I agree with you as well. The a** kissing comment was directed to salesmen who can't be bothered to give the same respect to small buyers like most of us here.
The time may come when a lot of the big guys are gone (heaven forbid), and business depends more on smaller buyers. It's not that way yet, in fact has gone the opposite direction, but more casual users are buying tractors than ever before.
Sean
I learned many years ago that every customer has potential regardless of what I think of them. You cannot judge who will be worth the effort and who will not based on their appearance. A small tractor buyer could be a major influencer for a large volume buyer.
I grew up working for my Dad who was a homebuilder. Back in the early 70's housing was flying high. Speculation builders were getting rich. Buyers were being warned that if they like a house, make an offer cause it may be sold next week.
As a result, most salesmen and builders could make a paycheck without much effort and quickly got into bad habits.
One afternoon a young couple drove up and parked their ratty VW bug on the curb and started walking through the new homes being built in a rather exclusive area of town. They were typical "hippy" looking kids in their early 20's, wearing grungy jeans and concert t-shirts, long dirty looking hair and old, worn sandals on their dirty feet. Not your normal upper middle class home buyers. They wandered in and out of the different homes on the street without a single greeting or acknowledgment from any of the builders or salesmen. When they got to my Dad's houses, he gave them his normal "Hi, glad to see you. Look around and if you have any questions, just ask." He then went back to talking to the other workmen hanging out in the garage office of the show home. They asked for a business card on their way out and he gave them one and told them to come back or call him if they had any questions later.
The next day and really nice new Lincoln Towncar pulled up and a cleancut, well dressed young couple got out along with his well dressed mother. Their hair was cut and washed and they were no longer wearing their old jeans and t-shirts or sandals. Mom bought the house for cash.
My Dad learned that day too, that everyone is a potential buyer and he had lucked out being nice to them despite his belief they were just wasting his time.
