May 5, 2025 • 43 mins
In this episode, the final in a series of three segments of the interview, Andy and George Keene discuss the critical aspects of change management within dealerships, emphasizing the importance of leadership commitment, the impact of tariffs, and the potential of AI in training and sales. They explore the tools necessary for success in the dealership environment and provide insights into the future of the farm equipment industry, highlighting the need for consolidation and proactive customer engagement.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Beyond the hood.
Strategies to fuel dealer growth.
Welcome everyone to another episode of Beyond the Hood with Tractor Zoom.
I'm your host, Andy Campbell, and our guest today is George Keene.
This is part of a larger three-part series, and today we are specifically talking aboutchange management and looking into the future.
(00:29):
If you are interested in adapting to change for your dealership and future-proofing yourdealership in this ever-shifting market, this episode is meant for you.
We're going to talk with George specifically about implementing change at dealerships andmaking it stick.
How do you adapt to industry shifts, especially now in the light of tariffs, uncertainmarkets, all the economic pressures.
(00:50):
And then we're going to look forward and see what George thinks is going to happen in thenext five to 10 years.
I hope you can join me for this episode of Beyond the Hood with Tractor Zoom with GeorgeKeene.
George, my next question is one that I don't know if it makes me a complete hypocrite orit stabs me a little that I love spreadsheets.
(01:11):
ah
but I also understand that there's problems with them.
so how, you now that we're talking about collecting this data and using it and makingdecisions off of it, how should dealers balance that potential love of spreadsheets with
(01:31):
more of a systematic process or a platform?
My experience with dealerships in a variety of industries is pretty much the same of whatI saw when I worked in an ag dealership.
(01:55):
that is salespeople have been allowed to do their own thing for so many years thatconverting them to a CRM takes time, challenge and commitment.
If the dealer principal is committed to doing it and the sales manager is committed todoing it, you've got to start showing salespeople that you're using the information in the
(02:28):
CRM.
Otherwise, they're going to do their own spreadsheet.
They're going to use their day timer.
They're going to use Outlook, whatever they've done in the past.
And each of them does their own thing.
the dealership is paying salespeople to go out and talk with accounts, to gather data sothat
(03:00):
we can do a better job of selling.
The more information we get into the CRM, the better our information and analytics can be.
But in order to get to encourage and convince salespeople to do it, sales management,ownership, and anything else in the company has got to show salespeople that doing the
(03:33):
work in the CRM has value.
And that means I want to see a weekly meeting with what we did in our dealership.
We had a weekly Tuesday morning sales call and we had six branches.
(03:54):
had 18, 20 salespeople.
Everyone called in on the telephone.
did at this is pre COVID.
We didn't have video calls yet, but everyone called in on the telephone and sales managerwent through.
(04:16):
what was in the CRM, what the open quotes were, what the contact activity was withsalespeople.
But the whole point was to show salespeople that what they're putting into the CRM hasvalue and we're utilizing it.
(04:37):
If you don't demonstrate that to salespeople regularly, they're not going to put theeffort into
putting it into the CRM.
Once you get a salesperson converted to doing that, all of a sudden they start to realizethe opportunity and the information they have.
(04:59):
And they start going back and saying, can I get a list of all the service work that's beendone on this account?
Because that'll start to tell them some things.
But you've got to get them converted
from my dad used something called Day Timer and he used it religiously.
(05:23):
put appointments for next week, he put appointments for the end of the year in his DayTimer and he'd keep track of it.
Well, CRM's just the same thing.
We're just doing it electronically.
He didn't have that back
(05:43):
1950.
But I love the the aspect of you know, it is gonna take a little bit of time but mostimportantly is that commitment the commitment from the the top down and then that your
point on utilization so don't just do it for the sake of of doing it because I do hearthat feedback every once while it's just like I've got to click a button because I'm told
(06:08):
to click a button and and it's not getting me anything but Having management come back andsay because you did this now you benefit here
And now we're tracking your successes here.
But I did want to talk to you about change management.
And with change management, know, of course, the moniker is change is never easy, ah butit's always constant.
(06:31):
And, you know, you've said before that it's not the strongest to survive.
It's those who adapt.
ah Why do you think change is such a tough sell, especially in the equipment dealershipindustry?
think we get comfortable with what we've been doing and we don't see enough value in thechange to encourage people to want to do it.
(07:05):
But one of the uh questions I've asked people in numerous seminars, what is the sixthlargest
automotive dealer in the US of US car makers.
And you don't know it, do you?
(07:26):
Because they don't exist anymore.
The Dodge company, the Chrysler company, the Pontiac company, the Hudson company, all ofthose have consolidated.
They've all been bought up and disappeared.
I remember Nash Rambler.
(07:49):
I'm old enough.
If we don't change, we're going to either become part of something else or we're going toclose down.
(08:09):
One of the biggest things I think that we've got to pay attention to is if we're going tochange, we've got to have commitment from the top executive to make it happen.
Otherwise people are going to push back and say, he doesn't care or she doesn't care.
(08:34):
And if we wait them out, we'll get through it.
you mentioned the best practice groups that I facilitate and I know numerous times I'vegone into a dealership after the dealer principal was at a best practice meeting and
(08:58):
talking with managers, they'd say, well, you know, he was at one of those meetings, givehim a couple of weeks.
He'll uh calm down and he'll forget about it.
That tells me the guy doesn't have the commitment to make that change.
If the owner is really committed, then it's not just a question of coming back and saying,I want you to do this.
(09:26):
It's investing the money, the time, the change in management structure.
You might have to take something off of someone's plate.
so that they have time to do whatever this is.
It's, you know, are you going to invest in putting that product in?
(09:51):
Then you gotta go buy it.
You gotta put it on the Sherwin floor.
You're not gonna sell it without it.
But the executive commitment for change has gotta be all of that.
It's not just coming back and saying, I had this great idea, talked to friend of mine, andwe should do this.
(10:14):
That's not commitment.
