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February 2016

Volume: 54
Edition: 2

Dealership Minds: Profile of a Successful Dealership

  • Table of Contents

    Table of Contents

    Intro_Art_FE_0216-4.jpg

    Dealership Minds 2016 Overview: Kern Machinery

    Adapt and adapt again is this dealership’s mantra as it thrives in California’s highly diverse and rapidly changing ag environment.
    By Farm Equipment Staff posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Department Management, Dealer News
    In the fourth of Farm Equipment’s every-other-year Dealership Minds series, six editors travelled to central California to experience first-hand how a successful dealership — Kern Machinery — operates in a market where agriculture can only be described as “diverse,” “intensive” and “rapidly changing.” It wasn’t that long ago when cotton, potatoes and hay dominated the landscape. Today, vegetables, fruit, grapes and nuts are taking over.
    Read More
    Larry Sitzman_326_Dealership Minds_KS_1015.jpg
    Dealership Minds

    Cultivating Supplier Relationships to Build Customer Loyalty

    By Dave Kanicki posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Operations & Finance, Department Management, Niche Equipment Markets
    “I miss cotton,” says Larry Sitzman. “We really enjoyed serving the cotton industry for a lot of years.” But today, cotton, which was once called “white gold,” has become insignificant in California’s Central Valley, one of the most diverse agricultural regions in the U.S., if not the world. Kern Machinery, where Sitzman is the general sales manager, hasn’t sold a cotton picker in more than 10 years.
    Read More
    Dealership Minds

    Product Development Ties Customers to Kern Machinery

    By Dave Kanicki and Mike Lessiter posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Niche Equipment Markets
    Kern Machinery has not been satisfied to merely distribute farm machinery to its customer base. With the wide diversity of crops — from almonds and pistachios to table grapes and pomegranates — grown at the south end of California’s Central Valley, many of its customers’ challenges are unique to the region and not necessarily economically feasible for its major supplier to address.
    Read More
    Marty Buck_181 Dealership Minds_ML_1015
    Dealership Minds

    When to Know When the CFO Role Is Needed

    By Mike Lessiter posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance
    Marty Buck, the CFO for Kern Machinery and the other Camp family entities (based in Bakersfield, Calif.), explained to Farm Equipment some of the differences in financial management responsibilities as dealerships grow in scale. He joined Kern 7 years ago, after previously leading financial departments at Unisys and Bolthouse Farms.
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    Santiago Alcantar_337_Dealership Minds_KS_1015.jpg
    Dealership Minds

    Building a Customer-Focused Team

    By Kim Schmidt posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Department Management
    Santiago Alcantar wasn’t an expert on agriculture equipment when he joined Kern Machinery in 2013, but he was an expert when it came to customer service and retailing. Before joining the dealership as the parts manager for the Bakersfield and Lancaster stores, Alcantar worked as a manager for AT&T and Sears.
    Read More
    Mark Campanella_028 Dealership Minds_JE_1015
    Dealership Minds

    Getting it Done Right the First Time

    By Jaime Elftman posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Department Management
    Mark Campanella, the service manager for Kern Machinery’s Bakersfield, Calif., store, was originally brought into the dealership in 2009 to help the company “revamp” its field service program. Before joining Kern Machinery, Campanella had owned and operated his own field service business for construction equipment in southern California for 15 years.
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    Joe Alvardo_614_Dealership Minds_KS_1015
    Dealership Minds

    Helping ‘Frontline’ Employees Keep Customers Satisfied

    By Kim Schmidt posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Department Management
    Joe Alvarado leads by example and doesn’t take any of the opportunities he’s been afforded for granted, something he attributes to his time in the Marine Corps. When Alvarado returned to civilian life, he started working for a farm equipment and auto parts company in Tipton, Calif. It was a small, family-owned operation, but it was there that he fell in love with agriculture — more specifically the people of agriculture.
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    Matt Rossica_322_Dealership Minds_KS_1015
    Dealership Minds

    Reliable Tech Support Takes Patience & Passion

    By Jack Zemlicka posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Operations & Finance
    Customer chatter on the showroom floor or a wrench wrapping around a bolt in the service bay are often sounds that help define the success of a dealership. Less audible, but just as critical is the soft and constant purr of a company’s central computer servers, from which flow nearly every business operation.
    Read More
    Richard Knott_388_Dealership Minds_KS_1015
    Dealership Minds

    Facing Parts Challenges Head On

    By Kim Schmidt posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Department Management
    Richard Knott is a parts department lifer. The parts manager started his career off working for another John Deere dealership north of Kern Machinery’s stores. After a 3.5-year stint in the parts department at that dealership, Knott came to Kern Machinery and 31 years later is still keeping the parts department on goal at the Buttonwillow location.
    Read More
    Chris schott
    Dealership Minds

    Coordinating Orders to Operate as 1 Unit

    By Kim Schmidt posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management
    In over 30 years of working in the parts department at Kern Machinery, Chris Schott has seen a lot of changes. When he first started, a 24-hour turnaround on getting a part was amazing. “That’s not good enough any more. There are thousands and thousands of dollars on the line, so 24 hours is too long,” he says. “That creates the need for more inventory because customers want solutions and they want to be rolling now. If they have a piece of equipment down, they may have 3 pieces that operate behind it that can’t operate because the other one’s down. Well that adds up to big money fast. Downtime is a big thing for our customers and they’re under a lot more pressure.”
    Read More
    Matt Godinho_231_Dealership Minds_DK_1015
    Dealership Minds

