On August 18, 2020, a shockwave moved through the farm equipment dealer community when it was reported that RDO Vice President of Sales – Agriculture Mark Kreps and Vice President of Midwest Agriculture Steve Connelly were killed in a car crash in South Dakota. The two were leaders in the dealership industry by every known definition, and Farm Equipment staff had the privilege of getting to know them through the Dealership of the Year program (2010), the Dealership Minds Summit, of which both participated, Precision Farming Dealer Most Valuable Dealership (2020), as well as multiple visits to the Moorhead, Minn., store.

Advancements in media technology have many gifts, including the unexpected ability to forever capture history and one’s personal legacy. We learned a few years ago from a hand-written letter on what a gift a podcast or video recording can be to a family long after the individual leaves this Earth. As a result, and with the blessing of Kreps’ twin brother, Keith (21st Century Equipment), Farm Equipment went into its video archives to isolate Kreps’ presentation at the 2019 Dealership Minds Summit in Peoria, Ill.

Focusing on the onboarding processes at RDO Equipment, Kreps’ presentation was the highest-rated dealer presentation of the entire Dealership Minds Summit in 2019.

You can watch and listen -- in Kreps’ own words — to this 33-minute presentation below. The presentation is also available as a free eGuide "Preparing for Sales Success: Hiring & Onboarding — Part 2,” available here.