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Joplin: The Day After an F6

Mondays can be tough on anybody. But when Eric Roach showed up for work at S&H Farm Supply in Joplin, Mo., on the morning of May 23, he did so under conditions few dealership general managers have ever seen. Less than 2 miles to the north, huge sections of the city where he’s lived all his life were totally destroyed, scattered across the land as if it was tossed out of a blender.

The evening before, a massive F6 tornado ripped through Joplin and took with it more than 140 lives, 8,500 structures and destroyed nearly 20,000 vehicles. Nearly 400 businesses were directly affected. Even Dude’s Daylight Doughnuts, a landmark in downtown Joplin for 50 years, was obliterated.

Roach and S&H President Eric Schnelle, based at S&H’s store in Lockwood, Mo., knew they needed a solid plan before they opened the doors. Schnelle called a construction equipment dealer friend in Birmingham, Ala. (his territory had been hit by tornadoes only a few weeks before) for an idea of what might happen in the aftermath.

The plan they put in place involved making certain their employees were OK and had the support they needed. They also knew they had to consider all of their customers. While the tornado left 4,500 people unemployed, most of their sales territory was not affected at all. Customers were windrowing hay and mowing lawns; they would also need to be taken care of.

Schnelle and Roach agreed that the worst thing they could do was to appear to be capitalizing on the disaster. “You always have to look at the big picture,” says Roach, “I could run down there and make 50 cents off the misfortunes of others, but that action could cost $50,000 in long run.

“I gathered everybody on Monday morning,” he says, “and told them we’re going to do business the same way we did it Saturday and Friday and Thursday... I was not going have anyone say ‘boy, S&H came out here trying to sell me a pole saw out of their truck, but we sure couldn’t find them downtown before the tornado.’”

S&H bought radio and television spots to tell customers the dealership was spared, the staff’s prayers were with the people of Joplin, and the dealership was ready to help. “I told the staff we were not going to raise prices,” says Roach, “and we actually cut the price on every generator in this building.” He also ensured skid steer attachments and small handheld power equipment were available, calling on suppliers and other S&H dealership locations to help fill potential gaps in their inventory.

“I told our employees that folks may want to escape to this side of town to get away from all of the damage and take a break,” Roach says. “It’s not all torn up here, we have our own well for fresh water, and there are gas stations and restaurants. S&H would provide the services required to keep them working.”

Joplin is no stranger to tornadoes and ice storms, which can boost equipment sales. The situation after this tornado was different due to the fact that it hit the city itself very hard. Most residents didn’t own a tractor and had no way to use attachments, such as a grapple, to aid in the recovery. Plus, in the weeks after the disaster, something the dealer in Birmingham told Schnelle was proving to be true, as well. Because the destruction was so complete, homeowners who lost everything could only poke through the debris and then walk away. Clean-up passed into FEMA’s hands, who hired contractors with large wheel loaders.

There were plenty of opportunities for businesses to help, however. “In a disaster, there are all kinds of things a company can do for a community by using creative thinking and paying attention to the situation. Reaching out where we could was great for our employees,” says Schnelle. “Everyone could go to work, and it was nice to know that we really helped people. It wasn’t just about selling equipment. It was an opportunity to give back to the community.”

S&H hosted a weather alert radio day, where devices were sold to raise rebuilding money and were programmed for free in the store by Motorola representatives. Motorola donated its profit from the sale of the radios and S&H matched it — 450 were sold. They sharpened hundreds of chainsaws for free, and kept a cooler of refreshments out for people who were out there cleaning up. It used the local media, as well as Facebook, to promote the programs. It also organized chainsaw oil donations for AmeriCorps, which had 100 volunteers in Joplin.

Supporting the community is important for many reasons. But dealerships must sell equipment in order to stay in business — and to be able to afford to volunteer time or donate equipment in the first place. For S&H, “our store in Joplin is a relatively new store,” says Schnelle, “and we’re always looking to have new people come into the store. The weather alert radio really did that for us.”

“There is $3-4 billion dollars worth of damage in Joplin,” says Roach. “The sad thing is, the rebuilding process is going to be a boon for this economy.”

Of the attachment lines carried by S&H, Roach says the grapples were by far the most popular. People were using them with skid steers and small tractors to clean their own property or help neighbors. “We priced them right, and I sold a lot of grapples to groups who were here to work.”

Looking back a month after the tornado, Schnelle says, “the rush of chainsaw sales or grapple sales from new people in town didn’t compare to the lull in business immediately following the shock from tornado and the bad weather that followed for days. Everything stopped.

“That’s the thing about a disaster, if your building is not destroyed you still have a customer base to consider, and here their work was affected by rain. Some of them were out helping other people, while others were out in their fields. A disaster can change the customer dynamics for a few weeks, and then things go back to normal — at least from a business point of view.”

To read more articles from the Summer 2011 issue, click the links below:

Features

From the Field
Developing Consumer Loyalty

What Rural Lifestylers Want From You!

Dealer Profile: Haltom Equipment
An Equipment Dealer Starts Over

• Been There, Done That: ATVs Won't Return to Showroom Floor

Getting to Know the Llama Enthusiasts

• Why They Raise Their Own Hay

• Trailers are Critical for Serious Llama Breeders

How To Sell: Skid Steers & Attachments
Compact, Strong and Looking for Work

Rural Lifestyle Influencers in the Digital World

Columns

Marketing Matters
Climate Change

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