Compact Tractor Dealers Ignore Two-thirds of Their Potential Website Customers, Industry Survey Shows

[Complete Turf Care]

Let us know when you hear back. Maybe they are pretty casual about pricing and response. On the other hand, maybe they were busy with other things, maybe the person authorized to make pricing decisions was out, or ... Not surprising that a rough looking - used implement wasn't their top priority.

I had not heard back this morning so I texted the young salesman with an offer of $2500.

He replied fairly quickly that he was looking into it. About 30 minutes later, he texted me that it belonged to a customer of theirs and he is asking $3000 and sent me the customer's contact info.

I called the customer and offered him $2500 and he accepted my offer. I plan to go pick it up tomorrow. I'm happy with the way this turned out.

 

[bvanek]

I believe the "Call for price" and "place in cart to see price " comes from MAP enforcement and dealer agreements- i agree those are frustrating but as someone in sales for the last 30+ years those are not signs of a dealer wanting to play games, often those can be aggressive deal oriented folks who do not want to lose their franchise.
MAP is minimum advertised price and MAP, MAP enforcement, price advertising, market areas etc. are largely governed by FTC rules. Essentially the customer wants the best price, the government wants that as well but the companies have traditionally wanted dealers to make money on their products so that they: bought, stocked, displayed and actively sold more of their products. This was deemed to be important on more complex products or those with real non-obvious benefits. Or, also with newer, less known items. It was a decision by companies to forgo some short term sales gained by the lowest retail prices and instead grow larger long term.

Arguably the internet has obviated some or most of the advantages of having dealers at all.

Ok I think you have a reasonable perspective but not sure if your promoting a specific angle? You said your in sales so it would seem a bias account?

The middle man (dealer) is often a local that may have an investment in the community as well. He needs to make a profit to stay in business but can summarize where this bottom line is up front (initial sale) vs some tangible assets like a good reputation, implement sales, repair and service down the road etc. So you seem to be removing choice by progressive elimination? Robotic vs mutual trust between the buyer and seller. Yes, price is likely the most significant factor when making a purchase, but not always a deal breaker. IMO

so one other comment; Companies look for profit margins only, and if they can phase out the dealer it can give them a better price margin. You might look at this as elimination of the middle man, and thus full control of the market...essentially, these days, competition between companies is almost non-existent as price fixing happens almost routinely. The "global market" is simply accepting a hierarchy of sourced, often brokered parts and labor. This is simple and basic and I know it's more complicated than what I suggest, but reputation/fairness means very little if choices are singular.

I'm old enough to remember "gas wars". Pretty fierce competition and always a benefit to the consumer. Today, fixing a price at the corporate level (based on real or manipulated supply and demand) with the service stations subservient to them,(always at the expense of the consumer.) The service stations only fuel profit is when the market fluctuates up and down, so this why you see stations selling more than fuel. Local, state, and federal taxes are always constant so nothing there.

Also the FTC sets the rules.....government usually doesn't work for the consumer but they have a long history of working for the corporations that feed them.

 

[Torvy]

I believe the "Call for price" and "place in cart to see price " comes from MAP enforcement and dealer agreements- i agree those are frustrating but as someone in sales for the last 30+ years those are not signs of a dealer wanting to play games, often those can be aggressive deal oriented folks who do not want to lose their franchise.
MAP is minimum advertised price and MAP, MAP enforcement, price advertising, market areas etc. are largely governed by FTC rules. Essentially the customer wants the best price, the government wants that as well but the companies have traditionally wanted dealers to make money on their products so that they: bought, stocked, displayed and actively sold more of their products. This was deemed to be important on more complex products or those with real non-obvious benefits. Or, also with newer, less known items. It was a decision by companies to forgo some short term sales gained by the lowest retail prices and instead grow larger long term.

Arguably the internet has obviated some or most of the advantages of having dealers at all.

I don't know if it was your intent, but to me, the way your post reads it sounds like MAP is some FTC requirement they are enforcing.

MAP is an anticompetitive practice that the FTC regulates and challenges. Essentially, the FTC, in general, does not like OEMs to prevent dealerships from advertising their prices.

 

[ctgoldwing]

I'm not surprised.

I can imagine so many tire kickers, out of market people just looking to see if prices a little different than local dealers, people who are not really serious just playing around, etc....

Would hope if someone was serious they would pick up the phone and call or better yet come down, take a look, kick the tires and if serious start talking price.

