s core business of selling reconditioned forks to a growing list of repeat customers.
“We just try to focus on providing people with equipment that will save them some money, and they want to call us back when they get ready for another one.”