Underground Construction - September 2019 - DW-10

DEALERSHIPS

ESSENTIAL

for Customer Support, Success
To succeed on any level, manufacturers of
construction equipment must find ways
to distribute their products and provide
customers with easy access to replacement
parts, maintenance and service.
Without an effective distribution channel
and the ability to provide these key services,
any effort to successfully market construction equipment will end in failure.
In the late 1940s, it became clear there
was a need for compact trenching machines to install residential utilities. Ditch
Witch® founder, Gus Edwin George
Malzahn, identified that need and invented the world's first utility trencher, the
Model DWP Service-Line Trencher. As
more and more machines were built and
word of Malzahn's innovation spread, there
was an obvious need for an effective distribution channel.
"Many times, I heard Ed say he was
good at engineering and manufacturing
equipment, but sales and marketing wasn't
10 ditchwitch.com

his strong suit," said Shan Kirtley, Ditch
Witch vice president of sales and marketing. "However, he was wise enough to know
he needed to surround himself with people
who had those skill sets, and in 1959 he initiated the development of a specialist dealer
organization."
Today, that dealer network comprises
nearly 180 worldwide locations and is critical to Ditch Witch's success. Many of these
dealerships have passed through second,
third and into fourth generations of ownership and management.
Ditch Witch dealers have evolved with
changing times, as the product line has
grown from simple, compact walk-behind
trenchers, to larger ride-on trenchers; the
introduction of the vibratory plow and still
larger machines with multiple attachments.
In the late 1980s, Ditch Witch was a
pioneer in the new technology of horizontal
directional drilling (HDD), and industry
knowledge and expertise at the local level

helped position Ditch Witch as an underground authority.
"Our dealers have broadened their scope
with an evolving product line," said Kirtley.
"Today, we still manufacture trenchers and
plows, and have added many more products
- not only directional drills, but the tracking electronics, drill pipe, bits and HDD
tooling those drills require. We have added
support equipment like vacuum excavators
and a line of mini skid steers with multiple
attachments.
"Our dealers not only sell and service these
products, but help train users to operate them
effectively and profitably."
As the marketplace has changed, dealership owners and managers have embraced the
complex business systems needed today - the
electronics used with the drills, the need for
telematics, and new and evolving equipment,
such as diesel engine emission requirements.
"Our dealerships," added Kirtley, "also have
had to adapt to consolidation of customer
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Underground Construction - September 2019

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