Compact Tractor Dealers Ignore Two-thirds of Their Potential Website Customers, Industry Survey Shows

[LFP57]

You’re right, and if there’s one thing the covid lockdowns taught us it’s that consumers won‘t tolerate that old school dealership model any longer. Dealers will either need to get onboard or die. Same goes for tractors. I bought a Deere right after covid started and never even saw it until I took delivery. Only talked to the sales guy once and that was to sign paperwork. If I could have ordered it via the web like buying something off Amazon I would have done it, which is how people growing up today will be expecting things to work.

The one caveat is that once you purchase a tractor or any vehicle online, the first time you need to take it in for parts/service, I wonder if one could expect great service from a dealership that you didn't purchase it from.

 

[airbiscuit]

Our local Deere Dealer is awful. I used to own a JD and over the years I visited that dealer many times for parts and service. A few years ago, I started thinking of upgrading. I stopped in at the JD dealer and wanted to talk models and pricing. The salesman(?) told me to go outside and look at the tractors and then come back and he would give me prices. I had to hunt him down when I went back inside and then he seemed pained when I wanted to price out a unit with options. He made no effort to join me outside, discuss models and options and make recommendations for my uses. Then, he scribbled down some ballpark prices on a few brochures and handed them to me. I drove away to the Kubota dealer and spent a few hours with a salesman who showed me the models and discussed uses. Then he gave me full quotes on the models including options. I was liking the Kubota buying experience better, then when I compared the JD prices to comparable Kubota models, I decided to eliminate JD from consideration for my future purchase.

So, you bought a Kubota from that salesperson who spent a few hours with you?

 

[jyoutz]

So, you bought a Kubota from that salesperson who spent a few hours with you?

I ordered one from him, but he couldn’t get one in stock. When I found one at another dealer, I called the first guy and asked when he could get delivery of one. He said probably not until summer 2022 ( this was in November 2021). He suggested I buy from the dealer who had the tractor available. I told him thanks and bought a few implements from him.

 

[airbiscuit]

Well then, his investment of time with you still paid some dividend.

 

[jyoutz]

Well then, his investment of time with you still paid some dividend.

And since he is closer, the local dealer will also get any service work.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Case in point, I bought a brand new Kubota Premium round baler (net-twine) from him last fall, signed all the papers on it and had Kubota finance the balance and it's still sitting in his lot and has been all winter, even though I own it and am making payments on it. Saves me having to insure it for one and I'm in no hurry to take possession

How did you get by without having to either insure it privately or use Kubota's insurance as I thought anything that they financed they required insurance on? Is there a loophole?

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I am looking for a skid steer attachment and found one online at a dealer in Arkansas. I emailed them from the equipment website and got no response. After 2 days, I called and was put on hold for 15 minutes, then I hung up. I called again the next day and was told the salesman was on the phone. I said I would call back later, which I never did.
I would say there was a 10% chance that I would buy this attachment, but it would have been nice to at least get a price.

I have been looking at buying a tracked skid steer and called one of the local Kubota dealers and requested a price, they said they would e-mail me one, the next day they did send me an e-mail stating that the skidsteer that I inquired about was sold, but that they would be glad to put me on a list to order and reserve another one, I e-mailed them back and told them that would be great but first I needed a price, never heard another word. There was a 100% chance that I was going to buy and I did, but it wasn't from them.

 

[Pleease]

My wife was talking about how her 96 year old (!) aunt hops on the Internet to order things or figure out how to set up new gadgets.

My own mother, though, was afraid to turn the computer on when she was 70. Scared her to death (not literally).

That's a good example of "to each his/her own". My FIL owned a pharmacy, and for 10+ years had a computer system to print labels, keep patient files, etc., but was 100% not interested in going online or using a computer at all in retirement. He seemed pretty dang happy though, lol.

 

[5030]

How did you get by without having to either insure it privately or use Kubota's insurance as I thought anything that they financed they required insurance on? Is there a loophole?

