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Mike Lessiter

Mike Lessiter

A second-generation ag journalist, Mike Lessiter has been Editor/Publisher of Farm Equipment since 2004. He has covered business-to-business operations, manufacturing and marketing topics since 1992. He has also served in several capacities with the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Assn., Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers and is a frequent industry speaker. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, he was named president of Lessiter Publications Inc. in 2007.

Contact: mlessiter@lessitermedia.com

Articles

ARTICLES

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H&R Agri-Power’s Sales Comp Plan

By Mike Lessiter posted on October 25, 2019 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management
Ryan Polete, sales manager at H&R Agri-Power made a profound opening statement about sales compensation and motivations. “What I’m showing is really not a compensation plan that motivates people, but it will push their direction in the right way. That’s about all we can hope for on that. Money,” he says, “should motivate our sales force.”
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Lessiter
To the Point

Onboarding Salespeople: Calibrate Your Current Sales Force, Too

By Mike Lessiter posted on October 22, 2019 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management
The highest rated panel of the 2019 Farm Equipment Dealership Minds Summit featured two Dealership of the Year Alumni. It was no surprise that dealers learned so much from RDO Equipment and Stotz Equipment. We’ve visited them on numerous occasions and continue to be amazed by their home-grown systems that cultivate the exact results they want.
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Lessiter
To The Point

Parts Rush: Young Dept. Manager Ends Up in Music Limelight

Journey with us back to the early 1970s to the farm equipment world of Ontario. Envision a young parts manager pounding his sticks on the parts counter, on 55-gallon drums or whatever was parked out in the shop. Of course, stealing this “practice time” only between farmers’ requests for hoses, sweeps/tines and feeder chains.
By Mike Lessiter posted on October 15, 2019 | Posted in Department Management, Dealer Succession
Journey with us back to the early 1970s to the farm equipment world of Ontario. Envision a young parts manager pounding his sticks on the parts counter, on 55-gallon drums or whatever was parked out in the shop. Of course, stealing this “practice time” only between farmers’ requests for hoses, sweeps/tines and feeder chains.
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Lessiter

To the Point: Better Days Ahead as Farm Equipment Changes — & Doesn’t

By Mike Lessiter posted on July 2, 2019 | Posted in Best Practices, Data & Forecasts
My last 5 business days were productive. Before and after a 26-hour conference in Colorado, I had two interviews for “Our Dealer Story,” attended a Far West Equipment Dealers Assn. board event, toured two suppliers and met with a farm machinery analyst. The road miles showed things growing again, albeit the corn was only ankle high.
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Precision Specialist Comes to the Rescue on First Day of Planting

Precision Specialist Comes to the Rescue on First Day of Planting

Go behind the scenes with Leo Johnson and his son, Patrick, as they plant corn into strips for the first time on their 1,000-acre farm in Clinton, Wis. Jason Pennycook, precision specialist for 9-store Case IH dealer Johnson Tractor, comes to the rescue with remote support when Patrick runs into a problem with the planter in the field.

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