Ignorant, uninformed, lazy or ??? Dealers

[MossRoad]

What does the school system have to do with some dealers not knowing their product?

That's an easy one, it boils down to ignorance. Not wanting to learn about your product or to lazy, or not understanding what your competition has to offer. It starts at an early age and follows you through your life.

99% of the time that's your parents' fault, not the school's.

 

[fattyfat1]

boy, i sure started a fire! thanks to MadReferee for adressing my grapple/dealer issue, and i hope everyone is still following that thread because i explained a little better the situation today. too bad my dealer doesn't look at TBN to read about this! maybe they should start.

 

[rustyanchor]

It's raining, I'm stuck inside so I'm posting rather than just reading.
My dealer has been fantastic. I bought a Farmtrac because of the dealer and the family's reputation in the area. A while back I read a post with dealer provided "goodies" hats, key chains, etc. Well I got hats, a full tank of fuel, delivery and pick up if I have a problem, phone assistance or onsite assistance if we can't solve it on the phone, and the knowledge that if I have a problem with my tractor I can get personal help. Granted my dealer is only 5 miles away, but it would be a pain in the tail to drag a sick tractor 5 miles.
When I took delivery I had onsite instruction on BH removal and reattachment, all the operating controls and what the bottons did (Ford 3000 didn't have too many buttons or gizmos!) and the safety lecture.
Am I happy with my dealer Yup.

Just my nickels worth

 

[Podunkadunk]

When I was shopping around before my tractor purchase, I was looking at most all the big name tractors...JD, Kubota, NH, Massey F, Case/IH and Mahindra. I have all these dealerships within a 20 mile radius of me. Since I live in the "Peanut Capitol of the U.S.", Ag tractors are on most of the lots, but they do have smaller tractors also. When I would pull up to the "lots", it was just like in a car lot, each salesman was practically opening my truck door for me...

I was really impressed with the way the New Holland salesman treated me. He acted like I was the only guy in the world at the time. Very nice, very knowledgeable and eager to explain features. He bled blue and white and it showed in his great attitude.

Same with the M.F. salesman. He was nice and didn't exert one pound of pressure on me. Just kept me informed, answered my ?'s and let the cards play however they were thrown.

The Mahindra/Case/IH salesman was a hoot. I ended up talking to him for over 2 hours on the "lot". He acted like he had known me all his life. Heck, it's a wonder I wasn't invited over for dinner at his place. I really liked the Mahindra, but the cost (they were high at this particular dealership) drove me away and they didn't have anything smaller in the Case/IH line.

The JD salesman never even came outside. It was a beautiful day, I could see them through the glass, standing around drinking coffee with other salesmen. I walked the lot, made some notes on paper, looked at this one, that one...they never walked out that day. There weren't many customers inside (evident by the people not wearing green) and I was the ONLY one on the "lot". I guess they were selling so many tractors, they didn't need my business, so I obliged.

The Kubota salesman was helpful, considerate, asked about my needs and we discussed different applications for the job. Because of advice from a farmer friend of mine, I was already leaning toward Orange, but I was more than willing to give everyone an equal shot at my $.

I can only speak for my part of the country, but I'll tell ya, if a salesman here doesn't know what he's talking about, he won't be on the lot too long. 90% (my best guesstimation) of the people walking onto the lots farm for a living. They know their equipment and can detect B.S. a mile away. You may be able to B.S. some guy who lives in the city, owns an acre of land with a "K-bar Ranch" sign above the driveway and has 1/3 acre of grass to mow, but you can't B.S. a guy who owns several tractors/combines etc., employs 15-20 people and has thousands of acres of peanuts/cotton to tend to.

I guess I'm lucky to be in this area. It's a great place to shop for a tractor.

 

[stones]

I think that we see this attitude throughout the work force today, it's almost like there are groups of individuals who have no pride or respect for them selves or others and basically don't care to make an effort to learn their product, trade or craft. Sales is just one portion of this problem. To me it's a matter of pride, to someone else its easier to BS their way thru what ever they need to do. The issue is more noticable here where there are people who are know their product and the features and can spot wrong information very quickly. The users of TBN are not ones to "Half A**" any job, that includes sales, or any task given to them. I think it just irks some of us to see this happening.

 

[scott_vt]

The "best" tractor salesman I ever encountered (read; He sold me 3 new tractors) retired before computers came on the scene. He carried a couple pocket note pads and a pen. He remembered everything about his customers....because they were important. He also knew every inch of every product he sold, BECAUSE HE USED THEM TOO. He answered questions like a man that didn't have to read about it....he LIVED it. When I was shopping 18 months back, one sales guy didn't even know how to start a tractor I was looking at. It's difficult to hand over $34,000 to that guy.

Mornin Bill,
BINGO !!! If you want to be a tractor salesman, be a tractor operator first, get some real life experiences under your belt so you know what the heck your talking about !

 

[rback33]

This thread has amused me a lot. I can see this thread from every angle.

1) I am only 29 and in the generation of the lazy and the world owes me everything.

