- Thread starter Billy NY
- Start date
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
It is a shame that type of business philosophy is getting harder and harder to find these days.. Thanks for sharing, Great story..
John Deere will regret the day that they decided to drive all the older dealers out of business. They want 2-3 dealers per state. Well they are POing customers and they will lose market share eventually as they are destroying customer/dealer loyalty.
If you are dealing with some multi store Corporate entity you do not real have much feelings of good will toward the owner.
When times get bad in the farm economy can that ONE owner keep 10-13 stores open??? I think not and then JD will lose the whole area until some one is foolish enough to get in bed with them again.
If you are dealing with some multi store Corporate entity you do not real have much feelings of good will toward the owner.
When times get bad in the farm economy can that ONE owner keep 10-13 stores open??? I think not and then JD will lose the whole area until some one is foolish enough to get in bed with them again.
sad to see them go out of business. my grandfather used to take a ride up there each winter for parts and fluids since nh was tax free and the fact that he liked the guys up there and they treated him right. our local jd dealer caters more towards the homeowner now but they can still get us certain things although sometimes make you buy a whole box just to get 1 or 2 of the part you need.
JD ran a couple of long-time dealers out here a few years back. AGCO threw a great local dealer under the bus when they got in bed with Caterpillar. CIH is trying to eliminate everyone without a half-dozen locations or more locally. These merges/closings/new dealer chains help corporate h.q., not farmers.
AG
Though I am aware of the way these companies are now organized, ie; Deere and company, + the others, it does seem shameful that the business model has changed and its not so friendly to what I would think is still a valuable customer base, besides the bigger operations. Is it just because its a bygone era, the smaller operations still looming on the horizon of success or failure will just have to deal with older equipment and the resources available, from antique to 10-40 year old equipment like those who collect, and restore, using aftermarket sources, because this section of the market is just no longer feasible to a large company like Deere ? Look at his start, at that time, this was a new era, and of course, servicing what you sold, stocking a large inventory, even with the cost of it, was the way to be successful, Caterpillar is a good example of that. They still are and were known for it, they had parts available for older tractors for a very long time and even now they recognize the market and have a classic line, local rep at the dealer here told me smaller, and older municipalities still get support for a lot of older equipment, so they do try to make that work somehow, I mean I know there is a point where its not feasible and things are or just have to obsolete, you can't dwell or live in the past.
In those days, when the above JD dealer started, got his foot in the door at the right time, everyone was small, in need, building their farms to be larger and more efficient, improving their operations where possible, and then you have this modern era of tractors, equipment taking over. It seemed to last his generation, then things started changing in the 70's, for many and various reasons.
We bought a dealership, my father and grandad partnered on it, a long established Ford dealership, the biggest in this area, and likely the first to open. When we were in business the philosophy was the same, as the above, we had 4 brothers as mechanics, 2 parts guys, I think 1 salesman/parts guy, there were a few others, and we built a reputation that was good, the tractors were a good line to sell, the equipment like hay tools, so-so, but we still did well with it, the industrial and or construction sales was lucrative, but corporate favored a sister dealership and I think could care less about us, but we still sold a bunch of backhoes, 29 to be precise, to the power company,corporate gave us a real hard time with doing this, but aren't you supposed to sell their line regardless ? It was the eventual undoing, unfortunate and sad, I enjoyed the business, was young, but I really had a thing for tractors, equipment and so on. Basically corporate made the terms of business terrible. We used to have 2 stories of parts on hand, plus all the hardware, the best thing was if something broke or you needed something, you could go to the shop anytime, we had a small trucking business, need something worked on, a motor job, or what have you, was a nice benefit of having a shop like this. It was a good service to the community, Deere and IH was the competitor, and farmers had their preferences, it was shameful because the industrial Ford models were good sellers and the line was slowly getting better, look at how long they built off that platform, all the way to the big merger, even Farmtrac cloning the design, it was a good proven design, even the local highway contractor, exclusively used 3000 series up to the 3910 or late series with a broom for road cleaning, and they needed more than one that is for sure. We had a distribution center across the river, I can remember the pallets of blue components, lots of large cast items and similar, you could practically get anything in a short period of time for these tractors. Maybe I've digressed here, but it sure seemed to work, the business model, I can remember going on service calls, doing pick ups or drop offs, satisfied customers, our guys did great work, I used to run the winch cable as a kid on the roll off flatbed.