    A Mix of Narrow Tractors & Quads

    By Dave Kanicki posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Department Management
    The extra large doors in its service department are a good indication that Kern Machinery’s Delano, Calif., location wasn’t necessarily built for the equipment that it specializes in today. “Our shop was actually built solely for cotton pickers. We’ve gotten away from the larger tractors and cotton pickers,” says Matt Godinho, sales manager of the store. As a matter of fact, when I came here 17 years ago we had 4 slightly used cotton pickers for sale. The last one we had was probably 12 years ago. I repossessed that one.”
    Read More
    James Boel and Don Zajac
    Dealership Minds

    Creating Partnerships with Customers Through Service

    By Jaime Elftman posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management
    While Don Zajac, service manager for Kern Machinery’s Buttonwillow, Calif., store, and James Boel, service manager at Kern Machinery’s Delano, Calif., store, have different levels of experience with the dealership and slightly different responsibilities, they both run their service departments with the same principle. No 2 days are the same for the pair and even under the best-laid plans, circumstances and schedules change.
    Read More
    Clay Camp
    Dealership Minds

    Coming Back to the Dealership

    By Jaime Elftman posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Dealer Succession
    For Clay Camp, son of Clayton Camp, president and co-owner of Kern Machinery, working in the family business at the farm equipment dealership was always the goal. After numerous summers spent helping out at the dealership while in high school, Clay knew he liked the atmosphere and always pictured himself returning to the dealership.
    Read More
    Dealership Minds 2016: Kern Machinery

    Dealership Minds 2016 Video Series: Kern Machinery

    January 25, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices
    In the fourth of Farm Equipment’s every-other-year Dealership Minds series, six editors travelled to central California to experience first-hand how a successful dealership — Kern Machinery — operates in a market where agriculture can only be described as “diverse,” “intensive” and “rapidly changing.” It wasn’t that long ago when cotton, potatoes and hay dominated the landscape. Today, vegetables, fruit, grapes and nuts are taking over.
    Read More

    2016 AE50 Awards Recognize Innovations in Farm Machinery

    By Kim Schmidt posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions
    To be eligible for the award, each development — which could be a component, machine, structure, system, end product or procedure — must embody the application of new technology or the innovative application of an older technology. The technology must be new to the whole industry, not just to an individual company. In addition, for the 2016 awards the development must have been first made available for purchase or ordering during the 2015 calendar year.
    Read More
  • Featured Articles

    Featured Articles

    Intro_Art_FE_0216-4.jpg

    Dealership Minds 2016 Overview: Kern Machinery

    Adapt and adapt again is this dealership’s mantra as it thrives in California’s highly diverse and rapidly changing ag environment.
    By Farm Equipment Staff posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Department Management, Dealer News
    In the fourth of Farm Equipment’s every-other-year Dealership Minds series, six editors travelled to central California to experience first-hand how a successful dealership — Kern Machinery — operates in a market where agriculture can only be described as “diverse,” “intensive” and “rapidly changing.” It wasn’t that long ago when cotton, potatoes and hay dominated the landscape. Today, vegetables, fruit, grapes and nuts are taking over.
    Read More

    2016 AE50 Awards Recognize Innovations in Farm Machinery

    By Kim Schmidt posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions
    To be eligible for the award, each development — which could be a component, machine, structure, system, end product or procedure — must embody the application of new technology or the innovative application of an older technology. The technology must be new to the whole industry, not just to an individual company. In addition, for the 2016 awards the development must have been first made available for purchase or ordering during the 2015 calendar year.
    Read More
  • Online Extras

    Online Extras

    Dealership Minds 2016: Kern Machinery

    Dealership Minds 2016 Video Series: Kern Machinery

    January 25, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices
    In the fourth of Farm Equipment’s every-other-year Dealership Minds series, six editors travelled to central California to experience first-hand how a successful dealership — Kern Machinery — operates in a market where agriculture can only be described as “diverse,” “intensive” and “rapidly changing.” It wasn’t that long ago when cotton, potatoes and hay dominated the landscape. Today, vegetables, fruit, grapes and nuts are taking over.
    Read More
    James Boel and Don Zajac
    Dealership Minds

    Creating Partnerships with Customers Through Service

    By Jaime Elftman posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management
    While Don Zajac, service manager for Kern Machinery’s Buttonwillow, Calif., store, and James Boel, service manager at Kern Machinery’s Delano, Calif., store, have different levels of experience with the dealership and slightly different responsibilities, they both run their service departments with the same principle. No 2 days are the same for the pair and even under the best-laid plans, circumstances and schedules change.
    Read More
    Dealership Minds

    Product Development Ties Customers to Kern Machinery

    By Dave Kanicki and Mike Lessiter posted on February 13, 2016 | Posted in Niche Equipment Markets
    Kern Machinery has not been satisfied to merely distribute farm machinery to its customer base. With the wide diversity of crops — from almonds and pistachios to table grapes and pomegranates — grown at the south end of California’s Central Valley, many of its customers’ challenges are unique to the region and not necessarily economically feasible for its major supplier to address.
    Read More
    Sponsored Content: Success in Shortline Machinery

    What Consultants Say About Shortline-Only Farm Equipment Dealerships

    We interviewed three consultants to get their perspective on the challenges faced by shortline-only dealers. Here's what they had to say, in their own words.
    By George Russell, George Keen, and John Schmeiser posted on February 15, 2016 | Posted in Niche Equipment Markets
    We interviewed three consultants to get their perspective on the challenges faced by shortline-only dealers. Here's what they had to say, in their own words.
    Read More

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