6 Ways to Help Growers Evaluate Ag Equipment Demonstrations from Dealerships
As trusted advisors, it’s important we partner with growers to ensure equipment demos are a good use of growers’ time and most importantly, safe for all involved.
In a perfect world, every grower customer has a great relationship with its key trusted advisors, including its equipment dealership, writes Erin Hightower at CropLife. In either case, the dealer partner often will approach a grower with an opportunity to participate in an onsite demonstration of a new or specific product.
Perhaps the grower mentioned he or she needs a certain new implement or maybe the dealer knows a current machine has been in the shop a few times and is recommending an upgrade.
No matter the situation, dealer demos can be a great opportunity for growers. A demo allows them to see a product in motion, on their property, and with little risk beyond a phone call for proof of farm insurance. While good dealer partners are only interested in demoing machines that would provide advantages to a grower, not all demos are created equal.
As trusted advisors, it’s important we partner with growers to ensure these demos are a good use of growers’ time, they consider agronomy needs, and they’re tailored to each unique farming operation. And, perhaps most importantly and especially in our current environment, they need to be safe for all involved.
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Let’s take a step back and review the key considerations growers should review that will help them evaluate demo opportunities.
1. Ensure It’s Worth the Time
With typical farming challenges and how full growers’ days are to begin with, a demo has to be worthwhile. Even if the dealership representative brings the machine out on time, pre-calibrated, and is ready to go, a demo will still take up valuable time.
Has the dealer partner clearly explained why the demo is valuable to the grower? This would mean they’d have to know a grower’s current and future agronomy and business goals, as the equipment being demoed would absolutely need to prove its worth towards achieving those goals. And keep in mind that farm equipment is a long-term investment; encourage the grower to think beyond the next few years and look five or 10 years into the future.
Is the grower thinking of trying a strip tillage operation in five years? Perhaps he or she is working towards digitizing the operation. Or maybe there’s interest in moving to variable rate implementation soon.
Even for a grower who’s already interested in the equipment, it’s worth the time to spend just a half hour on the phone with the dealer to align the demo with the farm’s needs. Help them build a list of questions based on these priorities and it’ll better prepare both parties for a worthwhile use of time.
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