Home / Blogs / Opinions & Columns

Opinions & Columns
Opinions & Columns RSS FeedRSS

From the Desk of Dave Kanicki

Passion at Work

By Dave Kanicki posted on March 1, 2013 | Posted in Best Practices
They say that confession is good for the soul, and every once in a while people will offer a true mea culpa for things they regret.
Read More
George Russell
Technology for Profit

Reviewing What We've Covered So Far

By George Russell posted on February 5, 2013
As a regular columnist, or writer at any level, you cannot help but wonder if you're hitting the mark with your readers. I've heard from and spoke with enough dealers since I started writing this column for Farm Equipment in early 2009 to believe that the topic areas in this column are generally on the mark. So it was nice to find out that one of my columns from last year ranked as the second most highly read stories on www.farm-equipment.com in 2012.
Read More
Dr. Jim Weber
Business of Selling

Problems with Pre-Selling

By Dr. Jim Weber posted on February 5, 2013
At the turn of the 21st century as the dot-com bubble came to a screeching halt, all eyes turned to the burgeoning real estate market.
Read More
From the Desk of Mike Lessiter

Getting to the "Red Zone"

February 1, 2013 | Posted in Dealers on the Move
But having just returned from last weeks first-ever Dealership Minds Summit in Kansas City, the imagery of the red zone ” that spot on the field where opportunities are the greatest” seems appropriate. Because during that sold-out Summit, the Dealership of the Year alumni and other dealers in attendance pushed the entire dialog to that œred zone? area, and kept it there for a full 8 hours.
Read More
From the Desk of Dave Kanicki

What If?

January 18, 2013 | Posted in Operations & Finance
It's the time of year in agriculture when we start asking what if? This is a time-tested business practice where managers and others begin creating various scenarios and ask themselves and their teams what could happen and how could the company or industry cope if this or that situation crops up.
Read More
From the Desk of Dave Kanicki

New Year's Resolutions

December 26, 2012
I've never been a big believer in resolutions for the sake of making resolutions, particularly as an old year comes to an end and new year approaches. On the other hand, I came across something in 1975 that has remained in my "Food for Thought" file since then, and which I make a point of reading at least once a year.
Read More
George Russell
Technology for Profit

Make Your DBS More Productive

By George Russell posted on December 26, 2012
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.
Read More
Dr. Jim Weber
Business of Selling

Consider an Ancillary Compensation System

By Dr. Jim Weber posted on December 26, 2012
While a survey of dealers revealed that 98% of respondents paid their sales personnel either on the basis of salary (30%), cash difference (28%), salary plus commission (19%) or gross margin (21%), the remaining 2% of dealers paid their sales staff utilizing an undisclosed form of compensation. This column, the last in a four part series on sales personnel compensation, will explore possible compensation systems that may have been used by one in 50 dealers.
Read More
From the Desk of Dave Kanicki

The "Good Old Days"

By Dave Kanicki posted on December 10, 2012 | Posted in Manufacturer News

Talk about the "good old days" and things we probably will never see again, during the last month or so, Mike Lessiter and I had the enviable task of interviewing four, now-retired farm equipment legends who were a big part of some of the best and worst times in this business.


Read More

This month's digital sponsors:

Top Articles

Current Issue

View More

Must Read Free Eguides

Download these helpful knowledge building tools

View More

Farm Equipment Videos

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.

View More
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.

Machinery-Scope-Finance-Scope.png

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.
View More