Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha

   / Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha #31  
Barrent,

I think you said it pretty good. I am not a tractor dealer but am a HVAC dealer. Too many times people write or call in for a price. We really don't know what they really want unless you can see them face to face. You give them a price over the phone or email and then the next thing is they are mad because you didn't give them what they really wanted. Sometimes it is just a competitor fishing for prices from the competition. Typically I will write back and ask the home owner more questions and then try to point out it is best for me to meet with them. Cowlitz may have had their reasons for being incomplete in their replies. I am thinking there was a post about having a thread for dealer complaints. I am against that and I am not sure that any dealer names should have been brought up in this thread.

Just my opinion, I don't know who Cowlitz is and really have never heard of them but I guess if one is unhappy with a dealer, so be it, move on to another dealer. That is what I do.

Again my .02 cents.

murph
 
   / Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha
  • Thread Starter
#32  
No matter what business a person is in, customers will withhold information like it's earning interest in the bank.
It's not that difficult to open up dialogue and let them know theres more than one widget available. Some people are true poker faces- they just come in to stare you down sales wise. maybe the business and that individual were never meant to be.
But there must be a better way on email responses to sales ads, an internet form or something to fill out. A persons buying intent is hard to figure out when you have 12 to 24 words to go on, so why jump to labeling them a waste?
 
   / Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha #33  
You are absolutley right about it being a two way street. It is equally important that the "Request" be in a form that actually begins a dialogue. Not being given enough information to work with makes it hard to be helpful. I will say, based on my experiences, that you (as a dealer) come across more willing than most to even have a dialogue.

A peripheral to this.....I wonder about the possibility of a "Referral forum" (or something similar) where the membership cam place positive and non positive (no slamming) experiences about the dealers they work with.
 
   / Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha #34  
You make alot of valid points that I never thought of being a consumer. If the person is really serious about buying, they should probably pick up the phone and call. I believe a phone call would be more personal. At least it shows that the consumer is serious. On the other hand, the dealer has to respect each and every person as a potential buyer. Before I bought my tractor I called 4 to 5 local dealers. I beleive 1 called me back. Not one said let me have your name and I will call you back. Everyone told me to call them back. Including the dealer I bought from. Why did I buy from him? Price, Price, Price......... The product sold it self.
 
   / Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha #35  
I think if you're going to have e mail you should at least answer a request. Even if it's with a list of your own questions for the buyer. Or better yet, have a form on your web site that asks for the information you need as a seller to make an informed quote. Also add a statement explaining some of what you have told us along with the form. The dealer I bought from never answered one of my requests, after I bought from them I get a pretty quick response via e mail.
I would have appreciated even a quick note maybe asking for my number so they could discuss it with me, or asking me to call them for a quote. I don't like being ignored.
I did like them after meeting them in person, guess they need to work on their puter etiquette
 
   / Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha #36  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I think if you're going to have e mail you should at least answer a request. )</font>


Interesting article.

Consumer Survey


Murph
 
   / Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha #37  
Good story. When I was building my FOPS I e'd the company I bought the tube clevis's from for some info on the pin length I'd need to fit the clevis. I had their parts, the parts I asked about and the FOPS built before they replied. In their reply they told me they didn't stock the pins, NO S**t!!, that's why I inquired about the length, so I could order elsewhere. It took them over a week and they didn't even answer correctly. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Great tech support, NOT!!
 
   / Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha #38  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Do you get any money from him for the aftercare or do you sell it so cheap that you hope he never calls with a problem. I need to take care of every customer who buys a tractor or even a mower blade. I need to make sure I am there for him at a moments notice and I have the tools and the equipment to do so. The customer looks at the cost of the tractor and I look at the cost of how I will be able to take care of him in the future. This is hard to put in an email with out sounding like a salesman.)</font>

Barret, I've chimed in on many sales and dealership discussions before, but what you are saying is what I have always had so much trouble with. Dealers dicker on price and get all wishy washy.

