Table of Contents

Table of Contents

To The Point: Another Major Line No Longer Mere Talk

By Mike Lessiter posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues

To complement this SHOWCASE’s report on what happens after the ink dries on a dealer acquisition (Dealer Acquisitions Report), I’d been exploring the major lines’ resources, checklists and protocols to help dealers integrate newly acquired stores. With the exception of John Deere (declined to participate), the majors supported the topic and cooperated with materials. Their viewpoint seemed a fitting introduction for this month’s “To the Point” column.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

After the Ink Dries: The First 100 Days Post-Acquisition

Dealers and consultants share their lessons learned on best practices for integrating your company culture into a newly acquired store.

June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Dealer Succession

One could argue that nearly every dealer in North America will be on one side or the other of an acquisition in the years ahead. This report focuses on the first 100 days of integrating a new store into another dealership group following an acquisition, and what it take to successfully meld one organization’s culture into another with a minimum or no loss of performance.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Consultants Offer ‘Post-Deal’ Insights

Professional management advisors share top tips on how to integrate store cultures, operations and systems on ‘Day 1’ of an acquisition.

By Mike Lessiter posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management

You know that you’ve got a complex subject when a canvassing of experts stirs up an array of answers to identical questions, even from professionals in the same organization.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Appoint an Integration Manager

By Mike Lessiter posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management

Consultant Michael O’Connor stresses that an acquisition should have an “integration manager” to run point on a process that could take 3 months to a year.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

5-Point Plan for First 100 Days

By Mike Lessiter posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management

Farm Equipment asked consultant Floyd Jerkins what specific advice he’d give a dealer on what to do in his first 100 days after inking a deal. To Jerkins, it’s about stabilization, integrating controls and processes, and addressing financial shortcomings.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Assimilating an Acquired Dealership: Issues & Missteps

Buying another dealership is the easy part. Integrating it into the overall organization is the bigger challenge.

By Dave Kanicki posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Department Management, Dealer Succession

When it comes to either buying or selling a dealership, when the deal is done, the parties on the different sides of the table say they all face the same set of challenges. How the issues are prioritized may differ if you’re the buyer or seller, but the concerns remain the same.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

One Dealership’s ‘Acquisition Journal’

New manager Davin Peterson recalls the first few months following an acquisition — in which he was getting to know both parties.

By Mike Lessiter posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance

Davin Peterson joined California-based Kern Machinery Inc. (KMI) in April 2015 in advance of the acquisition of Hollingsworth Inc., a 3-store John Deere dealer group with stores in Ontario and Burns, Ore., and Weiser, Idaho, that would be renamed Camp Equipment.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Cultural Integration: Embrace Change From the Get Go

Agriterra Equipment is an ever-growing dealership group that stresses open communication in the days following an acquisition.

By Kim Schmidt posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Dealer Succession

Agriterra Equipment, an 8-store AGCO dealer in Alberta, was born out of an acquisition in 2013. Brian Taschuk started the dealership by acquiring Selmac Equipment, which was a 3-store operation. Since that initial acquisition, Taschuk has acquired another dealership every 6 months. Today, the dealership has grown to 8 stores. “We’re on a constant integration journey every month,” he says.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Plan Early, But Have Patience

While Champlain Valley Equipment doesn’t have a script for acquiring another dealership, planning early and addressing challenges as they appear has led to six smooth dealership transitions for the company.

By Jaime Elftman posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management

While Champlain Valley Equipment doesn’t have a script for acquiring another dealership, planning early and addressing challenges as they appear has led to six smooth dealership transitions for the company.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

After the Ink Dries: Dealer Takeaways

June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Dealer Succession

Because dealers have had a wide variety of experiences when it comes to handling matters following the acquisition of another dealership, there was little if any clear-cut consensus on one “best” approach to some of the biggest and most critical issues involved.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Focusing on People & Performance Creates a Collaborative Culture

After more than a decade of rapid expansion, North Dakota-based Plains Ag has developed a successful — but still evolving — post-acquisition game plan rooted in honesty, tradition and productivity.

