The fourth edition of the Service Dealer Conference to take place at the Oxford Belfry Hotel, proved to be a tremendous success yesterday.
Dealers from all across the UK, from garden machinery, commercial turfcare and agricultural equipment businesses, all gathered to listen to the line-up of expert speakers - and to enter into dialogue with each other. Sharing knowledge and experiences was the order of the day as the conference looked forward to what the next 30 years could hold for the independent network.
Service Dealer owner, Duncan Murray-Clarke, hosted the day and began by acknowledging the fact that this past season had been quite a trying one for many dealers. However, said Duncan, "We have a room full of talented dealers here and we're here to look ahead to what the next 30 years might throw at us and how we are going to not just cope, but thrive in the world of groundcare and agriculture."
However, before the day set about addressing the conference's title of 'Insights for our industry. Helping you prosper over the next 30 years', we paused for a brief moment to contextualize where the industry finds itself today. Service Dealer founder, Chris Biddle, joined Duncan on stage to rattle though some key moments which have shaped our sector during the 30 years of the magazine's existence.
Chris spoke of a series of 'disrupters' that have affected the industry to varying degrees over the past three decades. These included factors such as the weather, 'the sheds', the internet and the economy. He also spoke about what he thought made for a successful dealer, citing qualities such as pragmatism, the need for a retail antenna, adaptability, customer friendliness and a sense of humour!
Attention then turned to what may lie ahead for the specialist dealer network, with a fascinating presentation from futurist Ed Gillespie. As well as being a futurist, Ed is also a writer, serial entrepreneur plus a board director in a farm, located underground in disused London tube station.
Ed spoke of how the future won't simply be an extension of today - but rather to consider the future we should be stretching the idea of what we may consider impossible. Ed said that that changes in the future will see some jobs destroyed, but many new ones created. The farming industry for example, said Ed, will focus on small, autonomous robots rather than large tractors. He also believed that our transactional system of purchasing equipment outright, would move more into a system of sharing services.
Ed wasn't just presenting in the main room yesterday though, he was also hosting one of the popular breakout sessions which, due to their smaller group size, always allow for increased interaction from the delegates. Ed's session tackled the subject urbanisation and what it could mean for our industry.
In this breakout, Ed talked of how the concept of increased urbanisation in the future shouldn't necessarily be thought of as a bad thing. With innovations like vertical farming, green roofs and 'hairy buildings', cities could well feature more green spaces than ever before. He also encouraged the delegates to think about willful blindness' - to consider those matters which you know are an issue but refuse to acknowledge. In the session I attended ideas such as laziness, lack of solar power and not recycling sufficiently were brought up.
The conference was also incredibly lucky to have our second breakout session of the day hosted by Sara Hey. Sara, who is from the specialist dealer training company Bob Clements Inc, had flown in from the US especially to address the conference and offered some amazing insight from one of the largest groundcare and ag markets in the world. Her breakout was specifically regarding that hot topic, which many in our sector often voice concern over, succession.
Sara talked about how we can continue our family businesses into the future. "If we do succession planning right," said Sara, "it can bring us together as a family. However so many can do it wrong, and move them apart." She then talked the delegates through a series of processes which could aid them through this potentially hazardous time - beginning with simply engaging in open and honest conversations with your children, early and often. Ideas such as leadership, boundaries, your business's legacy and values and the importance of having a plan were all discussed, with suggestions from both the owner's and the next generation's viewpoints considered. Sara finished by talking us through some of fatal flaws which she's seen dealerships fall into in the States, when attempting succession.
Following lunch which allowed delegates time to chat to the event's sponsors on their stands in the showcase area, plus have their picture taken with the (hopefully) record breaking Mean Mower V2 and its driver Jess Hawkins, two talks were allocated to what professional customers will expect from their servicing dealers over the coming years.
