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Mike Lessiter

Mike Lessiter

Mike Lessiter, a second-generation ag journalist, has been Editor/Publisher of Farm Equipment since 2004. He has covered business-to-business operations, manufacturing, and marketing topics since 1992 and has held various roles with the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Assn. and the Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers. Mike is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was named president of Lessiter Media in 2007.

Contact: mlessiter@lessitermedia.com
Articles

ARTICLES

Lessiter

And Now for the Good News…

You’ve seen the stats — dissatisfied customers will tell 8-10 people all about their pain, while positive experiences are shared only with 2-3 others.
By Mike Lessiter posted on October 17, 2016
OK, as a bonus for enduring my rant, I promised you a good customer service story. Gonna give credit where it’s due.
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To the Point

The Death of Service Expectations

By Mike Lessiter posted on October 10, 2016
I can carp with the best of ‘em when it comes to lousy customer service. For most of my life, I’ve believed I’m entitled (yes, I used that word) to a decent experience when handing over a buck in exchange for a product or service. And when I don’t get it, man, do I see red. Just ask my wife.
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Lessiter
To the Point

A Dose of Perspective

By Mike Lessiter posted on September 5, 2016
Perspective often comes when and where you don’t expect it, including faraway lands. Our staff returned recently from our 3rd Annual National Strip-Tillage Conference in Bloomington, Ill., which drew a crowd of 351 from 22 states and 4 countries. Among the international attendees were two farm managers who traveled from Thailand to learn how to leap-frog their operation forward (farm practices in Thailand, they say, lag the U.S. by 50 years). The pair found us via Facebook, and reached out ahead of time so we could help them arrange on-farm visits ahead of the conference.
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Lessiter

To The Point: A Dose of Perspective

By Mike Lessiter posted on September 5, 2016
Perspective often comes when and where you don’t expect it, including faraway lands. Our staff returned recently from our 3rd Annual National Strip-Tillage Conference in Bloomington, Ill., which drew a crowd of 351 from 22 states and 4 countries. Among the international attendees were two farm managers who traveled from Thailand to learn how to leap-frog their operation forward (farm practices in Thailand, they say, lag the U.S. by 50 years). The pair found us via Facebook, and reached out ahead of time so we could help them arrange on-farm visits ahead of the conference.
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What Vermeer Is Doing to Be a Manufacturer of Choice

By Mike Lessiter posted on August 4, 2016 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues
Farm Equipment asked hay and forage equipment manufacturer Vermeer, Pella, Iowa, to expand on some of the things they’ve been working on in recent years to achieve best-in-class ratings from its global dealer network of 500. Among the ag segments in the Equipment Dealers Assn. 2016 Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey (full-line, tractor and shortline manufacturers), Vermeer was the highest rated manufacturer in 6 of the 12 categories.
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From the Desk of Mike Lessiter

Showing Off the ‘People’ Side of the Farm Equipment Business

By Mike Lessiter posted on August 1, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices
With Lessiter Media’s 35th anniversary celebration next week (we’re taking our staff and their spouses out for an overnight stay in the city), our team has been working on some special things here to commemorate the milestone. They’ve been chronicling memories, philosophies and visions from that tough start-up by my parents (Frank and Pam) in 1981, and how they got through that daunting first decade during a horrendous ag economy.
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