Industry Q&A Q
“I think the most frustrating for us is a guy or gal who lets money get in the way. It’s normally not that they can’t afford what they need but just want to get by with something too light or a residential piece of equip- ment. Then, very soon after, they are not happy and somehow it’s our fault or the equipment’s fault for failing. “We all know there is a reason they build heavy mowing and tractor equip- ment and there is a reason it costs more. Rural acreages are rough and have trees, etc., that are harder on equipment and decks take a beating. Big tires and fab decks make the job easier and they hold up.” — Tom Rigg, Rigg’s Outdoor Power, Valparaiso, Ind.
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“People can shop all kinds of tractors on the Internet and have no concept of the tractor’s capa- bilities or what the tractor even needs to accomplish. I find it’s best to get the person here, stand them in the middle of a whole bunch of tractors and start asking questions. Then, explain the capabilities for each size of tractor. Start by forgetting about new or used and just concentrate on what is the best tool for the operation. Then, try to fit the new/used/budget together.” — Gene Saville, Lamb & Webster, Springville, N.Y.
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“One thing I have seen is that these customers usually fall into one of two categories. The first one is they have possibly too much knowledge of the equipment and, sec- ond, they have very little knowledge of the equipment. So, as you move through the sales process you need to ask the right questions and listen. By doing these two things you should get
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What’s the greatest misconception about the equipment needed to maintain rural acreages and how do you address it?
a better idea of what they want to do with the equipment and what they will need to accomplish those tasks. Those customers with a lot of knowledge will get you on point very quickly. They have done their home- work and have an idea of what they want and need. On the other hand, those that have very little knowledge will require a longer time frame to get where they need to be.” — Mark Foster, Birkey’s Farm Store, Rantoul, Ill.
“They really do not know what they need. It is a matter of ask- ing enough questions of them to find out what they really want to do.” — Doug Easterlund, Midwest Machinery, St. Cloud, Minn.
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“Probably the biggest problem I have had is sizing equipment to tractors. People think that just because they have a tractor (even though it’s only 25 horsepower) they can run a 7-foot rotary mower. Seems like we have to size down quite a bit.” — Jeff Suchomski, Suchomski Equipment, Pinckneyville, Ill.
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“The ‘sundown’ buyer comes in with an idea of what they might like to purchase and have reached this conclusion by talking to friends and associates. As a salesman, I ask a lot of basic questions and through years of experience I try to match what I think is best suited for their needs. The casual associate of the customer only gives one side to the situation. “It’s my job as salesperson to figure
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out what the other sides are and how to best suit their needs. They come in with this big idea of what they think they want and it turns out it’s way too
much or they haven’t thought out what exactly they really do need. The best way is to have equipment on hand dis- played with attachments matched up so they can ‘kick some tires’ and actu- ally see what they are buying. “Each deal is unique and requires lots of experience to meet the ever changing and demanding needs of the sundown customer.”
— Walter B. Green, Deer Country Equipment, Corydon, Ind.
“The greatest misconception we deal with is customers look- ing to purchase too small of a trac- tor based on price and too many deal- ers will sell the smaller tractor just to make the sale. To address the issue, we walk the customer through the pro- cess of what each tractor will do prop- erly and we have customers compare specifications between brands to really see the differences. Generally, by tak- ing the time to do this with the cus- tomer, they see that we have their best interests in mind.”
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—Darryl Buttar, Bob Mark New Holland Sales, Sunderland, Ontario
“Many customers have little knowledge of what size horse- power they need to accomplish the tasks they will assign to the tractor. Complicating the issue is the differ- ence between older model tractors and today’s lighter weight offerings. An older model 3020 Deere, 180 Allis, 656 IH or even a 165 Massey would tackle with success about anything that needs doing in the rural setting. So, the cus- tomer gets advice from an ‘expert’ and starts shopping for a 60 horsepower tractor. Salesmen now show the cus- tomer, in many cases, a 57 engine horse-
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