Dealers gathered for a 60-minute roundtable discussion — at the 2025 Precision Farming Dealer Summit — on strategies for hosting effective customer clinics and demo days. Jake Ridenour from PTx Trimble served as the roundtable moderator. Afterwards, he shared the following key takeaways, suggestions and insights gleaned from the discussion.

• This group was interesting because half of us were from manufacturing companies and half of us were dealers, so it was a great way to get different perspectives. 

• We talked about the size of demo days. It’s a common feeling that the smaller the group is, the more intimate the questions are and there’s less peer pressure, less anxiety from attendees at the event.

• We also want to make sure to get outside if possible. Whether it’s in the shop or in the sun, make sure that it’s a hands-on event and we’re actually operating the equipment — showing the ROI that we’re trying to prove.

• Seasonality came up. When you’re wanting to showcase a product, oftentimes it’s very difficult to get into the field because the crop cycle’s just not conducive to that. It’s important to make sure we’re ahead of schedule.

• One of the dealers talked about teaching a customer how to use a piece of equipment during the demo and then having the composure to walk away. We’re all salespeople but having the composure to walk away and let the customer work at it and sometimes struggle with it a bit before you come back into the picture is very important.

• As we move into autonomy and semi-autonomy, the idea came up of showcasing information management at these demos. We all agreed that you have to be very careful because it’s a slippery slope of having to look at each person’s individual data or needs. Making sure you have good examples of what we could do with data ready at that demo is very important to kind of “herd the cats” for lack of a better phrase.

• Make sure the staff is knowledgeable, whether it’s a manufacturer or whether it’s the dealer on the ground. Make sure they’re comfortable, confident and knowledgeable about the product they’re trying to demo.

Click here for more Roundtable Recaps from the 2025 Precision Farming Dealer Summit.