Takeaways
- Brand loyalty can be a big deal to homesteaders and hobby farmers, but personal service can be even bigger.
- Treat homesteaders and hobby farmers the same as your largest farmer and contractor customers.
- Train employees to ask questions and offer solutions, but never pressure.
- Offer services, including part kit packaging and shipping, to help customers maintain their equipment in a way that’s most convenient for their lifestyle.
The Lamb family in western Kentucky had been using the same compact tractor for over 30 years when they finally decided it was time for a new one. After narrowing their choices to a few options, they decided to trust what their instincts had been telling them all along.
“We had several family conversations about this tractor and that tractor,” says Julie Lamb, a data analyst by day who loves taking care of her horses during her off hours. “Every one of those conversations came back to asking ourselves, ‘Will anything else do what our little Kioti has done all these years?’”
“I actually closed my eyes and tried to envision myself on another brand of tractor,” adds Steven Lamb, Julie’s husband. “I just didn’t like what I saw.”
Now you can regularly see both Steven and Julie on the Kioti CK3520 they’d purchased in June 2023. And even though their instincts told them Kioti would be the right choice, it was the performance of their dealer, Little Tractor & Equipment in Paducah, Ky., that sealed the deal.
Value Seekers
The Lamb family’s original Kioti LB2204 was actually the proud purchase of Steven’s father, the late Kenneth Lamb. Steven was fresh out of high school when his dad bought it.
“We’d seen some of our neighbors using different types of tractors, but that Kioti was the first tractor I ever really did anything with,” Steven says.
When Kenneth Lamb was diagnosed with cancer, he decided to leave his 1988 Kioti LB2204 tractor to his son, Steven. Kenneth wanted to make it look like new again, but needed some decals. Steven’s wife, Julie, didn’t have much luck hunting them down. Then one day while attending the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ky., Steven and Julie stopped in at the Kioti booth and started up a dialogue with some employees. Later on, they ended up telling one of those employees about their decal dilemma. Much to their surprise, a package soon arrived in the mail. It contained the decals needed to complete the restoration of Kenneth’s tractor. Rest assured, that project is high on their to-do list in 2026. Source: Steven & Julie Lamb
