What Would It Take?

[mattman]

I want to buy a tractor some kind of bad. I have some cash money put back if the tractor is cheap enough. Or take the bank route and borrow the money.. I have almost bought a tractor the bank has said whenever you want the money tell how much and who to make the check out for, but I don't know about buying right now. The slow economy has hit my area also. Town population of about 21,500 at least 1,000 folks have been layed off in the past 3-4 months. I drive a truck for a chemical company locally, so if the chemical company keeps cutting back and not selling very much of the product they produce, then there is not much need for me. I hate to spend up my cash money, yet I don't want to have a note hanging over my shoulder at this time either. I have changed my mine as to the size of tractor I will get. I need smaller than what I had orginally been looking for. I have to have a tractor of some kind by the end of March to the first of April. So I have some time to keep looking. I would look at the grey market tractors, but there is not any dealer support around this area. I think a good dealer goes a long way in the tractor someone buys. My 2 cents

[EFC]

Originally Posted by LMTC

As I sit here in our 14th (or is it 15th?) winter in this market, I realize that all 14 (or 15) years total sales in December, January, and most of February doesn't amount to a hill of beans. I've always figured a big part of that for us is that the Ohio River valley weather we are subject to is some of the most perverse (not severe, but subject to rapid deterioration, so no arguments from Alaskans or Minnesotans please) winter weather in the country (frequent ice storms, common temperature plunges of 30* or more), and just the fact that most of us don't feel like looking at tractors in really cold weather.

So I have a question. I ask this in complete seriousness, and really would like to hear (ok, read) what folks think. I suspect other dealers might like to see the responses too. If you have been even remotely considering the purchase of a compact tractor along the lines of the grey Yanmars, what would it take to get you to make the move in the next few weeks? Is there anything, within reason, that would stimulate you to purchase now or very soon? I realize someone will probably say "a free tractor", but seriously, I am asking if there is anything that you really believe a dealer could do that would motivate you to make a purchase in short order.

We ran an offer last month with a significant amount off on a tractor plus a grader blade at no extra charge, and the response could not have been less. This leads me to think there probably isn't much that we can do to stimulate winter sales, within the range of what we can do and not lose money. But maybe the input of those of you who are shopping, or are starting to think about shopping, will give us some ideas that could benefit all of us. Thanks for any and all serious input. And don't forget to have those extra fuel filters on the shelf....gelled fuel, which trashes the fuel filter, is probably the #1 issue we hear about each winter.

Wayne, I can say in our area November through February is our best time of the year for sales (not because of snow since in our area we get very little). Our bad months are July and October. In July people realize they have kids and boats and in October everybody around here is hunting. I dont waste my money trying to drag them into the shop. They read the big sale ads out on the boat then four months later when they walk in the dealership they wonder why they cant have the same super cheep deal. So in the long run those ads hurt more than they help. During our down times we focus on service work and getting inventory in, assembled and prep for sale. I do send out service coupons a month ahead of the slow times that are only good for specific months like July and October. That works a little but it is still slow.

Buck

[ritchieb]

Very good questions and good responses also. What it took for me after two years of searching was a dealer that had a very good reputation in sales, knowledge, straight to the point, service advice by phone, (at his expense) manuals supplied on CD and paper, parts delivery within 3 days to my location. I might add the distance from me to LMTC is 240 miles and my delivery on the 1610D I bought was at 8 pm at night and not one complaint from the driver. He had to wait until a little later to leave with the tractor. The 1610 looked good in the photos and even better when it got here. I bought this unit never even seeing it in person! I relied on TBN members with comments and knowledge of my dealer and his tractors. Thanks to all of your guys input, I am VERY pleased with my unit which I have owned almost two years now.

If I had to lean towards an area of "what it took", it would be a good person selling a good product to start with, all the manuals, and help by phone. Some things just sell themselves, I think Yanmar is one that does, wish they would get back into the market again with the quality of the older ones and not with another company as a partner.

[blackd]

Wayne, three things come to mind that you could provide. 1) packages tailored for the season as someone mentioned earlier, 2) financing and 3) advertising these items. It's hard to motivate someone who is not thinking about their tractor needs when they are thinking about winter sports/hunting, etc.

Otherwise concentrate on the service side and advertise that.

[Inspector507]

Just my thoughts here, but I'm in the same area Wayne is in. I know that the tractor gets very little use this time of year. So if I had the idea of buying, I would not think it was that important right now because it will just sit until warmer weather. Why shell out money now for something that I won't use much until March? I plow snow maybe once or twice in a typical season. Without a tractor, I'm sure I could find a way to get the driveway plowed once or twice, been doing it for years. But when the "tractor season" gets here, I may be looking a little harder.

