Precision Farming Dealer interviewed Travis Green, Ag Leader northeast territory manager, Randy Davis, CNH Industrial precision field specialist and Stephen Mount, Capstan field marketing representative, to get their personal and professional observations on the 2016 Most Valuable Dealership, Hoober Inc.
Dedicated to Training
“Hoober puts a major emphasis on training its employees. All of their precision ag department employees are registered and up to date on all new products and changes, not just with Ag Leader, but with every brand they carry,” says Green, who began working with Hoober Inc. in 2012. “They’re also committed to training their customers and have a precision ag training trailer that travels between stores.
“But Hoober owes its success to more than just the trailer, it’s the staff they have inside the trailer. Their employees are built, not bought. They train their employees from the ground up.”
Mount adds, “There are some dealers who are afraid to invest in their employees through training, but Hoober does a really good job of finding the right people and pushing them through training. They have a good eye for finding precision employees who go above and beyond.”
Selling Service
“They put service ahead of sales,” says Mount, who has worked with Hoober for the last 6 years. “In their minds, service is part of the sale. They push their service and deliver on it. And it shows. They have happy customers who return year after year because of their service.”
“Support is the name of the game, and its something Hoober does very well,” says Davis. “When you provide quality support and training to customers, they are more willing to pay for that expertise.”
On the Leading Edge
“Hoober is not afraid to invest in the business,” says Davis, who has worked with Hoober since 2011. “They invested in technology when it was considerably more expensive that it is today because they saw that precision farming was going to continue to be the future of agriculture. They were one of the first dealers on the east coast to put up an RTK network.
“As the adoption of precision farming began increasing in popularity around 2007, customers were often buying their machines from the local equipment dealer and then buying technology somewhere else down the road. Hoober figured out early on that most customers prefer one-stop shopping.”
Support from Management
“Management isn’t afraid to let the precision department pursue a new idea or venture,” says Mount. “They’ve called me before with ideas I didn’t think would work, but they find a way of making everything work out.”
“Hoober treats precision ag as its own department within the dealership instead of just an arm of the sales and parts departments,” Davis says. “Word of mouth travels fast and if you can become the ‘who ya gonna call’ dealer in the minds of the customers, you will become the dealer of choice in that market.”
