Met with 5 or 6 Kubota Engineers from Japan today, they listened and asked questions

JOHNTHOMAS · May 16, 2013

Steve Barlow called and asked if I'd talk with some Engineers from Kubota Japan today and I told him, sure. There were 5 or 6 and an English speaking lady in Steves office when I got there. Not a big office but big enough. One had a form and asked me several questions and asked me to check some items by priority to me. Like price, comfort, implements, HP or power etc.
Talked with them for about an hour and enjoyed it. A bit of difficulty keeping track of which Kubota and in which order and uses and stuff from first to last that I've owned/own. Had to explain my needs changed as my work progressed so part of why I owned so many different machines. Was able to see some of their possible future interests based on questions (and they said so) and I was not supportive of two for sure based on my needs, use.
The gentleman that asked most questions at the end told me he was from the Mowing Division (Fs and maybe Zs but Fs for sure which made us both smile since I've got a couple of Fs) but he was asking questions concerning Kubota tractors mostly which I've had a few.
They did ask about my desire, interest, concerns about a drive over mowing deck which I told them was of no interest to me since I rarely took the decks off of any mower I had before my Fs.
They also asked about my feelings about comparable Green tractors and I told them I knew nothing about Green tractors and had no interest in them since I've owned 15 Kubotas and have been satisfied with Kubota quality and price.
Well, enjoyed meeting with them and they seem to have a genuine interest in their customers of which I'm one

but I'm sure they want to make the best selling machine in order to stay in business and keep their jobs as most people should be. Customers pay the bills and salaries.
They gave me a mouse pad and this hat that's only distributed in Japan, I'll cherish it and keep it with my other Special Kubota hats.

creekbend · May 16, 2013

You appear to have quite an assortment of Kubota memorabillia. That mouse pad is a rare addition.

sixdogs · May 16, 2013

Wow--amazing on so many levels. The hat alone is worth it and congrats on the whole thing.
Having 15 Kubotas is pretty amazing.

Baby Grand · May 16, 2013

What a great experience!
Good that they were able to speak with someone who knows the hardware and really uses it, like you do.
Now, about that stack of books ... no tractor time 'till you finish your homework!

TomSeller · May 16, 2013

I'm glad you had that opportunity, but when we survey we WANT people that own a competitor's product to see what they like about it over ours. Interesting they did it that way.

JOHNTHOMAS · May 17, 2013

Baby Grand said:
What a great experience!
Good that they were able to speak with someone who knows the hardware and really uses it, like you do.
Now, about that stack of books ... no tractor time 'till you finish your homework!

That's just one small stack, I have bigger stacks all over the house. Like to read and always have since growing up without a TV

TomSeller said:
I'm glad you had that opportunity, but when we survey we WANT people that own a competitor's product to see what they like about it over ours. Interesting they did it that way.

Who is WE?Looked at your profile to see if I could figure out who WE is but alas no information and only info is your a fairly new member. Maybe you'll post some profile info so WE can figure out who your WE is.

Not sure what this means.

They had no idea what I owned or didn't own or had owned when I came in to meet with them. They did seem a little disappointed that I had NO KNOWLEDGE of any other brand.Also not sure what you mean by DID IT THAT WAY??
The dealer picked me since I've bought several from him and he knew I'd stop by if I said I would and he knew I'd tell my opinion, if asked. The Kubota People had nothing to do with picking me or knew nothing about me except my name and that I had bought several Kubotas from Barlows just before I was invited into the room.

sixdogs · May 17, 2013

John, yes you have owned several Kubotas but you're also an honest guy that will give a truthful answer and knows how the machine is supposed to function, and knows why or why not the tractor features work or don't work. That's great marketing info for them.
Interesting that they visited Barlows. Any idea if they going to other dealers?

TomSeller · May 17, 2013

JOHNTHOMAS said:
Who is WE?. They did seem a little disappointed that I had NO KNOWLEDGE of any other brand..

No disrespect intended. "We" is where I work, how we do market/customer research, not related to tractors. The second part of what I quoted above is why we do it that way. It does us some good to listen to our satisfied customers, but more good to listen to our critics. That's all. Glad you had the opportunity.

Red Horse · May 17, 2013

TomSeller said:
No disrespect intended. "We" is where I work, how we do market/customer research, not related to tractors. The second part of what I quoted above is why we do it that way. It does us some good to listen to our satisfied customers, but more good to listen to our critics. That's all. Glad you had the opportunity.

Agree-makes the most sense regardless of what your product is to understand what drives your competitors success-or failure.

In this internet age I don't understasnd why more manufacturers don't make use of it for surveys. As always, key to any good survey is how it is designed but there are people who are paid to do that.