equipment dealers in the area, most serving the farming community where soybeans and corn are king. Today, his competition runs the gamut of colors and brands, includ- ing John Deere, New Holland, Case IH, Mahindra, Kubota, Montana, Branson and TYM. But none are located in the town of Metropolis itself. Nonetheless he found his business growing from the time he hung out his shingle on the store. What he believes he had going for his new dealership was the fact that he’d grown up in the town and had operated his business there. He was well known and respected for his work and involve- ment in the community.
Little’s customer base is typical of most rural lifestyle dealers around the country: large property owners, hobby farmers, landscapers, construction companies and “even some grave diggers.”
Several of the hobby farmers in the area raise cattle and a few have horses. The small dairy farms that were once plentiful in the region are mostly gone. In their place, tree farmers and vineyards are springing up.
“Even Jay Corzine, my sales manager and right-hand man, started a small vineyard to make wine,” says Little. “You can take 3 acres and have a really nice vineyard.” Otherwise, much of his sales territory in southern Missouri and northern Kentucky and Tennessee is charac- terized by hills and hollows. As far as full-time farms, 2,000 acres is considered a big operation. Most are much smaller.
Strong Growth
Little Tractor & Equipment grew quickly and moved three times in its first 4 years in business. It finally found a permanent home on one of the main thoroughfares into and out of Metropolis.
The dealership’s moves coincided with its sales growth
that grew from $250,000 in 2000 to $650,00 in 2001. In 2002, Little Tractor’s sales began picking up speed, reaching $2.2 million that year and $4.4 million in 2003. The dealership hit $6 million in 2007. In 2004, Little built a 10,000 square-foot facility on 8.5 acres of ground on the west side of town. It was modeled after a dealership owned by a friend that operated a John Deere dealership in Columbia, Mo. Four years later, he’s already planning its first major expansion — a 50-foot x
Reiser Implement Inc., Waukon, Iowa
Founded: 1977 Locations: 1 Major Line: Massey Ferguson Shortlines: Kinze, Hesston, Gehl Employees: 11 2007 Revenue: $5.57 million Judges Comments: “Outstanding sales per employee ($506K), high customer satisfaction rating (98%) and strong repeat business (90%) . . . “Impressed with their product diversification and ability to adapt to changing market in their area. . .”
60-foot addition for the parts department.
“I’m not sure why people are drawn to our dealership. I grew up around this place and pretty much everyone knows me. I’ve always tried to be as honest as I can and take care of my customers. I did that when I was a con- tractor, too. When I tell someone something, it’s done. If I sell you something and it has a warranty, it’s taken care of whether it hurts me or not. When I opened up, people who weren’t even looking to buy a tractor would stop in and tell me they were glad to see me open,” Little says.
Ask what sets him apart from the other area deal- ers and he has difficulty pinpointing exactly why Little Tractor has experienced such solid sales growth in a relatively short time. “The only thing I can think of is service and taking care of our customers. I always go the extra mile for them and, of course, we have a good location and a good product.”
An Emerging Brand
The good product that Little refers to is the Kioti line of tractors that the dealership began handling in 2000. It was, in fact, another of Little’s friends, Mike Parkins, who owned one of the tractors, who introduced him to the South Korea- made tractor and encouraged him to seek a dealership. At the time, Kioti was a fairly new, but emerging brand of compact- and utility-type tractors. “They’ve been in the states for just over 20 years, but you couldn’t ask for a bet- ter company to work with,” says Little. “I have the presi- dent’s cell phone and while I don’t use it too often because he’s busy, he always calls me back.
“And they listen,” Little adds. “If they ask a question, they want to know what you think. They’re not asking just to pacify you.”
Despite carrying a “non-mainstream” tractor line, cus- tomers have flocked to Little Tractor & Equipment. In the last 5 years, the dealership has averaged 200 tractor sales a year, making it the top-selling Kioti dealership in the U.S. each of those years. He admits that it’s taken a while to get the brand estab- lished in the area. “People still come in and ask ‘What’s a Kioti?’ We don’t get the question nearly as often today as we did in the first couple of years, but it still happens.”
Best-In-Class Central Equipment Co., Lexington, Ky.
Founded: 1972 Locations: 1 Major Line: John Deere & Kubota Shortlines: Frontier, Land Pride, Woods, Progressive, Aerway, H&S, Exmark, Ferris, Grasshopper
Employees: 40 2007 Revenue: $13.1 million Judges Comments: “High customer satisfaction rating” . . . “Hired general manager to allow principal to carry out strategic plans” . . . “Increased advertising and promo- tions in recognition of market shift. . .”
DEALERSHIP OF THE YEAR SPECIAL REPORT JUNE 2013 RURAL LIFESTYLE DEALER 19
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