It's a nice creative idea, but it's not commitment.
And your employees learn whether you're committed to things or not.
So you gotta start figuring that out.
If you want change, you're gonna have to be committed to it.
(10:36):
Hey everybody, quick break from the show and then we're going to get you right back to theconversation.
But I wanted to take a moment to let you know how Tractor Zoom is partnering with all ofour dealership partners to fuel their dealership growth.
We're doing that with Tractor Zoom Pro to give people better valuations, faster access toit and the ability to manage their inventory using AI, using large data, even if the
(10:57):
dealership doesn't have the capacity to develop the AI and the large data themselves.
It's all there within Tractor Zoom Pro and also with Anvil Pro.
integrated business systems solution.
You can actually cut costs by integrating solutions, not paying for all these extraone-offs and keep people in the same solution so you're not constantly switching screens.
And then you could optimize your workflows, do a lot of things with automation thattechnology should be able to do right now.
(11:22):
So just two ways that Tractor Zoom is working with our dealer partners to really help themfuel their dealership growth.
Okay, you can check out some links in the show notes.
You can also go to tractorsoompro.com to check all that stuff out.
but we'd love to at least show you all the different ways that we're helping ourdealership partners.
Okay, let's get back to the show.
Hope you're enjoying it.
Okay.
(11:43):
I've got a side question for you here then, and this is not one that planned on, Iapologize for springing it on you, for TrackerZoom with our product Anvil and a new
dealership intelligence platform, CRM, inventory and everything baked in, that can be abig change for a lot of dealerships.
And so how much onus is on us ah as that software partner provider to help the dealerprincipal and that leadership team execute that change management.
(12:18):
As I said earlier, if the dealership is going to look at implementing a change with CRM,the owner and the managers, using that term plural, have got to be using the data.
(12:40):
They've got to show the employees that they're paying attention to it, that it cares, thatthey care, that it matters.
And if they communicate that to the employees, the employees are going to respond saying,OK, it's important.
I need to do this.
(13:00):
Software provider.
computer systems.
My experience is they need to come in and monitor what the dealership is doing with it.
uh You know, I spent 10 years with a software company.
(13:23):
My experience even to this day is most dealerships only use 50 % of the software theyhave.
What I'd like to see happen is somebody come in six months later, a year later, a yearafter that, and continue looking at what the dealership is using and say, you're not doing
(13:52):
this.
What procedure, what policy, what obstruction do you have?
Sometimes it's been, well, Charlie's always done it on a spreadsheet, and we let Charliedo it because he likes that.
(14:12):
But the rest of the dealership doesn't have access to that spreadsheet.
Charlie's the only person.
He's also our bottleneck on getting access to that data.
I want the entire dealership to have as much access to everything.
as I can get them.
(14:33):
I want salespeople to be able to look at service invoices so that they can see whatservice has been done for every one of their accounts.
I want service to know what is being quoted so when the customer calls and says, ah I'vegot this unit that needs repair, they don't say, well, you're on COD.
(14:59):
You don't do that if you've got a quote out there.
You might need to negotiate.
But I don't want to shut a customer down that we're currently trying to sell a large pieceof equipment.
But the more access we can have for all members of the dealership into everything that'sgoing on, the better we can operate and take care of customers.
(15:26):
So to your question,
I'd like to have the software provider for each of the systems I have come in and do anaudit on a regular basis and recommend training or conversion.
(15:46):
know, maybe that spreadsheet Charlie has can work in the system.
We just never trained Charlie on how to do it.
I once had a uh dealer in California ask me, well, I want to track this information uhbased on what we're doing in the invoices.
(16:13):
And he said, there's no field for me to put that in.
And I showed him where the field could be.
It wasn't meant for that.
But we could put that information in there.
And then we run a report with that filter that asked for that particular piece ofinformation.
(16:34):
He said, I like that.
You didn't tell me the software couldn't do it.
You told me how the software could do it.
from the software side, how do we handle the customer's needs even though we didn't designthe software to do that?
(16:54):
that function that the dealer is asking about, how do we get the software to do that?
I love that perspective.
I not not just guiding the customer through it which which is great in some conversationsthat we're having with our partners right now, but also your perspective shift on You know
(17:16):
can or cannot the software do it?
But how do we?
Enable you Charlie to utilize that spreadsheet because I think that is a big piece of uhof change management of you you know realizing they are where they are.
You've got to meet them where they are
But then still that integration and everybody using the same system is essential.
Another element on change management, I've kind of focused on the commitment question fromuh leadership, but additionally with change management, we want to make this change.
(17:54):
How do we measure what that is?
What is that change?
So we're currently doing x and we want to do y.
How do we identify when we reach y?
Okay.
What are we going to use to measure that we are making progress?
(18:20):
Is there a report?
Is there something visual or concrete that we can identify?
And then what's our feedback to tell us
how to change what we're doing so that we get there better, faster, or directly, whatever.
So we want commitment, we need a target, we need feedback, we need to have a process.
(18:50):
Those are all elements of change management.
You sure you weren't an engineer in another life?
It matches up with a couple of classes I took.
Okay.
I would like to change topics here now because it is the here and now and uh tariffs seemto be on the radio every single second and they just seem to change every other second.
(19:15):
with all of that uncertainty out there, ah what's your take on how the current situation,which is
And to paraphrase this in a point in time, know, tariffs were applied across the boardlast week or the week before they've since been pulled back for every country.
I think the Chinese and the Canadian and Mexican tariffs remain to some extent.
(19:39):
And then the Chinese ones 100%, 150 % are remaining right now.
And that is the I think the key focus and challenge for certainly any soybean farmer outthere right now.
So
that's where we are right now.
Um, you know, in your perspective, is this short term pain?
Is this something long term that we need to deal with?
(20:00):
And how do you think dealers should or need to respond?
I think my first comment is uh our president considers himself a negotiator and he feelsthis is his tool for negotiation.
