There is only one reason for a dealership to run an open day – and that is to ‘sell, sell, sell’ says Graham Parker, the sales director of Ernest Doe after the conclusion of the 2022 Doe Show in February 2022.

Graham suggests that they should not be a PR exercise, but a very clear buying opportunity for visitors to the event. “At the Doe Show, every item has a price-ticket, and customers understand that it is our version of a retailer’s January Sale - but held in February,” he says.

Graham was talking to the latest episode of the INSIDE AGRI-TURF podcast, and reflecting on the challenges the company faced staging the 2021 and 2022 shows. “The Doe Shows have had an unbroken record since 1960,” he says, “and despite the shifting sands of Covid-related restrictions, we were determined to ‘keep the show on the road.

"We always had a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C etc on the table knowing that final decisions were likely to be last-minute”.

In the event, the shows of 2021 and 2022 proved to be a resounding success - even record-breaking.

Graham talks of adopting new technology, partnering with a leading Auction company, sleepless nights, last-minute decisions and visitor reactions.

The Doe team's efforts won the Best New Initiative Award in the 2021 Service Dealer Awards and a full report on the 2022 Doe Show by Martin Rickatson will appear in March/April issue of Service Dealer magazine.

Doe Show, Behind the Scenes with Graham Parker  LISTEN