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Dealership Minds

Probing Questions Solves Parts Department Mysteries

By Mike Lessiter posted on February 7, 2011 | Posted in Department Management
An effective parts department, says Todd Lippens, can pinpoint a customer’s needs even when they’re too hurried to provide good information. “With cell phones today, farmers pick up and call immediately, even before thinking,” he says. At the Polo store, more than half of his store’s part transactions are handled by phone.
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Dealership Minds

Navigating the Numbers for Growth

By Mike Lessiter posted on February 7, 2011 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance
Spend time with Mike Hedge at his office in Rantoul, Ill., and terms like number cruncher, prognosticator, teacher, purser, and analyst all come to mind. And when it comes to the subject of balance sheet management, “evangelist” is also a fitting word. As CFO & Treasurer of a $240 million company, Hedge must manage all the details yet remain at a 50,000-foot view to pilot the finances of a growing company.
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Dealership Minds

Demonstrating the Dealership's Support

By Darrell Bruggink posted on February 7, 2011 | Posted in Dealers on the Move
While GPS and other precision technologies have made farming a lot easier, it’s also made farming a lot more difficult. It’s great when it’s working. But when it isn’t, it leads to a whole lot of frustration for the farmers that Darin Kennelly is trying to help.
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Dealership Minds

Keeping All the Moving Parts Moving

By Dave Kanicki posted on February 7, 2011 | Posted in Operations & Finance
Mike Robling’s responsibilities as the company’s parts assets manager appear straightforward enough: order the parts the stores need in a timely manner so they have ‘em when they need ‘em. Make sure they’re not carrying too much in parts inventory, but enough so that Birkey’s takes full advantage of the discounts and terms offered by Case IH.
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Dealership Minds

Communication Counts in HR

By Michael Ellis posted on February 7, 2011 | Posted in Department Management
There’s a card on Jaime Smith’s desk that reads, “With appreciation for everything you do to help people reach important goals. HR is about maintaining a healthy working atmosphere, but most of all it’s about helping people succeed, good times and bad.” These words summarize the daily mantra of Birkey’s Farm Store’s human resources manager.
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Dealership Minds

Fixing Machinery, Managing Personalities

By Jeremy McGovern posted on February 7, 2011 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues
To be a successful service manager today requires more skill than yesteryear, when dealerships elevated their best wrench-turners or resident gearheads. Mechanical inclination helps, but a top service manager today must possess other skills as well. Like an air traffic controller, they must direct the technicians to the customers who truly deserve the priority. And as a psychologist, the service manager must listen and respond to what the customers and technicians alike are — and are not — saying.
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Dealership Minds

An Aftermarket Business Running on All Cylinders

By John Dobberstein posted on February 7, 2011 | Posted in Dealers on the Move
It may not be everyone’s dream job, but bring up numbers, spreadsheets, reports and benchmarks in a conversation and you’re squarely in Phil Fayhee’s wheelhouse. It’s well established that the real money in any farm equipment dealership is made in the aftermarket department, and Birkey’s is no different with a nearly 20% and 35% contribution margin in parts and service, respectively.
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