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April/May 2018

Volume: 56
Edition: 4

Improving Service Efficiency

  • Table of Contents

    Table of Contents

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    Top Tips to Get Your Service Department Performing at Its Highest

    Bob Clements shares his knowledge on how to bring your dealership’s service department to a high performing level.
    By Kayla Urban posted on April 7, 2018 | Posted in Operations & Finance, Department Management
    Often times, dealer-principals and managers have difficulty fully understanding their service department. This leaves owners plagued with questions about how to solve problems that relate to the bottom line. Often a deeper look is required, along with an additional understanding of what is important to profits and efficiency.
    Read More
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    Farm Challenges Spawn New Tillage Tech

    Herbicide resistance, varied growing conditions, and the need for top-notch seedbed preparation drive equipment makers to find new tillage solutions.
    By Dan Crummett posted on April 7, 2018 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions
    The reduced tillage movement continues to grow in the U.S., fueled by economic and environmental concerns, but fully 60-75% of the nation’s farmland remains in “conventional” farming — with growers relying on pre-plant tillage and soil preparation to create a field-wide, soft, friable seedbed.
    Read More
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    One Career, Two Chapters & Endless Adaptation

    George Annen of Annen’s Machinery Ranch in Arlington, Wis., reflects on the digital transition that shaped his career, sharing the benefits, pitfalls and lessons learned trading used equipment in the modern age.
    By James DeGraff posted on April 7, 2018 | Posted in Used Equipment Remarketing, Niche Equipment Markets
    There was once a simpler time in the career of George Annen, a used equipment specialist and owner of Annen’s Machinery Ranch Inc. in Arlington, Wis. A typical day before the internet started with a freshly-brewed pot of coffee, a trip to the convenience store to process tractor photos taken on a film camera, mailing them overnight to a set of interested buyers and preparing for a sales trip the next day if the phone rang.
    Read More
    Cody_Searle-Agri-Service_FE_0418_Art-2.png

    Top Tips for Customer Training: For Both the Farmers’ & Dealers’ Benefit

    The manager of Agri-Service’s separately-branded precision farming arm shares tips for their top-performing customer training sessions — ones that farmers don’t want to miss.
    By Cody Searle posted on April 7, 2018 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management, Precision Ag Sales & Service
    I recently talked to industry people about their thoughts on customer training. One response was that customer events are a “necessary evil;” that customers expect it, so we do it. Another said, “We do them, but we don’t feel like we get anything in return from them.” And another said, “Our customers don’t remember anything that we teach them so why do them — what’s the point?”
    Read More
    jpeg version

    Improving Employee Attitude & Customer Experience Through Facility Upgrades

    Dealers say modernization projects provide a better environment for their employees to work in and for their customers to do business.
    By Kim Schmidt posted on April 7, 2018 | Posted in Facilities
    The environment a person works in can have a big impact on their attitude and their performance. The same goes for customer experience. An outdated and crowded parts department, for instance, does little to foster a good relationship between your parts staff and customers.
    Read More
    George Russell

    People & Profits: Small Daily Improvements Key to Long-Term Results

    By George Russell posted on April 7, 2018 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management
    This headline is based on a sign posted at my gym that made me think about your business, and my challenge to “Make 2018 the Year of Human Capital Development.” I started to think about the small things that you can do with your people to develop them and your dealership. Doing small things that lead to big things is a useful perspective for you to create change with your employees and colleagues. It provides an approach for you to do every day in order to create big improvements.
    Read More
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    Ask the Expert: The Birth of a New Industry Trend

    By Casey Seymour posted on April 7, 2018 | Posted in Used Equipment Remarketing
    The planter market has been a roller coaster since 2014. Four years ago, if you had a planter larger than a single row you had a hard time getting rid of it. Like other equipment segments, planters were highly produced and the market was flush with inventory. Used planters had piled up on dealer’s lots and the auction market was the new place to buy used planters.
    Read More
  • Featured Articles

