For 9-store Case IH farm equipment dealer Hoober Inc., keeping customers up to date on the training necessary to use their current precision equipment and learn about new technology is an on-going process. With stores across southern Pennsylvania, northern Maryland, Delaware and eastern Virginia, Hoober developed a mobile solution to customer and employee training.
The dealership offers training courses in Case IH Pro 700, Raven displays, Trimble, in addition to sprayer training, with its mobile precision training trailer. Marc Yoder, northern regional precision director for Hoober, says the tool allows the dealership to customize training where customers can bring in their monitors and go through a class session in preparation for an upcoming planting or harvest season.
The trailer also allows Hoober to go beyond hardware and software sales with the customer and offers a resource for farmers to maximize their investment in technology.
“The training trailer gives customers a jump start by refreshing customers on their equipment,” Yoder says. “Not only does this help the customer out, it also helps us out because it reduces phone calls with simple questions about how to use the equipment.”
Hoober also frequently brings the trailer to farm shows to show potential customers a variety of configurations for sprayers, combines or planters and simulate what the technology would look like in the field.
“We can talk customers through how certain configurations could help them with problems they’re having in the field and when a customer decides to buy, we can walk them through the ins and the outs of the programs,” Yoder explains.
The trailer is operational even in areas like the middle of a farm field where there isn’t a source of electricity due to the trailer’s direct current voltage.
Hoober plans to make more use of the trailer as an internal training tool as well. Carrying 10 different brands of precision farming equipment, and having the ability to train specialists on specific components, without forcing them to travel, will be efficient and productive, Yoder says.
“We bring the trailer to one of our stores and train employees on new technology and precision products, which beats sending employees to the manufacturer for training events,” he says.
Get Inside Hoober’s Mobile Training Trailer
Take a tour of the dealership’s mobile training trailer with Marc Yoder, who explains more of the details and the thought processes behind the company’s unique unit.
