PROFIT FROM PARTS DIARY OF A SEASON - LONGHAM MOWERS FACE TO FACE - KUBOTA'S DAVE ROBERTS TRAINING & EDUCATION LAUNCH OF BUSINESS MONITOR INDUSTRY AWARDS INFO BTME & LAMMA REVIEWS PRODUCT NEWS JIM GREEN
A PERFECT STORM? Conditions this year look ideal - for the moment
FOR those dealers in the garden machinery business, the next few days and weeks will define the season ahead.
Any ‘wish-list’ for dealers would include a busy and untroubled winter servicing schedule from November to end of February, a smooth run-up to the season in early Spring, a sustained pick-up of sales through Easter, enough rain in the summer months to keep things ticking over (but not the cricketers in the pavilion), and a warm and extended Autumn with plenty of potential for clear-up equipment.
Never happens of course, but that’s the Foreword written for Dealerships for Dummies!
In the past, we have had seasons start with a bang in late February and be virtually all over by May, others when cold conditions ruined the Easter weekend and never really got started as we got into summer.
This year we do appear to have ideal conditions to create a solid base for the season. Lawns and grass areas sodden with rain over the past three months, (remember last year?), a mild winter followed by a warm spell in early March (with over a month to go until Easter) - an improving economy and growing consumer confidence.
But still the worry-beads will be working overtime. Will I get enough (profitable) business? Will I get too much business which stretches me to breaking point? Will I have enough stock? Have I got too many/too few staff? How do I ensure I keep my regulars happy, whilst still impressing new customers?
Customer service is an easy phrase to trot out, less easy to deliver effectively.
It is a question of balance - and logical thinking. Too often, in the eye of the storm of a busy season, rationality can go out of the window. Decisions are taken on the hoof, which on reflection might have been handled a different way.
The USP of the specialist servicing dealer is, and always has been service - in all its conotations. And nothing is ever straight forward. That regular customer might suddenly go elsewhere for reasons hard-to-fathom, or that person walking through the door with a self-inflicted problem on a machine bought from a DIY store demanding warranty might turn into an ambassador for you over many years if treated well and with respect.
So throughout a busy season try and avoid stereo-typing customers into convenient pigeon-holes. I bet every dealer can point to examples where an unpromising first encounter has resulted in a solid business relationship.
