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New Ways to Sell


an Old Standby Dealers can move beyond only project-based selling of post hole diggers through effective stocking, package deals and rental.


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tomers. The Aberdeen, S.D., dealer- ship has been selling them since they started business in 1989. The advan- tages of the hydraulic digger are effi - ciency, versatility and mobility, says Shane Hardie of the sales team. “Effi ciency and mobility are big for our buyers. Hydraulic post hole dig- gers fi t on the front of a skid loader and the whole thing sits on a trailer,” says Hardie.


Henderson Implement, formerly known as Boone County Equipment, serves both ag and rural lifestyle markets, so it carries the two types of diggers to serve customers with different needs. According to Eric Farrens in the sales department, 75-80% of the dealership’s customers come in knowing what they want. Nevertheless, the sales staff queries customers about how the diggers will be used to determine what they really need.


Similarly, Todd Gilliland, co-own-


er of Farm Implement and Supply in Plainview, Kan., says his staff solicits information from customers in order to better assist them.


Gene Johnson (left), store manager at Farm Implement and Supply, Plainview, Kan., demonstrates the benefi ts of a post hole digger to a rural lifestyle customer.


Lori Lovely, Contributing Writer


f good fences make good neigh- bors, then post hole diggers can be a rural lifestyler’s best friend. These labor-saving tools have also been good friends to equipment deal- ers for decades. With the options offered by the new generation of post hole diggers, homeowners and dealers have more reasons to get to


I know this equipment.


Today, diggers come in different sizes and styles, namely, PTO-driven and hydraulic versions, each of which has advantages that suit different customer needs. Product knowledge and understanding how the customer will use the post hole digger will help dealers improve their sales efforts. The hydraulic digger fi ts the demo- graphic of J Gross Equipment’s cus-


50 RURAL LIFESTYLE DEALER  SPRING 2013


“If a customer wants a digger, we ask what size they need. We sell the right digger. We look at pounds per torque and the machine it’s being hooked up to in order to determine if they need the standard or heavy-duty model,” Gilliland says. Coleman Equipment in Bonner Springs, Kan., also carries both types, but, according to John Coleman, of the sales department, they sell more hydraulic diggers because they fi t on skid steer loaders.


“Most of our customers use a load-


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