I have sold lots of stuff on Kijiji (a very common online market place here) and I would say 100% of all texts/e-mails never buy, many are scammers and extreme low ballers. The serious ones and least take the time to call and come on down to see are the ones that tend to buy.

new stuff maybe no inspection needed but at least a call for a big ticket item.

my 2 cents from a "aged" consumer.

My $.02 from a very aged consumer

What you say may all be true but I haven't been in a car dealership (other to pick up a new vehicle or service) in over 10 years. I'm never going to go to a dealership to buy a car. Sure the dealers don't like it - too much leverage to the consumer. The internet is the great leveler of the playing field.
The 2 new tractors I bought (the 1st in the 80's) were done on the telephone. Not so many same dealer choices for most tractor buyers so if you need a dealer you are kind of stuck.
Dealers that won't sell over the internet? Dinosaurs were kings of the land at one time too.

When the knowledge of a product resides with the buyer it's always about price. When it resides with the seller it's never about price.

 

[sunandsand]

I try to stay away from car dealers. Bluntly, I don't trust them AT ALL because they know they won't see me again for years (by which time they may be out of business) so they try to make their one bite at the apple as worthwhile for them as they can. They really don't care if I get a straight deal or not.

Coupla years ago I spec'ed out precisely what I wanted, then started calling around to find it. One official dealer who was about 150 miles away listed what I wanted. I called to inquire because the listing said "tan" which I knew wasn't right because that wasn't a color option that year (or any other year on that model). Salesman was vague at best about color, miles, price, wanted me to drive 150 miles, down I-4 through Orlando and past Disney to come look at it (based on a very incomplete description) and then asked me "What would it take for you to buy this car today?"

My answer was "A different dealer. Goodbye."

I wound up getting exactly what I wanted at a different dealer for a different brand only 40 miles away, got out with a whole skin, and have not been back. Why should I? I have what I want and I plan to keep it.


I did get what I think was a straight deal from the local Orange dealer. I went in, sat down with him, told him what I needed to do, asked him what equipment I needed and how much was it. They had a (small) percentage off summer sale and zero percent financing. They delivered it, dropped it off and handed me the keys . . . how do I work this thing? Took a little while to figure it out, I even read the instructions (I know, hand in my man-card), joined TBN and have not killed or hurt myself or anyone else (yet.) So far so good.

YMMV - mine did.

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

 

[fishhead]

I don't know if it was your intent, but to me, the way your post reads it sounds like MAP is some FTC requirement they are enforcing.

MAP is an anticompetitive practice that the FTC regulates and challenges. Essentially, the FTC, in general, does not like OEMs to prevent dealerships from advertising their prices.

You are correct that FTC does that- sorry if my post read otherwise - guess i need to reread it.

Ok I see what you mean - What i was implying was that due to free trade rulings there are limits to ways a manufacturer can try to enforce a retail price. They cannot for example say to dealers- if you discount this we will drop you and then choose to enforce that on one dealer and not another. They usually have to allow a sale period on reasonable chance to move difficult inventory. Some of that limiting and legalese has led to the idea that if you don't post a discount price on the net it wasn't advertised. The act of putting the item in a cart or calling, emailing texting etc is viewed as the consumer asking for th price which is different.

As to the previous poster- about any angle- I ended up in sales by accident i majored in physics.- its a been good living.

I would like to think that if i sold tractors i would be someone talked about as the right kind of salesman.

I think its often just as important to point a person elsewhere if its the right thing to do for them.


if I had to sell an ice cube to an eskimo it would melt and i would starve- unless of course there actually was a reason they needed one.
I believe in solution selling where you sell by actively finding out needs and filling them. Its not a quick way to riches but you can sleep well at night and people remember who did them a solid.

For what its worth I have never worked in any type of vehicle sales and have no skin in the game.


All that that said, having been in sales so long I resent large pieces of the sales status quo and have personally chosen to do things like sell my own real estate several times because i did not see the value the commission offered. I personally think that dealerships as they have existed in vehicles and things like tractors are somewhat an anachronism and will gradually be replaced- look at cars and trucks- who actually likes to deal with the sales dept at a car dealer?

 

[jyoutz]

I thought you might be describing my local JD dealer but then saw you’re in Texas. Must not be unique to one dealer group.

Our local Deere Dealer is awful. I used to own a JD and over the years I visited that dealer many times for parts and service. A few years ago, I started thinking of upgrading. I stopped in at the JD dealer and wanted to talk models and pricing. The salesman(?) told me to go outside and look at the tractors and then come back and he would give me prices. I had to hunt him down when I went back inside and then he seemed pained when I wanted to price out a unit with options. He made no effort to join me outside, discuss models and options and make recommendations for my uses. Then, he scribbled down some ballpark prices on a few brochures and handed them to me. I drove away to the Kubota dealer and spent a few hours with a salesman who showed me the models and discussed uses. Then he gave me full quotes on the models including options. I was liking the Kubota buying experience better, then when I compared the JD prices to comparable Kubota models, I decided to eliminate JD from consideration for my future purchase.

 

[jyoutz]

I try to stay away from car dealers. Bluntly, I don't trust them AT ALL because they know they won't see me again for years (by which time they may be out of business) so they try to make their one bite at the apple as worthwhile for them as they can. They really don't care if I get a straight deal or not.

Coupla years ago I spec'ed out precisely what I wanted, then started calling around to find it. One official dealer who was about 150 miles away listed what I wanted. I called to inquire because the listing said "tan" which I knew wasn't right because that wasn't a color option that year (or any other year on that model). Salesman was vague at best about color, miles, price, wanted me to drive 150 miles, down I-4 through Orlando and past Disney to come look at it (based on a very incomplete description) and then asked me "What would it take for you to buy this car today?"

My answer was "A different dealer. Goodbye."

I wound up getting exactly what I wanted at a different dealer for a different brand only 40 miles away, got out with a whole skin, and have not been back. Why should I? I have what I want and I plan to keep it.


I did get what I think was a straight deal from the local Orange dealer. I went in, sat down with him, told him what I needed to do, asked him what equipment I needed and how much was it. They had a (small) percentage off summer sale and zero percent financing. They delivered it, dropped it off and handed me the keys . . . how do I work this thing? Took a little while to figure it out, I even read the instructions (I know, hand in my man-card), joined TBN and have not killed or hurt myself or anyone else (yet.) So far so good.

YMMV - mine did.

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

I’m fortunate that my neighbor who is a very good friend is general manager of a large auto dealership. I have bought the last 3 vehicles from him, even when I wanted a used vehicle brand not carried by his dealership. He checked availability in state, and surrounding areas to find what I wanted at a fair price.

 

[LFP57]

Our local Deere Dealer is awful. I used to own a JD and over the years I visited that dealer many times for parts and service. A few years ago, I started thinking of upgrading. I stopped in at the JD dealer and wanted to talk models and pricing. The salesman(?) told me to go outside and look at the tractors and then come back and he would give me prices. I had to hunt him down when I went back inside and then he seemed pained when I wanted to price out a unit with options. He made no effort to join me outside, discuss models and options and make recommendations for my uses. Then, he scribbled down some ballpark prices on a few brochures and handed them to me. I drove away to the Kubota dealer and spent a few hours with a salesman who showed me the models and discussed uses. Then he gave me full quotes on the models including options. I was liking the Kubota buying experience better, then when I compared the JD prices to comparable Kubota models, I decided to eliminate JD from consideration for my future purchase.

I have a Kubota dealer and an Kioti/LS dealer about the same distance from my house but in opposite directions. I was interested in a Kioti, I called the Kioti dealership and the salesman wouldn't even talk to me about them, he did everything he could to steer me to an LS. I went to their dealership anyway, just to check out the Kiotis and once I got there, the same thing, guy wouldn't even talk about the Kiotis. I thought to myself, if they don't want to sell them, then why even have them and does the manufacturer know that they're trying to steer paying customers away from their product. I mentioned my experience with them on this forum and others replied that they experienced the same thing at this dealership. I drove the hour and half to the Kubota dealership and purchased a tractor.

 

[PuffyC]

My $.02 from a very aged consumer

What you say may all be true but I haven't been in a car dealership (other to pick up a new vehicle or service) in over 10 years. I'm never going to go to a dealership to buy a car. Sure the dealers don't like it - too much leverage to the consumer. The internet is the great leveler of the playing field.
The 2 new tractors I bought (the 1st in the 80's) were done on the telephone. Not so many same dealer choices for most tractor buyers so if you need a dealer you are kind of stuck.
Dealers that won't sell over the internet? Dinosaurs were kings of the land at one time too.

When the knowledge of a product resides with the buyer it's always about price. When it resides with the seller it's never about price.

You’re right, and if there’s one thing the covid lockdowns taught us it’s that consumers won‘t tolerate that old school dealership model any longer. Dealers will either need to get onboard or die. Same goes for tractors. I bought a Deere right after covid started and never even saw it until I took delivery. Only talked to the sales guy once and that was to sign paperwork. If I could have ordered it via the web like buying something off Amazon I would have done it, which is how people growing up today will be expecting things to work.