NEXT ISSUE SERVICE DEALER BUSINESS QUARTERLY Magazine Summer 2013 published July 2013
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'GOLDEN AGE' for DEALERS? Much has changed in recent years by Chris Biddle
I was ‘chewing the cud’ with a long-standing industry luminary recently at a show, a supplier who has seen a fair few selling seasons . . . wet seasons, dry seasons, recessionary seasons, ‘boom’ seasons, ‘nothing’ seasons.
“I reckon”, he said, “that there has never been a better time to be a garden machinery dealer,” adding, “. . and I don’t think I’ve seen so much investment by dealers in their businesses in recent years”. No alchohol was involved in our chat - it was a considered, calm observation - which can be backed by plenty of anecdotal evidence.
Over the years, the challenges have kept coming. The rise and rise of the DIY superstores, threats of service centres for the sheds, recessions, drought years, gardening fads for decking and artificial grass to replace the real stuff - and more recently the changing face of retailing as the internet age took hold.
So why now does it seem that the dealer trade looks stronger than ever before?
I think you can use the adage “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. Over the past 20 years or so, those who were not up for the challenge, not up for the fight, have generally left the scene leaving a set of dealers who could see into the future, were prepared to adapt, improve and change if necessary.
The core of their business had to remain the same, the provision of specialist advice, products and service - but it had to be fit for purpose.
One vital element has been the question of succession. Here again, I see and hear of plenty of dealerships where the business opportunity that lies ahead is attracting the offspring, and the immediate relations of dealers to follow in their footsteps.
So whilst you have to stop short of describing this as a golden age for dealerships - for there is still much to achieve - I think we can be justifiably pleased with the present standing of garden machinery specialists in the UK which has much to do with a joint effort involving manufacturers, distributors, suppliers - and of course the vision and commitment of the dealer trade itself.