Firstly, the conference heard from farmer James Price. James is an arable farmer from the edge of the Cotswolds who is pursuing his passion to increase the profitability of his business through implementing precision technology and improving soil health. Since taking full control of the business in 2005 James has completely changed both the machinery line up and also the cultivation strategy and it continues to evolve year by year. He was one of the first UK adopters of GPS technology in agriculture.
James began by lightheartedly saying, "My machinery policy is flexible - meaning I don't have one!". He went on to explain the key qualities he looked for in a dealer were support in terms of service, parts and advice; the ability to fulfil his business requirements; and the offering of finance options. He also said it was important to him that dealers he dealt with were honest, that they explained their figures and that they followed up on leads - "Although don't pester us," said James, "like you we're busy people."
Following the thoughts of a buyer from the world of agriculture, delegates heard what a commercial turfcare customer might expect from their local dealer. Angus Lindsay is an experienced agricultural engineer and a well-known voice in the industry, having spent over 24 years working for national contractors and a short period in the supply side as an account manager for the IPU Group. His current role encompasses the whole life management of assets and fleet for idverde in the UK.
Angus stressed that the most important quality he looks for with the dealers he encounters is the building of a solid relationship. "Good communication on both sides is vital," said Angus, "alongside an openness to discuss all matters." Angus went on to explain how he felt the selling of a machine was the easy part, "The key is service," he said. "What happens when it goes wrong is the most important element to me. Keeping the equipment going is vital." He urged dealers to always be mindful to say thank you for any orders placed with them, to consider not collecting too many franchises and to make sure that if you have a flashy showroom that the aftersales live up to the front of house.
After a short break for coffee, the conference reconvened for a thoroughly engaging session offering two perspectives on training, service, sales and parts management. Hosted by Pete Harding of UK training company PFW Associates and once again Sara Hey of the USA’s Bob Clements Inc, the session was jointly presented to give the best insight from both sides of the pond.
The session proved very popular amongst our delegates. Pete and Sara went into great detail about how dealers might look closely at their various departments, to make sure they are always gaining the most profitability they could from them. It was fascinating to hear just how similar dealerships on either side of the Atlantic can be, but also the marked differences. So much information was offered to the delegates over the space of the hour, with tips on specific areas where dealers might consider scrutinising within their business that Sara said if dealers could take away just one idea from their talk, to implement change within their company, it would be a valuable start - which could lead to a domino effect of improvements.
The day concluded with a panel debate which saw Ed Gillespie, Sara Hey, James Price and Angus Lindsay return to the stage - to be joined by dealer, Pete McArthur from Strathbogie, who won Service Dealer's overall dealer of the year in 2017.
The session was split into two parts with the panelists first offering their thoughts on the day, with particular reference to the conference's theme of surviving the next 30 years.
From a dealer's perspective, Pete said how succession was a real issue for them and that Sara's presentation earlier in the day had really hit the nail on the head. He also explained how he felt the dealer trade, "is not a lawnmower business anymore, it's a technology business."
Questions from the delegates were then put the panel. Subjects covered included how can we embrace outsiders coming into a family business, what is the key element in the dealer-customer relationship and how might we attract more young people into the industry?
Duncan Murray-Clarke wrapped up the conference by thanking the day's contributors and sponsors. He also hoped the attendant dealers had enjoyed the content, but more importantly had come away with knowledge that will help them progress their own dealerships.
From my personal point of view I'd like to congratulate the whole team at TAP for organising another fantastic event, which ran smoothly as ever and was packed with great content from beginning to end. Chatting to both delegates and sponsors after the event, it seemed as though everybody there had very much enjoyed the day and had found something to take away with them to consider further.
And speaking of sponsors, a big thank you to them, as the event would not be possible without their support.
PRINCIPLE SPONSOR
Kramp
PLATINUM SPONSOR
STIHL
GOLD SPONSORS
Husqvarna
Etesia/Pellenc
Honda
Kubota
Catalyst Compuyer Systems
NETWORKING SPONSORS
BAGMA
Ibcos
Garden Trader
