“It can be the make or break part of the deal, and Kubota’s investment in demos is huge. We have around a million pounds worth of our own demo kit”
Dave Roberts, Kubota UK
machine does the job they expected it to, having researched it on the web, they write out the cheque and we leave the machine with them.” “A sale to a groundsman or
greenkeeper is much more complex. They might be looking for the unit to perform several tasks and may, therefore, need a few more hours of the dealer’s time on a demo. But, their initial internet surfing has shortened the sales process.”
The utopia for all is the day when they
take a machine on a demo, leave it with the potential end user for a couple of days, let them see what it can do and then make a serious, well informed, decision about purchasing. Tim adds a caveat to this wish, “The practice of ‘lending’ a machine to an
end user to assess, for days on end, is no longer acceptable in my opinion. If someone wants to demo a machine over a prolonged amount of time, I will now hire them a machine, and take the hire cost off the price of a machine should they go on to make a purchase. This prevents people taking liberties.” He would encourage everyone to follow his lead with this. “When dealers had loads of product in stock and making lots of sales, this type of practice was okay. But, now, there is less business around these days, and dealers don’t want to hold too much stock. So, we have to provide the equipment and travel the great distances to recover the kit.”
It remains to be seen whether internet action will take over conventional sales
routes such as demos and exhibitions, but it is clear that cost will once again drive the market - although history shows us that change sometimes brings about a repeat of the past! Regional demos has been seen as the most cost effective avenue, by a number of companies, over the last ten years but, with so many doing the same thing, cries have been heard for “all of you to get together in one place, as we don’t have time to come to all of the events!” Sounds like an exhibition, doesn’t it?
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