KPM Blog

· How is your dealership training your current technicians ?

If you had to explain the value of two-step distribution, could you? Two-step distributors buy products from the manufacturers and then sell the product to independent dealer businesses. The dealers, in turn, sell it to the end user, thereby earning the two-step definition.

For those of us in the OPE industry, it is the way we do business so we do not think about the inherent value. It just is. Many times the simplest and easiest way to explain something is to just list some of the benefits for the dealers; explaining why they would want to use distributors, and then do the same thing for the manufacturers.

Dealers who have worked with manufacturers directly in the past may wonder how distributors fit into the equation and what value distributors can add to their retail business. When I speak with dealers who purchase and promote power equipment available through distribution, I hear a wide range of reasons why dealers get excited about working with a distributor. Here are the benefits I hear most frequently from OPE dealers.

This year, Small Business Saturday is on November 28. It’s a day that encourages consumers to shop small and local. Since American Express started the initiative in 2010, eighty-eight million people have shown up to “shop small.”

In the outdoor power equipment industry, shopping small means to forgo the big box stores and take your business to the locally owned outdoor power equipment dealership in your area. In addition to supporting the community where you live, shopping local has other benefits.

Local outdoor power equipment dealers provide knowledge and services not found in big box retailers. For landscape contractors looking to make a significant investment in their next piece of equipment, that’s especially important.

So, why shop local for your outdoor power equipment?

We cannot begin a conversation about a customer-centric business approach without first defining “customer centric.” To make it simple, it is putting the customer at the center of your business. Understanding what the customer needs and putting them first creates long lasting business value.

In order to develop a customer-first approach, get to know your customers and ask them these questions.

• What goals are they looking to achieve with a new piece of equipment?
• What challenges are they currently facing with their existing equipment?
• How are these challenges impeding their success?
• What would success look like to them?

Steve Redan founded Kenvil Power Mower in 1957 as a retailing, servicing outdoor power equipment dealership after the untimely passing of his dad.  With the need to support his mom and siblings, Steve’s mom signed him out of high school, and with a modest loan of $150 from a neighborhood friend (and Steve never forgot this gesture), Steve purchased his first three HomKo lawnmowers for resale.