It must be good for dealers and suppliers at the moment

[Hilly]

I am sure there is more to it than, everyone is rolling around in money, reps are rubbish etc. etc. Have you thought they may not be allowed to supply in the area that you want, regardless if you don't have a dealer in the country?
Africa will be probably covered by a Africa regional department, larger companies will have specific rules on this. Price list and specifications of the machine could be entirely different. Have you considered that?
What companies have you asked? If you are talking Claas JCB etc they defining have dedicated regions so going to a UK show to buy products for Africa unlikely they would have anyone there that would be able to deal with it first hand.
If you are dealing with a UK based company with no export history, they may not want to supply for fear of having to offer a warranty outside the UK.

They could have explained this if correct and contacted other rep etc etc, you know "be helpfull".

 

[Hilly]

The last agritechnica I was mooching around the Krone stand and the jolly visitors in their hundreds were drinking larger, was around lunchtime so thought why not, went to the bar and was told you need a slip of paper from a Krone employee, so one was next to me with the tie and jacket and I asked him, he mumbled something and left me. I came home and sold the bloody 7 rotor Krone tedder that had done 500 acres work and bought a lely, this is what employees who have no idea of customers and have been dragged from the design office for a few days to a show can manage for you.

Good for you, hit them in the pocket that`s what hurts most.

 

[puntabrava]

Good for you, hit them in the pocket that`s what hurts most.

It’s unlikely to cause a share collapse but I was slightly livid.

 

[Chae1]

Last car I bought , the salesman was useless....we were talking about the car and the mechanics of it and at one point he said, " you probably know more than me".....im thinking yeah and that wouldn't be too hard!....ended up going through with deal as it was priced right....ended up finishing up with the sales manager

What annoys me is how the advertised price actually seems to rise, not drop on attempting to do a deal. This is buying a used car, not new.

 

[Bobthebuilder]

Last new motor i bought was in wellies boiler suit, one sales man looked me up n down and said sarcastically "do you know how much they are " needless to say i bought nothing off that plonker, it actually put me off for 6 months until one day at Carlisle mart Border Toyota had stand with a really good sales man long story short he had a baccs payment next day and new motor on way, i told him the story about first man shook his head and said motor trade full of them he said they have it easy cars sell like hot cakes ! but he was top seller and had won holls the lot through a bonus scheme, well deserved , as for a lot of the rest of car sales people i wouldn't pee on most of them if they were on fire.

Was the other salesman from a Toyota garage as well? I know of a similar story which ended up with border Toyota getting the sale of a new land cruiser and a hi-lux

 

[Hilly]

Was the other salesman from a Toyota garage as well? I know of a similar story which ended up with border Toyota getting the sale of a new land cruiser and a hi-lux

Yes.

 

[whindy]

Visited Hanson fencing stand inquired about fencing systems they took my details. 40 minutes later they had passed my details on to local supplier (Jamesons masham) they rang and I had a quote email by 5 pm. I was impressed and will br giving them an order

 

[BobTheSmallholder]

It's not limited to agriculture, I spent a year working as a consultant and then joined my current employer doing the same thing... selecting and buying very expensive brewing equipment. I approached over 40 different companies asking for quotes for a multi-million pound project and had responses from less than half. A slack handful were absolutely great, following up with calls, emails and putting me in touch with partners where they couldn't supply everything on a long long list. The majority never even bothered to reply so I assumed they must be making so much money they can just chin off new business.

Even if they thought I was having them on all it would have taken was a 5min phone call to see if I was genuine or not. I'm on LinkedIn and various social media sites, dozens of well known people in my industry know who I am and could have verified who I was working for and that the project was genuine.

It seems to me that the suppliers are either too busy with other clients which is fair enough or they only want the simple, easy sales to people who don't know what they want and can be sold anything. Receiving a query from someone who knows exactly what they want and has specific requirements seems to turn off a lot of salesmen!

 

[AgriLinc]

I would be happy to hear from anyone who wants to export into Africa and, yes , you will get paid!! We introduced a UK construction equipment manufacturer 7 years or so ago and their t/o is now into the many millions/ year.

