What am I, chopped liver ????

[mpt1123]

Hello:
I'm in the market for a GR2120. I don't need and can't afford a BX and I don't want a John Deere 5xx. So, I went to see my local dealer and he pretty much blew me off. Gave me a price, never asked my name, did a little haggling but not much. Gave me his card and sent me on my way. Stopped by a different location today (unfortunately owned by the same people) and got pretty much the same treatment. Now I'm sure these guys make their money on the big stuff, and I've never been in sales, but I would have thought that every sale would be important. $9K may not be much to them but it's a heck of a lot to me. What a disappointment.

 

[TripleR]

That's unfortunate, we have two dealers in my area, one is indifferent to sales on smaller stuff, but the other is eager to sell anything from the biggest to smallest. A good dealer realizes any sale is a good one and gets repeat customers or new ones by word of mouth.

 

[85Hokie]

"A good dealer realizes any sale is a good one and gets repeat customers or new ones by word of mouth." well said Triple R!!!!

Also - those who buy small stuff then want big stuff later......and if you HAD a good relationship with the dealer, well, aint nuttin like repeat business!!!!

 

[PHPaul]

The treatment the OP got is one reason I didn't even slow down as I passed the John Deere dealer on my way to purchase a new tractor.

You're much more likely to see a Beemer or a Mercedes in his customer parking lot than a beat up farmer's pickup. His preferred clientele is folks with more money than sense that just pay the sticker price on a $10,000 lawn mower and think they got a deal cuz he threw in delivery.

Pretty much everybody I know that wants an actual tractor from John Deere drives 50 miles down the interstate to a dealer in what passes for farm country in Maine.

And, apparently, that's working for him, but the sun ain't rose on the day he'll get any of my money.

 

[MadMax31]

Most tractor dealers around here are rather coarse to deal with. I really like it when the Owner takes 2 minutes to respond to my email request before a sales guy does. One dealer in particular, Emerich's, has really won me over. They have 2 stores, neither of which are that close to me, but I make the drive or they ship what I need. I dont expect a salesman to be attached to my hip during a visit, but some sign of life or interest in my zip-lock bag of hundreds goes a long way.

 

[ipz2222]

"Customer service".. It can make you, break you or make you great. That is the ONE thing I have overly stressed in my business for 30 + years. I am now retired and still work 10 hrs a day, with no advertising. Had a job towed in today from 30 miles away,, no telling how many shops in between. Got another one comeing tomorrow from 50 miles away. Got 3 mustang transmission to deliver to Huntsville Sat. Why do these people do business with me from so far away?? When I talk to them, I try to make them feel that they are the most important people I will talk to today. And if they have a problem, they don't get put on the back lot, they are the next vehicle to come in. Customer Service,, the best money/time you can spend. Sad to say, many businesses do not do that.

 

[forceten]

"Customer service".. It can make you, break you or make you great. That is the ONE thing I have overly stressed in my business for 30 + years. I am now retired and still work 10 hrs a day, with no advertising. Had a job towed in today from 30 miles away,, no telling how many shops in between. Got another one comeing tomorrow from 50 miles away. Got 3 mustang transmission to deliver to Huntsville Sat. Why do these people do business with me from so far away?? When I talk to them, I try to make them feel that they are the most important people I will talk to today. And if they have a problem, they don't get put on the back lot, they are the next vehicle to come in. Customer Service,, the best money/time you can spend. Sad to say, many businesses do not do that.

We are the same way in our business. No longer advertise anywhere - we dont need too. We constantly get calls or people telling us or to our face how extra extra great we are - when we really aren't. We just do what we are supposed to. answer the phones, are polite, get things done when we say we will. Nothing special about it. BUT because there are so many BAD companies in my field around me, who just run terrible companies it makes ours seem like something extra special. Which is fine by us.

I can't understand how some companies stay in business with their lack of just plain good service. Guess I'm happy. If I had 15 companies in our area all operating like we do - normal. Then we wouldnt be anything special and new customers would be a lot harder to come by

 

[chim]

It might be worth a drive to Abbottstown PA for a visit to Messick's.

