MULTI-franchise dealership Boekeman Machinery will soon reveal a new face to its Dowerin and surrounding districts customers in the form of a new branch.
The original asbestos building has been demolished and in its place is a two-storey office complex which reflects the growing professionalism of the farm mechanisation industry.
It also is an important investment in the Dowerin community with a message of employment opportunities and positive growth in the town.
According to Boekeman Machinery Dowerin branch manager Peter Crippen, the new complex will enhance staff and training facilities at a time when industry is demanding more from machinery dealerships.
"The pace of technology hasn't let up and our customers look to us to assist them in their multi-million dollar investments," Mr Crippen said.
"We in turn are investing to ensure we have trained staff with the required product knowledge and an attractive professional working environment that also gives our customers confidence in our commitment to them."
The office complex also includes a new parts warehouse, apart from specially-designed offices for sales, service, administration, industrial-grade kitchen and a dedicated office for precision farming technology.
"This has been a needs-based decision because the industry has moved to a more professional footing," Mr Crippen said.
"It might be a case of out with the old and in with the new but what hasn't changed is our attitude of face-to-face relations with customers.
"That has been the hallmark of good business relationships between dealers and customers from the get-go and we're only going to get better at it."
Mr Crippen said technology was at the fore, especially during this current time of adhering to social distancing.
"The Boekeman Machinery group has developed its own app to assist customers with queries about their machinery," he said.
"So far we have 23 support guides covering tractors, headers, sprayers, balers, tillage gear etc, along with precision farming, providing 'how to' information.
"And we're constantly adding to it.
"It has proven a winner with customers with feedback generally related to how fast problems can be solved and the positive impact on down time.
"We also have developed an Agri Sync app which simultaneously diverts a customer's telephone call to five staff mobile phones.
"A ticket is automatically produced for that customer to track our response and resolution to the query and it also can be generated by a text from the customer.
"At the end of the month we can spreadsheet the data from customers and that helps us develop an overall picture of service and parts needs.
"It also reduces wait time for customers and takes the pressure off service technicians who in the past might be stuck at their desk constantly on the phone."
An official opening of the complex will be made at a later date because of COVID-19 regulations.
Boekeman Machinery celebrated its 50th year in business in 2018.
Its major franchises are Case IH, JCB and Ausplow and its headquarters is in Wongan Hills.
Apart from Dowerin, it also has branches in Northam and Dalwallinu.