(20:27):
Whether I agree with it or not, that's his approach, that's what he's trying to do.
uh
I just read a post this morning where somebody was complaining that, you know, they got asurcharge for tariff when they got a delivery.
(20:50):
And they said, well, I thought Canada was supposed to pay this.
No, tariffs are not something the other country or supplier pays.
Tariffs are something we pay here.
because it's an increase on the price.
(21:12):
So used equipment directly is not going to have a tariff.
It's already here.
You can probably sell used equipment without worrying about tariffs.
New equipment, a lot of that's going to depend on where it's coming from, what sources,what the input to that product is.
(21:38):
You might have something being built in Iowa, but if they had to import stuff from anothercountry in order to build it, you're still going to have the impact of prices.
One of the best things I've seen in the last two or three weeks was a dealer inPennsylvania that did about a 12, 15 minute video.
(22:08):
targeted at their customers to explain to them why tariffs were not going to significantlyimpact their customers because of what they have prior to tariffs, what uh they carry as
(22:28):
primary products, which are not uh from offshore, uh predominantly American
North American made product and What the impact is of tariff on the cost not the sellingprice as As a video it was well presented with a positive upbeat of how to sell The dealer
(23:00):
handling tariffs so that it will not have a significant impact on the
customers buying products.
I think we've heard so much about tariffs and we're so struck with the pain of dealingwith tariffs, but that's between the manufacturer and the dealer.
(23:26):
I think we need to once in a while step back from that, pay attention to what are we as adealer going to say to our customers?
How do we put a spin on this to mitigate?
I don't think we can eliminate, but how do we mitigate the impact of this whole tariffdiscussion on how we're selling to customers?
(23:57):
I don't want to see a recession.
I don't want to see a depression.
But I think some of it is going to be the retailers, dealers.
How do we communicate with customers on getting them to continue to spend money, to buyequipment, to buy parts?
(24:22):
And how do we explain to them that we are the best choice?
for doing service for them.
Okay.
does not impact, excuse me, tariff does not impact service.
Okay.
Will impact equipment and parts, but.
(24:43):
How do we spin it to get more service?
That also can improve things for the dealership.
Right, which is kind of what you alluded to earlier with a, know, a 20 to 25, 26 strategywhen times are a little tighter.
Uh, rely on that higher margin, um, more adaptable, uh, product that are the service.
(25:05):
Okay.
So switching from that real quick and going maybe to another extreme and talking data andAI, uh, it's something that obviously gets talked about, uh, a lot here at Tractors and
we've got a lot of different AI initiatives.
Uh,
Do you think dealers can start using AI today in sales training strategy?
(25:26):
Have you seen it been used?
I think there's good opportunity for dealers to use AI and training.
A recent survey that I saw basically said that training that was done using AI customizedto the individual taking the training was 75 % more effective.
(25:59):
What would have taken two years worth of training was done in six months.
Why?
Okay.
The AI function can feed back to the person who's being trained for the things they're notgetting in their style instead of just, you know, here's the normal problems.
(26:25):
So I think AI, especially in training,
is an opportunity for dealers and we should be looking for what else is out there.
How do we use it?
How do we get our people involved in it?
Think about also, you know, we've got a uh serious problem with finding technicians.
(26:49):
It's a problem in every equipment oh industry, whether you're automotive or your golfcourses.
Okay.
But if we could use AI, oh let me give you an example I've got from a couple years agowith a dealership I was working in.
(27:12):
I had a parts person who would like to be a technician.
He had no other training except he worked in the parts department.
He was not a mechanic automatically.
He's not one of those guys that just
knew how to use engines.
(27:32):
But if I could use AI to start teaching that person how to handle a tune up, if I coulduse AI to teach them how to handle lawnmower maintenance, I'm trying to take a small
engine, a 400 horsepower tractor.
(27:59):
teach that person how to handle a small engine and train them in just the lawnmowermaintenance.
From there, I want to take it to the next level and take them up to small tractors.
But we could start to train our own in-house people and develop technicians without havingto send them somewhere for
(28:29):
six months in an apprentice course or something.
So I think AI has a lot of opportunity we need to investigate.
Hmm.
No, that's great idea and and back in my teaching days.
I always was conflicted by Giving tests bringing in tests taking forever to grade themgiving the test back a week later And I knew that that long of a break ah Things were
(28:58):
washed out of their mind and so I had a bit of feedback that I'm giving them is way toolate for Any meaningful retention and you know that positive feedback loop you need to
grow but but you're right
If you can utilize AI for training, it's personalized, it's instantaneous, it hits themwhere they need, what they need, when they need it.
It's a great idea.
(29:18):
Okay, so I know we've had a great long conversation and I don't want to skip over some ofthese questions because you've had a long, great life with a lot of experiences and some
learnings that I do want to draw from a little bit.
So.
ah Still, and I threw in three late ones that I'm gonna spring on you here that are moredealership focused, but ah here's this question.
(29:44):
What are three tools that you think all dealers need to have?
Three tools.
I think the dealership in general needs to have a set of benchmarks for performance.
(30:10):
uh Additionally, I think a dealership needs to keep in mind that the uh type of economy welive in anymore, you're either going to grow and probably
(30:31):
buy another dealership, another location, or you're going to sell to another dealership.
Consolidation has been going on for the last 20, 25 years.
If consolidation is continuing and it's really dominant in this industry, which directionare you going to go?
(30:59):
Either direction.
I think you need to be focused on being so profitable that you're either capable of takingon the next location next to you or two locations and not hiccuping and having trouble, or
(31:23):
you need to be so profitable and strong.
somebody pays you a good price for your dealership.
Which one are you going to be?
But you're not going to sit there forever.
uh If you are currently a single location dealership, are you going to become a twolocation, a three location, a four location dealership?
(31:50):
To do that, you need financial strength.
You need management strength.
You need vision.
If you're a one location dealership and you're not going to do that, then are you strongenough that you can command a very good price for your location and your customer base and
(32:17):
your employees?
