Turning Your Website into a Virtual Location

Think of a store that is virtually unlimited in terms of square footage, located on a major interstate, and can handle a multitude of customers 24x7 with limited staff. That’s your website — an asset that it’s time you utilize to its fullest potential.

Patrick Richardson, IT manager and digital marketing specialist for Sherwood Tractor, will share how they have duplicated their in-store experience online at the Dealer Success Academy, an online, on-demand event set for March 7-8. Sherwood Tractor, a 2018 Rural Lifestyle Dealer Dealership of the Year, has two physical locations and has focused its efforts and added functionality to create a third location online.

“There are some basic ingredients that it takes to have a dealership. You have to build a building. You have to hire employees. You have to fill it with products. You have to have effective communication and a point-of-sale system. All of ingredients that are necessary to start up a dealership are also needed to have a successful virtual location or web presence.

“We really treat our website like a store. It's filled with products that people can look at. We have signage and banners to drive people's attention and to convey the messages of whatever promotions or information. And we integrate that with our employees so that our website is staffed by the employees that we have in various departments,” says Richardson.

Learn how you can do the same for your dealership. Register now for the online and on-demand event set for March 7-8.

Sherwood Tractor is Rural Lifestyle Dealer’s 2018 Dealership of the Year in the multi-store category. The dealership has enhanced its website significantly to duplicate the in-store experience — turning the site into a virtual location. Patrick Richardson, Sherwood Tractor’s IT manager and digital marketing specialist, will share how and why they added such customer-experience functionality as online parts ordering, service scheduling, online chats and more.

Thank you to our Title Sponsors for their support of the first ever Dealer Success Academy:

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Yanmar

Yanmar America is the North American headquarters of Yanmar Holdings. Ranked #1 in Product Quality for five years in a row by the Equipment Dealers Association, Yanmar provides innovative solutions for Rural Lifestyle and Industrial Equipment customers.

Yanmar was the world’s first manufacturer to develop a practical small diesel engine in 1933 and has continued to push the boundaries of innovation and technology ever since. As a manufacturer of diesel engines, compact tractors and utility task vehicles, construction machinery, and industrial equipment, Yanmar's products are sold in over 130 countries.

At Yanmar America, we are committed to providing our customers with the highest quality products and services, backed by a strong team of professionals who share our dedication to excellence. We look forward to the opportunity to work with you in achieving your goals.

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Turning Your Website into a Virtual Location

Thank you to our Title Sponsors for their support of the first ever Dealer Success Academy:

This month's digital sponsors: