In my first years working with Farm Equipment, Rural Lifestyle Dealer and Precision Farming Dealer, I’ve become fully immersed in the topic of brands and colors, and how loyalty plays into manufacturer-dealer relationships. As for the end-user? We can assume with the volatile prices in general right now that paying a premium isn’t as easy of a sell as it once was. Utilizing deals and capitalizing on sales is top of mind, which has led me to wonder: Are good deals on reputable brands outweighing the color of the equipment? Does the color of equipment fall down the list of priorities when another brand can meet equipment needs at a fraction of the cost?

Recently, I arrived at my family home to find my mother holding a Ryobi drill. Now, I will never say no to free things, especially something that typically is expensive (or at least, expensive for my pocketbook). But, Ryobi was running a deal — buy one OPE item, choose another from 6 items for free. Now, that’s a no-brainer! 

Mark Vanderloop, co-owner of Vanderloop Equipment featured in the 2024 Dealership Minds coverage, shared a customer conversion success story that caught my attention. Mark detailed how working with the customer who converted from Deere equipment to entirely Fendt did not happen in one deal, nor in one year. It was a relationship that was nurtured.

“It’s really exciting, right?” Vanderloop says, “You always want to say, ‘What can I bring to the ag industry, what can I do to change things, or, rather, improve on it.’ Whether that’s the economist-side of things or a sales process that we just do differently inside the industry.”

Knowing that my step-father is old-school, I asked my mother, “What prompted the brand change?” Her response, “How could we not? It was cheaper and the best deal there.” My step-dad owns several different brands of equipment for landscaping. Deere, Ryobi, Stihl, etc. He doesn’t care what the brand is or to stick to one brand. He cares about getting the job done and for things to be easy and affordable to repair when the inevitable arm workout to start the chainsaw begins. Maybe Vanderloop’s insight on changing a sales process is exactly what Ryobi utilized to replace my family’s old Deere, Stihl and Milwaukee Tools gear with lime green. 

Why Marketing Amidst Crisis Benefits Your Brand

According to Ag Equipment Intelligence’s 2024 Brand Loyalty Report, farmers are split on whether the current ag economy impacts their brand loyalty. Overall, 51.6% of farmers said they would consider other brands in the current ag economy, down from 54% in the 2020 report.

I recently covered how tough times in the economy are exactly the time to boost and push marketing. Multiple brands and companies made their name from these hard times. Tariffs won’t go away anytime soon. So, brands need to adapt if they want to compete in a “less-loyal” landscape.

Richard Broadhead, owner of Broadhead Equipment and the Rural Lifestyle Dealer 2025 Dealership of the Year recipient, gives credit to his son for working to restructure the business by concentrating on marketing and how to run the entire business from front to back. 

“That’s when things started to change,” says Richard. “Once it changed, it was like he struck a match to gasoline. I let him have at it and he became self-taught on marketing, digital, how to contact people, Facebook ads, the whole run of it. We started taking on employees, overhead, insurance, etc.” He credits Jordan for teaching himself on the accounting system and other self-taught lessons, emphasizing that Jordan’s setting up a budget was a game-changer.

It’s Not Just Ag Sales Hurting, It’s Your Wallet

Overall cost of living rose with equipment prices. It cost me $40 on two tickets alone to see the last Conjuring movie the day it came out instead of waiting for the (now) $7 Tuesday showtime. Does anyone remember when Value Tuesday actually felt like value? I digress. Would you go to the movie theatre and spend nearly $8 on a single bag of M&M’s or are you more apt to go somewhere else and get more out of your $8? You don’t need to answer, I have a sneaking suspicion.

Marcus Theaters changed the $5 Tuesday to $7 in 2023 after being a longstanding deal for nearly a decade. Two dollars may not seem like a big deal, however consumers felt the increase due to the longstanding pricing trust that the brand had built with them. Add in the inflated prices of concessions, consumers are less likely to buy into those add-ons than they were in the past.

As mentioned, dealers across the world are feeling the heat from the tariffs. Farm Equipment’s recent tariff update notes, “AGCO Corp., the world’s No. 3 farm equipment maker, is facing fresh challenges in its push to expand in the U.S. as new tariffs raise costs on its largely Europe-based production, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.”

Tim Brannon, a frequent guest columnist of ours and owner of B&G Equipment, spoke on how customers are feeling as though “the cheese has been moved.” “Corn, wheat and soybean prices continue to be at production cost or less,” Brannon said. “There is an old adage that ‘Corn Buys Tractors.’ Well, not when there is a loss when producing at the national yield average. A continued look at used, huge, half million dollar units sitting on dealer lots for a year now means there is no cheese left to find.”

Even the big players are experiencing a “drought” in sales. In August, AGCO reported “their net sales of $2.6 billion for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025, a decrease of 18.8% compared to the second quarter of 2024.”

Convenience, in this economy, comes second to sales and deals. My perspective is that the importance of brand loyalty has come down to the dollar, and that’s to be expected. We are all aware of how expensive things have become. More customers appreciate honesty, being checked in on and cared for. Suggest gear not because of the commission you’ll earn but because of the efficiency and savings they will get, and you will get a returning customer.

My step-dad took us to a specific car salesman 40 minutes out of town only because he knew top-to-bottom what the car specifications were for every one on the lot. The free pie was just a perk. Suffice it to say, customers value your knowledge, care and expertise — it may just take a deal to get them to change their colors … Pie always helps though.

Related Content:

• From Deere to Fendt: Customer Color Conversion Success Story
• Swather Leads to a ‘Full Fleet’ Conquest, Additional Sales
• Converting a Customer of Another Color
• [Video] Color Conversions: Intermountain New Holland
• John Deere Reports Better Than Expected Sales in Q3 Earnings
• Outdoor Power Equipment Dealer Revenue Down 17% From July to August