Have you developed the dealership to be so strong that you're going to make a good premiumon what's
what the person is paying for.
The last thing you want to be is a dealership that somebody just comes in and pays for theassets.
(32:39):
Right.
Yeah.
You don't want to be liquidation material.
Good.
You know, in your experience and you've got a lot of experience in the dealership and dataworld, ah how has data changed the way that you either make decisions or you see dealers
make their decisions?
(33:05):
I think there's certainly a lot stronger approach to uh making decisions based on data nowthan there was 40, 50 years ago.
It's not an emotional decision.
It's much more, you know, with the internet, I can contact other people that have done thesame thing.
(33:31):
I can look for customer reviews.
I can look for specific return on investment.
There's a lot of different ways to quantify decisions that we're making.
And even without the impact of AI, I think people are using data to make those decisionsfrom a leadership standpoint or even the front line parts counter.
(34:03):
Okay, ah a couple other quick questions here and things that our marketing team loves touse for social.
ah But also this first one is, oh, just for me really, books.
Do you have any books that you'd recommend?
of the more interesting ones I've stumbled across recently was uh Dispatches from FarmCountry.
(34:28):
uh The guy that wrote it is a farm journalist, uh Jim Patricko.
And what I really enjoyed about that is he's a real visual writer.
As you read it, and it's kind of a
(34:49):
a collection of essays, if you will.
But as you read his material, he writes in such a way that you could practically swearyou're looking at a photograph.
He's given you a very clear picture, whether he's talking North Dakota or Missouri.
(35:09):
You've got a picture in your mind of where he's at when he's talking about thoseparticular subjects that he was doing.
I really enjoyed that one.
Hmm.
I will have to check that one out.
ah Next question.
Advice that you'd give your younger self.
(35:32):
become a plumber.
I would have found employment more consistent and probably would have uh saved a lot ofmoney.
Would not have had student loans or any of the rest of the things.
ah But I didn't know that in high school.
(35:58):
Good.
And then on the flip side, ah what is some of the best advice that you've received?
I guess.
I've always tried to stay positive.
uh I'm probably more than a glass half full.
(36:23):
I'm kind of like a glass half full and it's still being filled type person.
uh I feel there's always an opportunity no matter what the condition is.
m
know, things are going to be better tomorrow.
(36:46):
That's good.
And actually a great segue into the last question that I want to ask you, and I've beensaving this one, uh, talking about tomorrow.
What is your outlook for the farm equipment industry and the rest of 25, maybe in 26 andbeyond?
As I've seen the reports on.
(37:12):
of acres that are being in cultivation.
As I've seen the size of that changing, I think we're going to continue to consolidate.
I've made this comment earlier.
oh As the customers consolidate, it becomes obvious that the dealers need to consolidate.
(37:41):
in order to serve the customers.
This is not something that we consolidate the dealerships just for the hell of it.
This is an issue of servicing customers.
When the customer has so much geography that we are trying to take care of them,
(38:08):
They don't want to deal with two and three and four different companies.
They want one company they can negotiate with and buy whatever the products are.
That's why they want us to have multiple locations to service their geography.
(38:33):
So if they've got 12,000 acres,
They won't have one dealer.
They want one vendor they can deal with.
They become a very important customer that way.
But whether it's a hay producer in Virginia or a grain producer out in the Midwest,
(39:03):
The customer is looking for one company to be the solution for their products.
And I think that's why we're going to continue to see a certain amount of consolidation.
OK, we've seen a lot already.
(39:23):
I continue seeing it in the news where so-and-so just bought so-and-so.
It's happening every week.
It's not something which is consistently slowed down.
I do see this uh tariff situation being a certain amount of confusion for a while.
(39:50):
I would like to say it's going to disappear in six months, but I don't know that I canpredict that.
uh But I think we need to be looking at how do we
handle that in our sales pitch with the customers.
You got to handle it one way with the manufacturer, but how do you handle it with thecustomers?
(40:15):
You need to be proactive and plan what your discussion is as a dealership with thosecustomers.
If you leave it to the news, they're all going to talk about how bad things are.
How do you pitch?
your approach to customers so that they get a positive attitude and want to work with youas a dealership.
(40:43):
That's That's great advice.
And I think it recaps a lot of the conversation that we had today too of being proactive,of developing a process and getting out in front of things.
Because like the consolidation uh point that you had, you're either going to happen to itor it's going to happen to you.
And so the only way is to truly be proactive.
(41:04):
Good.
Well, George, I really appreciate all the time that you've given me and and this has beenfantastic.
I know you're going to be at the dealership mind summit in Iowa City, which is uh my oldstomping grounds and close to my backyard.
So I hope to meet you there uh this summer.
And anyways, yes, we did mention, you know, what was your favorite book?
(41:25):
But at the same time, I do want to give a good plug because you have an incredible book,actually a couple that are out there.
Right.
There's two books, you can find them on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, any number of uh sitesthat handle online purchasing.
But sales management in the equipment dealership and service management in an equipmentdealership.
(41:52):
uh And if people are interested in that, they can either purchase them online or they cancontact me and I can give them another link.
uh
Well, we will throw those links ah in our show notes this show where we'll have it on allthe all the channels all the socials and all the things ah but again George, I want to
(42:15):
thank you a ton for joining me on Beyond the Hood and uh For all of our listeners outthere if you haven't yet subscribed make sure you subscribe follow again do all the things
on all the socials like you need to do and ah That way you'll get alerted to the next timethat we come out with new additional content, but anyways
from TractorZoom and Beyond the Hood.
(42:36):
This is Andy Campbell and George Keene.
Thank you everybody for your time and attention and have a great day.
Take care.
Thank you, Andy.
Thank you for joining me in another episode of Beyond the Hood with Tractor Zoom.
If you enjoyed this discussion with George on change management, looking into the future,you'll also enjoy what we have at TractorZoomPro.com.
