This week it has been my pleasure to visit two very different companies - Ibcos and T H White.

Each though had a commonality in that they are offering the UK dealer network something innovative which they believe will help their businesses prosper.

For the past 37 years, Ibcos has helped agricultural, groundcare, and construction dealers manage their businesses with Gold, their dealership management computer system. Now though they are rolling out a Web CRM tool for mobile devices.

This mobile version of their Customer Relationship Management tool is designed to expand their offering to dealers. It delivers to them what the company say they have been asked for - the ability of all members of the dealership team to access all customer records, wherever they might be.

Full customer contact details including information such as previous purchases, purchases from other sources, when they were last contacted, what that contact entailed, when they should be contacted next - all this info is accessible through the Web CRM system.

This level of customer information is traditionally something which a salesperson out on the road hasn't had instant access to. The Web CRM is linked live-time into Gold. If someone back in the office on the core Gold system adds a new piece of information to a customer's record, the guy on the road sees that instantly.

Although the system is web-browser based and technically could be accessed via a smartphone, it is currently only optimised for tablet usage. This decision is based on Ibcos talking to their dealer customers and finding out what devices their teams are using the most.

At T H White meanwhile, you may be aware that the dealer company now has a dedicated Machinery Imports division. Through this they are now importing and distributing the Feris and Wright mowers and most recently they have won the contract for the remote-controlled Spider mowers (which were previously handled by Ransomes).

T H White are now looking to expand the dealer network for these unique machines, with opportunities across the UK and Ireland. Divisional director Tim Lane told me that they are not simply looking for large dealerships to take on these slope mowers - rather they are looking for the right dealerships.

Tim told me they want focused, committed commercial dealers. Serious groundcare dealers who can see the potential of these machines. In return T H White have pledged to nurture and grow their exclusive dealer network with a long-term partnership.

So both companies I met this week believe they are offering dealers something new which could have a genuinely positive affect on their business in 2017.

You can read more about what both companies had to say in the next edition of Service Dealer magazine which will be out at the beginning of March.