Does Good Business Beget Good Relationships?Construction Equipment Distribution, February 2006.
Article Date: 02-01-2006
Copyright (C) 2006 Associated Equipment Distributors. All Rights Reserved.
Nearly 30 percent of dealers report things are "very harmonious" with their major suppliers.
Business is much improved, and so, it appears, are dealer/manufacturer relationships.
According to Construction Equipment magazine’s 2006 Annual Report & Forecast, the number of dealers that rate their working relationships with their major equipment suppliers as "very harmonious" has increased from 21 percent at the beginning of 2004 to 29 percent in 2006.
In 2004, the construction equipment distribution industry was just coming out of a severe downturn, and dealer/ manufacturer relationships were "strained" for 18 percent of dealers and downright "adversarial" for another 2 percent.
But sales are up, profits are up, and for many dealers and manufacturers much has been forgiven.
Today, only 1 percent of dealers characterize working relationships with their major equipment suppliers as "adversarial" and just 9 percent say relationships are "strained."
Still, 5 percent of dealers say they are very likely to drop a major equipment line in 2006 and 8 percent will be adding competing lines.
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