In those days, when the above JD dealer started, got his foot in the door at the right time, everyone was small, in need, building their farms to be larger and more efficient, improving their operations where possible, and then you have this modern era of tractors, equipment taking over. It seemed to last his generation, then things started changing in the 70's, for many and various reasons.
We bought a dealership, my father and grandad partnered on it, a long established Ford dealership, the biggest in this area, and likely the first to open. When we were in business the philosophy was the same, as the above, we had 4 brothers as mechanics, 2 parts guys, I think 1 salesman/parts guy, there were a few others, and we built a reputation that was good, the tractors were a good line to sell, the equipment like hay tools, so-so, but we still did well with it, the industrial and or construction sales was lucrative, but corporate favored a sister dealership and I think could care less about us, but we still sold a bunch of backhoes, 29 to be precise, to the power company,corporate gave us a real hard time with doing this, but aren't you supposed to sell their line regardless ? It was the eventual undoing, unfortunate and sad, I enjoyed the business, was young, but I really had a thing for tractors, equipment and so on. Basically corporate made the terms of business terrible. We used to have 2 stories of parts on hand, plus all the hardware, the best thing was if something broke or you needed something, you could go to the shop anytime, we had a small trucking business, need something worked on, a motor job, or what have you, was a nice benefit of having a shop like this. It was a good service to the community, Deere and IH was the competitor, and farmers had their preferences, it was shameful because the industrial Ford models were good sellers and the line was slowly getting better, look at how long they built off that platform, all the way to the big merger, even Farmtrac cloning the design, it was a good proven design, even the local highway contractor, exclusively used 3000 series up to the 3910 or late series with a broom for road cleaning, and they needed more than one that is for sure. We had a distribution center across the river, I can remember the pallets of blue components, lots of large cast items and similar, you could practically get anything in a short period of time for these tractors. Maybe I've digressed here, but it sure seemed to work, the business model, I can remember going on service calls, doing pick ups or drop offs, satisfied customers, our guys did great work, I used to run the winch cable as a kid on the roll off flatbed.
In the progressive ag areas here all the majors are multi-location with an exception for each make including JD. The fact is the way the multi-location Deere dealers are arranged there is more competition amongst them keeping them honest versus CaseIH and NH. The CaseIH dealer here is a giant in terms of territory versus any competitor. I can not speak for the Mid West but I doubt a single location dealer has much of a future here and has not for a while now. All the mom and pops would starve here because the business is not there with the older equipment. Mot of the farmers that do the buying are far less in numbers than they were a generation ago. They buy new and trade before the parts and service departments can make any money off them. What is left after those farmers are the guys like me that for the most part have to work the auctions and used parts yards quite a bit. Very little in between anymore. I thought when I was young man it would be fun to be a dealer but now am glad I did not spend the last 20 years toughing it out lest I found a very exclusive product to sell.
Corporate's business model has changed, not the local dealer.
The dealer's priority has always been to represent/sell the line, provide service, and to maintain an adequate parts supply for both current and potential customers. Sidelines are available for dealers to service their customers' needs if their major line doesn't carry those items, or if a sideline offers a superior product. This holds true today. Yes, you can still do this at a single location.
Corporate's priority is now to eliminate any competition inside it's own ranks, and remove as many sidelines from dealer lots as possible. The "big 3" are the majority of what's left, and they want dealers to change the farmer's equipment color, not allow infighting between dealers of the same color who would dare try to undercut each other to cut a customer a better deal. The attitude seems to me to be that the customer is not the dealer's customer anymore. They are a customer of corporate that happens to have a dealer that the customer goes to, and they feel that customer will follow corporate anywhere, whether the dealer continues on with them or not.
