Unresponsive dealers

[bill177]

Yesterday I sent detailed emails to two local dealers - one Kubota and the other Massey Ferguson. They described in detail what I want - model numbers etc. along with a few small items to be included in the sale. Total about $18,000.

I specifically stated I wanted their best price, as I plan to buy before week's end - CASH.

About noon I called their respective phone numbers to make sure they were at work, as I had heard nothing. Yes both salesmen were indeed at work. Do they check their email, I asked. Answers were empatically, "I guess they do." I wasn't even asked if I would like to leave a message and was not asked what the call was about.

It is past the end of the business day and I never heard a word from either dealer. Guess business must be so good they don't bother to respond to emails. Must be lines forming to buy tractors.

If they don't bother to get back to me - phone number was included with the emails - before the sale, just how good will the after-sale service be? HAHAHA

Oh yeah, I called the local John Deere dealer and left my number for the salesman to call back. He never did.

I have been to each of these dealers once in the past two weeks and the Deere dealer twice. The Deere dealer has yet to step from behind his counter.

I do shower, dress neatly, drive a relatively new Suburban, speak English, and wear a hat with my airplane's manufacturer logo.

Am I missing something here? Maybe I should go in with a few hundred dollar bills stuck in my hat brim - just to get their attention. These dealers are all in the Albany, NY area.

Is this the norm among tractor dealers?

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Most tractor dealers do not reply to emails.

They don't think you are serious unless you go to their store. I'm not saying it is good or bad, it just is what it is. The two dealers I buy from do not answer email. I've spent many thousands with each, I am a repeat customer with both.

 

[kozak]

Bill,

The few Dealers (New Holland & Case) I have been in contact up here in Ontario Canada have responded to my e-mails. Strange that those dealers do not want to take that hard earned CASH off your hands. As Bob says, maybe the dealers in your area have found too many people fishing & too few sales from e-mail to be bothered. However, as you say, even when you called back they still don't seem to be interested. If your really set on a MF or Kubota, maybe you need to contact the owner & feel him out. Maybe they don't care much about selling compacts & are mainly focusing on Ag style tractors.

Vic

 

[ultrarunner]

I never could get a price from my Deere dealer. I went to the local Deere store on two occasions and no one was available except at the parts dept. Both times I asked if I could make an appointment, left my number and waited...

My local Kubota Dealer had his prices marked (Full Retail +) I made an offer and he said there was no room to negotiate on the tractor and suggested that maybe he could do something on implements.

I called an out-of-area Kubota dealer, told him what I wanted and what I was willing to pay. He asked me if it would be cash and he told me he could have one ready the next afternoon if it was.

When I got there the paper work and tractor were ready to go as promised.

A week later, my local Kubota dealer called to say that he was expecting a new shipment and would be willing to work with me. I told him I bought my tractor last week, but I was still looking to buy implements. He wished me luck and hung-up.... That was two years ago and I have not been back.

 

[Iowachild]

IMHO if you are going to have e-mail and you advertise the address either in print ads or on a web site, either respond to it or get rid of it. I think many business realize they need e-mail ability these days, but if they don't properly monitor and respond in some way, what have they gained. I use it as a benchmark. If I send an e-mail to a business and they don't bother to respond in some fashion, the chances of them getting any business from me goes way down. In the cases bill177 mentions, what would it take for the dealer to acknowledge the e-mail with a "Hey come on down, I think we can do business"? That took me about 10 seconds to type. Why should he or any of us waste our time and gas driving around to see who might be willing to deal with us?

Just my opinion!

 

[MikePA]

IMHO if you are going to have e-mail and you advertise the address either in print ads or on a web site, either respond to it or get rid of it.

I agree with Bob that some dealers just don't use email to communicate with customers. I also agree with you, if they're not going to respond to it, take it off their website, business cards, brochures, etc.

 

[bones1]

"I do shower, dress neatly, drive a relatively new Suburban, speak English, and wear a hat with my airplane's manufacturer logo".
That's the whole problem.I ran a JD parts dept for a while and I know the mentality of salesman,not all mind you, some are really good and want to make money.I bet if you were to go back in there, no shower, really dirty clothes,driving you BIL's 72 f100, had trouble with some of your words and turned your hat around, you would draw some salesmen.If you look successful then you are going to intimidate them and they just know you have done your homework and are going to try to beat them down on the price.Call the owner direct, that might get their attention.
Tractor dealers are not like the King of Cars.
Just an observation.