 

[RyeThomas]

Yeah, I had the same experience with the local dealer. Several unanswered e-mails, then a phone call and after they answered I wished they didn't bother. I won't even buy parts from them, matter of principal. As stated I don't even know how some of these places are still around!

 

[Daren Todd]

We are the same way in our business. No longer advertise anywhere - we dont need too. We constantly get calls or people telling us or to our face how extra extra great we are - when we really aren't. We just do what we are supposed to. answer the phones, are polite, get things done when we say we will. Nothing special about it. BUT because there are so many BAD companies in my field around me, who just run terrible companies it makes ours seem like something extra special. Which is fine by us.

I can't understand how some companies stay in business with their lack of just plain good service. Guess I'm happy. If I had 15 companies in our area all operating like we do - normal. Then we wouldnt be anything special and new customers would be a lot harder to come by

I Keep saying that my competitor is my best advertiser


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Bingham out here in Phoenix is awesome...

They walked me through their "new" machines when I was out gathering information. My wife found my machine on CraigsList.

One day I was at the dealer buying some parts and fluids, the sales guy came out to ask if I had found a used machine. I told him I had and he said for what I had paid, he would have bought that one too. He remained friendly and interested.

Bingham's parts prices are lower than online for almost every part I have priced. They went to bat for me in the last couple weeks of my warranty to try to get Kubota to fix my 3-pt. I always get follow-up calls from the main office in Mesa to make sure everything was covered during the service call. Once, it was not quite covered completely, and they promptly picked up my machine and had it repaired and returned, no charge.

Based on what many of you are saying, there's a lot worse dealers out there.
I want to keep my dealer in business so I'll keep buying from him as long as the benefit is mutual. Other dealers please take note.

Ray

 

[Lil Foot]

Bingham out here in Phoenix is awesome...

WTF?

Maybe I look like Jed Clampett to them- I have had absolutely the opposite experience there.

 

[Dalroo]

I've posted this before, but my experience was not so much on the $$$ i was going to spend, but more to get the dealerships I visited to believe I was a serious first time buyer. I was truly in the comparison phase, and then got serious about haggling, and several dealers got passed by because they dismissed me early when I was kicking tires.

FYI - although I did not buy from them due to distance, one day I was passing through the area on business and dropped into Normangee Tractor in Normangee, Texas. They were fantastic! The salesman spent over an hour with me, not selling, but explaining the differences in the alphabet soup of tractors. If they would have been 100 miles closer, I would have 100% spent my money with them. I even used their pricing when I began negotiating with Texstar, who again was great. Texstar gave me time, competitive pricing, good with follow up, and got to cash my check.

I will say that the Kioti dealer was really hungry for my business, and I almost pulled the trigger with them, but distance, and limited dealer network factored into my decision to go with Kubota.

One dealer (orange) spent 5 minutes with me and tried to sell me a different tractor that did not fit my needs. Another (green) spent some time with me at first, but then never followed up with info he promised, and didn't return my calls when I tried to reach him. Blue just gave me a few brochures and said call if I had questions. In the couple of months it took for me to feel comfortable in making a choice, I probably visited 10-12 dealerships, and really, only 3 made me feel welcome.

That is a problem for them! To the OP, I guess my bottom line is, maybe its not what you are buying, but their misguided and wrong perception that you aren't a real buyer?

 

[MadMax31]

I just hate the "small potatoes" attitude that most Dealers posses. I really wanted the B2400 from Columbia tractor. Low hours, great shape. Price tag was $11,000. No MMM. I literally had a zip-lock bag full of hundreds totaling 10,500. Wouldnt budge a nickel. Wouldnt entertain the idea of my pathetic cash offer. So I drove to NH and got my B7610 with MMM for 10,500. 4 months later the B2400 was down to 10,500 on Columbia tractors website where it stayed for the remainder of the summer. Those guys sell $100,000 machines to farmers often, and I knew why they were ok watching my gallon bag of Franklins walk out the store... I havent been back and wont be either...