Dealers Sound Off: “What are you doing to cut costs?”

“We are watching every expense going out. We’re calling our internet and phone companies asking for promos or to lower our bill; checking our insurance coverages and adjusting them for a better rate; checking workers’ compensation; checking employee hiring costs and wages; and finding ways to cut advertising,” says Josh Ormsbee, Quality Truck Equipment, Bloomington, Ill.

View more responses here: www.RuralLifestyleDealer.com/CuttingCosts.

Preparing Your Dealership for Major Weather Events

A recent Rural Lifestyle Dealer podcast featured Jonathan Hinze of Ewald Kubota, who shared lessons learned from preparing for Hurricane Harvey and many other major storms. The dealership is located in Corpus Christi, Texas, so it is often in the path of storms coming off the Gulf of Mexico. Hinze says that employee safety has to be your No. 1 concern. He talks through communication plans, documenting inventory, safeguarding equipment and data as well as how to be ready to serve customers afterward. Ewald Kubota was the 2017 Dealership of the Year in the multi-store category.

Tune in: www.RuralLifestyleDealer.com/EmergencyPrep.

Acquisition Brings Weingartz to 5 Locations

Outdoor power equipment retailer Weingartz Supply Co., based in Utica, Mich., is acquiring Commercial Lawnmower of Livonia, Mich. Weingartz is buying the 41-year-old business, with its 25,000 square-foot store, from its founder. The acquisition brings Weingartz to 5 locations. Read more, www.RuralLifestyleDealer.com/Weingartz.

Be featured in “Dealers in Motion.” Send in your announcements to Managing Editor Lynn Woolf, lwoolf@lessitermedia.com.

View the On-Demand Dealer Success Academy

Rural Lifestyle Dealer’s first-ever Dealer Success Academy drew nearly 800 participants for the 2-day event and you can now view the presentations at www.DealerSuccessAcademy.com. Get new ideas to improve your digital marketing, rental, retail, service, sales and more.

How Wells Fargo is Changing How it Supports Dealers

It’s been 3 years since Wells Fargo acquired the North American portion of GE Capital’s Commercial Distribution Finance and Vendor Finance businesses. Since then, the company has added more than 2,000 outdoor product dealers, introduced its CDFconnect training platform and its Customer Online Management System. Rural Lifestyle Dealer recently talked with Mike Horak, president of Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance’s outdoor products group and Kimberly Manuel-Dickens, strategy leader for the group.

Go to: www.RuralLifestyleDealer.com/WellsFargo.