 

[jand38]

I have a different take on this, in todays retail world most of the people who are selling are waiting for another position to open up this "selling etc " is just to get by. I feel that it would be difficult to make a (good) income in tractor sales, hard to be real go getter when there is not much reward. Just my two cents worth

 

[roxynoodle]

I was shopping for a used tractor. There is a huge dealer about 12 miles south of me. I sent an email telling him what I was looking for. In reply he sent a rather rude email saying that since I didn't include my address he wasn't going to bother with me because I might be from California for all he knew. Of course I was thinking, why would I contact you if you weren't local?? But, then what if I was from California and I was moving to Ohio? Or what if I was buying this tractor for one of my children who lived there? Needless to say I didn't buy a tractor from them. The dealer I did buy from answered all my emails promptly. I had also sent an email to a Massey-Ferguson dealer inquiring about a new tractor. He called me a month later, right as I was trailering my newly purchased tractor home.

 

[Doc_Bob]

Am I missing something here? Maybe I should go in with a few hundred dollar bills stuck in my hat brim - just to get their attention. These dealers are all in the Albany, NY area.

Is this the norm among tractor dealers?

I sent requests just as you did to 6 dealers. They all got my emails. I had to bug them to get them to reply. It took almost one month to get all of them to reply. It was painful. My letter (email) was clear, easy to read. But that did not help. I told them I wanted a package deal, was ready to pay cash, etc. Everyone of them, when I called, had the email and asked if I wanted a package price and how was I going to pay? Sheesh!

I finally bought a used TN70A. A few months later, the dealer all wanted to know what I wanted to do. Months later. My impression is that the dealers live in a time warp. 2006 and I felt like I was dealing with guys who were still in the 60's.

Enjoy the journey
Bob

 

[DavesTractor]

Most tractor dealers do not reply to emails.

They don't think you are serious unless you go to their store. I'm not saying it is good or bad, it just is what it is. The two dealers I buy from do not answer email. I've spent many thousands with each, I am a repeat customer with both.

Bob, you are right. I have sold many tractors simply because I responded to email quickly and personally. Many customers like email and prefer initial contact that way. I'm glad most other tractor dealers ignore emails .

Of course it can be hard to weed out the guys playing games, but even so, it isn't hard to fire back a quick note acknowledging the email and initiating a dialog. From a dealers perspective, it is generally a waste of time for me to put together a package for a guy 1500 miles away. Instead, I'll make a prompt response suggesting a local dealer and perhaps giving my opinion of the best model for his needs. At least that builds good will.

 

[PineRidge]

I think a great number of folks given the opportunity would really like to conduct business over the Internet. It saves time & money, especially when gasoline is hovering around 3 bucks a gallon.

Unfortunately as you have found out some of the dealers just aren't interested. This thread reminds me of one that I started months ago called Is your dealer connected?

The consensus at that time was that most dealers are still way behind the times when it comes to things like INTERNET BUSINESS in general.

Hey!, call Corriher's and I'll bet they'll return your call, those guys got savvy.

 

[JerryG]

As bad it may sound, it has gotten to easy to e-mail for prices. There are lots of people that when they wonder what something cost, will just shot off an e-mail. That doesn't mean that they are ready to buy. I know that several on TBN like to shop initially by e-mail and there is nothing wrong with it. But from a dealer’s viewpoint, the vast majority of people that e-mail are just price checking with no intention of buying from them. If a person comes to their store, then they can tell a lot of the time if the individual is a tire kicker or a serious customer.

 

[PineRidge]

Jerry my take on that is that folks are curious, so they send an email to ask questions and find out what;s new and improved. If a dealer gives a customer a good reason to buy they just might.

 

[glasslaker]

Bill177, I’m from Albany, NY myself. I’m not sure which dealers you went to but I can give you my experience. I’ve never emailed any dealers but here’s my opinion. The Kubota dealer on rt. 7 seems OK. They weren’t really willing to budge on price. I’m building a house right now and my excavator said he use to purchase all his Kubota equipment from them but now works with a different Kubota dealer for service reasons. I’m not sure which one but I can find out for you.

