When it comes to purchasing machinery, often buyers and sellers never realise how much time it takes from looking into the machinery, until the sale eventually gets confirmed and accepted. We thought it may be useful to give an insight into both sides of a sale and how you could save yourself and the seller valuable time! When thinking about selling a machine, there are questions that need to be asked to make the most out of the sellers time. The salesperson should ask the following questions to ensure they are dealing with genuinely interested buyers.
AS THE DEALER, ARE YOU DEALING DIRECTLY WITH THE BUYER MAKING THE DECISION?
When dealing with buyers, often someone else will attend on behalf of a manager for example. The seller will then have to go back and forth with the individual, potentially chasing up decisions. Dependent on how much you trust the individual to follow through with the sale, the seller will dedicate a lot of time on the buyer, which may then turn out to be a waste of time.
DOES THE BUYER HAVE A BUDGET?
Typically when purchasing machinery, a buyer will know what sort of construction equipment they want and the budget they have to spend, but this is not always the case. If a buyer fails to give you any indication of the available budget, a follow up question will help to understand, something along the lines of:
“Based on what we’ve discussed, a JCB 3CX would be in the range of £40,000 – £45,000 for this particular year and model”.
Generally asking a question like this will reveal how the buyer feels about the price and whether they are serious about buying machinery.
WHAT IS THE BUYER’S TIME FRAME FOR MAKING A DECISION?
We know that decisions can’t be made over night, but keeping a seller waiting for a decision, when he/she have spent a lot of time preparing documents, the plant machinery and getting everything ready for a potential sale isn’t great. How frustrating would it be for you to invest hours into a sale only to find out the buyer won’t be making a decision for another 6 months or possibly at all? It is vital to establish a time frame in the early stages of the sales process.
In conclusion, if both the buyer and seller follow this guide, and provide all the necessary information and documents in a timely manner, and the seller invests time in the right buyer, it will always pay off!
With big recognised brands such as JCB, Komatsu and Manitou, view the used construction machinery we have to offer.
All information correct as of: 20th February 2019.
