[Video] Dealer-to-Dealer Panel: Mastering the Art & Science of Pre-Selling

Tight inventories and OEM allocations mean the days of “selling from a full basket” are long gone. It takes a special skill set and organization to manage expectations and get the order.

B.J. Knutson, Titan Machinery, Fargo, N.D. (Dealership of the Year Alumni Group) — With 20-plus years of experience at Titan Machinery ranging from sales consultant to store and complex manager to now president/COO, B.J. Knutson has been leading the pre-selling charge at the 100-plus ag and construction machinery group.

“We took a chapter from what Deere and high-end automotive were doing and started getting our customers geared toward our pre-selling,” he says. Those efforts have paid off in what Knutson says contributed to exceptional sales years in 2022 and 2023 — $2.8 billion over the last 2 years. Because the specs for each piece of equipment are unique to the custom- er, he says 9 out of 10 times, Titan can get the customer the best price through pre-selling.

Edmund Byne, Agriteer, Lititz, Pa. — Prior to joining Agriteer, the newly formed group consisting of Binkley & Hurst and M.M. Weaver, as the director of sales in October 2022, Edmund Byne worked closely with numerous dealers as…