What type of machinery are you looking for?
We have exported machines to a good number of the African countries over the years, the latest container only left 2 days ago destination Kenya.

 

[TomD]

@Andrew B I have sent you a dm

 

[Andrew B]

I am sure there is more to it than, everyone is rolling around in money, reps are rubbish etc. etc. Have you thought they may not be allowed to supply in the area that you want, regardless if you don't have a dealer in the country?
Africa will be probably covered by a Africa regional department, larger companies will have specific rules on this. Price list and specifications of the machine could be entirely different. Have you considered that?
What companies have you asked? If you are talking Claas JCB etc they defining have dedicated regions so going to a UK show to buy products for Africa unlikely they would have anyone there that would be able to deal with it first hand.
If you are dealing with a UK based company with no export history, they may not want to supply for fear of having to offer a warranty outside the UK.

I take your point but none of these companies were represented in the part of Africa I am trying to bring UK agricultural expertise to. Greatly encouraged that a UK dealer messaged me today asking if he could be of any help so thank you

 

[Andrew B]

What type of machinery are you looking for?
We have exported machines to a good number of the African countries over the years, the latest container only left 2 days ago destination Kenya.

Thanks , we are in West Africa . I will PM you but in the main a lot of equipment is the 60-100hp sized equipment in all sectors.

 

[2wheels]

It’s unlikely to cause a share collapse but I was slightly livid.

cutting off your nose to spite your face for the sake of a beer?

 

[puntabrava]

cutting off your nose to spite your face for the sake of a beer?

Not really, the Krone was crap and seasawed it’s way up a field.
Many a good deal sealed over a drink.

 

[Campbell]

Same can't be said for the insurance business. I made some inquiries recently about changing life policies, the persistent fekkers don't give up calling, even after telling them I am now sorted. Probably boiler room style call centers whipping the staff into action....

 

[Grassman]

I would assume a lot of enquiries to manufacturers at shows will be passed on to your local dealer to follow up. They may then filtering out potential waste of time enquiries. Not saying this is the case for the OP.

 

[Goweresque]

I think this thread answers one of the points thats often raised on here - who is really getting the benefit from farm subsidies?

Its fairly obvious that a decent amount of the money that farmers get in subsidies is ending up in the agricultural supply chain, hence why they can afford to pay 'salesmen' who don't attempt to sell anything, and have expensive trade show stands and not bother to follow up the sales leads so generated. It certainly doesn't seem like a sector where costs have been pared to the bone and every bit of potential trade is pounced on eagerly. Seems like there's a fair few economies that could be made........

 

[4course]

the op from his standpoint is more than likely operating in a different league to me but on the same theme over the last 30 odd years once in business on my own not just the things with engines or necessarily that reps own brand if s/h. Was red mf then went blue nh ford then for a while mixed colours valmet then blue again currently we seem to be going pale green claas why you may ask ,simply down to the service we receive from the rep and the branch of the company behind him .

 

[glasshouse]

Last new motor i bought was in wellies boiler suit, one sales man looked me up n down and said sarcastically "do you know how much they are " needless to say i bought nothing off that plonker, it actually put me off for 6 months until one day at Carlisle mart Border Toyota had stand with a really good sales man long story short he had a baccs payment next day and new motor on way, i told him the story about first man shook his head and said motor trade full of them he said they have it easy cars sell like hot cakes ! but he was top seller and had won holls the lot through a bonus scheme, well deserved , as for a lot of the rest of car sales people i wouldn't pee on most of them if they were on fire.

Snobbery is rife these days.
Some people think their shi,t doesnt smell.

 

[Hooby Farmer]

Bought my mum a car this morning from a dealer we were at last Monday, can honestly say we had a great experience. Told them what we are after, father has Alzheimer's/dementia getting in and out of cars is problematic as his mobility decreases. Some too tall some too low etc. Test drove the car last week, told the guy will be looking at other cars and he totally understood. Drove 4 other cars that day. 1st guy rings me at 7 o'clock on Friday evening asking how we got on. Hes taking his kids out to football on Saturday morning and will be passing by our house. His wife has the same model of car we're looking at, if we want to try dad in it, mostly getting in and out. Couldn't say better than that, have not heard anything from the others.