Prepare your business for automation success.
By Nicole Needles
AS MATERIAL HANDLING automation grows at an unprecedented pace, sales teams face a new reality: Success is no longer just about moving forklifts or racking systems. Today, it’s about building consultative relationships, understanding complex operations and delivering solutions that integrate technology and process improvements.
Lee Jones, corporate sales manager at Atlanta Forklifts Inc., shared insights at the 2025 Automation Solutions Conference on what it takes to build a sales team ready to thrive in this evolving landscape.
From Small-town Roots to
Industry Leadership
Lee’s professional journey began in 2003 in Zebulon, Georgia, a small town just south of Atlanta with “two red lights” at Johnson Battery Company, where they sold and serviced industrial batteries. His first year was spent as a technician, followed by nine years in sales. It was during this time that he developed a deep understanding of the complexities and demands of warehouse operations. This experience established both the technical foundation and the customer-focused approach that have guided his career ever since.
This decade-long experience laid the foundation for his customer-first mindset and technical expertise, which would guide the rest of his career. In 2013, Lee took on a leadership role at Carolina Handling overseeing operations across Georgia and Alabama.
Then in 2018, he came to Atlanta Forklifts, selling special products and later took on the role of corporate systems manager. With a deep understanding of forklift systems and customer needs, this has helped Lee drive strategic initiatives across special products, racking, automation and lean consulting.
Why Automation Is
a Journey Worth Pursuing
Automation in material handling is no longer optional – it’s essential. “The market is booming,” Lee said. “Businesses face labor shortages, rising wages and the pressure to meet faster delivery times. Automation is the solution to these challenges.” For dealers, automation opens doors to a growing market, diverse customers and recurring revenue opportunities.
But the value of automation extends beyond operational efficiency. According to Lee, “As a reseller, you’re not just selling a product; you’re selling a complete solution. Customers often don’t know what automation they need or how it integrates with their existing systems. This is the value zone – becoming the trusted advisor.”
Dealers create value by consulting and designing tailored solutions, integrating technology with current warehouse management systems and providing ongoing support that extends well beyond the initial sale.
The return on investment for customers is equally compelling. Automation reduces operational costs, increases efficiency, enhances safety and boosts accuracy. “When customers can see tangible benefits, the justification for the investment becomes much easier,” Lee emphasized.
Furthermore, post-sale support – including preventive maintenance, software updates and system expansions – creates a recurring revenue model that stabilizes the dealer’s business.
Vision, Teams and Processes
Lee stressed that technology alone doesn’t drive automation success: It’s the combination of vision, cross-functional teams and process focus that matters. “While technology is a product to be sold, a well-defined vision is the foundation for an effective sales process. It’s the ‘why’ that drives the ‘how.’” A shared vision aligns the team, clarifies priorities and ensures a consistent message for customers, ultimately increasing trust and credibility.
Complex automation projects require more than a single salesperson’s expertise. “Cross-functional teams are not just a nice-to-have – they’re fundamental,” Lee said.
His approach includes engineers, project managers, service representatives and salespeople working together to design, implement and support solutions. This collaborative structure builds credibility with customers and ensures a seamless experience from discovery to deployment.
Process improvement is equally critical. “A customer may think they need an AGV, but their real problem could be a convoluted workflow,” Lee explained.
Atlanta Forklifts trains teams to identify bottlenecks, map operations and quantify ROI, making proposals more compelling and positioning the company as a strategic partner rather than a vendor.
Internal Training
and Development
Internal training is central to building a sales team ready for automation. “Automation solutions are highly technical,” Lee said. “Salespeople must be knowledgeable consultants, not just order-takers.”
Training at Atlanta Forklifts includes developing product expertise, consultative sales skills, cross-training with engineers and learning lean and change management principles. Sales reps learn to conduct needs assessments, uncover pain points and link solutions directly to financial outcomes. They also gain hands-on experience with AMRs, AGVs, conveyors and warehouse management systems to speak the customer’s language with confidence. Ongoing coaching, vendor certifications and playbooks reinforce skills, ensuring the team is prepared for both technical and human aspects of automation sales.
Hiring for Mindset
and Capability
Lee highlighted the importance of hiring the right people. “Automation sales is long-cycle, multi-stakeholder and high-dollar. Look for reps who have enterprise sales experience, are consultative and comfortable engaging multiple stakeholders,” he advised. Ideal candidates combine business acumen with technical fluency, emotional intelligence, curiosity and a collaborative mindset.
Atlanta Forklifts also emphasizes culture fit. “We hire people who believe in transformation over business as usual,” Lee said. Compensation plans are structured to match longer sales cycles, rewarding milestone achievements like design reviews, proposals and pilot deployments rather than just closed deals.
Traits of Effective
Automation Sales Talent
Lee outlined the key traits of successful automation salespeople: consultative, curious, tech-comfortable yet human focused, collaborative, resilient and results-driven. “The best automation salespeople act like consultants, speak the language of both engineers and executives and play the long game with credibility and persistence,” he said.
Consultative sellers diagnose customer pain, ask open-ended questions and co-create solutions. They connect technology to human outcomes – labor savings, safety improvements and employee retention – and communicate in a way that resonates with both operators and executives.
“Automation success is 50% tech, 50% adoption,” Lee emphasized. Sales professionals guide change management, help customers envision future states and maintain relationships across long sales cycles, ensuring trust and long-term value.
Pre-visit Preparation and
Customer Engagement
A proactive approach to customer engagement is a hallmark of Atlanta Forklifts’ methodology.
“A rep should walk in saying, ‘Here’s what I understand about your challenges,’ not asking, ‘So what do you do here?’” Lee explained.
Pre-visit preparation includes researching the business, understanding operations, mapping pain points and anticipating objections. On-site engagement emphasizes curiosity, observation and balancing technical insight with human impact.
Follow-up is equally important. “The rep becomes the trusted project manager of the relationship, not just a vendor,” Lee said.
Recaps, value-add communications and scheduled next steps maintain momentum and demonstrate professionalism, turning initial interest into lasting trust.
Building a Future-ready Team
Building a sales team capable of leading automation initiatives requires a deliberate blend of vision, process focus, technical fluency and human-centered consultative skills. Atlanta Forklifts’ approach combines robust internal training, cross functional collaboration and strategic hiring to develop a team that can navigate complex sales cycles, drive ROI and position itself as a trusted partner.
“Build with purpose,” Lee advised. “Structure with vision. Hire for mindset. Engage with structure. Follow up to closure.”
By focusing on these principles, sales teams can succeed in automation today and prepare for the next generation of material handling solutions.
For Atlanta Forklifts, the journey is ongoing. From AMRs to AGVs, conveyors, storage systems and lean consulting, the team continues to expand its expertise, integrate technology with operational insight and develop a customer-first approach that turns automation from a challenge into a growth opportunity.
As Lee Jones succinctly puts it, “The strongest automation salespeople balance technical fluency with empathy, translate complexity into clarity and earn influence by being dependable partners.”
For organizations aiming to succeed in the material handling automation market, his words are both a roadmap and a call to action.
Article Takeaways
1. Hire for Mindset, Train for Success. – The most effective automation salespeople combine consultative thinking, technical curiosity and collaborative skills, which can be developed through targeted internal training.
2. Consultative Sales Drive Value. – Sales success comes from understanding customer challenges, linking solutions to measurable ROI and positioning the team as a trusted advisor rather than just a vendor.
3. Vision and Process Fuel Growth. – A clear company vision, cross functional teamwork and structured processes ensure automation initiatives are implemented efficiently and sustainably, benefiting both customers and the dealer.