One local red dealer was basically ignored into oblivion by corporate. Parts stock for new equipment back to the '40's was excellent. Service dep't. was excellent. Parts counter guys were the best. They did not move a bunch of new iron, but could service the newest peice of machinery available. New technology didn't phase them, but many of their customers shyed away from it. (These same customers aren't buying new equipment today, aren't going to buy new equipment tomorrow, and aren't getting out of farming, either.) They had one store, and were "competition" to a franchise that had multiple locations, one in the same county. Store was bought out and moved. Service dep't. is still second to none. Parts counter guys are still the best. Even though they do not "officially" carry the red line anymore their red parts pricing is still 5-10% less than the closest location of the mega-chain (and with much more expertise and less attitude behind the counter). Go figure.
Another local red dealer with a single location has only a parts contract until next spring. I can't imagine that they and the three others locally (two of which are together) not part of a mega-chain will last much longer as they are, and it won't be because of a lack of service and sales or inadequate parts stock for their customers. It's corporate's way or the highway. They feel you have to "move" so much money (eq. & parts) each year, mega-dealers with mega-facilities appeal to mega-farmers, and mega-farmers are where the money is at.
Why corporate thinks it's not good for their image for a farmer to travel 30 miles to see a single-location dealer when they can travel 30 miles to see a multiple-location dealer, sometimes in the same building with the same parts on the shelf, equipment on the lot, and employees/management in the building, is beyond me.
AG
The dealer's priority has always been to represent/sell the line, provide service, and to maintain an adequate parts supply for both current and potential customers. Sidelines are available for dealers to service their customers' needs if their major line doesn't carry those items, or if a sideline offers a superior product. This holds true today. Yes, you can still do this at a single location.
Corporate's priority is now to eliminate any competition inside it's own ranks, and remove as many sidelines from dealer lots as possible. The "big 3" are the majority of what's left, and they want dealers to change the farmer's equipment color, not allow infighting between dealers of the same color who would dare try to undercut each other to cut a customer a better deal. The attitude seems to me to be that the customer is not the dealer's customer anymore. They are a customer of corporate that happens to have a dealer that the customer goes to, and they feel that customer will follow corporate anywhere, whether the dealer continues on with them or not.
One local red dealer was basically ignored into oblivion by corporate. Parts stock for new equipment back to the '40's was excellent. Service dep't. was excellent. Parts counter guys were the best. They did not move a bunch of new iron, but could service the newest peice of machinery available. New technology didn't phase them, but many of their customers shyed away from it. (These same customers aren't buying new equipment today, aren't going to buy new equipment tomorrow, and aren't getting out of farming, either.) They had one store, and were "competition" to a franchise that had multiple locations, one in the same county. Store was bought out and moved. Service dep't. is still second to none. Parts counter guys are still the best. Even though they do not "officially" carry the red line anymore their red parts pricing is still 5-10% less than the closest location of the mega-chain (and with much more expertise and less attitude behind the counter). Go figure.
Another local red dealer with a single location has only a parts contract until next spring. I can't imagine that they and the three others locally (two of which are together) not part of a mega-chain will last much longer as they are, and it won't be because of a lack of service and sales or inadequate parts stock for their customers. It's corporate's way or the highway. They feel you have to "move" so much money (eq. & parts) each year, mega-dealers with mega-facilities appeal to mega-farmers, and mega-farmers are where the money is at.
Why corporate thinks it's not good for their image for a farmer to travel 30 miles to see a single-location dealer when they can travel 30 miles to see a multiple-location dealer, sometimes in the same building with the same parts on the shelf, equipment on the lot, and employees/management in the building, is beyond me.
AG
John Deere had a slight image problem here when a couple of
really popular dealers folded in the early 1980's. The Case IH
merger took that bad taste out of a lot of farmers' mouths in 1985.
Case elected to keep the chain Case dealer that was in place before
the merger and closed a lot of red dealers here. A fair amount of
those IH dealers were real powerhouses that sold substantial
volumes of iron.
really popular dealers folded in the early 1980's. The Case IH
merger took that bad taste out of a lot of farmers' mouths in 1985.
