Interstate Batteries of Potomac Valley Recognized as Best in Class
July 9, 2008
Dallas, Texas—Interstate Batteries recently announced during its biennial convention held in Washington, DC, that Potomac Valley Distributor Brandon Shank won the coveted Best in Class award—a prestigious honor among the international Interstate Battery System. This elite award was given to only three of Interstate’s 300 distributors serving 200,000 accounts throughout North America, with Mr. Shank excelling in the ILD Growth category.
Carlos Sepulveda, President & CEO of Interstate Batteries, said, “A ‘Best In Class’ distributorship is exactly that—the BEST! For a distributorship to achieve this recognition, they have to work very hard and work very smart as the battery business has gotten increasingly complex and challenging. Congratulations to Brandon Shank and his excellent team on gaining this outstanding recognition!”
Mr. Shank has owned Interstate Battery System of Potomac Valley, located in Hagerstown at 19941 Beaver Creek Road, since 2003. Today they service over 1,000 Interstate customers in seven counties throughout four states and realize the importance of developing and refining business programs in order to continue their success. With that in mind, they have found innovative ways to promote brand awareness among consumers, and have achieved an extremely high level of awareness in the local market.
After purchasing the Interstate Batteries distributorship from his parents in April 2003, Brandon set a plan in motion for aggressive growth and has been following and adjusting that plan ever since. “We knew that with our proven products and system we could attain the goals set forth,” said Mr. Shank. “Since that time we have grown our annual sales 58% and our dealer base 66%. That growth has caused us to add personnel, delivery vehicles and construct a new facility, scheduled to open in August 2008. We approach our business with one philosophy, ‘be the job big or small, do it right or not at all.’”
Mr. Shank attributes the success of sustaining growth year after year to the quality of service and products his dealers provide to their customers.
“Our continued growth is a testament to the success of not only our operation, but that of our dealers,” notes Mr. Shank. “We are still doing business with dealers that my father set up prior to 1986, and many new dealers have given us the opportunity to service them as well and we are thankful for them all.”
The Best In Class program was designed to recognize Interstate’s leading Distributors and to establish benchmarks for achieving even greater success throughout the system. Categories that Interstate distributors were eligible to win an award for include: DODD National Account Service, Specialty Products and Independent Local Dealer (ILD) Growth.