My experience is a mirror to PTSG's. I went to every dealer in my area, including the "big guys" with the expensive colors.
The Green one spoke to me when I walked in, but didn't have any models in stock that were even close to what I wanted (cabbed 3R I believe-it's been so long now), their only one (chain store) was 200 miles away in SD, and the only option he gave me was to either order a new one from scratch (by looking at his glossy brochure-no he didn't know how long it would take to get in) or driving down to SD myself and buying and hauling up the one 200 miles away. After telling me that, he sat back down at his desk and completely ignored me and went back to his phone calls.
The Big Orange one didn't even acknowledge or speak to me when I walked in their door. Neither did the 2 employees at the parts counter. I walked back down a short hallway, passed several offices with open doors and employees sitting at desks, and not one of them spoke to or acknowledged me. After standing around inside their front lobby for at least 15 minutes straight, I figured they didn't want my money and walked out.
The small orange (Kioti) and Bobcat dealer was the same. Walked around, poking my head into different offices, standing at the parts/service counter, standing by the empty brochure wall, finally stood directly in the middle of the main lobby floor. Nothing. Not even a wave or a head nod to acknowledge that a living person had entered the building. I went back to this dealer 3 separate times, in 3 different days, and it was exactly the same treatment ( I wanted to see one of the Kioti models, they were sitting out in the yard).
The New Holland dealer said he would call me back. He did actually speak to me. He was the only other one that did when I walked in. I told him what I was looking for, he wrote it down while telling me how busy he was. He never called me back. That was 5 years ago.
The Branson dealer acknowledged me when I walked in, asked me if he could help me, listened to what I was looking for, told me he had several models on hand I should look at, grabbed a fist full of keys and walked me out to where the tractors were. We checked over each model, I asked fairly standard questions that he listened to, knew the answer to, and answered each one like it mattered to him that I got the information. We spent maybe an hour standing out there talking and comparing models, I told him which one I thought would work, he compared features vs. the work I wanted done and attachments I would likely get in the future. He tossed me the keys to the one I was leaning towards and said, "Go play", pointing to the vacant lot next to the tractor yard. I played a little bit, walked back in and told him I'd take it. Deal was done, paperwork signed, he had the tires loaded for me and delivered it (plus the attachments I bought) right to my place later on that week.
It's not rocket science. You don't even have to be a GREAT dealer. Just don't be a crappy one.
I had no brand loyalty at all. But the first dealer I walked into was The Green One. If they would have given me the same experience that my Branson dealer did, I would have a green tractor in my shop building right now, instead of the red one I have now. And The Green One I was looking for ended up being over 20K more money than the red one I took home. Same goes for any of the other dealers. If they would have just operated their business like the Branson dealer did, I would have bought their product.
I don't need to be lavished with love and attention when I walk in. But I do expect to be acknowledged and waited on. I also expect that you will have product on site that you are selling (tractors and attachments/accessories in this case). I expect that your sales staff knows enough about their products to at least answer relatively standard questions about it without having to look it up. If they don't know the answer to a more obscure question, I expect them to offer to look it up (and then actually do so). That's all I'm looking for, not exactly "high maintenance" customer here.