First off the new bailer is on my dealer's blanket liability policy so no reason for me to double insure it. I don't have physical possession and Kubota is aware of that and yes they do and when it gets here and I have physical possession it will be and my carrier will forward a copy to Kubota. Was a little stink from Kubota about it but got it ironed out. With the covid bs, normal business transactions aren't 'normal' today. besides I cannot use it until my tractor has the Kubota bailer controls installed and the NH controls removed and that is all included in the purchase price. I never use Kubota insurance because they will only insure their equipment and I have a lot of equipment not made by Kubota plus everything else....and, Kubota insurance is more expensive to boot.

 

[PuffyC]

The one caveat is that once you purchase a tractor or any vehicle online, the first time you need to take it in for parts/service, I wonder if one could expect great service from a dealership that you didn't purchase it from.

I still bought mine from a brick and mortar dealer, I just didn’t do any in-person shopping there. But yeah, you would hope a dealer would treat you right either way but who knows.

 

[HighTwelve]

I bought my L3010 with only 325 hours at the bankruptcy auction of a horseback riding academy in Tennessee. How did I find out about the auction? The answer is from this site when the bankruptcy receiver posted wanting to know what the tractor was worth. Score 1 for the internet. I flew down there, looked the tractor over, talked him into selling on the spot for cold cash and flew home. Getting the tractor to Pennsylvania was arranged through uShip.com at $1.00/loaded mile (this was 15 years ago). Score 2 for the internet.

I contacted the closest local dealer to order a folding ROPS. The fixed ROPS wouldn’t fit in my 1813 barn. I got a runaround that he couldn’t get one because a ROPS cannot be replaced, but to trade the L3010 in for a new Kubota. It sounded to me like BS and it was.

My next stop was a dealer 40 miles away. I had the replacement ROPS within two weeks so I bought a back blade, York rake and weight box from him too. I later had the tractor in to him to have problems in the glow plug circuit fixed and he commented that I had gotten a heck of a deal on the tractor. Since he treated me right, I have never bought filters, hydraulic oil and other Kubota stuff anywhere else.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

When the knowledge of a product resides with the buyer it's always about price. When it resides with the seller it's never about price.

Please clarify by what you mean here. When it resides with the seller it's never about price? What is it about then? Profits? Margins?

 

[3Ts]

The one caveat is that once you purchase a tractor or any vehicle online, the first time you need to take it in for parts/service, I wonder if one could expect great service from a dealership that you didn't purchase it from.

I bought a new car sorta sight unseen (other than a sample mfgr's picture) from an out of state dealer 300 miles away. I checked out a different trim level at a dealership and offered to buy a similar car from that "local" dealer 75 miles away but they would not come close to what I was willing to pay. So, my wife & I drove the 300 miles, spent the night and picked up the car the next day and drove home. Everything was done on the internet. I have the car serviced at the "local" dealer and they treat me well, same way as if I'd bought there. I just could not see spending an extra $3000.00 for the privilege to buy "locally".

 

[ctgoldwing]

Please clarify by what you mean here. When it resides with the seller it's never about price? What is it about then? Profits? Margins?

If you needed a product that required ongoing technical expertise that you didn't have, my guess is you would be less sensitive to the purchase price and more sensitive to the quality / technical competence of the seller.

On the other hand if you were shopping for some generic item that required little expertise to operate and maintain then most people would opt for the lowest cost provider.

For example I work for a distributor. Most of the products we sell are 'generic'. ie fittings, pipe, furnaces, air conditioning, plumbing etc. Those products must be priced very competitively. Then there is a line of very technical product we sell that requires much hand holding and after sale support. Our margins are much higher on that line.

btw I consider almost all purchases for homeowners to be 'generic' including cars. True you may not be able to service your own car but there are (usually) many many choices where you can take it.

 

[finn1]

First off the new bailer is on my dealer's blanket liability policy so no reason for me to double insure it. I don't have physical possession and Kubota is aware of that and yes they do and when it gets here and I have physical possession it will be and my carrier will forward a copy to Kubota. Was a little stink from Kubota about it but got it ironed out. With the covid bs, normal business transactions aren't 'normal' today. besides I cannot use it until my tractor has the Kubota bailer controls installed and the NH controls removed and that is all included in the purchase price. I never use Kubota insurance because they will only insure their equipment and I have a lot of equipment not made by Kubota plus everything else....and, Kubota insurance is more expensive to boot.

