Dolmarketing

[nstueve]

maybe it's just me but from the Dealers I've spoken to locally... there seems to be a lack of commitment on both ends. Dolmar doesn't advertise their products nearly enough and with a Parent company like Makita you'd think they'd know better, and be advertising like crazy right now trying to soak up Jred sales. Dealers themselves seem to be lack luster and not have any "verve" for the saw line when they do pick it up... and don't even get me started on the terrible salesmen that know nothing more than what's in the sales brochure!

There are only a handful of dealers I have even been to that actually take time to learn the product and speak intelligently about what they are selling. I had to step in at the stihl dealer to answer questions about the difference between the Pro and Consumer saws. The reason I say had is because I just couldn't take the humming and hawwing and miss information coming from his mouth. Stihl dealers aren't the only ones that have terrible salesmen in their dealers either...

I'm just saying there is a lack of commitment on both sides to the Dolmar line and it would be nice to see improvement on both sides of the line. That's the only way Dolmar will ever rise from #5-#6... or whatever their rank is...

Is there a USA national ranking on saw sales?

 

[cmarti]

The rep is simply doing his job, signing up new dealers and as a result padding his commission check. His sole concern is signing up dealers and selling units, if he could have 2 vendors next door to each other and increase his sales he would do it.

Quantity doesn't always trump quality.

+1. As stated in my earlier thread the sales side of business has different motivation from operation/manufacturing. We can argue the long term consequences, and it puts pressure on the dealers. However, the Rep is probably measured by franchise and sales numbers. He is doing what he is told.

 

[Arbonaut]

Most salesmen don't bother to remember your name. Try it sometime. Introduce yourself, remember the salesman's name, then when he's writing you a quote and asks you your name tell him you already told him. We on the internet forums usually juice out more detail about a product than the guy on the floor. The mechanic, now that's questionable. Still the guys in the back are on the forum nowadays.

 

[tdi-rick]

Supposedly the big problem in the US is that Dolmar is imported, or at least distributed totally separately to Makita, so the owner has no interest in marketing the product they make anyway as the local division gets no gain from it, and from what I've been told, Makita ride their wholesale sales blokes hard.

It's pretty much a moot point as IME Makita aren't that interested in OPE, their marketing backup to their dedicated dealers here is abysmal, they are much more interested in pushing cordless power tools and if you sell powertools they'll happily supply OPE on the side, you can just tack it onto the order.
The one dedicated OPE dealer I know that sells Makita saws and brush cutters here push Husky much harder as Husky look after them. The owners son happily tells people that Husky are much better, and that any similarity in design is because Dolmar/Makita stole their ideas.
He'd rather sell a Husky Rancher than, say a 6401, which is really sad as they've been Dolly dealers for near thirty years, pushing them hard when logging was big here back in the eighties and Dolmar was marketing the saws and supporting the dealers well.

 

[Javelin]

Sounds like the stihl marketing around here. Every dealer except me has stihl and they wanted me with them and only 1/8 mile away from another stihl dealer.

 

[taplinhill]

I have a list of people waiting on the 2253's and 2260's. :msp_rolleyes:

Sounds like I'll be lucky to have a WH by next winter.

 

[Zombiechopper]

what happened to Jonsered distribution?

 

[Adirondackstihl]

You should read the Edge and Engine thread on Efco saws... They got hammered by Efco not paying a full years worth of warranty work... just FYI...

Same thing happened to Scott @ Chainsawr

 

[w8ye]

what happened to Jonsered distribution?

http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/219995.htm

 

[bikesandcars]

Sounds like the Enron model.. the salesmen get paid for the deal, not the results.

It doesn't matter what the product is or what the market is, salesmen sell to their incentives... if the incentive is to sign up dealers.. that's what they do.

Of course, you could also be a pawn in their larger game.

Either way it doesn't matter. Carry them if you make more money with them than without them. Your economics don't change.

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

Sounds like I'll be lucky to have a WH by next winter.

I have 10 of them here they're very nice. :msp_biggrin:

 

[Tree Feller]

E X A C T L Y!!!!

Dolmar is a great line for someone looking to get into chainsaws. But for an established dealership, they are just going to canabalize sales from the other brand(s) you carry. With their low name recognition, few people are out seeking a Dolmar. Any that you sell likely would have been a sale of one of the established brand lured to Dolmar bc of pricing mostly.

I agree! I went to a dealer 5 years ago to get a Husky being new to the modern chainsaws i knew nothing of Dolmar. When i got there i ran his 6400 and got one for $480 out the door! Alot cheaper than a husky of similar size. So 2 years ago i went to my local dealer and got a 510 looking at nothing else! But lately Dolmar's prices have ran out the top! My dealer has started carring Husky and Echo. A new 7910 is $985 and a 6400 is around $700! So i walked back to the Husky area and a 372 is $869 out the door!! And a 562 is $625. I might start looking a little closer to the Huskys? Just sayn :msp_confused:

 

[WetGunPowder]

E X A C T L Y!!!!

Dolmar is a great line for someone looking to get into chainsaws. But for an established dealership, they are just going to canabalize sales from the other brand(s) you carry. With their low name recognition, few people are out seeking a Dolmar. Any that you sell likely would have been a sale of one of the established brand lured to Dolmar bc of pricing mostly.

Any multi line dealer will sell what he prefers. Our two lines are Dolmar and Jonsered. Started with Dolmar when I opened shop and added Jonsered when the local farm supply business closed in 2008. Both of my reps (Chuck Schultz with Mag Power and Larry Anderson with Tilton) would give me the shirts off their backs if I asked. Our sales numbers run about 50-50. We point out the differences between each brand and let the customer who does not have brand loyalty make up their own minds.

NOW-The only things I have got from my new Jonsered dist is a credit app, A rep that will talk to me on the phone IF I call him, and a parts network that takes 7 days to get me parts with a 60% fill rate. Now which brand do you think I prefer?

 

[LarryRFL]

Any multi line dealer will sell what he prefers. Our two lines are Dolmar and Jonsered. Started with Dolmar when I opened shop and added Jonsered when the local farm supply business closed in 2008. Both of my reps (Chuck Schultz with Mag Power and Larry Anderson with Tilton) would give me the shirts off their backs if I asked. Our sales numbers run about 50-50. We point out the differences between each brand and let the customer who does not have brand loyalty make up their own minds.

NOW-The only things I have got from my new Jonsered dist is a credit app, A rep that will talk to me on the phone IF I call him, and a parts network that takes 7 days to get me parts with a 60% fill rate. Now which brand do you think I prefer?

I feel your pain. Now with the TSC deal, little support from Pace (yes I keep mentioning them by name, maybe they'll wake up) I'm second guessing whether to keep the Jred line. Which is why I took on Efco (who's rep comes in every few weeks and keeps me up to date on all his lines, knows his stuff and is an ex rental guy to boot). Dolmar distributor wants me to take them on, since they have only one dealer in town and that's a tractor dealership and doesn't do much with the line.