(42:56):
We have under our resources tab, a plethora of blogs, old webinars, and a lot ofinformation, both in terms of trends and also best practices within dealerships.
Go over to TractorZoomPro.com, check out our resources tab and check out those blogs andevents.
Take care.
Thank you again.
Beyond the hood.
Strategies to fuel dealer growth.
Welcome everyone to another episode of Beyond the Hood with Tractor Zoom.
I'm your host, Andy Campbell, and our guest today is George Keene.
This is part of a larger three-part series, and today we are specifically talking aboutchange management and looking into the future.
(00:29):
If you are interested in adapting to change for your dealership and future-proofing yourdealership in this ever-shifting market, this episode is meant for you.
We're going to talk with George specifically about implementing change at dealerships andmaking it stick.
How do you adapt to industry shifts, especially now in the light of tariffs, uncertainmarkets, all the economic pressures.
(00:50):
And then we're going to look forward and see what George thinks is going to happen in thenext five to 10 years.
I hope you can join me for this episode of Beyond the Hood with Tractor Zoom with GeorgeKeene.
George, my next question is one that I don't know if it makes me a complete hypocrite orit stabs me a little that I love spreadsheets.
(01:11):
ah
but I also understand that there's problems with them.
so how, you now that we're talking about collecting this data and using it and makingdecisions off of it, how should dealers balance that potential love of spreadsheets with
(01:31):
more of a systematic process or a platform?
My experience with dealerships in a variety of industries is pretty much the same of whatI saw when I worked in an ag dealership.
(01:55):
that is salespeople have been allowed to do their own thing for so many years thatconverting them to a CRM takes time, challenge and commitment.
If the dealer principal is committed to doing it and the sales manager is committed todoing it, you've got to start showing salespeople that you're using the information in the
(02:28):
CRM.
Otherwise, they're going to do their own spreadsheet.
They're going to use their day timer.
They're going to use Outlook, whatever they've done in the past.
And each of them does their own thing.
the dealership is paying salespeople to go out and talk with accounts, to gather data sothat
(03:00):
we can do a better job of selling.
The more information we get into the CRM, the better our information and analytics can be.
But in order to get to encourage and convince salespeople to do it, sales management,ownership, and anything else in the company has got to show salespeople that doing the
(03:33):
work in the CRM has value.
And that means I want to see a weekly meeting with what we did in our dealership.
We had a weekly Tuesday morning sales call and we had six branches.
(03:54):
had 18, 20 salespeople.
Everyone called in on the telephone.
did at this is pre COVID.
We didn't have video calls yet, but everyone called in on the telephone and sales managerwent through.
(04:16):
what was in the CRM, what the open quotes were, what the contact activity was withsalespeople.
But the whole point was to show salespeople that what they're putting into the CRM hasvalue and we're utilizing it.
(04:37):
If you don't demonstrate that to salespeople regularly, they're not going to put theeffort into
putting it into the CRM.
Once you get a salesperson converted to doing that, all of a sudden they start to realizethe opportunity and the information they have.
(04:59):
And they start going back and saying, can I get a list of all the service work that's beendone on this account?
Because that'll start to tell them some things.
But you've got to get them converted
from my dad used something called Day Timer and he used it religiously.
(05:23):
put appointments for next week, he put appointments for the end of the year in his DayTimer and he'd keep track of it.
Well, CRM's just the same thing.
We're just doing it electronically.
He didn't have that back
(05:43):
1950.
But I love the the aspect of you know, it is gonna take a little bit of time but mostimportantly is that commitment the commitment from the the top down and then that your
point on utilization so don't just do it for the sake of of doing it because I do hearthat feedback every once while it's just like I've got to click a button because I'm told
(06:08):
to click a button and and it's not getting me anything but Having management come back andsay because you did this now you benefit here
And now we're tracking your successes here.
But I did want to talk to you about change management.
And with change management, know, of course, the moniker is change is never easy, ah butit's always constant.
(06:31):
And, you know, you've said before that it's not the strongest to survive.
It's those who adapt.
ah Why do you think change is such a tough sell, especially in the equipment dealershipindustry?
think we get comfortable with what we've been doing and we don't see enough value in thechange to encourage people to want to do it.
(07:05):
But one of the uh questions I've asked people in numerous seminars, what is the sixthlargest
automotive dealer in the US of US car makers.
And you don't know it, do you?
(07:26):
Because they don't exist anymore.
The Dodge company, the Chrysler company, the Pontiac company, the Hudson company, all ofthose have consolidated.
They've all been bought up and disappeared.
I remember Nash Rambler.
(07:49):
I'm old enough.
If we don't change, we're going to either become part of something else or we're going toclose down.
(08:09):
One of the biggest things I think that we've got to pay attention to is if we're going tochange, we've got to have commitment from the top executive to make it happen.
Otherwise people are going to push back and say, he doesn't care or she doesn't care.
(08:34):
And if we wait them out, we'll get through it.
you mentioned the best practice groups that I facilitate and I know numerous times I'vegone into a dealership after the dealer principal was at a best practice meeting and
(08:58):
talking with managers, they'd say, well, you know, he was at one of those meetings, givehim a couple of weeks.
He'll uh calm down and he'll forget about it.
That tells me the guy doesn't have the commitment to make that change.
If the owner is really committed, then it's not just a question of coming back and saying,I want you to do this.
(09:26):
It's investing the money, the time, the change in management structure.
You might have to take something off of someone's plate.
so that they have time to do whatever this is.
It's, you know, are you going to invest in putting that product in?
(09:51):
Then you gotta go buy it.
You gotta put it on the Sherwin floor.
You're not gonna sell it without it.
But the executive commitment for change has gotta be all of that.
It's not just coming back and saying, I had this great idea, talked to friend of mine, andwe should do this.
(10:14):
That's not commitment.
It's a nice creative idea, but it's not commitment.
And your employees learn whether you're committed to things or not.
So you gotta start figuring that out.
If you want change, you're gonna have to be committed to it.
