John Deere Press Room 2009

Almost 2000 John Deere dealer principals and dealership parts and service managers from 52 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME) convened in Tenerife (Canary Islands) in February to attend a three-day ‘Partnering for Success’ programme. This was aimed at supporting dealer development goals and enhancing their parts and service business.

In a mixture of classroom training sessions, live product demonstrations and special display areas, those attending learned about the company’s new parts and service offerings and customer support opportunities that will be required to meet the demands of future customers.

“A dealer of the future has to provide the best possible parts and service support for all customer segments,” said Esa Länsitalo, Director Marketing for EAME. “Therefore, we used the ‘Dealer of the Future’ message as an overall theme for this event to reflect the importance of a fully integrated parts and service marketing strategy into the entire dealer business strategy. This helps our customers to maximise the productivity of their equipment and is essential for a solid financial basis in our dealer organisation.”

Workshops for dealer principals and parts and service experts focused on ‘Dealer of the Future’ strategies and tools, provided training opportunities and introduced the newly designed PowerGard service concept, with additional presentations on active merchandizing initiatives and the use of IT solutions.

Highlight of the event was a 3000 sq m display floor introducing the new ‘John Deere Place’ shop concept. This accommodated more than 30 booths, which presented parts and service solutions from John Deere factories, key suppliers and licensed retailers. The display floor was complemented by a 300 sq m shop, which showcased new concepts in displaying and selling toys, clothing and other John Deere merchandise.

“This John Deere parts and service event – the first time it has been held in Europe – has successfully highlighted the importance of this business segment and how it will enable our dealers to provide world class customer support solutions in the future,” concluded Rainer Sextroh, Manager, Parts and Service Marketing for the EAME region.

March 2009