Dealer Speak:
Spring Service Challenges
BY PATRICK DUNNING EDITOR’S NOTE: Many years ago Power Equipment Trade featured a regular column called ‘Dealer Speak’ where an editor would solicit responses on a given topic from dealers around the U.S. If any dealer would like to participate in a future column, please be on the lookout for questions periodically posted on the PET Facebook page. If you’d like to speak on a particular topic, reach Associate Editor Patrick Dunning at patrick@hattonbrown.com.
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s is always a constant in life, grass continues to grow. Dealers around the country are focusing on having stocked inventories and parts on hand for spring’s jolt in mowing, blowing and landscaping activity. With our nation seemingly hanging in the balance—political upheaval, health pre-
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cautions and economic impacts—rest assured a lot of practices remain intact. Dealers are still looking for qualified technicians, checking the weather forecast to predict sales, and evolving with the industry’s ongoing switch to more modernized equipment. PET reached out to dealers throughout the country to get a pulse of each service department’s situation as the season surges ahead and homeowners and commercial consumers alike prepare for seasonal responsibilities.
Mid-Central ● In the small town of Fort Scott, Kan., the folks at Heidrick’s True Value are running wide-open, seven days a week. Sebastian Thomas, technician apprentice, says they’re on top of the market. “We’re pushing machines out from open to close,” he says. “As it continues
to get hotter, we’ll have machines filled to the brim in the shop.” The Stihl dealership has a $60 per hour labor rate. As for current procedures, Thomas believes their operation shows no sign of changing unless cordless, electric lawn equipment becomes the norm. In addition to servicing wholegoods, they’ve found a niche in sharpening mower blades, saw chains and household knives for consumers. “We just try to help people keep their machines going.” ● Edmund Kuhn, service manager at Kuhn Sales and Service, LLC in Fostoria, Oh., says their service department is swamped and it hasn’t even greened yet. Coming off a wet 2019 season, Kuhn’s confident this year will show improvements. “Last year was strange. The weather had us behind and retail suffered because of it,” he says. Their labor rate currently sits at $66 per hour. While Kuhn admits their rates are fairly low for
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