(10:36):
Hey everybody, quick break from the show and then we're going to get you right back to theconversation.
But I wanted to take a moment to let you know how Tractor Zoom is partnering with all ofour dealership partners to fuel their dealership growth.
We're doing that with Tractor Zoom Pro to give people better valuations, faster access toit and the ability to manage their inventory using AI, using large data, even if the
(10:57):
dealership doesn't have the capacity to develop the AI and the large data themselves.
It's all there within Tractor Zoom Pro and also with Anvil Pro.
integrated business systems solution.
You can actually cut costs by integrating solutions, not paying for all these extraone-offs and keep people in the same solution so you're not constantly switching screens.
And then you could optimize your workflows, do a lot of things with automation thattechnology should be able to do right now.
(11:22):
So just two ways that Tractor Zoom is working with our dealer partners to really help themfuel their dealership growth.
Okay, you can check out some links in the show notes.
You can also go to tractorsoompro.com to check all that stuff out.
but we'd love to at least show you all the different ways that we're helping ourdealership partners.
Okay, let's get back to the show.
Hope you're enjoying it.
Okay.
(11:43):
I've got a side question for you here then, and this is not one that planned on, Iapologize for springing it on you, for TrackerZoom with our product Anvil and a new
dealership intelligence platform, CRM, inventory and everything baked in, that can be abig change for a lot of dealerships.
And so how much onus is on us ah as that software partner provider to help the dealerprincipal and that leadership team execute that change management.
(12:18):
As I said earlier, if the dealership is going to look at implementing a change with CRM,the owner and the managers, using that term plural, have got to be using the data.
(12:40):
They've got to show the employees that they're paying attention to it, that it cares, thatthey care, that it matters.
And if they communicate that to the employees, the employees are going to respond saying,OK, it's important.
I need to do this.
(13:00):
Software provider.
computer systems.
My experience is they need to come in and monitor what the dealership is doing with it.
uh You know, I spent 10 years with a software company.
(13:23):
My experience even to this day is most dealerships only use 50 % of the software theyhave.
What I'd like to see happen is somebody come in six months later, a year later, a yearafter that, and continue looking at what the dealership is using and say, you're not doing
(13:52):
this.
What procedure, what policy, what obstruction do you have?
Sometimes it's been, well, Charlie's always done it on a spreadsheet, and we let Charliedo it because he likes that.
(14:12):
But the rest of the dealership doesn't have access to that spreadsheet.
Charlie's the only person.
He's also our bottleneck on getting access to that data.
I want the entire dealership to have as much access to everything.
as I can get them.
(14:33):
I want salespeople to be able to look at service invoices so that they can see whatservice has been done for every one of their accounts.
I want service to know what is being quoted so when the customer calls and says, ah I'vegot this unit that needs repair, they don't say, well, you're on COD.
(14:59):
You don't do that if you've got a quote out there.
You might need to negotiate.
But I don't want to shut a customer down that we're currently trying to sell a large pieceof equipment.
But the more access we can have for all members of the dealership into everything that'sgoing on, the better we can operate and take care of customers.
(15:26):
So to your question,
I'd like to have the software provider for each of the systems I have come in and do anaudit on a regular basis and recommend training or conversion.
(15:46):
know, maybe that spreadsheet Charlie has can work in the system.
We just never trained Charlie on how to do it.
I once had a uh dealer in California ask me, well, I want to track this information uhbased on what we're doing in the invoices.
(16:13):
And he said, there's no field for me to put that in.
And I showed him where the field could be.
It wasn't meant for that.
But we could put that information in there.
And then we run a report with that filter that asked for that particular piece ofinformation.
(16:34):
He said, I like that.
You didn't tell me the software couldn't do it.
You told me how the software could do it.
from the software side, how do we handle the customer's needs even though we didn't designthe software to do that?
(16:54):
that function that the dealer is asking about, how do we get the software to do that?
I love that perspective.
I not not just guiding the customer through it which which is great in some conversationsthat we're having with our partners right now, but also your perspective shift on You know
(17:16):
can or cannot the software do it?
But how do we?
Enable you Charlie to utilize that spreadsheet because I think that is a big piece of uhof change management of you you know realizing they are where they are.
You've got to meet them where they are
But then still that integration and everybody using the same system is essential.
Another element on change management, I've kind of focused on the commitment question fromuh leadership, but additionally with change management, we want to make this change.
(17:54):
How do we measure what that is?
What is that change?
So we're currently doing x and we want to do y.
How do we identify when we reach y?
Okay.
What are we going to use to measure that we are making progress?
(18:20):
Is there a report?
Is there something visual or concrete that we can identify?
And then what's our feedback to tell us
how to change what we're doing so that we get there better, faster, or directly, whatever.
So we want commitment, we need a target, we need feedback, we need to have a process.
(18:50):
Those are all elements of change management.
You sure you weren't an engineer in another life?
It matches up with a couple of classes I took.
Okay.
I would like to change topics here now because it is the here and now and uh tariffs seemto be on the radio every single second and they just seem to change every other second.
(19:15):
with all of that uncertainty out there, ah what's your take on how the current situation,which is
And to paraphrase this in a point in time, know, tariffs were applied across the boardlast week or the week before they've since been pulled back for every country.
I think the Chinese and the Canadian and Mexican tariffs remain to some extent.
(19:39):
And then the Chinese ones 100%, 150 % are remaining right now.
And that is the I think the key focus and challenge for certainly any soybean farmer outthere right now.
So
that's where we are right now.
Um, you know, in your perspective, is this short term pain?
Is this something long term that we need to deal with?
(20:00):
And how do you think dealers should or need to respond?
I think my first comment is uh our president considers himself a negotiator and he feelsthis is his tool for negotiation.
(20:27):
Whether I agree with it or not, that's his approach, that's what he's trying to do.
uh
I just read a post this morning where somebody was complaining that, you know, they got asurcharge for tariff when they got a delivery.
(20:50):
And they said, well, I thought Canada was supposed to pay this.