Case elected to keep the chain Case dealer that was in place before
the merger and closed a lot of red dealers here. A fair amount of
those IH dealers were real powerhouses that sold substantial
volumes of iron.
Will Herring
Well-known Member
The "big" multi-store JD dealer in this area I cannot stand. Their parts people are worthless to me. There's a smaller local dealer that is pretty good, and there's a former AGCO (now CIH) dealer nearby that I get parts from quite a bit, and another AGCO dealer that is a good hour haul away that I really prefer to use. They know their parts and my older equipment.
It's not just implement companies- I worked for a company for a while that was the 3rd business to sign on to sell Holiday Rambler travel trailers, they lost that franchise a few years before I came to work for them- the reason they weren't "big enough" and didn't want to stock motor homes. Seems HRC felt old Ken didn't portray the image they wanted for Holiday Rambler. During the year I worked for them we had a few units that came in from the other place (new dealer)that we did service work on, seems some owners were brand loyal but when the new dealer wouldn't/couldn't fix their problem they came and saw us. I do remember some one brought in a unit they had for awhile (that wasn't purchased from us) complaining about floors being weak, Ken told them it was a common problem, there was a service kit that could be put in and if they would of had it done a few years earlier it would of been under warranty. They asked if he could do it- his reply was you'll have to go to an authorized dealer. What he didn't mention is when the problem became known he contacted all the owners HE sold trailers to to insure they new of the problem and he would be glad to FIX it over the winter when they weren't using their trailers. His customers were happy, his shop was busy all winter and folks with the year old Holiday Ramblers were still happy and bragging about their RVs. Guess that's not the image Holiday Rambler wants. Oh I worked for him in 1985, just before I joined the Air Force.
JD construction is just as bad. AIS controls most of Michigan. I am right between two stores Saginaw and Lansing. They have told me more than once "oh you should use the other store". I said what the ell are you talking about. Few more times of crappy sales and parts counter I did use another place. I bought a Case backhoe. When the JD dozer needs replacing it will be either a Cat or Case. JD will implode themselves with their current business model, in my opinion.
Rick
Rick
GeneMO
Well-known Member
- Location
- Pilot Grove, Mo.
My oldest son worked for corprate Deere for about 4 years. He quit, found a better job. I was kinda upset that he quit Deere cause I thought it was a reputable company and offered a stable job.
He said that there was no place anylonger in corporate Deere for a young, white guy, with a degree in ag and a farm background.
Deere had gotten so wrapped up in all the politically correct, diversity BS, that my son felt he was being shoved aside so they could hire women and minorities with zero farm experience or education.
It was so bad they were giving new hires classes in "Farming 101". Showing them films of what a tractor looked like, what a combine did, what corn and soybeans looked like, etc.
So he left for a big fertilizer company with double salary, a company who wanted folks with a farm background.
Political correctness is ruining business.
Gene
He said that there was no place anylonger in corporate Deere for a young, white guy, with a degree in ag and a farm background.
Deere had gotten so wrapped up in all the politically correct, diversity BS, that my son felt he was being shoved aside so they could hire women and minorities with zero farm experience or education.
It was so bad they were giving new hires classes in "Farming 101". Showing them films of what a tractor looked like, what a combine did, what corn and soybeans looked like, etc.
So he left for a big fertilizer company with double salary, a company who wanted folks with a farm background.
Political correctness is ruining business.
Gene
Pete in MD
Well-known Member
- Location
- Central Maryland
Gene,
Political correctness is not ruining business, it's ruining EVERYTHING.
Political correctness is not ruining business, it's ruining EVERYTHING.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Never worked at JD but certainly a lot of truth to what you wrote. My experience at a competitor is very similar the few years before I retired. The story is although they have done great with white males, they try and sell the concept that either not enough qualified white males are available and/or that diversity brings another viewpoint for solving problems or looking at new product functions/ideas. I asked if white males had been so successful why didn't they offer more money to them rather the opposite, more to the minorities rather than bet on an unproven work force. Not the response they wanted to hear.
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