Get FinancingGeis Dealer Group Evolves With Truck Paper
When Kansas City Peterbilt opened in 1975, it was the first and only locally owned Peterbilt dealership in the region. That distinction has held through today, even as the company entered a new era in 1986 when Leon Geis purchased the business.
Since then, the original dealership has evolved far beyond truck sales, becoming a one-stop shop for the trucking industry, offering leasing, parts, service and repair, fleet solutions, and financing. The growth prompted a major rebrand in 2023, when the company officially became Geis Dealer Group.
Company Director of Business Development/Marketing Randy Zeller says remaining known as Kansas City Peterbilt “wasn’t doing any justice” to the many brands and services the company supports. The rebranding also positioned the family-owned business for expansion beyond its seven current facilities at five locations across Kansas and Missouri. “And to do that,” Zeller says, “you can’t be called ‘Kansas City Peterbilt’ if you own a dealership in, say, Arkansas or South Dakota.”
Growth & Diversification
Since 1994, Chris Geis, Leon’s son, has served as company president. Under his leadership, Geis Dealer Group has grown to include Geis Peterbilt (truck sales), Geis Utility Trailer (trailer sales), Geis PacLease (truck and trailer leasing), Geis Capacity (yard spotter truck sales), and Geis TRP (parts sales).
Beyond Peterbilt and Utility Trailer, the company is an authorized dealer for Trailstar, Clement, Extreme Trailers, and Capacity Trucks, offering a wide range of equipment that includes day cab, sleeper, yard spotter, and vocational trucks, along with drop-deck, dry van, flatbed, end dump, and other trailer types.
Getting Strategic With Advertising
Geis Dealer Group is a longtime Truck Paper advertiser, typically running full-page ads in the Central edition of Truck Paper magazine. Recently, the company also advertised in the Truck Paper Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) special edition, which was distributed at the event in Louisville, Kentucky, in March.
Zeller’s own relationship with Truck Paper spans roughly 15 years, before he joined Geis Dealer Group. Early on, he says, his Truck Paper sales representative suggested that his ads could use improvement. “So, I drove from Excelsior Springs, Missouri, to Sandhills to learn how to create a proper ad,” Zeller says. “It’s always stuck with me how Truck Paper offered different ideas, like rotating ads in different regions.”
Truck Paper Assistant Manager Michelle Ober recently became Geis Dealer Group’s primary Sandhills Global sales representative. “Michelle’s been great,” Zeller says. “She took us under her wing in December and is helping us a lot. It’s been a breath of fresh air. We’re still learning to optimize things better.”
Sandhills-Hosted Websites
Geis Dealer Group has several Sandhills-hosted websites, including its main site at GeisDealerGroup.com as well as Geis Peterbilt (GeisPeterbilt.com), Geis Utility Trailer (GeisUtilityTrailer.com), and Geis PacLease (GeisPacLease.com).
One key frustration with the company’s previous website host, Ober says, was the amount of time it took to complete tasks. With Sandhills, she says, updates occurred quickly, as Senior Interactive Designer Ross Glassburn frequently implemented changes on the fly during planning sessions.
The sites not only have a clean, uniform appearance, but also (with the exception of the Geis PacLease site) incorporate Sandhills’ Showroom feature. This allows Geis Dealer Group to neatly organize its brands under a single menu and give users a centralized spot to browse its truck and trailer inventories.
Zeller adds that the Showroom component also “gives you the ability to organically come up in search engines with all the different manufacturer makes and models, even if they aren’t actually listed.”
Celebrating 40 Years
Looking ahead, Zeller says Geis Dealer Group plans to celebrate 40 years under Geis family ownership this summer. He says the company is also planning a new full-service dealership north of Sedalia, Missouri, and preparing for the launch of a new auxiliary power unit (APU) business.
What won’t change moving forward is the company’s approach to customer service and its ability to find solutions quickly. “We don’t drag out situations,” Zeller says. “We nip them in the bud quickly, and our customers love us for that.”
A version of this article first appeared in Sandhills Magazine. You can find current and back issues in the Sandhills Magazine Archive.