Sign Up for Our FREE Dealer Executive Newsletter

Resources and best practices for machinery dealer development

Our blog has a mix of articles written by our founder, Walter McDonald, and by other industry experts, business owners, and equipment dealer team members. Learn about everything from marketing ideas to tips for successful branch operations to how to retain customers—and everything in between!

Successful Technician Recruiting: 10 Field-Proven Techniques that Work

By Walter J. McDonald, CMC

It wasn’t many years ago that a large percentage of machinery dealers focused primarily on selling new equipment. But, with the advent of competitive pressures from more successful dealers who began adopting best practices, performance metrics and a customer-focused approach, the machinery distribution business changed dramatically. The primary shift was the recognition that strong aftermarket… Continue reading Successful Technician Recruiting: 10 Field-Proven Techniques that Work

Read More
Four Dimensions of Dealer Development

By Walter J. McDonald, CMC

Dealer Principals aspiring to be a top 10% performer in their class must look beyond the historical scoreboards of the P&L and Balance Sheet to optimize their business. In order to optimize dealership performance and achieve financial prosperity, highly successful dealers are exploiting the Four Dimensions of Dealer Development: Markets, Customers, Operations and Management. Markets… Continue reading Four Dimensions of Dealer Development

Read More
Executive Program in Machinery Dealer Development

Curriculum for OEM Customer Contact Managers,
OEM Regional Sales Managers and OEM Aftermarket Managers

Researched and Presented byWalter J. McDonald, President The McDonald Group, Inc. walt@mcdonaldgroupinc.com • www.mcdonaldgroupinc.com The customized development program designed for machinery OEM customer contact managers and senior distributor/dealer executives and managers. This is the OEM Curriculum Track. A Certificate in Machinery Dealer Development will be awarded upon successful completion of all course and study requirements.… Continue reading Executive Program in Machinery Dealer Development

Read More
Product Support: a Barrier to Competition

By Walter J. McDonald, CMC
President, The McDonald Group, Inc.

A Practical Guide that Works Industrial equipment industry customers today are demanding both product quality AND quality aftermarket parts and service support. By the end of the last decade, most equipment manufacturers have learned how to delivery quality products. From forklifts to excavators and conveyors, the machinery industry produces the highly reliable products end user… Continue reading Product Support: a Barrier to Competition

Read More
Participation rate and market share

The Key to Dealer Growth and Professional Sales Compensation

By Tim J. Murphy

I attended a sales / product training meeting several years ago where customers using competitive equipment were part of a panel taking questions from our sales team. One question posed was, “how often should a sales rep call on you?” The response was classic and one that hit home. “You can call on me every… Continue reading Participation rate and market share

Read More
A Dirty Industry Secret:Service Management and Parts Management Burnout

by Walter J. McDonald, CMC

Service and Parts Managers Say, “Burnout Is Their Number One Obstacle to Top Performance.” A sinister force in our industry today is cutting down many excellent employees in their prime. The hidden problem is service and parts management BURNOUT! Many dealer executives tell me the expected time on the job for Service Managers or Parts… Continue reading A Dirty Industry Secret:Service Management and Parts Management Burnout

Read More
11 Dynamite Tools to Help Improve Dealer Market Knowledge

by Walter J. McDonald

Machinery dealers are taking data analytics more and more seriously. Enterprise software vendors are offering amazing color graphics, pie charts, graphs, bar charts. But behind all this is the question, “What do you really need to know?” What information will provide you the most helpful and useful insights into pursuing your very best opportunities? Do… Continue reading 11 Dynamite Tools to Help Improve Dealer Market Knowledge

Read More
Manufacturing Better Service Operations

By Richard Golden, Director of Operations, Material Handling Distributor

Introduction Back in 1990 manufacturing was dramatically transformed with the development of what is commonly referred to as Lean or Continuous Improvement. The result of a manufacturer adopting this system was that they could produce widgets faster, safer and at a lower cost while improving quality. As the success of manufacturers continued, the ideas also… Continue reading Manufacturing Better Service Operations

Read More
OEM Sales And ServiceAgreements

Are They Functional or Fractured?

In our highly-acclaimed textbook, Achieving Excellence in Dealer/Distributor Performance, author Walter McDonald presents his recent research on “How Dealers Evaluate Their Manufacturers” in Chapter 29. In the following article by Jim Wilson, we continue the discussion on how to improve dealer/distributor relations with their OEMs. Jim now takes this important issue to the next level.… Continue reading OEM Sales And ServiceAgreements

Read More