No, tariffs are not something the other country or supplier pays.
Tariffs are something we pay here.
because it's an increase on the price.
(21:12):
So used equipment directly is not going to have a tariff.
It's already here.
You can probably sell used equipment without worrying about tariffs.
New equipment, a lot of that's going to depend on where it's coming from, what sources,what the input to that product is.
(21:38):
You might have something being built in Iowa, but if they had to import stuff from anothercountry in order to build it, you're still going to have the impact of prices.
One of the best things I've seen in the last two or three weeks was a dealer inPennsylvania that did about a 12, 15 minute video.
(22:08):
targeted at their customers to explain to them why tariffs were not going to significantlyimpact their customers because of what they have prior to tariffs, what uh they carry as
(22:28):
primary products, which are not uh from offshore, uh predominantly American
North American made product and What the impact is of tariff on the cost not the sellingprice as As a video it was well presented with a positive upbeat of how to sell The dealer
(23:00):
handling tariffs so that it will not have a significant impact on the
customers buying products.
I think we've heard so much about tariffs and we're so struck with the pain of dealingwith tariffs, but that's between the manufacturer and the dealer.
(23:26):
I think we need to once in a while step back from that, pay attention to what are we as adealer going to say to our customers?
How do we put a spin on this to mitigate?
I don't think we can eliminate, but how do we mitigate the impact of this whole tariffdiscussion on how we're selling to customers?
(23:57):
I don't want to see a recession.
I don't want to see a depression.
But I think some of it is going to be the retailers, dealers.
How do we communicate with customers on getting them to continue to spend money, to buyequipment, to buy parts?
(24:22):
And how do we explain to them that we are the best choice?
for doing service for them.
Okay.
does not impact, excuse me, tariff does not impact service.
Okay.
Will impact equipment and parts, but.
(24:43):
How do we spin it to get more service?
That also can improve things for the dealership.
Right, which is kind of what you alluded to earlier with a, know, a 20 to 25, 26 strategywhen times are a little tighter.
Uh, rely on that higher margin, um, more adaptable, uh, product that are the service.
(25:05):
Okay.
So switching from that real quick and going maybe to another extreme and talking data andAI, uh, it's something that obviously gets talked about, uh, a lot here at Tractors and
we've got a lot of different AI initiatives.
Uh,
Do you think dealers can start using AI today in sales training strategy?
(25:26):
Have you seen it been used?
I think there's good opportunity for dealers to use AI and training.
A recent survey that I saw basically said that training that was done using AI customizedto the individual taking the training was 75 % more effective.
(25:59):
What would have taken two years worth of training was done in six months.
Why?
Okay.
The AI function can feed back to the person who's being trained for the things they're notgetting in their style instead of just, you know, here's the normal problems.
(26:25):
So I think AI, especially in training,
is an opportunity for dealers and we should be looking for what else is out there.
How do we use it?
How do we get our people involved in it?
Think about also, you know, we've got a uh serious problem with finding technicians.
(26:49):
It's a problem in every equipment oh industry, whether you're automotive or your golfcourses.
Okay.
But if we could use AI, oh let me give you an example I've got from a couple years agowith a dealership I was working in.
(27:12):
I had a parts person who would like to be a technician.
He had no other training except he worked in the parts department.
He was not a mechanic automatically.
He's not one of those guys that just
knew how to use engines.
(27:32):
But if I could use AI to start teaching that person how to handle a tune up, if I coulduse AI to teach them how to handle lawnmower maintenance, I'm trying to take a small
engine, a 400 horsepower tractor.
(27:59):
teach that person how to handle a small engine and train them in just the lawnmowermaintenance.
From there, I want to take it to the next level and take them up to small tractors.
But we could start to train our own in-house people and develop technicians without havingto send them somewhere for
(28:29):
six months in an apprentice course or something.
So I think AI has a lot of opportunity we need to investigate.
Hmm.
No, that's great idea and and back in my teaching days.
I always was conflicted by Giving tests bringing in tests taking forever to grade themgiving the test back a week later And I knew that that long of a break ah Things were
(28:58):
washed out of their mind and so I had a bit of feedback that I'm giving them is way toolate for Any meaningful retention and you know that positive feedback loop you need to
grow but but you're right
If you can utilize AI for training, it's personalized, it's instantaneous, it hits themwhere they need, what they need, when they need it.
It's a great idea.
(29:18):
Okay, so I know we've had a great long conversation and I don't want to skip over some ofthese questions because you've had a long, great life with a lot of experiences and some
learnings that I do want to draw from a little bit.
So.
ah Still, and I threw in three late ones that I'm gonna spring on you here that are moredealership focused, but ah here's this question.
(29:44):
What are three tools that you think all dealers need to have?
Three tools.
I think the dealership in general needs to have a set of benchmarks for performance.
(30:10):
uh Additionally, I think a dealership needs to keep in mind that the uh type of economy welive in anymore, you're either going to grow and probably
(30:31):
buy another dealership, another location, or you're going to sell to another dealership.
Consolidation has been going on for the last 20, 25 years.
If consolidation is continuing and it's really dominant in this industry, which directionare you going to go?
(30:59):
Either direction.
I think you need to be focused on being so profitable that you're either capable of takingon the next location next to you or two locations and not hiccuping and having trouble, or
(31:23):
you need to be so profitable and strong.
somebody pays you a good price for your dealership.
Which one are you going to be?
But you're not going to sit there forever.
uh If you are currently a single location dealership, are you going to become a twolocation, a three location, a four location dealership?
(31:50):
To do that, you need financial strength.
You need management strength.
You need vision.
If you're a one location dealership and you're not going to do that, then are you strongenough that you can command a very good price for your location and your customer base and
(32:17):
your employees?
Have you developed the dealership to be so strong that you're going to make a good premiumon what's
what the person is paying for.
The last thing you want to be is a dealership that somebody just comes in and pays for theassets.
(32:39):
Right.
