Rural Lifestyle Dealer Columnist Mike Wiles (of AskTractorMike.com and EDMforSales.com) gives his feedback on how dealers need to better serve rural lifestyle customer and avoid any frustrations. Wiles says that the sales team should focus on education first and the product second. 

“Our customer base on the rural end is further and further away from the farm and an awful lot of people have zero connection to agriculture,” he says. Wiles shares more on the topic in the RLD Podcast Episode 003: Misunderstanding the Rural Lifestyle Customer, sponsored by Yanmar. 

He wants dealers to understand that the number 1 trait of a sales person needs to be empathy, along with understanding the needs of the customer and what the equipment can do for them. 

Dealerships are experiencing many shifts in sales and customers. Wiles discusses the differences in an ag customer and a rural lifestyle customer and how dealers can mistreat them. 

For more discussion about the shifts in the rural lifestyle customer base, tune into Episode 003, Misunderstanding The Rural Lifestyle Customer,  sponsored by Yanmar.