January 2015 Showcase

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

To The Point: Fewer Chances Requires Better Performance

By Mike Lessiter posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

With NCAA basketball now in full swing, you’ve likely heard about the “points per possession” measurement of a team’s offensive performance. It’s used by coaches whose style is to methodically work a game plan for the highest-odds scoring opportunity. Unlike the frenetic pace of a “run and gun” offense, the idea is not to discover “more” chances, but to make those presented to you count.
Read More

Special Report: Leading-Edge Industry Says CRM is Your MVP

A look at customer intelligence & CRM use in leading industries like auto retailing illustrates the opportunities ahead for progressive ag equipment dealers.

By Mike Wiles posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

Farm Equipment set out on a first-ever project to highlight what’s coming tomorrow by sharing what’s possible today. To do so, the perspective of a dealer with first-hand daily knowledge of current state of affairs in operations behaviors and computer systems was needed. So instead of assigning this project to one of our staff reporters, Farm Equipment sent a dealer veteran to attend the 2014 Digital Dealer Conference. Held in Las Vegas last fall, the event is the leading conference for digital strategy marketing for auto dealers. He was likely the only farm equipment marketer in a crowd of automotive digital marketing and IT talent.
Read More

Customer Intelligence Special Report: CRM

Shifting Company Culture to 'Really' Know the Customer

By Mike Wiles posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

Dan Smith, CMO of Outsell LLC, says understanding the needs of the customer is of paramount importance with marketing messages, because “50% of your consumers will disengage if you fail to deliver relevant content.”
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Customer Intelligence Special Report: CRM

What Exactly is CRM?

By Mike Wiles posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, is a broad term that refers to the tools used to store detailed information about current and prospective customers to enable targeted communication with them. In today’s business world, the acronym commonly refers to the software system where that data is accumulated.
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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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Customer Intelligence Special Report: CRM

RDO Equipment Co. Moving Forward with CRM

By Mike Wiles posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

North American farm equipment dealerships are at various phases of adopting and developing Customer Relationship Management systems. Some are still trying to figure it out, while others are well along in their CRM development.
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Customer Intelligence Special Report: CRM

Dealers Not Taking Care of Business with Sales Leads

By Jaime Elftman posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

Sales lead generation is a vital part of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, where software is used to organize, automate and link all interactions with customers. This has become increasingly important with the emergence of the Internet.
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Products in Action, January 2015: DIS

January 1, 2015

Read Products in Action
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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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Technology for Profit

What is CRM and Why Should You Care?

By George Russell posted on July 19, 2013 | Posted in Manufacturer News

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.
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Virtual Stores: The Next Generation of Dealership Marketing

By Jennifer Reibel posted on February 9, 2010 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

New software and web-based tools are making the auto-dealer model a reality Ñ and turning dealer web sites into another store location.
Read More

Wider World of Business

Streamline Your Business With The Right CRM

June 25, 2012 | Posted in Department Management
Source: James Daugherty, SmallBizBee.com

Now more than ever, having a good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is crucial for running a business. We live in the social age; one in which customer praise and complaints can be easily spread to thousands if not millions of followers across the world on social sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Read More

Technology for Profit: 10 Things to Ask Your Business System Supplier

By George Russell posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

This column will provide you with questions you need to ask the business software provider(s) about the future capabilities of the system you use to run your dealership. These questions are not unreasonable because all of the capabilities discussed are already available in some form in farm equipment dealerships today. So to use a trite but true statement, “The future is now!”
Read More

Ahead of the Curve: CTIS Offer 'Cheap Corn' Advantages for Efficiency

By Dan Crummett posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Precision Ag Sales & Service

With market realities causing American grain farmers to plug in $3 corn to their spread sheets in place of $7, the machinery industry has seen a rapid slowing of demand for new, increasingly efficient farm equipment as producers defer replacing machinery and scramble to cut expenses.
Read More

Industry Q&A: Increasing Dealership Revenue

January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

We asked dealers: "Do you plan to do anything differently to increase dealership revenues in 2015?" Here are their responses.
Read More

Business of Selling: Dominating the Market

By Dr. Jim Weber posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

A year ago I wrote a column entitled Gathering Storm Clouds. That was followed up by last month’s column articulating the nine steps that should be undertaken during the turbulent times that lie ahead for equipment dealers. While some may be too timid to call a war a war, make no mistake about it, what equipment dealers will experience over the next 5 years will be a “war of attrition.”
Read More
Featured Articles

Featured Articles

Technology for Profit: 10 Things to Ask Your Business System Supplier

By George Russell posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

This column will provide you with questions you need to ask the business software provider(s) about the future capabilities of the system you use to run your dealership. These questions are not unreasonable because all of the capabilities discussed are already available in some form in farm equipment dealerships today. So to use a trite but true statement, “The future is now!”
Read More

Industry Q&A: Increasing Dealership Revenue

January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

We asked dealers: "Do you plan to do anything differently to increase dealership revenues in 2015?" Here are their responses.
Read More

To The Point: Fewer Chances Requires Better Performance

By Mike Lessiter posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

With NCAA basketball now in full swing, you’ve likely heard about the “points per possession” measurement of a team’s offensive performance. It’s used by coaches whose style is to methodically work a game plan for the highest-odds scoring opportunity. Unlike the frenetic pace of a “run and gun” offense, the idea is not to discover “more” chances, but to make those presented to you count.
Read More

Special Report: Leading-Edge Industry Says CRM is Your MVP

A look at customer intelligence & CRM use in leading industries like auto retailing illustrates the opportunities ahead for progressive ag equipment dealers.

By Mike Wiles posted on January 1, 2015 | Posted in Operations & Finance

Farm Equipment set out on a first-ever project to highlight what’s coming tomorrow by sharing what’s possible today. To do so, the perspective of a dealer with first-hand daily knowledge of current state of affairs in operations behaviors and computer systems was needed. So instead of assigning this project to one of our staff reporters, Farm Equipment sent a dealer veteran to attend the 2014 Digital Dealer Conference. Held in Las Vegas last fall, the event is the leading conference for digital strategy marketing for auto dealers. He was likely the only farm equipment marketer in a crowd of automotive digital marketing and IT talent.
Read More
Online Extras

Online Extras

Virtual Stores: The Next Generation of Dealership Marketing

By Jennifer Reibel posted on February 9, 2010 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

New software and web-based tools are making the auto-dealer model a reality Ñ and turning dealer web sites into another store location.
Read More

Wider World of Business

Streamline Your Business With The Right CRM

June 25, 2012 | Posted in Department Management
Source: James Daugherty, SmallBizBee.com

Now more than ever, having a good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is crucial for running a business. We live in the social age; one in which customer praise and complaints can be easily spread to thousands if not millions of followers across the world on social sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Read More

Ahead of the Curve: CTIS Offer 'Cheap Corn' Advantages for Efficiency

February 20, 2017

With market realities causing American grain farmers to plug in $3 corn to their spread sheets in place of $7, the machinery industry has seen a rapid slowing of demand for new, increasingly efficient farm equipment as producers defer replacing machinery and scramble to cut expenses.
Read More
Products in Action

Products in Action

Products in Action, January 2015: DIS

January 1, 2015

Read Products in Action
Read More

Farm Equipment

January 2015 Showcase

Table of Contents

Featured Articles

Online Extras

Products in Action

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