AUGUST 2021
COVER STORY- A Tale As Old As Time: Customer Service Sells –
CORTLAND, New York – Tim Law is the kind of guy the industry currently can’t stop talking about. He’s under 40. He knows how to fix a machine, and he loves selling tractors. He and his brother Eric, who’s also under 40, just four years ago took over from their parents as the ownership duo of CNY Farm Supply in Cortland, NY 35 minutes from Syracuse in a heavy hobby farm, horse farm, dairy farm area of central New York close to Pennsylvania.
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CNY Farm Supply
CORTLAND, New York – Tim Law is the kind of guy the industry currently can’t stop talking about. He’s under 40. He knows how to fix a machine, and he loves selling tractors. He and his brother Eric, who’s also under 40, just four years ago took over from their parents as the ownership duo of CNY Farm Supply in Cortland, NY 35 minutes from Syracuse in a heavy hobby farm, horse farm, dairy farm area of central New York close to Pennsylvania. And while Law knows he’s somewhat of a unicorn in his chosen profession, he absolutely loves it just the same – especially after a year like 2020, when the business had one of its best ever despite a consistently empty showroom. “We’re young,” he says of himself and his brother. “But we’re just getting started, paying down debt as fast as we can.”
In trying to keep track of what’s coming in the future, and what the demand is, for the first time ever CNY has bulletin boards near the sales staff desks with lists. On these lists is everything coming in, including the date. So, when people call or come in looking for a certain piece, Law and his guys can go to the boards, see what’s coming next and offer it to them. “Half that stuff already has a name by it,” he says. There’s product coming in September and October that’s already spoken for. The frustrating part is telling people the same story, over and over. ‘We don’t have anything and it really sucks not being able to show you something.’ People don’t understand why and you have to explain to them it is not a product shortage, people are just buying more stuff.”
Article by Jessica Johnson, Managing Editor, Power Equipment Trade
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