Yeah.
You don't want to be liquidation material.
Good.
You know, in your experience and you've got a lot of experience in the dealership and dataworld, ah how has data changed the way that you either make decisions or you see dealers
make their decisions?
(33:05):
I think there's certainly a lot stronger approach to uh making decisions based on data nowthan there was 40, 50 years ago.
It's not an emotional decision.
It's much more, you know, with the internet, I can contact other people that have done thesame thing.
(33:31):
I can look for customer reviews.
I can look for specific return on investment.
There's a lot of different ways to quantify decisions that we're making.
And even without the impact of AI, I think people are using data to make those decisionsfrom a leadership standpoint or even the front line parts counter.
(34:03):
Okay, ah a couple other quick questions here and things that our marketing team loves touse for social.
ah But also this first one is, oh, just for me really, books.
Do you have any books that you'd recommend?
of the more interesting ones I've stumbled across recently was uh Dispatches from FarmCountry.
(34:28):
uh The guy that wrote it is a farm journalist, uh Jim Patricko.
And what I really enjoyed about that is he's a real visual writer.
As you read it, and it's kind of a
(34:49):
a collection of essays, if you will.
But as you read his material, he writes in such a way that you could practically swearyou're looking at a photograph.
He's given you a very clear picture, whether he's talking North Dakota or Missouri.
(35:09):
You've got a picture in your mind of where he's at when he's talking about thoseparticular subjects that he was doing.
I really enjoyed that one.
Hmm.
I will have to check that one out.
ah Next question.
Advice that you'd give your younger self.
(35:32):
become a plumber.
I would have found employment more consistent and probably would have uh saved a lot ofmoney.
Would not have had student loans or any of the rest of the things.
ah But I didn't know that in high school.
(35:58):
Good.
And then on the flip side, ah what is some of the best advice that you've received?
I guess.
I've always tried to stay positive.
uh I'm probably more than a glass half full.
(36:23):
I'm kind of like a glass half full and it's still being filled type person.
uh I feel there's always an opportunity no matter what the condition is.
m
know, things are going to be better tomorrow.
(36:46):
That's good.
And actually a great segue into the last question that I want to ask you, and I've beensaving this one, uh, talking about tomorrow.
What is your outlook for the farm equipment industry and the rest of 25, maybe in 26 andbeyond?
As I've seen the reports on.
(37:12):
of acres that are being in cultivation.
As I've seen the size of that changing, I think we're going to continue to consolidate.
I've made this comment earlier.
oh As the customers consolidate, it becomes obvious that the dealers need to consolidate.
(37:41):
in order to serve the customers.
This is not something that we consolidate the dealerships just for the hell of it.
This is an issue of servicing customers.
When the customer has so much geography that we are trying to take care of them,
(38:08):
They don't want to deal with two and three and four different companies.
They want one company they can negotiate with and buy whatever the products are.
That's why they want us to have multiple locations to service their geography.
(38:33):
So if they've got 12,000 acres,
They won't have one dealer.
They want one vendor they can deal with.
They become a very important customer that way.
But whether it's a hay producer in Virginia or a grain producer out in the Midwest,
(39:03):
The customer is looking for one company to be the solution for their products.
And I think that's why we're going to continue to see a certain amount of consolidation.
OK, we've seen a lot already.
(39:23):
I continue seeing it in the news where so-and-so just bought so-and-so.
It's happening every week.
It's not something which is consistently slowed down.
I do see this uh tariff situation being a certain amount of confusion for a while.
(39:50):
I would like to say it's going to disappear in six months, but I don't know that I canpredict that.
uh But I think we need to be looking at how do we
handle that in our sales pitch with the customers.
You got to handle it one way with the manufacturer, but how do you handle it with thecustomers?
(40:15):
You need to be proactive and plan what your discussion is as a dealership with thosecustomers.
If you leave it to the news, they're all going to talk about how bad things are.
How do you pitch?
your approach to customers so that they get a positive attitude and want to work with youas a dealership.
(40:43):
That's That's great advice.
And I think it recaps a lot of the conversation that we had today too of being proactive,of developing a process and getting out in front of things.
Because like the consolidation uh point that you had, you're either going to happen to itor it's going to happen to you.
And so the only way is to truly be proactive.
(41:04):
Good.
Well, George, I really appreciate all the time that you've given me and and this has beenfantastic.
I know you're going to be at the dealership mind summit in Iowa City, which is uh my oldstomping grounds and close to my backyard.
So I hope to meet you there uh this summer.
And anyways, yes, we did mention, you know, what was your favorite book?
(41:25):
But at the same time, I do want to give a good plug because you have an incredible book,actually a couple that are out there.
Right.
There's two books, you can find them on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, any number of uh sitesthat handle online purchasing.
But sales management in the equipment dealership and service management in an equipmentdealership.
(41:52):
uh And if people are interested in that, they can either purchase them online or they cancontact me and I can give them another link.
uh
Well, we will throw those links ah in our show notes this show where we'll have it on allthe all the channels all the socials and all the things ah but again George, I want to
(42:15):
thank you a ton for joining me on Beyond the Hood and uh For all of our listeners outthere if you haven't yet subscribed make sure you subscribe follow again do all the things
on all the socials like you need to do and ah That way you'll get alerted to the next timethat we come out with new additional content, but anyways
from TractorZoom and Beyond the Hood.
(42:36):
This is Andy Campbell and George Keene.
Thank you everybody for your time and attention and have a great day.
Take care.
Thank you, Andy.
Thank you for joining me in another episode of Beyond the Hood with Tractor Zoom.
If you enjoyed this discussion with George on change management, looking into the future,you'll also enjoy what we have at TractorZoomPro.com.
(42:56):
We have under our resources tab, a plethora of blogs, old webinars, and a lot ofinformation, both in terms of trends and also best practices within dealerships.
Go over to TractorZoomPro.com, check out our resources tab and check out those blogs andevents.
Take care.
Thank you again.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.