Perspectives
Real world insights, leadership tips and strategies
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6 Ways to Help Farmers Experience Your Equipment (and Win More Deals)
When I worked at Time Warner Cable, now Spectrum, we spent much of our time and marketing budget getting people to experience something they already had. Phone. Internet. Cable. We weren’t try...
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Why Dealer Leaders Must Be in the Oar Distribution Business
One of the biggest misconceptions about leadership in equipment dealerships is that strong leaders “jump in and do whatever needs to be done.” It sounds admirable. It feels supportive. It even...
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Are You Overstaffed or Understaffed? The Ratios That Tell the Truth
When pressure builds inside a dealership, the response is predictable: “We need more people.” Another technician. Another parts person. Another service writer. Someone for warranty. Someone fo...
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Why Selling More Alone Won’t Get You There
For many equipment dealers, the plan sounds like this: sell more. More deals. More units. More revenue. It’s an easy goal to rally around. Volume feels like progress; it’s visible, measurable,...
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6 Moves Dealers Can Make in January 2026 to Win All Year
January is pivotal for equipment dealers because it’s when momentum is either captured or lost. The choices made now determine whether that momentum carries forward or fades as the year unfold...
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What Most Dealers Don’t Realize About Valuing Their Dealership
When most heavy equipment dealers start thinking about selling, succession to family members, or simply understanding the value of their business, they assume a few key metrics will tell the w...
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Momentum or Misses? 5 Ways to Gauge Your Dealership’s Midyear Health
June marks the halfway point of the calendar year—a natural inflection point for heavy equipment dealerships. It’s the time when leaders pause, assess, and ask: “Do we have momentum—or are we ...
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Stop the Meeting Madness: Run Dealer Meetings That Get Real Results
If there’s one thing I consistently see in heavy equipment dealerships, it’s this: meetings either happen too often without a clear purpose, or they don’t happen at all—and critical comm...
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Your Lost Sales Aren’t Lost—They’re Fueling Your Competitor’s Success. Here’s How to Win Them Back.
For dealers, lost sales are more than just missed opportunities—they’re lost revenue, lost relationships, and lost market share. But do you really know where those lost sales are going? More i...
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5 Smart Ways Dealers Can Keep Marketing—Even in a Downturn
When market conditions tighten, marketing is often the first thing businesses cut. But smart dealers know that staying visible is crucial—especially when customers are making more careful purc...
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Do You Have One of These 15 Leadership Diseases?
When it comes to leadership, we often focus on what to do. Rarely do we address what not to do. It’s crucial to explore both the positive actions and the potential pitfalls that can undermine ...
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Surviving in Hard Times: 5 Smart Strategies During a Downturn
Market fluctuations are inevitable in our industry, and downturns bring unique challenges. When the industry contracts, sometimes by as much as 30%, dealerships must ‘rightsize’ their operatio...
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Performance Feedback Season is Here: 9 Must-Do Strategies for Dealership Success
As the year winds down one task is taking center stage at most dealerships: performance reviews. ‘Tis the season to evaluate team members, identify areas for improvement, and set the stage for...
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7 Creative Strategies to Reduce Equipment Inventory in a Down Market
In a down market, dealers face the challenge of slow-moving inventory. Equipment that three or four years ago was flying off the lot can suddenly become a drain on cash flow and resources as d...
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How to Engage a Disengaged Employee
Nothing is more frustrating than when an employee quits and a team member tells you they could sense the employee was about to leave. You probably ask yourself if they could have been saved. T...
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CRM Insights and Best Practices For Heavy Equipment Dealers
Zach Hetterick of Harvesting Potential Coaching & Consulting shares actionable advice and best practices for dealerships considering the purchase or implementation of a CRM. In this presen...
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A Different Approach to Profiling Prospects
About 18 months ago, the top concern keeping dealers awake at night was product availability and the supply chain. According to feedback from the dealership groups comprising the Farm Equipmen...
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Developing Leaders Takes Time but Yields Big Results
Management consultant Zach Hetterick encourages dealerships to cultivate leaders within the organization to improve company culture. Zach Hetterick wants more people to focus on leadership dev...
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[Video] Farm Equipment ‘Thought Leader’ Series: Zach Hetterick
The first episode of Farm Equipment’s “Thought Leader Series” features Zach Hetterick, who brings a unique combination of perspective, from major-line OEM experience, executive-level dealer ma...
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5 Key Strategies to Lead Through a Crisis
1. Communicate, Communicate, and Communicate Some More Before you even begin to think about external messaging to your customers, communicate a baseline of facts with your employees. Instead o...
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Do you have a leadership team or a team of leaders?
Are you on a leadership team or are you part of a team of leaders? At first, it may seem as if it’s just a play on words. But, think deeper about it. A leadership team is a team that is ...
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Leadership versus Management
Have you considered the difference between management and leadership? Both play a major role in a company’s long-term success. However, I find they often get confused. They are directly interr...
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The 5 essential books for any leader
I enjoy reading and find books are a great way to grow my thinking and expand my knowledge. When it comes to my recommendations, here are 5 books on leadership I highly recommend getting a cop...
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Training Versus Development
Have you ever sent your employees to training, whether it be for a day or a week? Then they return to work and struggle with how to implement what was taught. In time, the impact fades away an...
