Photos: ©2016 Edmunds Studios. www.edmundsstudios.com.

Ten million bags and counting! That 10 millionth bag of pellets was filled at the Earth Sense Energy Systems (ESES) facility in Dale, Wisconsin, on Nov. 17, 2015. Perhaps no other simple fact out of many stellar accomplishments highlights as well the success of Jed and Jody Martin’s excellent adventure into the world of pellet-burning product sales and service that began in 1991.

(Ed. Note: One bag of pellets equals 40 lbs. Ten million bags equals 400 million lbs.)

In the summer of 2005, when Hearth & Home visited the Earth Sense store in Dale, Wisconsin, the Martins were in the process of developing the location of their second facility. They were refining a system of pellet procurement and handling that would create an efficient, reliable and affordable way to provide their pellet stove customers with the highest quality fuels in the marketplace, and at the least cost. 

L to R: Jody and Jed Martin, owners.

They were selling more pellet-burning appliances than any other dealer in North America, and demand was on the rise. Their formula was to sell quality products from manufacturers that supported them; educate customers on the right way to operate their stove; provide options on good, better, best in both stoves and fuel; promise and deliver reliable product and service; be there to answer any question and solve any problem that a customer could have.

Today, Earth Sense sells approximately 1,500 pellet appliances each year; Harman is their top seller. They also sell about 400 Green Mountain pellet grills a year, and act as that company’s distributor throughout Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. The Daniel Boone model is their most popular grill.  

In 2005, it was phenomenal for Earth Sense to be bringing in 200 rail cars of bagged pellets, and another 30 hopper cars of bulk pellets containing about 100 tons per car. Today, Jed and his crews are bringing in 90 percent of their pellets in bulk by rail car. Their average annual pellet volume is 350 to more than 400 carloads (400 X 100 = 40,000 tons)!

Handling the delivery of pellets as they arrive has become a major undertaking that required refinement over the years. In 2005, bags delivered on cars would take about 15 man-hours to unload (each car). Today, the bulk unloading process, which uses technology borrowed from the grain industry, results in one man doing the job in one hour. 

Handling pellets in bulk provides the opportunity of selling to the customer in bulk, at a significant discount, or bagging the pellets themselves under their own labeling. An important service provided by Earth Sense is to separate out the sawdust fines that can create problems for the final user.

Another innovation in the past year is an economical way to handle the roughly seven tons of fines waste that is part of each carload of pellets. Formerly, it was gathered and sold for livestock bedding. Now, with their own pellet mill, ESES can re-pelletize the one-time waste product and bag it for sale as a high quality pellet. 

The ESES in-house pellet brand is called “Uncle Jed’s Cold Remedy.”

So who is burning all those pellets? Operations manager Chad Curtis says they now have in excess of 24,000 customers, generally residing in the area of Wisconsin some refer to as Packerland. (The Green Bay Packers football team’s home is about 50 miles down the road.) This general area covers northeast Wisconsin and the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Since 2005, the Martins have also added five company stores to their fold, all generally in that same geographic area. This helps them better serve existing customers, and also makes it easier for new customers to get to them. The new locations are generally quite rural, and stick with the rural theme of the country farm/elevator. Jed says his ideal location is in “the middle of nowhere, 15 minutes from everywhere.” 

Earth Sense Energy Systems is a destination location for most customers. Advertisements are grassroots oriented, with local newspapers and direct mail accounting for 85 percent of the load. County fairs and local home shows also are very important. 

Additionally, Earth Sense has added eight Earth Sense Reseller locations as outliers to their general territory. These stores act as traditional Earth Sense stores, but are individually owned and operated. They are complete service facilities that sell and support the total product line and make it easier for remote customers to get the care they expect from any Earth Sense store. 

Earth Sense’s Readfield facility; the silo on the right holds 3,000 tons of pellets.

They also have 15 other locations that are strictly pellet retailers, giving their customers easy access to pellets nearer to their homes or cabins.

Another new feature of the Earth Sense program is a comprehensive website, marketing and support program (www.pellethead.com). It provides a complete description of every product and service the company offers. In addition, there is a blog section covering many subjects helpful to the pellet user, including FAQs, Grilling Tips, Heat Loss Prevention, Heating Tips, Manufacturer News, Part Installation Service & How-To, Pellet Tips & News, Stove Tips & News and Tips From Uncle Jed. That section alone is a good reason to access the website. 

Also included on the website is a parts section that is becoming a hit all over the country, as well as in other parts of the world. Jed’s initial concern was to stock every part of every stove he ever sold to keep his customers happy if something ever needed service and replacement parts. His son, Taylor, had the idea of putting the parts service on the website. 

Jed kept getting requests from all over, including many who had purchased their stove elsewhere but could not get parts or help from their original dealer. As a result, he began stocking parts for many other products that were going without general support. They can now same-day ship many parts anywhere they are needed. 

Currently, ESES has nearly 500 different parts and components available. This parts inventory provides an additional comfort level for each of those 24,000 customers who have an Earth Sense product. Jed and Chad take pride in knowing their customers are confident of having warm nights with minimum down time.

The website has become a good management and organizational tool, as well. It’s a way for customers to place orders for pellets, accessories or even a stove online. It also will be part of the advertising and promotional efforts that are done by the company.

One of the more significant annual promotions is the early-buy program. Each spring and summer, promotions encourage customers to get their pellet-burning systems serviced and checked well before the heating season begins, and to get orders in for pellets they will need for the next season. 

There is a significant savings for taking advantage of early-buy. Bulk and bag delivery is available for all customers. Those who don’t have storage facilities can place their orders early and pick up portions of the order when needed throughout the season. (The computer linkage allows for this feature.) Customers also can pick up their pellets from any store in the system; whichever location is most convenient. 

The early-buy program accounts for more pellets being sold in the spring and summer than in the heating season. This helps spread out the workload and assures better information in ordering and procuring the pellet supply.

Every new customer becomes a member of the “buyers club” for one year after purchase. This allows them to be eligible for special pricing on pellets, products, accessories and services for that time. For a small annual fee, customers can remain in the buyers club. 

All other appliance purchasers are permanently in the “preferred customer” category, with special access to promotions aimed at pellet pricing, service and maintenance specials. Earth Sense has a customer referral plan that also brings in many new customers. Jed’s customers and past pellet appliance buyers are some of his staunchest advocates and account for many sales.

Back in 2005, Earth Sense had a quality assurance program that included setting up and burning every appliance before it left the store. That program continues today. According to Frank Schreiter, head of the Quality Assurance effort, every pellet product spends an average of half a day undergoing adjustment, tuning and appropriate function observation before it leaves to be installed in a customer’s home. This removes any concern about whether or not the stove is set up to burn properly. 

If nothing else, it commissions the stove so that off-gassing odors of a new stove are minimized in the customer’s home. This set-up and observation experience has marked Earth Sense as a valuable component in the manufacturer’s product quality chain. Occasionally, glitches have been discovered related to manufacturing changes, which helps avoid service problems down the road.

The quality assurance effort will be part of a new program at Earth Sense that will repair and refurbish serviceable used stoves to like-new condition. The stoves then will be sold as certified used stoves offering reliable heating at a discount. Since Earth Sense already has the parts and service systems on board, this is a valuable but easily accomplished new activity.

There’s that old-time feel to all of the company’s stores, a bit of nostalgia for the past.

The Earth Sense Way 

Earth Sense lives by the philosophy that it’s important to “do the right thing.” Although in a business that sells comfort, aesthetics, energy conservation and often savings in fuel costs, it is never done at the expense of the customer’s safety and well-being. 

Joel Nelson, Sales manager at ESES, says that although the products available provide a range of features, designs and aesthetics from which a new buyer can choose, all include a minimum standard that places user safety and building integrity at the forefront. According to Joel, “We are bringing fire to a place inside your home; we want it to stay in that place and serve you, not endanger you.” 

At the latest ESES store facility in Junction City, Wisconsin, store manager Paul Roselle lives by that safety-first philosophy as well.

As mentioned above, an array of product options are available, designated by ESES as Gold, Silver or Bronze. At the beginning end, the lowest cost products are featured. These systems would be considered entry level or basic use products. They provide necessary safety and security requirements, but may lack some of the aesthetics and “bells and whistles” provided by higher-level products. 

In all cases, products are system oriented, with considerations given to function, hearth protection and venting issues. At the Gold level, all components in the system are at the best and most aesthetically appealing of product available. The customer is offered his or her choice based upon their needs and desires as to look and function. In every instance, an effort to arrive at a level of expectation of what the customer wants and what can be delivered is attained.

