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Best Practices grown from five to 21 construction and forestry locations throughout Georgia, Florida, Alabama and South Caro- lina. Customers are involved in a wide range of vocations including forestry, road building, mining and government agencies. "There's a very different stocking logic for Atlanta than there is for Perry, Fla.," said Tracy. Each loca- tion is a stand-alone business unit managing their own parts operation. "You look at machine population. We know what parts sold, which ones are wear items," said Cannon. "We capture all the calls that come in and that drives a calcula- tion. We look at historical demand and then look forward based on machine population." Tracy senses that customer expectations about parts are on the rise. "They expect us to have more parts, and they expect them to be cheaper." As a result, the dealership is putting more focus on selling preventa- tive maintenance contracts to help customers prevent unexpected failures. According to Tracy, many customers sold off surplus equipment during the downturn and now don't have spare machines to turn to when a machine breaks down. This puts added pressure on both dealers and customers. To manage the inevitable out-of-stock part, Flint Equipment takes delivery on out-of-stock parts by 8 a.m., so they can get parts into the hands of custom- ers sooner. More than 30 drop boxes for parts are also located throughout the territory. Technology is helping Flint Equipment diagnose machine problems faster and with more accuracy. Machines equipped with JDLink telematics have the capability to be monitored in real time for problems. In 2012, Flint Equipment took this a step further by employ- ing John Deere's Remote Service Advisor, a system that enables the dealer to access late model machines via satellite and perform certain diagnostics. "We can help the customer fix machines over the phone or send the right part to the jobsite immediately," said Cannon. The system can also record the particular machine parameters to detect problems that only occur, for example, when the machine reaches 1,000 rpm. While it's too soon to tell how this will impact customer satisfaction, Cannon is optimistic that the system will help Flint Equipment build loyalty in a competitive marketplace. James River Equipment, Charlotte, N.C., Branch: Best Service Department Investing in People and Resources during the Downturn Pays Big Dividends When John Shearer reviews the customer satisfaction surveys from SatisfYd, it's gut-check time. "It's one of the ways we can find out what's going on with customers," said Shearer, who is vice president of Product Support for James River Equipment. Recently there was reason to celebrate. The company's Charlotte, N.C., branch earned the designation of best Service Department for a construction equipment dealer in 2011, among nearly a thousand participating dealers. The honor was earned when 99.09 percent of custom- ers responded that they would recommend the Service Department to others. Shearer credits the company's continued investment in people and resources during the downturn as one of the reasons for its solid performance, particularly at the Charlotte location. "We were able to retain most of our technicians and we didn't we didn't have to gear back up when business picked up," said Shearer. Product Support Manager Sheldon Edmonson concurs. "We did everything possible to keep our core together and even had some expansion during the downturn," he said. "We continued with training and our customers saw the results of that." Shearer also believes the branch's focus on response time also had an impact. Over the past two years the branch cut response time by approximately 20 percent. The branch increased its field capabilities and created a new goal: to reach 95 percent of customers within four hours – up from 85 percent. "We raised the bar," said Edmonson. The branch has already reached 90 percent. Edmonson credits the 21 Charlotte-based service tech- nicians and managers who perform day after day for their achievement. "Our guys are very dedicated and commit- ted to what they do. After hours, weekends, whatever it takes, they are dedicated to the customers," he explained. Training plays a big role in the performance of the techni- cians. Inspections of machines brought in for service are rigorous. Service request forms are completed in great detail so they can spot problems before they cause unex- pected downtime. "The worst thing you can do is fix the machine and then have something else go wrong with it," said Shearer. According to Edmonson, the dealership spends more than $1 million dollars per year on training and invests heavily in service trucks, laptops and tooling. "Utilizing John Deere's latest tool, Remote Service Advisor, will improve our response time and reduce downtime and costs for customers," said Edmonson. A reputation for great service has also brought service business beyond John Deere machine owners. The company has strategically positioned itself to pursue service work for competitive machines. The dealership partners with technical schools to ensure a good supply of technicians. They currently offer 10-12 diesel technician scholarships annually. Students can earn an associate degree but must work for the dealer for two years to pay off their loan. "We don't manage on a daily, weekly or monthly basis," said Edmonson. "We are in it for the long term. That has separated us from the lot of competitors." n October 2012 | Construction Equipment Distribution | www.cedmag.com | 51