I love attending the annual Material Handling Equipment Dealers Association (MHEDA) convention because the speakers and breakout sessions are so relevant and productive. This year’s convention was no exception. Both Brian Beaulieu, a renowned economist, and Ken Gronbach, a demographer and human analytics researcher, were incredibly optimistic about the current and short-term economy and had some… Read more »
I was on the road earlier this month visiting dealers. As you probably already know, I love to visit our customers. On this trip, however, I had the opportunity to do some cold calls. I usually leave that to our sales team, but I just couldn’t pass a couple of them up while driving past… Read more »
Service work is a huge part of your dealership’s business and can be extremely profitable. Unfortunately, many dealers are faced with the difficult situation of having to deal with customers who can’t or won’t pay for services rendered.
Are you involved in the EDA and/or your equipment dealer association? Some dealer associations seem to be struggling with engagement. I wonder why is this. We’ve regularly attended at least 4 regional or national equipment dealer association events a year for the last twenty years, and think if you’re not participating it’s time to reconsider…. Read more »
I was on the road again last week, attending the United Equipment Dealers Association convention. Once again, this meeting provided a great opportunity to talk to existing customers and learn more about current industry trends. I gained insight on problems dealers are experiencing that we can address through our technology.
I attend a great deal of conventions in the equipment dealer industry, and it is rare when they have speakers that talk about de-stressing your life. That’s why it was a pleasant surprise when Richard Flint spoke at breakfast during the recent Joint Annual Convention last week. Richard has written several books and speaks all around the world. He is known for his colorful shirts (as you can see from his… Read more »
Charter Software President/CEO Anne Salemo offers industry insights. In the last several weeks, we’ve heard from companies whose dealership management system vendor changed their pricing structure resulting in their monthly fees being doubled (in some cases more). These dealerships said their current system wasn’t “worth” that much. It got me thinking, should it really take… Read more »
Last week, I attended the Precision Farming Dealer Summit in Louisville, KY. I attended this event last year and, once again, it was an incredible two days of Precision Ag specialists discussing changes in the marketplace and how to improve their services.
As a business owner for the last twenty years, I’ve learned to handle big changes from a business management perspective. Implementing a new business management system can be a challenge, but there are multiple things, controllable and uncontrollable, that can create dealership change management in an organization.
As you grow as an equipment dealer, it’s important to manage potential risks. In his article, “Changes in Industry and Dealership Business Model Create Risks for Dealers,” attorney Lance Formwalt, of Seigreid Bingham, P.C., tells dealers of the new risks they may expose themselves to by adding new or enhanced services in attempting to meet their growing customers’ needs…. Read more »