The Earth Sense way is impressed upon new employees; they must complete a comprehensive training program before interacting with customers on their own. That means understanding the ESES sales system, shadowing others on the sales team as they work with customers, taking and passing manufacturer training, two days of Pellet Tech training, two days of install training and three days of computer training. Following this the Sales manager shadows them as they interact with new buyers.

Service writers and technicians are trained in-house via hands-on training and manufacturer’s course work. Once they have an understanding of the products, they travel to customers’ homes on service calls with qualified technicians. Typically the training period will last 90 days. All service technicians work toward NFI Certification.

Bulk pellets being unloaded from a rail car.

Lead installers for installation teams require about two years of working as a technician and/or a follower on installations before they reach the lead level. They must gain product experience as well as an understanding of customer service expectations. They also work toward NFI Pellet Certification.

Customer service remains an area of profound emphasis. Two full-time employees schedule installations, service, pellet delivery and annual maintenance. Since the service area encompasses a large and rural distance, it is important to schedule efficiently. This is done through the use of a computer-mapping program.

Safe installations remain a point of emphasis. The in-house installation team completes most installations. If a customer opts out of the available installation services, they must sign an agreement to have the installation inspected by ESES technicians. If necessary, needed corrections will be made. Pictures of the installation record the set-up in the customer’s home to verify the process.

As 2016 gets off to a start, Jed and Jody Martin and the Earth Sense team remain committed to their customers, assuring them of good pellet-burning appliances to fulfill their needs. Further, customers have access to a supply of high-quality pellets to burn at a competitive cost.

Because Jed has long-term agreements for supply and pricing into the future, customers don’t have to worry about a pellet shortage. 

In addition, the service and maintenance capabilities built into the ESES program assures that parts and repair help are there to back up customers and solve any problem expeditiously. Customers know they are being treated fairly and receiving value for their investment. 

This led ESES to embark on a new product venture, which began in the past year. The product, high-quality, energy-efficient windows and doors, is needed to upgrade older rural homes owned by a number of the 24,000-member preferred customers of ESES. 

Satisfied pellet stove customers had asked Jed and his staff for ideas and products that would help improve comfort and energy savings in their homes. Extensive research found the product, and through the utilization of a well-trained and capable installation crew that included key people who already had experience in the window industry, the commitment was made to move forward.

A range of products are available, allowing customers to choose from good, better and best options. Marketing strategies will be similar to the way pellet product has been marketed.

The success of ESES is a reminder of what can happen when good planning and market analysis come together with a compassionate commitment to doing the right thing. ESES is successful because it found a product that works for a significant segment of the people who live in the area, and it has refined a method for supplying that product. 

Jed and Jody have surrounded themselves with a staff willing to learn and to help work the ESES plan. Ten million bags of pellets is a measure of their success.

SNAPSHOT
Store Name: Earth Sense Energy Systems (ESES) Location: Dale; Green Bay; Manitowoc; Oshkosh; Readfield; Junction City – all in Wisconsin Owners: Jed Martin, Jody Martin Key Executives: Chad Curtis, Operations Manager; Joel Nelson, Sales Manager; Taylor Martin, Web Development and Online Sales; Patrick Pawlak, Controller Year Established: 1991 Web Site: www.pellethead.com E-mail: mrpellethead@pellethead.com Phone: (920) 779-6647 Number of Stores: 6 Number of Employees: 48 Full-Time: 44 Part-Time: 4 Av. Sq. Ft. of Building Space: 2,500 Showroom: 1,500 Warehouse: 10,000 Outside Area: 2.5 acres Brands Carried: Hearth: HHT, Ravelli, Innovative Hearth Products, Even Temp, Selkirk, American Panel Barbecue: Green Mountain Grills Other: Wood Pellets – Uncle Jed’s Cold Remedy. ESES imports bulk pellets via rail and bags them at its pellet packaging facility, one of only a few hearth retailers in the nation to do so. ESES rails-in 300-400 train cars of pellets per year (100 tons per car). Advertising % of Gross Revenues: 3% Newspapers: 75% Direct Mail: 10% Other: Banners/signage 5% Trade shows/fairs: 10%