Cultivating communication

The Gehl Company knows the value of communication.

Through its dealer council, which consists of 16 dealers chosen from around the country, the West Bend, Wisconsin-based agricultural equipment manufacturer is able to keep abreast of changing market conditions, industry and product trends.

The company's primary market is dairy farmers, but it also markets to livestock and swine producers, manufacturing a wide range of equipment including manure spreaders, machinery for cutting and baling hay, and skid loaders.

The role of the dealer council, says Joe Ecker, Gehl's director of marketing, is to improve communication between the company and the dealers, thereby strengthening the relationship.

"We look to the council to provide Gehl management with the collective and representative judgments of its dealers concerning market conditions, current market trends, and any needs or problems that may arise between the company and the dealers," Ecker says.

"It's important to us to be responsive to our dealers because we feel very strongly that our dealers are the key to our success or failure."

In existence since 1978, the dealer council meets once a year with Gehl management. To choose the dealers who participate, Gehl sales staff around the country assemble a list of qualified dealers in their area. This list is then submitted to the regional sales managers for further review.

Many criteria

There are many criteria for qualification, as Gehl seeks to strike a balance between large and small operations, those that are established and those that are just beginning, and those operating in a range of different farming and ranching conditions. The goal is to make the council as representative as possible of the Gehl dealer universe.

"About 85 % of the dealers have a tractor franchise, such as John Deere or Ford New Holland. That's just one of the factors that goes into determining the mix of the dealer council. From a research standpoint, and from a mix standpoint, they are chosen on a geographical basis as well as on a volume basis so we get a mix of high volume and low volume dealers, as well as a mix of the (equipment) lines they represent," Ecker says.

Once a dealer has been chosen to serve on the council, he sends out forms to dealers in his area which the dealers can use to indicate any concerns/interests they would like Gehl to know about and would like to see discussed at the dealer council meeting.

Ecker says that each year four or five dealers are held over to serve another term on the council to provide continuity and allow the company to follow up on actions based on the previous year's council.

One-on-one interviews

Each December, the council meets for three days at Gehl headquarters. To set the agenda for the annual meeting, and to make sure it is productive for both sides, a Gehl representative performs an in- depth, one-on-one interview with each of the dealers at their dealership in late summer or early fall.

"We feel that doing the interview in the dealer's bailiwick gives him a comfort zone and allows him more freedom to talk. We're looking for objective information, and we know that if I went out to do the interview, or if someone else from Gehl went out, that the dealers might not be as candid as we would like them to be," Ecker says.

So Gehl retains Bruce Symonds, president of the Bruce K. Symonds Co., a St. Paul based marketing consulting firm, to perform and supervise the interviews.

Symonds, who helped Gehl create the dealer council, says the interviews last about two hours, but the whole process, which includes a photo session (to show other dealers at the council meeting what their fellow members' facilities look like) and a tour of the dealer's facility, takes half a day.

The interview covers several areas, including:

  • Dealership history and description.
  • Local market information, including information on local farming and ranching trends and how this will affect future farm equipment design and usage.
  • Dealer suggestions for product design changes and/or new equipment.
  • Dealer council discussion priorities in the areas of parts, service and warranty; credit and retail finance; advertising and marketing; dealer sales and service training.
  • The effectiveness of sales promotions and suggestions for improving future efforts.
  • Sales information by product type.
  • Opinions on recent Gehl changes in product line and marketing support.
  • Projections for future sales potential.
  • Competitive activities and their effect on business.

Whenever possible, Symonds says he tries to interview the dealers at a restaurant or motel room, away from the distractions of their office and the constant phone calls. He says it's important to be a good listener.

"I want them to be able to tell me anything, and I always tell them that this is for their benefit. The more open they can be, the better."

Symonds says the one-on-ones offer some advantages over traditional focus groups. "In focus groups, it can be very difficult to control the conversation. Some people are more talkative than others, you hear from the more aggressive people, the others you don't hear anything from. But when we interview them one-on-one, we're able to draw out the quiet people and get some good input from all of them."

The survey topics change each year, in response to market trends/developments and shifts in dealer interest. If Gehl is considering operational changes such as a new marketing program, for example, or a change to a product line, it may want to use the interviews to test reactions to it.

After compiling the results from the interviews, Symonds meets with Gehl management to discuss the findings and set the agenda for the upcoming council meeting.

Review priorities

Ecker says that through the dealer council, the dealers provide Gehl with five to fifteen priorities to work on in the coming year. After the dealer council session Gehl management meets to review the priorities set by the dealers.

"We bring together all of the disciplines that are affected by the priorities, address them, discuss them, and determine which ones we feel we can act on reasonably soon, and those that will have to be dealt with in the future because of budgeting constraints, etc. We feel that it is extremely important to respond to the dealer priorities as quickly as possible and to follow up throughout the year.

"It is really a guideline to help us run the business and improve our position with the dealer. Many things have come out of the dealer council. They have given us a lot of guidance."

Pushed for finance company

For example, during the early years of the council, dealers pushed for Gehl to create a captive finance company so that dealers could complete sales to farmers without forcing the farmer to go to his local bank for financing-an extra stage in the deal-making process that often resulted in lost sales.

"It took us time to set up Gehl Finance, because it was a very big step on our part, but eventually we did it. There isn't any doubt that (the dealers') constant requests for it enabled us to show our financial people that it was a must. It has proven to be a valuable instrument for the company."

Ecker says that the dealer council has given important guidance on product quality, product mix, warranty changes, and advertising programs. For example, through the co-op advertising program, Gehl and its dealers share the cost of local advertising.

"The council has helped us develop and enrich our co-op advertising program over the last five years and we intend to do more with it. The interviews give us information on what frequency, content, and level of participation works best. And they let us know how the dealers feel about our responsiveness to their requests."

Three-day meeting

The annual three-day council meeting allows for interaction between the dealers and Gehl management. On the first night, Symonds and the council chairman host a get-acquainted meeting, during which the issues to be discussed with company management are decided. The following day, meetings with management give the dealers a chance to learn about the company's plans for products, training, marketing and a host of other issues.

The morning of the third day is devoted to a closed-door meeting of the dealer council, with no Gehl management present, during which the dealers finalize and prioritize the requests they will make to the company.

Recognizes value

Ecker says that throughout the council's existence, even during the agricultural recession of the 80s, Gehl has stood by the council, because it recognizes its value.

"It's not necessarily an inexpensive way to get this information, but we feel very strongly about our dealer council. We feel that it is one of the best communication tools that we have."