OEMs of all shapes and sizes establish dealer councils as formalized sounding boards to place common issues on the table for discussion and resolution.
Some of these councils fail from the getgo as they become expensive complaint departments for every uncommon issue under the sun. Other more successful councils are as well oiled as the equipment they support, spawning better products, services and above all, communication between the parties involved – OEM, dealer and end user.
According to Mike Greene, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for fast-growing KIOTI Tractor of Wendell, North Carolina, “We understand the dealer council philosophy and work very hard to develop an informative, smooth-running and productive dealer council. The council is our firm commitment to both the dealer network and end users we both serve and is paramount in our thinking as we grow this exciting brand.”
For the first time in its history, the KIOTI dealer council has added an important mid-year meeting to get together and help move issues through the system faster, keeping up with the growth of the company. Host of this initial mid-year event was Wichita Tractor Company with its headquarters office in Wichita, Kansas and branch in Hutchinson, Kansas. Wichita Tractor was selected for both its level of excellence and convenient location in the heartland of America.
Don McCullough, Owner of Wichita Tractor and current Council Chairman, hosted the meeting portion of the event at the beautiful Marriott Courtyard in Wichita’s Old Town. “We were proud to be able to showcase both our city and our operation during this event. The meeting went extremely well and was very productive. All of the other council members own and/or operate dealerships across North America and many of them have had prior dealer council experience with other OEMs. So this council runs pretty smoothly. They understand that the purpose of the council is to help the company help us, enabling all of us to do a better job for our customers.”
As do most meetings in the equipment world, this one focused on the primary categories that make a business run: market and economic concerns, parts and service support, financing, warranty, inventory controls at both levels, delivery and shipping, training and other support activities, new products and of course, the product line itself.
Greene was equally proud of KIOTI’s dealer network and was especially thankful for all the effort McCullough and the other council members had put in to this meeting specifically and council functions in general. Greene points out that “As we are committed to our dealer network and council, these guys are committed to us. It is this synergy that has enabled KIOTI to grow and based on what we saw in Wichita, things are going to get even better. The council brought some great ideas to the table. We’ll take the knowledge we gained at this meeting, share it with our key people back in Wendell and work hard to make things go a bit smoother for our dealers and their customers.”
Following the sit-down portion of the meeting at the Courtyard, the group traveled out to the Wichita Tractor headquarters to tour another first-class KIOTI dealer operation. The next meeting will be held in early 2011 as a part of KIOTI’s annual dealer meeting.
