Special Management Report:
Dealers Suggest 'Alternatives' to Roll Programs

In Farm Equipment’s survey on the pros and cons of equipment roll programs, dealers were asked to suggest alternatives to these types of programs. Here’s a list of suggestions that dealers mentioned most often.

• Comprehensive service programs that roll every other or every third years.
• Three-year extended warranty and trade after three years.
• Sell factory direct and pay dealers a respectable fee for handling and servicing the equipment.
• Some type of lease program or incentive to get customers to keep the equipment longer than one year.
• Perhaps a “registered fleet” buyer system, where a farmer gets discounts over a longer period of time vs. an “all-or-nothing” discount.
• A longer hold time where the customer gets the discounts over a period of time. This would stop dealers from selling a large customer 10 units, then taking and reselling them within a few weeks as “so called used.” It could be one where trades are done every two years instead of every year.
• Rental programs, planned trade cycles generated by a strong dealer relationship and effective regular maintenance plans may give the customer the best options and flexibility over time in managing fleet needs.
• The only solution that may work, is similar to the auto or tucking industry, whereby a customer with X amount of late model units in his fleet, would qualify for X% discount, but the customer or dealer wouldn’t have to do the “whole yard” to offer that customer a discount.