Another thought. Wayne you have an excellent web presence and excellent word of mouth advertising. You may have local media advertising too, I don't know. But what you don't have is eye catching displays where the "I need a tractor soon" guy can see them. Your location is not conducive to drive by advertising. The reason I bring this up is, you asked what it would take me to buy now? If I was driving down the main drag or interstate and saw a lot with shiny red Yanmars sitting there, I might pull in and see what kind of winter deal I could find.

Just a couple of thoughts, Buddy. I know, another location is more overhead and everyone is trying to cut that out now days.

[LMTC]

Location has always been our #1 deficit, Jerry. Given the price of setting up shop on more visible property vs. the relatively low overhead here, I've never been able to justify it. Even less so now as I get older and the economy more shakey. No question though that location is an issue. But with that said, I have several times had several tractors in very visible locations, on SR 28, on SR 123, etc., and never really done any better. Of course I wasn't there to try to sell them either.....they were sitting on someone else's property, or in a couple of cases on a used car lot. But they really didn't generate phone calls, etc.

I know in all our years I've never found "sales" to really make a difference. Seems you've got your folks who will buy by price and simply hope really hard that the quality is good, and then you've got folks who understand that $10 well spent makes more sense than $5 poorly spent. I just thought I'd see if anyone actually in shopping mode could provide insight into what might make someone on the fence go ahead and jump. I know for me almost nothing would do that, as my purchases tend to be either immediate necessity (hot water heaters, wiper blades, etc.) or fairly well researched, and when I decide to buy, I have the money and buy for keeps (i.e., quality is a primary factor).

Jerry, did I tell you I finally broke down and parted with a few $$ during that horrible outage in September? There's a nice shiny new generator sitting on the front porch....I hope I never use it.

[EddieWalker]

Inspector reminded me about a guy who owned an RV Park that I went and visited. He has a small park with some great ponds that are just full of fish. He's done a heck of a job with his fish, but he rest of the Park is just OK. Not great, but not bad.

His location sucks. It's off a small offramp, down a county road, then turn onto another county road, then another and another. It's a challenge to find him, and by the time you do, it's really not worth the effort.

I asked him how was his business and how many RV's was he getting in? He replied that nobody is traveling and the RV Park business is dead. He refused to believe that some parks are full and turning people away. He was nice enough, but wasn't too diplomatic in his disbelief that other parts are doing well. I didn't get into his location with him, I didn't see the point. He planted roots out in the middle of nowhere and he's not going to move it no matter what.

Eddie

[E_Sanborn]

Wayne,
It would be my view that current discretionary spending is down nationwide, not just in certain regions, although some ares are harder off than others. I would guess that SCUT and Grey Tractor sales lean more towards discretionary purchases than filling a business need or personal necessity, therefore, as relatively large ticket durable goods they could be considered a leading economic indicator.

/So what can be constructively done for the independent dealer? I would venture: more advertising and lower pricing, but I wouldn't expect much more inventory to move until consumer confidence picks up a bit.

While the immediate economic circumstances aren't as dire as the news might lead you to believe, we are in a **** of a contraction. Many people have seen dramatic (40-50%) reductions in their investments and holdings, including real property during the past year. Many people with less than perfect credit are finding that it is very difficult to find affordable loan terms for big-ticket items. And many who aren't in the two above groups are just plain scared of what tomorrow may bring. All of this might tend to make persons who might like to
buy a SCUT Gray put off their plans for a while. My best guess is that we may expect to see 6 or more months of consumer reluctance, and the balance will largely be dictated by the emotional reaction of the American people and Wall Street to their new president and his policies. We'll just have to see where this goes. It may be time to hunker down a little bit for the long haul, or it may be a time to be bold.

[Inspector507]

Originally Posted by LMTC

Jerry, did I tell you I finally broke down and parted with a few $$ during that horrible outage in September? There's a nice shiny new generator sitting on the front porch....I hope I never use it.

I don't think I knew that. But I would like to hear about the hookup in an email or another thread.

[tractorErnie]

Wayne, don't fret it, its slow all up & down the west coast too.
The new ones and the Yanmar's are NOT flying out the door ANYWHERE.
If you can sit tight thru this hard time you will be ready when it gets better, I say by spring or early summer we will know which way its going to go.

We are using this time to clean our shelves, hang new signs, and polish the inventory.

Ahhh..... plus a little hunting on the side.....