WHAT'S THE DEAL?: Equipment Demos

This month’s question: “How important are equipment demos in helping landscape contractors make purchasing decisions?”

THE DEALER: Richard Miller, Owner, TriGreen, Mt. Juliet, Tenn.

We think the proof is in the fit for the customer. There’s so much hype going on surrounding equipment. We’re in the best position possible when we have someone on the equipment, using it. We’ve always felt in order to prove a machine’s usefulness, we insist on letting them use it. You have to try it out.  We try to control the demos somewhat. We encourage contractors to take the equipment to several different types of job sites. But we want them to understand the difference between a demo and a loaner. So we set a schedule to motivate them to really use the equipment.
 
I strongly encourage contractors to ask their dealers for demos. We get a lot of guys who are reluctant to ask because they think there’s some type of catch to it. But we want to know why they like it or dislike it.

THE CONTRACTOR: Dan Powers, Owner, Powers Landscaping, Chardon, Ohio

Demos are very important to me and I often make decisions based on them. I had a combination loader-backhoe that was a little cumbersome. You had to jump from one side to the other to perform different tasks. So, I considered an excavator to replace it. The dealer brought one out and left it for me indefinitely and I saw the capabilities it had. If it weren’t for the dealer insisting that I demo it, I probably never would have tried it out. Once I had it and used it, I found its different uses. My dealer allowed me to demo it for as long as I wanted. 
       
Once you demo something, you end up buying it because you see how much more productive you can be with it. Getting hold of a demo piece isn’t difficult. Sometimes, I call the dealer and tell him I’m looking for something new. If he knows you have a need, a good dealer will fill it.