The harvest is almost finished, outdoor summer games are over and the grass maintenance season is drawing to a close. I can’t believe how quickly the summer has flown by.

As soon as one season finishes another begins. We are now entering budget season. Golf clubs, sportsclubs, local authorities and estate owners, as well as farmers and contractors, will soon be planning their budgets for 2020. Part of their budget plans will involve setting money aside or arranging loans for capital expenditure on new equipment. The course managers and head groundspeople will be putting in requests and recommending their choice of machines to their bosses or owners. Before a final decision is made they will want to see the machines at first hand and may arrange a demonstration at their club or estate. Before making a final decision they will more than likely attend an upcoming trade exhibition to see what’s new in the market and will be looking out for bargains, especially if a new fleet is involved. So sales teams will be keen and eager to win over new customers.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) sees the opening of the National Ploughing Championships, which is being held at Ballintrane, Fenagh in County Carlow. It will last for three days and there will be over 1500 trade stands on display (1200 outdoor and 300 indoor exhibits). The vast majority of these exhibits will be machines in the agricultural and horticultural sector and exhibitors will be keen to make the most of their time there.

This show is one of the biggest in Europe and will therefore present one of the biggest opportunities for businesses to create sales and to develop new customers, as there will be an estimated 240,000 visitors attending the event over the three days. That’s a lot of people passing by stands every day, so dealers will be anxious to take advantage of this.

The next big trade event for machinery dealers, particularly in the sportsturf and groundcare sector, will be SALTEX 2019. Even though it takes place at the NEC in Birmingham from the 30th – 31st of October, it will be attended by many Irish people who work on golf courses, sport pitches and local authorities.

One of the big advantages of trade shows, from an exhibitor point of view, is that it allows the customer to do the travelling, instead of the dealer. Hundreds, if not thousands of potential customers will be perusing the stands, kicking tyres and, hopefully, making that all important purchase.

In the concluding part of my last blog I mentioned how important it is to keep your existing customers and to work hard to create new ones. I also mentioned that, this year, machinery companies have shown a fall in income, due to less equipment being sold worldwide. Being a small nation, Ireland is always influenced by world economics. What happens in the US or China will have a huge impact in Ireland.

Now, more than ever, dealers and their sales teams will be put to the pin of their collar to try and maintain the same sales figures from the previous year. I feel that this will be a tall order for them.

Sales staff will now, more than ever, need to work hard in order to earn their keep.