Don't dealers need to sell in order to stay in business?

[srsu99]

I bought a new small tractor to pull my batwing shredder and to load round bales around here. Its a NH TN 75A w/ loader and hydraulic shuttle shift. Very happy with the tractor and trans setup. But.... my dealer, whom I did not talk down is price leaves a little to be desired. They were most helpful before the sale, but now dont seem to be very interested in performing warranty work. My power steering cylinder has a small leak. I am used to leaks as most of my equipment is 5 or more years old. They act like they get paid nothing from NH for this work. Does anyone believe this is true? Also I want to add a third valve to run a grapple bucket and a hydrauilic post hole digger which I already have. The parts are around $1000 plus labor. Dealer says its a waste of money andI should just run hoses from the rear remotes. In my opinion this looks bad and could be unsafe if a hose gets tangled in something. Which I know can happen because this is how my old loader tractor was set up and I hated it. Why do they not want to sell and install the parts? Hay season is pretty well over here and they slow down in the winter i.e. they could use the work. I spend alot of money on JD parts at this dealer every year, they are only a few miles from my shop and very convenient so I really dont want to switch dealers, the next closest dealer is 40 miles away and mostley cater to hobby farmers and ranchettes so they dont stock larger JD parts like I need. Any ideas on how to coax them into better service?

 

[jeffinsgf]

I got exactly the same song and dance from my dealer re: the hard lines for the loader. I tried three times to get them to order the kit for me, and they talked me out of it every time. My model (JD 4410) is no longer current, so when I finally decided I wouldn't be talked out of it, the kit was NLA. I had to sit there and piece it together from parts -- ended up costing more and I didn't get everything I needed. On top of that, I had to install it myself -- wasn't that tough, though. If I ever trade, I'm going to stand my ground on that issue. I had hose draped all over everywhere before. Now, its all neat and tidy and tied down.

 

[Kendall69]

You've hit the nail right on the head.

I don't get it, I just don't get how some dealers/businesses stay in business with their practices.

Recently in shopping for a tractor I must have called 20 plus dealers all over the country, so I know it's not limited to MY area,and I gave them all the same information. "I'm looking to buy your product etc.etc etc." out of all the dealars I think maybe two or three called back after quoting LIST price for a follow up call.
Any number of these dealers could have reeled me in and closed a sale, but they were all lacking interest - interest in my needs, etc.

These Aminatron simply quote specs, and then quote retail, some thing a 12 year old could do,and at times I think I was talking to a twelve year old.


Absolutely no interaction or most of all FOLLOW UP. They all had my number - they could have called back and said "What can I do to earn your business" , if just one salesperson used those words I would have purchased at full retail.

Here is an actual E-mail I got yesterday after waiting two weeks for an answer, this guy DID NOTHING - do you think this guy deserves my business.

+++++++++++++++++++++++
This is a small transaction for our company however I am willing to proceed.
However a lot of companies like to have me work on financing requests and
then for whatever reason they change their mind or go with someone else. I
am very protective of my credit department. I do not want to fill up my
credit shop with transactions that might happen. We have too much business
which is for sure going to take place.

I can have an answer for you today if you wish. However if you have someone else you are talking with please go ahead with them. I can do the
transaction at 7.75% with a documentation fee of $500 for 48 months assuming your credit is clean. However given you are talking with another financing company I would rather wait until you are sure you would like to use my services before I get people in my home offices working on your request.

If you are sure I can assist you let me know and I will get an approval and
work on the documentation.

A $30,000 transaction is very small for us and I was willing to assist you
since you are buying a tractor but if you have another financing company
I will let you work with them unless you run into problems.

Let me know.

 

[srsu99]

This is a small transaction for our company however I am willing to proceed.
However a lot of companies like to have me work on financing requests and
then for whatever reason they change their mind or go with someone else. I
am very protective of my credit department. I do not want to fill up my
credit shop with transactions that might happen. We have too much business
which is for sure going to take place.

I can have an answer for you today if you wish. However if you have someone else you are talking with please go ahead with them. I can do the
transaction at 7.75% with a documentation fee of $500 for 48 months assuming your credit is clean. However given you are talking with another financing company I would rather wait until you are sure you would like to use my services before I get people in my home offices working on your request.

If you are sure I can assist you let me know and I will get an approval and
work on the documentation.

A $30,000 transaction is very small for us and I was willing to assist you
since you are buying a tractor but if you have another financing company
I will let you work with them unless you run into problems.

Let me know.

Wow I bet you went running to them!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BizDoc]

That would be the day I went carwling to them for a unit. Seems like they're just not interested at all. I don't need anyone to crawl all over me but at least treat me like a potential customer, and maybe, just maybe a potential valued customer. I ran into some of this, both the NH and JD dealers, while they were generally helpful, felt it would be best if I bought a Kubota, so I did. the Kubota was the most interested in my business. so many times I have read on the board, pick any big name tractor, doesn't really matter what color, but the biggest differential is a dealer that will work with you. I totally agree with this. A good dealer makes all the difference. Green, Blue, or Orange, they're all quality, the dealer makes the difference.

 

[Kendall69]

Wow I bet you went running to them!!!!!!!!!!!

OH, you should have seen my response.....

 

[TC29-dude]

OH, you should have seen my response.....

I would love to...please cut and paste it for us!

 

[srsu99]

So should I spend the 1000 for the 3rd valve kit? I am really leaning towards the purchase as it will make the wifey happy. She uses the tractor when we have to clean up the creek and river bottoms after floods. The bobcat has the grapple control on the handle and it is so handy. But I really dont trust that bobcat in the steep creek areas, the tractor seems so much more stable and wife can see off it alot better than the cramped little bobcat. I dont want the 3rd valve kit to become NLA.

 

[SnowRidge]

In reference to Kendall69's story:

Other than a few that specialize in Internet sales, tractor dealers are mostly local businesses that expect to deal with local customers. Look at it from their perspective. They get calls from all over the country by individuals who want to buy at the rock bottom lowest price possible, and are willing to work one dealer against another.

It takes time and effort to handle those calls. Time equals money. There is only a slim chance they will get the sale, and if they do there will be almost no margin. Kendall admits to calling 20 dealers. If they had all played his game, a lot of man hours would have been invested with absolutely no return. With financing involved, even more man hours would have been required.

The dealer would then have had to deal with shipping. It's a tractor folks, and there is a reason you can't buy them from Amazon dot com. You can't just stuff one in a UPS or FedEx box. They have to be freighted out, and dealing with freight carriers takes more time. Time equals money.

If the out of state dealer does sell a tractor to someone far away, he is going to see no parts or repair business from that sale, and almost certainly will realize no implement sales from the distant customer.

People on TBN preach that the dealer is the most important factor. That means local dealer. Buying from someone halfway across the country to save a couple of hundred bucks makes little sense and doesn't help a bit when warranty issues come up, which require you to go to your local dealer.

When your tractor that you bought far, far away to save a buck breaks down in the middle of the busy season, see where it ends up in the fix it line at the local dealer. It'll be dead last.

One local equipment dealer put it to me this way, "I take care of my regular commercial customers first, other customers who bought here second, and eveyone else third." When your equipment breaks down, you don't want to be everyone else.

 

[MikePA]

- do you think this guy deserves my business.

No.

However, at least he got back to you and was clear about what you needed to do if you wanted to buy from them. What's wrong with a business determining who they want to sell to? Apparently, they've decided they'd rather focus on selling multi-hundred thousand dollar equipment and a $30,000 deal is more trouble than it's worth. They made a business decision just as you did.