By Jack Zemlicka posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Dealer Succession

After more than a decade of rapid expansion, North Dakota-based Plains Ag has developed a successful — but still evolving — post-acquisition game plan rooted in honesty, tradition and productivity.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Every Acquisition is a ‘Big’ Deal

Dealers may want to downplay the significance of buying another dealership, but each acquisition is meaningful for the customers and employees who are involved.

By Dave Kanicki posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Dealer Succession

As a farm equipment dealer, Zach Hetterick has had no direct involvement with acquiring another dealer. But from his unique perspective while he was a service manager, product manager and territory sales manager for Case IH, he has plenty of experience observing how acquisitions were handled.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Management Talent Required to Meld Business Cultures

By Dave Kanicki posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Dealer Succession

One of the reasons some farm equipment dealers have avoided expanding their business operations to other locations is the lack of management talent to effectively oversee the integration of the two business cultures.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Integrating a New Store: What Makes for a Successful Transition?

By Dave Kanicki posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Dealer Succession

It’s been said that we learn far more from our failures than we do from our successes. This may be true, but dealers developing an integration plan for what will happen once an acquisition is complete can learn much from what other dealers have done right previously.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Getting a Do-Over: What Dealers Would Do Differently After an Acquisition

By Dave Kanicki posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Dealer Succession

Many dealers who have managed to successfully integrate an acquired dealership into their businesses have found some facet of process they would like to do over, given the opportunity. Here are some of do-overs shared in the Farm Equipment survey on strategies to integrate one dealership culture into another after an acquisition.
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Special Report: After the Ink Dries

Starting from Scratch vs. Acquisition

June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Dealer Succession

Responding to Farm Equipment’s survey on post-acquisition strategies, Lance Carlson of Quincy Tractor took the opportunity to compare starting a new farm equipment store location from scratch and acquiring an existing dealership.
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People & Profits: Keep Employees Engaged

By George Russell and Erik Thompson posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management

How do you and your managers gain the work and commitment of your employees to perform well? How can you influence the behavior and performance of your people in positive ways?
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Ahead of the Curve: Rebuilding Farmland with Cover Crops Will Take Tools

By Dan Crummett posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Niche Equipment Markets

The cover crop movement got a significant boost recently with the creation of the Soil Health Institute, an organization based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. It is focused on protecting and enhancing the vitality and productivity of farmland.
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Featured Articles

Featured Articles

Special Report: After the Ink Dries

After the Ink Dries: The First 100 Days Post-Acquisition

Dealers and consultants share their lessons learned on best practices for integrating your company culture into a newly acquired store.

June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Dealer Succession

One could argue that nearly every dealer in North America will be on one side or the other of an acquisition in the years ahead. This report focuses on the first 100 days of integrating a new store into another dealership group following an acquisition, and what it take to successfully meld one organization’s culture into another with a minimum or no loss of performance.
Read More

People & Profits: Keep Employees Engaged

By George Russell and Erik Thompson posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management

How do you and your managers gain the work and commitment of your employees to perform well? How can you influence the behavior and performance of your people in positive ways?
Read More

To The Point: Another Major Line No Longer Mere Talk

By Mike Lessiter posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues

To complement this SHOWCASE’s report on what happens after the ink dries on a dealer acquisition (Dealer Acquisitions Report), I’d been exploring the major lines’ resources, checklists and protocols to help dealers integrate newly acquired stores. With the exception of John Deere (declined to participate), the majors supported the topic and cooperated with materials. Their viewpoint seemed a fitting introduction for this month’s “To the Point” column.
Read More
Online Extras
Online Extras
Online Extras: June 2016 Issue

June 2, 2016

Web-exclusive content for this issue includes:

Articles about dealerships finding success in shortline machinery

Strategies on integrating one dealership culture into another after an acquisition

Tips on how the most successful dealerships have transitioned and integrated stores without loss of performance

Find out more about why management talent is required to meld business cultures

Read More

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June Showcase 2016

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