demonstrating

[beck]

Do you find it hard to demonstrate equipment?

I am finding that not many places are willing to let me take a mower out for half a day or more. They only want you to cut a yard or two, if that. I went to one shop the other day and the salesman told me, "You know what they do, They cut grass." He did let me drive it around the parking lot, but I don't know of any parking lots that need cutting.

What are your experiences?

[landscaper3]

We demod all our Walkers and Toro's before purchasing them. As a matter of fact the Walker salesmen came out to one of our jobs so we could demo on site. I would never buy something at that expense without a demo first.

[bob]

My local dealer has a huge open house every March. All the factory rep's are there. You can ride every kind of mower that they sell. They nake a killing every year!

[MJB]

Just be up front and tell them your going to buy the mower if you like the quality of cut. The only way to see if the mower lives up to your standards is to demo on several lawns. They don't care about quality, just sales, so do not take a salesman word that it cuts as good as any mower. Make him prove it. He should be willing to let you demo it. What kind of dealer is it?

[Jeff in AL]

To all---
I am an OPE dealer, and that is what I do, is sell equipment. We do have many people come in and look at different pieces of equipment. However due to our shop location, we no not have any grass to demo machines on.
What we due is set up a demo time and place(if homeowmer, usually at their house, and most don't have a trailer to get it there anyway). We go over the machine operation with them and then let them go to work. We have no set time limit as to how long they can use it, but we stay there incase they have a problem or questions.
Now as for commercial cutters, most of them we let take the equipment out on their own. However it must come back in the same shape that it was in when they left with it, not all beat up from mowing along a 200 foot fence or running into walls. For the most part they can tell if they like the machine, and it will work for them in a matter of minutes. We will not let them demo it for days or weeks at a time.
Now as for customers that are not our "regulars", we will set up the same type of demo as for homeowners. We have done this because we have had a few come in and say "I wish I try it out at such and such a place".
When the equipment comes back with 12 hrs on it and it is plain to see that they have been bushhogging with it, it really pisses me off. They won't admit that they did not want to use their own equipment on that property.
We have even shown up to due a demo, at the same time another company was there. (I like those).
Bottom line is I/we will due what ever it takes to get you to be one of our customers, and to keep you one for life.
I don't understand why a dealer will not go the extra step to help you guys, when it is their business to, and furthermore I don't know how they are still in business.
Most of our sales are from pro cutters, and we due WHAT EVER it takes to keep you guys up and going, if it requires staying after hours to get a repair done, then that's what will be done.
I have had a few times that the guys stop at my house after hours or on Sunday, because they had a problem or needed a belt etc.. They feel bad for doing it, but if their equipment is down, their not making money. So I will go the extra mile to get them up and going.

Jeff in AL

[Richard Martin]

Jeff in Al wrote:

<b><i>I have had a few times that the guys stop at my house after hours or on Sunday, because they had a problem or needed a belt etc..</b></i>

I wish we had you here. One of our local Exmark dealers isn't even open on Saturdays and the other one couldn't give you a belt because he doesn't have them. He keeps what few belts he has in a cardboard box in the corner.

[Skookum]

We finally got a dealer here that sells about everything for the professional trade. He tells you up front, "Do not buy it until you come in, take it out and mow". "Mow with it all day on your regular route, put it through the mill like you would any other day".

Very cool concept. He use to mow! He has hurt the other dealers alot! Things are looking up for us around here.

[Scraper]

Bob...you talking about Suburban outside Wilmington?

[Sammy]

I left my hand blower at the farm one day. Stopped by my Stihl dealer and told him what I had done. He asked me what blower did I want to borrow ! I choose the BR-320. Used it for 6 days. He had no problem with me useing it that long. I said thanks and he said no problem, anytime.

[cos]

Let me guess. Suburban Equipment, Bob? I get that flyer every year too.

[Scraper]

If you are talking about Suburban, Bob...that's about all they'll do for ya...customer service sucks...although they have a great mechanic. The sales people are just drones and seem to really care less about anything.

[turfman99]

I agree with Jeffs post on this subject. When I was a Toro commercial equipment sales rep, there was so much pressure from three major equipment companies to sell equipment in a very limited market, that all kinds of extra ordinary things were done to try and get the business.

Demo's were really loaners. Golf courses were the worst, because that's where the volume is. In order to sell something to a golf course, you had to take a demo piece out,maybe 200 miles away, buy the superintendent and crew lunch, give them all hats, leave the equipment for 5 days, then drive back and get the piece and have them tell you what a piece of crap it was, but they might buy it if you got the price down lower than the next guy. And then if they bought it, do the same damn thing all over again. Oh, and half of those expenses came off the salespersons commission on top of the 70 hour work weeks. It averaged out to less than $ 13 per hour.

Enter 1999 to the market and all the dealers are having trouble making ends meet. Look at all the massive consolidations in the equipment business. Sound familar ?? Economies of scale again.

They got themselves down so low on margin on the equipment, that they could not keep any demo fleet,( which for some companies was $ 250,000 or more)
they could not get equipment from the manufactuer because it was basically built to retail orders and sales, not inventory. Holding inventory was and is a thing of the past. So the dealers come up with a new market strategy. Sell the equipment cheap ( i.e. low margins), keep sales expenses down, cut out the week long demo's and charge for the transportaion of the sold equipment. But here is where that strategy pays off, it gets the eqquipment in to the PARTS STREAM. Parts have 50% to 200% markup. Thats where they make their money.

Dealership owners make their money by owning the facilities and vehicles and equipment, then leasing them back to the company, and make the real money on the after the sale parts service.

Now they bring the demo out, the sales person stay's there, and you drive it around and that's that. Works for me, but I've been doing this a while and new business's need some time to evaluate a product and it's fit into their business operations. Really want to test a product, get your choices on the same site and let's have at it. It soon becomes apparent which product will perform. Not every demo yields a sale. Some times your sales close rate is 40% or less. Many similarities to the landscape business?? Gotta roll out a lot of miles and grass to make the grocery run at the end of the week.

Look at it from the dealers point... flooring plans
financing by manufactuer) are virtually non existent any more. If they do, they carry at least 11% interest if you haven't moved the piece in 90 days. If your selling for 15% margin, does not take long to compute that disaster. THAT WOULD BE GROSS MARGIN ALSO. Makes parts sales look damn good. Imagine trying to come up with $ 100,000 to pay for your inventory if you have only sold 50K.

Look to the John Deere superstore models and dealers having multi state sales areas. Look at Turfco's direct sales program, this is where the business is headed. Educate yourselves, get a grip on machinery and engineering differences and make good decisions. It's a changing business, and you have to be assertive to get what you need.

[Edited by turfman99 on 11-02-2000 at 12:47 AM]

[landscaper3]

When we purchased another Walker from our distributer he also told us if you need a part saturday knight or sunday I or Ill have someone open the shop to get you that part so you can get it ready for monday to mow agian. Thats what I call service.