2) I grew up working on a farm, and ended up in sales/service

3) Many of my family members teach, with my MIL having just retired

I believe that it's IS the parents that have led their children to be like they are. That is why I am not like them. My parents never cried to the school that I was not being treated fairly. They never chewed out the basketball coach because I was not seeing enough PT. This stuff happens every day. The fact of the matter is life is NOT fair. I have spent considerable time with a bunch of new college freshmen that just don't get it. They whine because their professors give them bad grades for papers they didn't like. All they really need to do is find out what the prof likes and feed it to them. As terrible as it is.. life is about ***** kissing and you better get good at it fast. I do it by working hard at what I do. People think I am mean to my 4 y/o because I don't wait on her hand and foot and run to her every time she cries. She has to toughen up now, or later she is going to have life kick her square in the pants before it runs her over. There are reasons people marvel and how well behaved she is. As parents we expect it. She is also very bright for her age. I refuse to be a lazy parent. We read books almost every night. We play outside... A LOT. I am tooting my own horn here, but if more parents were PROACTIVE in their kids lives rather than REACTIVE, society would not be where it is today.

I listen to idiot salesman a lot. I often go looking for them. I a most comfortable in my Wrangler and boots, but go tractor and pickup shopping in the "preppiest" clothes I own. I once listened to my wife as a used car salesman what the F-250 we were looking at had in it for a rear end. His answer was, "Huh?" My wife had to explain what she wanted to know. It was hilarious. Most salesman work on commisions. They are not going to learn anything unless it makes them more money. A friend of mine has asked me to go tractor shopping with him. I am flattered and know it will be fun because we will be looking at things I know VERY well.

Back to the subject of the thread, I think all three titles apply at different times. Sometimes it boils down to the skills people are taught (or not taught) and the skills have to be refined. There are tons of great dealers out there and the salesman that don't measure up will be subject to the Darwin awards of sales. OK... I am assuming that many are wanting to push me off my soapbox by now... sorry for the long rant....

 

[jcotta]

A friend of mine was a very sucessfull sales man. He went to trade school during high school as he had no interest in college. He worked about ten years as mechanic, autos and forklifts. He saw that the sales people made a lot more than mechanics and wanted to sell for his forklift company. He had to beg the owner to let him try sales. Finally the owner relented and gave him a try. The first couple of years were rough but he stuck it out. He learned that if you could solve a customer's problem you could sell them just about anything and they would pay top dollar for it. He became the company 's top salesman at 33. Twenty years ago his commissions were over a 150,000 per year. He knew the product, he knew why things broke, he knew what would work, and he knew the customers , he had it all. Unfortunately he devoloped MS and has not worked much in the last ten years. The company changed hands 15 years ago and the new owners could not get rid of him quick enough. The new owners lost a valuable asset even if the guy could only give 50%. I learned a lot about customer service from him.

 

[Tig]

My dealer was to install a block heater. Instead they installed an inline heater in the lower rad hose. No big deal, I let it slide. When I pointed out that they forgot to put the coollant back in the rad, the salesman told me that they were switching out the summer antifreeze for winter antifreeze.

 

[RickO]

This thread has amused me a lot. I can see this thread from every angle.

1) I am only 29 and in the generation of the lazy and the world owes me everything.

2) I grew up working on a farm, and ended up in sales/service

3) Many of my family members teach, with my MIL having just retired

I believe that it's IS the parents that have led their children to be like they are. That is why I am not like them. My parents never cried to the school that I was not being treated fairly. They never chewed out the basketball coach because I was not seeing enough PT. This stuff happens every day. The fact of the matter is life is NOT fair. I have spent considerable time with a bunch of new college freshmen that just don't get it. They whine because their professors give them bad grades for papers they didn't like. All they really need to do is find out what the prof likes and feed it to them. As terrible as it is.. life is about ***** kissing and you better get good at it fast. I do it by working hard at what I do. People think I am mean to my 4 y/o because I don't wait on her hand and foot and run to her every time she cries. She has to toughen up now, or later she is going to have life kick her square in the pants before it runs her over. There are reasons people marvel and how well behaved she is. As parents we expect it. She is also very bright for her age. I refuse to be a lazy parent. We read books almost every night. We play outside... A LOT. I am tooting my own horn here, but if more parents were PROACTIVE in their kids lives rather than REACTIVE, society would not be where it is today.

I listen to idiot salesman a lot. I often go looking for them. I a most comfortable in my Wrangler and boots, but go tractor and pickup shopping in the "preppiest" clothes I own. I once listened to my wife as a used car salesman what the F-250 we were looking at had in it for a rear end. His answer was, "Huh?" My wife had to explain what she wanted to know. It was hilarious. Most salesman work on commisions. They are not going to learn anything unless it makes them more money. A friend of mine has asked me to go tractor shopping with him. I am flattered and know it will be fun because we will be looking at things I know VERY well.

Back to the subject of the thread, I think all three titles apply at different times. Sometimes it boils down to the skills people are taught (or not taught) and the skills have to be refined. There are tons of great dealers out there and the salesman that don't measure up will be subject to the Darwin awards of sales. OK... I am assuming that many are wanting to push me off my soapbox by now... sorry for the long rant....

I'm there with ya except for one thing... you don't want kids who will not stand up to something that isn't right either... I find that because our kids are being raised in a world full of Me 1sters... you have to let them push back a little. I'm agreeing with you about not raising kids soft. But there are some REALLY bad coaches, teachers, etc. (More good than bad though) and contrary to what a lot of people believe... you can be successful without kissing up. There are too many kisser uppers in this country and not enough standing up for what's right. I too am an Xer, grew up working for farmers. Agree, our schools are not the problem, our parents are.

... Back on subject. I guess I'm lucky in that most of the dealers in my area seem to be able to answer questions I expect them to. I don't expect a dealer to know what rear-end is in a truck etc. I expect them to be able to find out if I want to know.