As has been said many times in the pages of Service Dealer, there are very real advantages to being a smaller, independent retailer.

One of the most obvious is the ability to embrace change - there doesn't have to be any large-scale turning of the oil tanker if an opportunity presents itself. If an idea seems viable, or an alternative way of approaching a certain situation becomes apparent, an independent retailer should be able react accordingly.

This notion has presented itself to me in a couple of different ways this week. Firstly, I have been hearing a few ideas around the concept of Future Tech being talked about. Thoughts surrounding what the dealers of the future might be stocking in their stores.

We could potentially be venturing into the realms of science-fiction here, but what with the advances in precision farming and developments in robotic mowing, some people are starting to think outside the box regarding what could be next for dealers. Thoughts are being proposed that devices such as drones could be part of a dealership's portfolio down the line.

And it's maybe not so far-fetched? Farmers are increasingly using them to get a birds-eye view of their land to spot any abnormalities. Similarly some golf courses utilise drones to identify areas of turf disease or just to create cool, fly-by videos of holes to promote their facility online.

So I guess, why shouldn't these farmers and turf professionals who are coming into dealerships to buy their tractors and mowers, also not be sold their drones at the same time?

What do you think though? Please feel free to leave a comment below if you agree or indeed think it's an utterly ridiculous notion.

The other example of change for the better taking place in dealerships I heard this week though, was on a less game-changing scale, but still significant in terms of increasing profits.

I visited the Anglo American Oil Company in Poole, distributors of the Aspen range of alkylate fuels. Sales director Axel Hildebrand told me how their first few years in the UK market were a real struggle. They were finding it hard to recruit dealers and the ones they had, were facing difficulties selling their product due to its relative expense.

The real turn-around Axel said, was when one dealer started to change the retail style up a bit. This particular dealer began filling up the tanks of machines which he'd had in for a service with the Aspen fuel, and giving the remainder of the 1 litre bottle to the customer for free, upon return of their kit.

In a quite simple gesture he was proving the worth of the product, offering a little something extra which was appreciated and planting the seed in the customer's mind that a repeat visit to this store would be well worth their time - both to buy more fuel and, more importantly, to receive more of this excellent customer service.

This change in the marketing of the product, along with some other ideas, led to a significant increase in sales and profits for the dealer. Aspen subsequently used this dealer's example as an inspiration for other dealers across the country – of which they now boast over 300.

So change can take the form of relatively simple ideas like that, or larger developments like the introduction of new technology. The point is independent dealers should be able to revel in the ability to enact change as and when they see fit.