The marketing environment has radically evolved in all industries with the advent of the Internet. Because the changes were more abrupt and well defined on the customer side of the equation, many dealers may not fully understand what has transpired over the last decade.
Do you have the right people in place at your dealership to pick up the slack if you need to be out of the office for an extended period, whether expected or unexpected?
It's no secret that when a Champlain Valley Equipment customer needs a part, they need it now, and the dealership makes every effort to get that part out to them as soon as possible. For Tim Curtis, parts manager at the St. Albans, Vt., location, the most powerful and efficient communication tool to facilitate getting that part out is his smartphone.
My last article was titled “Technology to Exceed Customer Expectations.” In it I cited 5 different real world examples that show how farm equipment dealers use technology to better serve their customers and to improve their dealership’s performance.
CRM means Customer Relationship Management. The short answer to why you should care is that your future success may depend on if and how you implement CRM. Retail, your business, the business of selling and serving end users, is very competitive. Long term success often depends on doing a lot of little things right. Selling and servicing farm equipment is no different than any other industry where CRM is now a standard practice. But our industry is just starting to learn about its benefits of and to use CRM successfully.
Farm equipment dealers, like most computer software and hardware users, use only a small portion of the features built into the systems they work with every day. Studies show users utilize only about 30% of the available features in many systems at the top of the range and as little as 10% of the built-in features are exploited by any one user. This low utilization rate is the same whether it's a dealer business system (DBS) or a general computer application like Microsoft Word.
We’ve all had customer service nightmares that never should have happened. I don’t know about you, but I’ve come to expect that sort of thing from big companies like AT&T and Best Buy.
Ron Farrier, Chairman of the Board for Precision Equipment (headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa), talks about how the people "in the know" stayed tight-lipped until the company was ready to announce a merger to its employees.
Alan Byerly is convinced most dealer-principals fully understand the importance of service when it comes to looking at and understanding the big picture.
Neil Messick, Co-Owner, Brian Messick, President, and Jay Gainer, General Manager, discuss how the Messick’s dealership has grown over the past 75 years to now employ 350 people.
Since 1980, A&I Products has become a leading manufacturer and wholesale distributor of aftermarket replacement parts for the agricultural, turf, and industrial equipment markets. A&I Products' experience and expertise has greatly contributed to the company's reputation as a top supplier of quality, reasonably priced parts. Founded with roots as a small machine shop and repair facility, the company made the transition by manufacturing new parts to replace those that were identified as commonly needing repair. Throughout the 1980s, the company quickly garnered a reputation for offering quality parts at a reasonable price.
Built on 90 years of expertise, Yetter Farm Equipment leads the agriculture industry in designing effective and innovative equipment for residue management, seedbed preparation, precision fertilizer placement, harvest attachments, strip-tillage, and more.
At Machinery Scope, we believe you deserve the best risk management solutions for your investments in heavy equipment. Since 2013, we have been proud to offer extended warranty, appraisals, and inspections. Machinery Scope is a family-owned business built on our experience in farming and equipment dealerships. We understand your business and provide a personalized and professional level of customer service. Machinery Scope has built a strong warranty product with our customers in mind, offering the same professional level of service from the time you get a quote, through the processing of a claim.