This summer, my dad (Frank), Darren Foster and I tagged along with the first group of VIP dealers and customers that converged on Downs, Ill., for a look at Horsch’s brand new Ag Vision Farm, which was purchased earlier this year from Beck’s Hybrids.
After several difficult years, it looks as if U.S. and Canadian farm equipment dealers are back on firm footing. With that said, probably the best thing the industry can do moving forward is to not compare current conditions to the boom years of 2008-14, which were not typical, and acknowledge that the ag equipment business is actually returning to a more normal state.
Are you missing out on possible sales? It looks like the demand for farm equipment is growing again. It’s time to capitalize on this and grow your business with a solid sales plan in place.
As farming, the farm equipment business and consumers in general have changed and become more sophisticated, the old ways of attracting customers don’t cut it anymore.
Marketing Executive Jeff Bowman of Titan Machinery explains his vision on the things that must change to drive dramatic improvement in dealership performance in the ag equipment industry.
Marketing Executive Jeff Bowman of Titan Machinery explains his vision on the things that must change to get farm equipment dealerships where they need to be.
Proving your marketing ROI, why is it important? For me, I think we’re still fighting for relevance in the industry. Budgets are smaller than we’re used to in other industries. The ability to prove your return on investment on what your ownership is giving you to grow the business is key to growing your marketing department, growing relevance in the industry and growing your budget over time.
As the world around us has become more digital, the way your farm customers seek out information and even interact with each other has changed. They too have become more digital. Farmers aren’t necessarily making their daily trip to the coffee shop to visit with each other anymore.
Follow these guidelines to ensure your video marketing strategy attracts viewers — and Google — and provides your customers with the information they need.
Follow these guidelines to ensure your video marketing strategy attracts viewers — and Google —
and provides your customers with the information they need.
Ditch the agency, do your own marketing campaigns, save money and get better results. You just need to get started. That’s the message from three dealers, Lee Parish, Ben Garton and Doug Vahrenberg, who shared do-it-yourself marketing strategies at Farm Equipment’s 2018 Dealership Minds Summit.
In the instantaneous industry of equipment sales, the mindset of “I’ll just respond to that tractor inquiry after lunch” lies in the same outdated realm as phonebooks and Blockbuster video stores. Yet with so many online inventories, websites and campaigns to keep track of, dealers are often left chasing their tails on how to reel in — and retain — online leads.
Eric Shanfelt, founder of the Local Marketing Institute, breaks down the basics of digital marketing and how — and why — farm equipment dealers should implement a digital marketing strategy.
Eric Shanfelt, founder of the Local Marketing Institute, breaks down the basics of digital marketing and how — and why — farm equipment dealers should implement a digital marketing strategy.
Dealerships need to be strategic with their marketing plan – sending the right message to the right people at the right time – knowing your data drives that process
“Data is the currency of the internet,” says Tim Whitley, CEO of Team SI, a full-service marketing firm headquartered in Little Rock, Ark. “The smartphone to the person right or left of you is being served different ads all the time. No person’s ads are identical to their neighbor’s and data is leading that charge.”
From the slow-release strategy of a new combine, to another competitor entering the vertical tillage market, Farm Equipment recaps the best from Boone, Iowa.
From the slow-release strategy of a new combine, to another competitor entering the vertical tillage market, Farm Equipment recaps the best from Boone, Iowa.
Biomethane is methodically finding its way into mainstream fuel supplies as tech giants and others invest to claim “carbon neutrality” in their supply chain.
I challenged readers of this column to “Make 2018 the Year of Human Capital Investment.” Training is likely a key part of your human capital investment. Below is a professional perspective on how to make training work and how to make it pay from one of my Machinery Advisors Consortium colleagues, Daniel Surprenant. — George Russell
I was curious to see what the price increase has been for combines over the past 3 model changes. I looked through the business system, locating customers who have rolled combines every year, trying to see how pricing has evolved over the last decade. What I found was not all that shocking, but at the same time I have to wonder how long trading the volume of equipment with high used pricing can be sustained. This is not to say a 2018 combine and 2008 combine are the same. The amount of technology and overall improvements in the past 10 years are tremendously vast. So, this goes without saying, R&D cost will be recaptured but with this comes a challenge of its own. When a manufacturer has a price increase, it does affect the used market but not the entire price increase. In the the last 5 years, the rate of price increase recapture has been less than the previous 5 years.
After several difficult years, it looks as if U.S. and Canadian farm equipment dealers are back on firm footing. With that said, probably the best thing the industry can do moving forward is to not compare current conditions to the boom years of 2008-14, which were not typical, and acknowledge that the ag equipment business is actually returning to a more normal state.
Are you missing out on possible sales? It looks like the demand for farm equipment is growing again. It’s time to capitalize on this and grow your business with a solid sales plan in place.
As farming, the farm equipment business and consumers in general have changed and become more sophisticated, the old ways of attracting customers don’t cut it anymore.
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.
Montag is the industry’s innovative leader for precise, accurate metering of fertilizer, seed and other nutrients. The Montag system has become the standard for deep banding of fertilizer. Montag is also pioneering the technology for cover crop seed application. The new Cover Crop+ is able to meter the smallest seed, and can be mounted to tillage implements, combines, plus Hagie sprayers and detasselers.
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.