SALES TRAINING
One of the most effective strategies, he said, is demonstrating equipment directly at a contractor’ s jobsite.
“ Go out where they’ re at with a truck and trailer, drop off your new Toro mower and tell them,‘ hey, run this for the rest of the day’ and then we’ ll meet for dinner tonight and hear their input on the machine.”
Healy said giving contractors the opportunity to run equipment in real working conditions can quickly lead to purchase conversations.
“ Put them in front of people and start forcing them to consider trading their stuff in and buying your product line.”
Dealers who rely only on passive sales strategies risk falling behind, he added.
“ You can’ t just wait. If you’ re waiting for it to happen, you’ re going to be waiting a long time.”
Prospecting beyond the existing customer base
Whittaker said dealerships often see the greatest success when sales teams actively seek out new customers instead of relying only on existing accounts.
“ All of the more successful people in the dealerships that I managed were constantly demoing.”
Many dealerships host organized demo days where contractors can test multiple machines at once, giving sales teams an opportunity to connect with potential buyers and introduce equipment to new prospects.
Many dealerships host organized demo days where contractors can test multiple machines at once, giving sales teams an opportunity to connect with potential buyers.
“ We would have demo days, like Tom had mentioned, but the other thing is getting outside your normal book of customers and prospecting.”
Whittaker said consistently expanding beyond your existing customer base is critical for long-term growth.
“ Constantly be looking for new customers,” he said.
Artificial intelligence is also beginning to influence how dealership training is delivered, though the technology is still developing.
AI beginning to shape training delivery
Artificial intelligence is also beginning to influence how dealership training is delivered, though Healy said the technology is still developing.
“ There are AI tools that are very specifically designed for every challenge that we’ re up against and they are coming into the industry fast, extremely fast,” Healy said.
He said some training programs are already experimenting with AIgenerated instructors that can deliver educational content on demand.
“ We’ re starting to utilize AI in our industry to develop some of the trainings that we do,” he said.“ We’ re giving AI the material and it is putting it together. It creates an on-demand video of a person delivering the training.”
In some cases, he said, the AI-generated presenter can appear nearly indistinguishable from a real instructor.
“ If you watch some videos, you wouldn’ t know it’ s not a real human being. You’ re going to watch it and it’ s going to look, sound and act like a real human being giving the training.”
The technology could eventually reduce the need for instructors to travel across the country to deliver courses in person, though Healy said dealers should approach new tools carefully.
“ It’ s not 100 % there yet and dealers need to be very cautious about what they spend their money on when it comes to AI,” he said.“ There’ s a lot of no-noes and avenues that you don’ t want to go down because you would just be throwing money away.”
Developing stronger dealership sales teams
Sales training programs across the outdoor power equipment industry increasingly emphasize practical, real-world strategies. Topics often include demonstrations, prospecting, territory development and relationship-building skills.
NAEDA offers a range of professional development programs designed to help dealerships strengthen those skills. Courses cover sales, parts and service operations, management training and dealership leadership, giving employees opportunities to grow throughout their careers.
18 OPE + April 2026 www. OPE-Plus. com