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Articles by Mike Wiles

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The Real World of ESOPs

From Acquisition to Owner Retirement

An employee stock ownership plan is providing a seamless succession strategy for Livingston Machinery.
By Mike Wiles posted on July 18, 2016 | Posted in Operations & Finance, Dealer Succession
It’s a tough situation laying in a hospital bed and realizing the business you’ve spent most of your life building might go away if you’re unable to return to work. In 2008, that was the reality for Earl Livingston of Livingston Machinery in Chickasha, Okla., after he suffered a stroke and wasn’t sure he’d make it back.
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How To Sell Stalk Stompers

Stalk Stompers Can Do More Than Minimize Tire Damage

Devices for flattening corn stalks during harvest can also help facilitate residue decomposition.
By Mike Wiles posted on October 16, 2015 | Posted in Niche Equipment Markets
It was the perfect storm for product development: the advent of new hybrid Bt corn varieties developed to reduce the need for insecticides, thus improving crop yields and reducing labor, left spear-sharp, tree trunk-like stalks capable of piercing expensive tractor, combine and implement tires. All of a sudden, there was a rapidly growing need for products that could bend over or mangle these corn stalks so they didn’t damage the equipment tires.
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Cost of Doing Business: What the Numbers Can Tell Us

Comparing Cost of Doing Business numbers to a hypothetical dealership demonstrates how to pinpoint trouble spots in our financials.
By Mike Wiles posted on June 11, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance, Department Management
In this part of the special report, the Western Equipment Dealers Assn. (WEDA) provided an analysis of finances and operations of a hypothetical dealership named Brookfield Farm Equipment, or BFE, using the 2014 Cost of Doing Business study for comparison purposes. This particular dealer would fall in the larger group of dealers with more than $75 million in annual sales.
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Cost of Doing Business: How to Use CODB Numbers to Up Your Dealership's Performance

Data collected by dealer associations for more than 50 years is another tool dealers can use to measure and monitor their business performance.
By Mike Wiles posted on June 11, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance, Department Management
The year 2015 may well be a trying one for many farm equipment dealerships. Recent record profits and tax incentives have allowed farmers to own a fleet of new or nearly new equipment. In the future, equipment purchases may be severely restricted if there are changes in earnings or tax rules.

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Fast Planting

How Fast Can We Plant?

A panel at the National Farm Machinery Show gave 4 planting suppliers a forum to discuss how they’re addressing the ‘need for speed.’
By Mike Wiles posted on April 10, 2015 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

Just over a year ago, John Deere raised the eyebrows of many in the industry with the announcement that the traditional barriers of planting speed and accuracy could be broken. At the 2014 National Farm Machinery Show, the manufacturer unveiled its ExactEmerge row unit system that claimed to provide accurate seed placement at 10 mph.


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Customer Intelligence Special Report: CRM

Predictive Analytics — Applicable to Farm Equipment Dealerships?

By Mike Wiles posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance
A large industry is evolving that is attempting to collect and analyze data to predict and expand future sales. It’s not just in the car business, but in almost every major industry. That’s because technology now exists to anonymously track the Internet habits of millions of customers. By combining this with what is already known about the average buying habits of consumers and utilizing CRM tools, targeted marketing programs can be sent to likely customers early in the purchasing process.
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Customer Intelligence Special Report: CRM

Recognizing the 'Zero Moment of Truth'

By Mike Wiles posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance
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.
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Farm Equipment Videos

Baltimore Port Closure to Impact High Horsepower Tractor Imports & Exports

Baltimore Port Closure to Impact High Horsepower Tractor Imports & Exports

In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Weasler Engineering, we look at how the Port of Baltimore's closure will alter the flow of high horsepower tractors in and out of the country. In the Technology Corner, Noah Newman talks about some changes coming to drone operation regulations. Also in this episode, Kazakhstan's potential for the North American ag equipment industry and what 2024 holds for the sprayer market.

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Top Directory Listings

Yetter Farm Equipment

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.
MonTag

Montag Mfg

Montag is the industry’s innovative leader for precise, accurate metering of fertilizer, seed and other nutrients. The Montag system has become the standard for deep banding of fertilizer. Montag is also pioneering the technology for cover crop seed application. The new Cover Crop+ is able to meter the smallest seed, and can be mounted to tillage implements, combines, plus Hagie sprayers and detasselers.

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Finance Scope

Finance Scope is able to provide the best financing opportunities for equipment dealers and customers through a diverse mix of lending companies under one single platform. Our large group of lenders, allows for competitive rates regardless of credit scores. Additionally, dealers and customers have access to the industry’s best expertise surrounding finance and lease structures, for all purposes, within the agricultural and construction industries. We provide all of this into one online platform to provide our customers with the best available tailored finance solution for their equipment.
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