As far as Deere goes. The one in Clifton Park seems to be willing to budge the most on price but there service leaves a lot to be desired. My father has had a Deere for 15 years. He bought it from the dealer in Clifton Park. However, every time he has worked with them on a service issue he’s amazed they’re in business. He now brings his equipment to the Deere dealer in Pittsfield, Mass. He has been very impressed with there customer service.

I’m in the market for a JD 2320 right now. Clifton park is a couple hundred cheaper but I have to admit the guy I’m dealing with in Pittsfield has put in a lot more effort. Between the salesman and the service reputation I know where I’ll be purchasing from.

I don’t know about the MF dealer. I went to the one on Everett Rd. to check out some equipment when they were closed. This isn’t a knock on MF but none of the equipment seemed to fit me so I scratched them off my list.

 

[roxynoodle]

When a dealer is only open weekdays and no evenings it is hard to shop in person. I only get half an hour lunch break at work and need that to eat and use the restroom. There is no time to make phone calls. I have found email very useful to ask questions, see pictures of the items, etc. I sold a truck over the internet and bought a truck and a car that way. One of my coworkers wanted a Mini Cooper and the nearest dealer was over 100 miles away. If it weren't for the internet I'm not sure he would have bought one. Because so many dealers weren't open on weekends or evenings email was my way to find out what they had. I started my tractor shopping a couple months before Spring break (I'm a teacher) so that if I found what I wanted I could go during my time off to see it and buy it. I wasn't going to take a day off work just to go look at tractors.

 

[cast_and_blast]

I found that the "type" of dealer can have quite a bit to do with it. My local JD dealer is also the "golf/turf industry" suppier in the area. Bottom line - he couldn't care less if he sold me a tractor or not - his main focus was the turf supply. His sales manager and sales person's responsiveness displayed the same attitude (and yes, I did shop in person). Bottom line was that I was easily able to beat their price (by about 8%) on my JD 2305 package from dealers within 15 miles that were falling over themselves to help me. I went to my hometown dealer in person (again) and gave them the last shot at the sale (all they had to do was meet the price - and it wasn't even a rock-bottom price) and they never even called back. That told me all I needed to know.

Good luck - call around.

Scott

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Most tractor dealers do not reply to emails.

They don't think you are serious unless you go to their store. I'm not saying it is good or bad, it just is what it is. The two dealers I buy from do not answer email. I've spent many thousands with each, I am a repeat customer with both.

And I don't understand this...

I've sent numerous emails to a particular salesman at a New Holland/John Deere dealer where I've bought several implements, a lawn tractor, and handled the deal when we bought 3 back hoes and a skid steer my employer. He should understand I'm a serious buyer when I ask for his help. Yet he never returns emails. When I asked about them, he always says he got them, just didn't know I expected a reply. Hmmm. I specifically asked about price and availability of a specific item. What would indicate I DIDN'T expect a reply?

As it has been mentioned, if they aren't going to respond, take the email addy off their website/business cards/yellow pages/stickers they plaster all over everything they sell.

In the last instance, I tried to get info on a Bush Hog finish mower. John didn't respond. I took my money elsewhere.Maybe I should email him THAT fact.

 

[hvac1]

I had the same problem when I was looking to buy. The saleman would walk out of the store past me and never acknowledge me. It happened at more than one place. I finally found one that wanted my business and bought from them.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Dealers are either connected or not...Those that are connected either agressively pursue sales either local or out of state at the lowest possible profit margin...Those tend to reply to sales quotes...

Those that don't respond don't take seriously the power of on-line-sales and are just playing lip service to it...

Of the 5 dealers located within 30 minutes of my house only 1 is conencted and they are very agressive in internet sales...The other 4 are still "old school"...Want to meet face to face and dicker over price...

A lot of these dealers are older and won't change...I expect that over time more and more dealers will be owned and operated by younger and more agressive ownerships...More computer savy...And will see the power of the internet...Thus...internet sales will only continue to grow...

Change is a constant...