How do you improve sales across a dealer network?

What Phil Jones says

Jones is manager of brand marketing at AGCO Corporation, in the farm equipment business. He opens the video with the number.

In particular, I'm thinking about this dealer in New York. I think he was probably doing something on the order of right around $5 million with us for 2020. I think he finished right about $9 million.

That is a manufacturer reporting a dealer's year, which is a cleaner source than a dealer reporting their own.

Then he names the problem most manufacturers will not say out loud.

I think that's where our dealers need some help because they're not real good retailers. They're not good merchandisers. And we saw a gap in terms of their ability to really manage these interactions as best they should be.

And on what the work took.

What Bob really did, in the right way, was he was able to tell the dealer that his baby's ugly. And pull that off.

As of the recording, Jones reports AGCO close to doubling the business over the previous three or four years.

Why dealer showrooms underperform

A dealer did not get into equipment because they love retail. They got in because they know the machines, the service bays and the customers who run them.

So the showroom ends up being a room with product in it. Nobody greets. Nobody walks a customer around. The counter becomes the place where people get handed what they asked for.

That is clerking, not selling. It works until a customer who was ready to spend walks back out having bought a filter.

Why an outsider has to say it

A field rep cannot tell a high volume dealer their showroom is a mess. They have to work with that dealer next quarter.

Somebody from outside can, as long as they arrive with a plan rather than a verdict. Jones targeted specific dealers for showroom work, and the conversation landed because it came with what to do about it and when.

After that it is the same as any other floor. Name the behavior, say when you expect it, and measure it.

How do you improve sales across a dealer network?

Train selling behavior and fix the showroom, in that order of priority, and give dealers one framework rather than a catalog of tips. AGCO ran SalesRX across its dealers. One New York dealer went from about $5 million to about $9 million in 2020, reported by the manufacturer rather than the dealer.

Why do dealer showrooms underperform?

Because dealers are equipment people, not retailers. In AGCO's words, their dealers are not real good retailers and not good merchandisers, and there was a gap in how they managed customer interactions. The product knowledge is already there. The selling and the merchandising are what is missing.

How do you get independent dealers to adopt training?

Start with the dealers who will show a result, bring an outside voice who can be honest without being threatening, and pair the showroom work with the selling framework so the dealer sees both change at once. A dealer who gets a year like that one tells the rest of the network for you.

What changes it

SalesRX+ online retail sales training gives every dealer the same selling framework, practices it against an AI customer before anyone faces a real one, and measures each store with an unannounced shop before training and again at six months. One network, one standard, in writing.

More on the subject: retail sales training.

Full transcript

In particular, I'm thinking about this dealer in New York. I think he was probably doing something on the order of right around $5 million with us for 2020. I think he finished right about $9 million.

My name's Phil Jones. I work for AGCO Corporation. We're in the farm equipment business.

We are really trying to effect a full strategy, get people to come in to these showrooms and buy, and I think that's where our dealers need some help because they're not real good retailers. They're not good merchandisers. And we saw a gap in terms of their ability to really manage these interactions as best they should be.

And that's really where Bob helped us. Sort of soft skills training is another way to think about it. How to engage customers successfully and build trust, upsell, cross sell and a number of other things.

Another aspect of the relationship with Bob that I should speak to is how he's helped me in targeting specific dealers to improve their showrooms. And we did a makeover. In fact, Bob created a video, I think that's on his website, of a dealership in New York. Really good, hardworking dealer, one of our higher volume dealers, but really had a showroom in a facility that needed work.

And what Bob really did, in the right way, was he was able to tell the dealer that his baby's ugly. And pull that off. Bob's a real grownup, but he's got a certain style that resonates with dealers, I think. And in a non-threatening way, he could help them understand that, hey, you need to change and you need to change now, and we're here to help you with that. And it just ended beautifully.

So the business has really been growing. We've done close to double the business in the last three or four years.

One of the things that makes it a good fit for me personally and for AGCO is that Bob's just so easy to work with. He's just a good guy.

So would I recommend Bob Phibbs to other businesses. I suspect that there's a lot of businesses out there that are like our business, but maybe lack some of the skills that Bob has and what his training brings. So yeah, I very much see an application, whether that be consumer durables or equipment or any number of different lines where I think that this outside perspective, this way to look at the customer, look at these interactions, in a very objective and thoughtful way, I think that could benefit retailers of all stripes.