Why do dealers not seem to get it? Why not price each and every thing... products and services fairly at each step of the game??????? Why try to subsidize the tractor purchase with the service (by padding the price) on it later? Why try to subsidize the service by padding the price on the tractor?

Dealers act sooooo offended when people price shop and get the best deal. Many dealers try the subsidization thing and get ticked off when the customer realizes it and get the good deal but doesn't pay the inflated price on the item that the dealer HOPED the subsidization would come from. The dealers and manufacturers take many steps to hide where the subsidizations come from so that customers can't use that information to their advantage.

It is really very simple. Live in the internet age, stop playing marketing games and price your products and services for what they are TRULY worth and you will have sales.

Many people are willing to buy a tractor from 3 states away to get a good price. Their also willing to pay for service from a local service center. But some dealers like to be children and whine because they didn't get the sale too. I would enjoy seeing a dealer whine because they didn't get the sale of the tractor because they had it unfairly priced. If they had priced it for what it was worth they might have gotten the sale. Its over and done with. The dealer should realize his fault and be happy to make a fair profit from the service. The lower the prices on sales for the next guy.

Many dealers and manufacturers ***HATE*** informed customers. If the dealers and manufactures weren't lieing and hiding information, they wouldn't be putting themselves in the position where an informed customer is bad.

Edit: Why does who or where the person is matter for pricing? A dealers fair price should be his fair price. A ***seperate*** but fair fee for shipping and of course this would be different depending on where the buyer is.
 
   / Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha #39  
Yes.... but the dealer needs to know what kind of customer he is dealing with.

JD and Cat are famous for total support of commercial customers for whom downtime might cost 10's of thousands of $ or even a whole year's crop. That unfailing support is built into what may seem like an inflated price.

Another type of customer may go far from home for best cash price and explicitly promises to never return to that dealer for anything. That's me, I've done that on 3 new cars, with minor warranty work done at my neighborhood dealer or simply at my expense at a local independent who I trust more than my local dealer.

And I'm sure every merchant has encountered the customer who pesters him with returns, exchanges, and requests that the product be upgraded to show-quality at the dealer's expense.

I think it's reasonable that the dealer has enough contact with the customer to size up the customer's agenda before he quotes a price. Face to face would be best, with phone, website questionnaire, or email providing less of this essential information.

I also think it is important for the customer to clearly state his expectations along with his request for a quote. That way both sides of the transaction will end up about where they expected to be.
 
   / Cowlitz Tractor, Ha Ha Ha #40  
I would have absolutely no problem with that. But it is NOT part of the cost of the tractor. Maybe the times have changed.
Charge a support fee or something or upgraded warranty. Maybe have standard warranty included in the price where parts and labor to fix what is broke is handled just as it normally is. For upgraded warranty there would be an extra fee and a loaner tractor/implement within X number of hours.

If I myself expected and paid such treatment, I would much rather have it in writing anyway with backup from the manufacturer. What if I paid an inflated price (all extra goes to the dealer) from a reputable tractor dealership and then the old guy owner dies. His wife and sons THOUGHT they were going to continue but decide to close shop. Now I paid a premium fee to a dealer <WINK WINK, elbow nudge in the ribs> type of service with nothing in writing.

I have no problem paying fair prices for goods or services. It's just very annoying hearing of dealerships brutally punishing customers for price shopping or buying elsewhere. Maybe if they would have itemized their price they would have gotten the sale. And they most definitely shouldn't turn away service jobs just to be a &%$#. They can still make some money on that if it is fairly priced and they don't drive the customer away. Anything less is just childish.

And I still say that any dealer that fears/despises informed customers most definitely isn't worth dealing with anyway because he is just out to rip you off. If they don't want you informed, their hiding something or trying to slip something by on you. If their doing that their a dishonest person and don't deserve anyones business.
 
 
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