    Featured Articles

    Annen-Machinery-Ranch_FE_0418_Art.png

    One Career, Two Chapters & Endless Adaptation

    George Annen of Annen’s Machinery Ranch in Arlington, Wis., reflects on the digital transition that shaped his career, sharing the benefits, pitfalls and lessons learned trading used equipment in the modern age.
    By James DeGraff posted on April 7, 2018 | Posted in Used Equipment Remarketing, Niche Equipment Markets
    There was once a simpler time in the career of George Annen, a used equipment specialist and owner of Annen’s Machinery Ranch Inc. in Arlington, Wis. A typical day before the internet started with a freshly-brewed pot of coffee, a trip to the convenience store to process tractor photos taken on a film camera, mailing them overnight to a set of interested buyers and preparing for a sales trip the next day if the phone rang.
    Read More
    Cody_Searle-Agri-Service_FE_0418_Art-2.png

    Top Tips for Customer Training: For Both the Farmers’ & Dealers’ Benefit

    The manager of Agri-Service’s separately-branded precision farming arm shares tips for their top-performing customer training sessions — ones that farmers don’t want to miss.
    By Cody Searle posted on April 7, 2018 | Posted in Best Practices, Department Management, Precision Ag Sales & Service
    I recently talked to industry people about their thoughts on customer training. One response was that customer events are a “necessary evil;” that customers expect it, so we do it. Another said, “We do them, but we don’t feel like we get anything in return from them.” And another said, “Our customers don’t remember anything that we teach them so why do them — what’s the point?”
    Read More
    FETillage158A.jpg

    Farm Challenges Spawn New Tillage Tech

    Herbicide resistance, varied growing conditions, and the need for top-notch seedbed preparation drive equipment makers to find new tillage solutions.
    By Dan Crummett posted on April 7, 2018 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions
    The reduced tillage movement continues to grow in the U.S., fueled by economic and environmental concerns, but fully 60-75% of the nation’s farmland remains in “conventional” farming — with growers relying on pre-plant tillage and soil preparation to create a field-wide, soft, friable seedbed.
    Read More
  • Online Extras

    Online Extras

    Online Extras: April/May 2018 Issue

    April 7, 2018

    Web-exclusive content for this issue includes:

    • Free video courtesy of the dealers from the Precision Farming Dealer Summit.
    • Check out the newly redesigned Dealership Minds Summit website, with exclusive event photos, agenda and speaker information, video links and more.

    Read More

This month's digital sponsors:

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Farm Equipment Videos

AGCO Aims for $2 Billion in Precision Ag Business by 2029

AGCO Aims for $2 Billion in Precision Ag Business by 2029

In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Associated Equipment Distributors, we look at AGCO’s plans for its precision business and its 2029 targets. In the Technology Corner, Noah Newman talks with Eis Implement’s precision team. Also in this episode, the interest savings dealers could see with the latest rate cut by the Fed and a look at the used 100+ horsepower tractor market. 

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Top Directory Listings

Yetter Farm Equipment

Built on 90 years of expertise, Yetter Farm Equipment leads the agriculture industry in designing effective and innovative equipment for residue management, seedbed preparation, precision fertilizer placement, harvest attachments, strip-tillage, and more.
Machinery Scope

Machinery Scope

At Machinery Scope, we believe you deserve the best risk management solutions for your investments in heavy equipment. Since 2013, we have been proud to offer extended warranty, appraisals, and inspections. Machinery Scope is a family-owned business built on our experience in farming and equipment dealerships. We understand your business and provide a personalized and professional level of customer service. Machinery Scope has built a strong warranty product with our customers in mind, offering the same professional level of service from the time you get a quote, through the processing of a claim.
Machinery-Scope-Finance-Scope.png

Finance Scope

Finance Scope is able to provide the best financing opportunities for equipment dealers and customers through a diverse mix of lending companies under one single platform. Our large group of lenders, allows for competitive rates regardless of credit scores. Additionally, dealers and customers have access to the industry’s best expertise surrounding finance and lease structures, for all purposes, within the agricultural and construction industries. We provide all of this into one online platform to provide our customers with the best available tailored finance solution for their equipment.
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