Liability only provides coverage to damages caused by the implement. It doesn’t cover theft or damage to the implement, unless caused by the dealer or his employees.

 

[5030]

Liability only provides coverage to damages caused by the implement. It doesn’t cover theft or damage to the implement, unless caused by the dealer or his employees.

Whatever and none of it is gremane to me anyway. He keeps all his new equipment insured against perils I'm sure. Only been in business 30 years, he knows what he's doing. I don't dissect insurance coverages as a rule. I just pay my premiums when due and as you are aware I'm sure. here in the rust belt state, no insurance means no driving a vehicle because you won't get your tags from the state.

Simply put, I'm not at all concerned about it.

 

[VoyagernOK]

I'm almost 70 and I start all my searches online.
Dealers that I have bought from have sorted themselves out by their willingness to respond to online requests. I do give them my phone # when I email them and several have called me back, resulting in purchases. I'm in southwest OK and I've driven to central IA to pick up a major attachment after the dealer called in response to my email. He answered my questions, I put down a deposit over the phone, and drove up a few days later to pick it up. (that's the backhoe pictured in my avatar)
I've bought a number of large attachments over the past 3 years without anything other than one phone call when the company responded to my online inquiry. I've never inquired to haggle over their prices on equipment, only to learn details and answer compatibility questions.

Why should I drive 30-100 miles to a dealer to learn that they don't even have in stock the item in which I'm interested, when I can search 20 dealers online in less time? And dealers who don't take the time to list their inventory -- a matter of less than 5 minutes per tractor -- will never get my business. And having a preformatted stock reply for an email inquiry is simple and quick. Ignoring valid inquiries is only rude, and if you don't take the first step in replying to your customers, you don't deserve their business.

I found it humorous that the one who most condemns the "online tire kickers" sells most of his equipment online.

 

[gfd_703]

The other side of the coin is the shopper that emails or messages the dealer with this question. Can you send me the prices of all the tractors you have to offer in the 20 to 70 hp range with prices of all the options and also prices of all the implements available for the tractors. Thanks so much your future customer. You send a message back with your phone number and request they call you so you can discuss their needs and narrow the search down to something reasonable. No response from them except for the negative review they leave because no one responded to them.

 

[PuffyC]

The other side of the coin is the shopper that emails or messages the dealer with this question. Can you send me the prices of all the tractors you have to offer in the 20 to 70 hp range with prices of all the options and also prices of all the implements available for the tractors. Thanks so much your future customer. You send a message back with your phone number and request they call you so you can discuss their needs and narrow the search down to something reasonable. No response from them except for the negative review they leave because no one responded to them.

If all that was on their website they wouldn't have that problem If it works when selling custom configured $80,000 automobiles surely they can figure out how to do it for a tractor and a land plane.

 

[VoyagernOK]

gfd_703 said:
The other side of the coin is the shopper that emails or messages the dealer with this question. Can you send me the prices of all the tractors you have to offer in the 20 to 70 hp range with prices of all the options and also prices of all the implements available for the tractors. Thanks so much your future customer. You send a message back with your phone number and request they call you so you can discuss their needs and narrow the search down to something reasonable. No response from them except for the negative review they leave because no one responded to them.

PuffyC said: If all that was on their website they wouldn't have that problem If it works when selling custom configured $80,000 automobiles surely they can figure out how to do it for a tractor and a land plane.

PuffyC is absolutely right!

Posting your inventory online is quick and simple. And most places that don't post their prices on equipment leave me wondering about their motives.

I have spent a year periodically going to a manufacturer's website and going through the "Build Your Own" process to see what features I could get and what it would cost me... and then actually pulled the trigger on the purchase. Not sure about all of you, but most of my machinery purchases are discretionary. If it is something I have to have right now, I rent it. That's much cheaper than making a quick purchase decision which I later regret. So, I don't have to have that new tractor or UTV or truck, I want it. So, for me, a major part of the process is getting the purchase exactly right for me. I'd rather have exactly what I want with all the options I want and none of the options I don't see any point paying for. Special ordering and paying retail up front is cheaper than settling for something and doing after market add-ons after being irritated long enough about something I wanted but didn't get.