Adapting To Covid-19

For three generations, Hutcheon & Pearce has supported our farming communities through thick and thin. COVID-19 is no different. While it has come with its challenges, much like our farmers, we simply just had to get on with the job and find new ways of doing what we do best – serving our customers.

Like many businesses across Australia and around the world, the start of 2020 presented H&P with many challenges we didn’t expect to have to face.

As Sales Operations Manager Andrew Watt tells it, keeping up with the pace of news coming to hand was a task of its own at first.

“Through the beginning of the crisis, we were having daily meetings to assess the situation as it unfolded and make sure we were doing the right thing by our customers and staff, and to take direction from the government.

“We figured out quite early in the piece that, heading into a busy season of seeding and cotton pick and spraying, we’d need to keep the doors open as much as possible to support our farmers, so we had to take measures in-store to abide by social distancing requirements – tape on the floor to show customers where to stand, physical segregation between people at the parts counter, and really looking at what close contact our staff have with each other.

“One of the big changes we made was in the workshop, where we asked staff to buddy-up so that if they were working with one person, they continue working with that same person. That was particularly important so we could minimise crossover contact, because a lot of our mechanics and technicians are in contact with the general public.

“We’re also now holding remote meetings with a lot of those guys and making sure they’re not coming into the workshop or spending any time in the showroom. Now, when they need to pick up parts, they’re going to a designated area grabbing what they need without seeing anyone and heading back out into the field. We’ve also had proactive conversations with our customers, asking them to talk us through the problem by phone and the field technician works on their machine without any face-to-face contact.”

For the management team, the focus has been on trying to minimise the amount of customer-facing disruption.

“We wanted to do as much as possible behind the scenes so it’s relatively seamless for the customer. And like the way most Australians have approached it, our customers and staff have quickly adapted.

“We haven’t had any negativity at all to the measures we’ve taken. People are quite sensible and are happy to do what needs to be done to ensure everyone stays safe and there is limited interference to our service.”

One of the challenges presented by social distancing was the need to adapt larger scale events, such as a planned 8RX roadshow.

“We originally planned to do eight customer nights and a roadshow across all of our locations to showcase that machine and get customers into branch. But, of course, we’ve had to modify that. Now we’re going to a one-on-one by-appointment targeted demonstration on-farm adhering to social distancing practices. On 5 May, we also had our first-ever Facebook live event streamed into the loungerooms of our customers rather than have them come to us. It’s just one of the ways we’re embracing technology to get us through this time of physical separation.

“During this time, we had also planned demos of seeding equipment and these have been changed to one-on-one targeted demonstrations, mainly around Temora. Those guys had a good finish last year and a fantastic start, so have some decent stubble we can showcase the machinery on. The focus in Temora also comes off the back of our partnership with FarmLink and the equipment there.

“If customers are interested in seeing the 8RX, they can head to our website to register [www.hutcheonandpearce.com.au/8rx-roadshow] and for information on seeding equipment, they should talk to their local sales team as pricing for model year ’21 has just been released.”

Despite needing to change business practices, Andrew said the team is handling things well.

“It’s almost like we’ve been training for this for a while, with our focus on remote support, online applications for finance and package deliveries. In some ways it’s like business as usual with a couple of extra steps added in.

“We’re also lucky in that we get to ride off the back of our customers’ positivity – with the season shaping up the way it is, on-farm optimism is the best it’s been in four or five years. That positivity rubs off on our teams and has really increased the positivity in-branch.

“Like Arron [Hutcheon] says, we’ve been through the tough times and the good times over the last 67 years. We’re no stranger to getting through hard times together with our customers and we’ll be there at the other side of this just as we always have been.”

PARTS BREAKOUT/SEPARATE SECTION

PARTS AND PARCEL – Delivery to your door

For Field Parts Sales Representative, Warren Lappen, COVID-19 has changed a few aspects of his role.

From a rural merchandise background, Warren was brought into the Albury Branch in May last year to proactively engage in conversations with clients in the field– all part of H&P thinking outside the square and adding value to customers and their assets

“My regular schedule takes me to like Corowa, Yarrawonga, Holbrook, Henty, Rand, Culcairn, Kiewa, Wangaratta and Corryong. Ahead of time, we let our customers know we’ll be in the area. In addition to the parts for delivery, I carry a range of filters, lubricants and workshop consumables such as grease, parts cleaner and spray paint that farmers might need, and I just invoice them afterwards.

“Whether they’re big or small, every parts order is crucial to every farming operation, and I’m happy to drive an extra 20kms round trip to make sure people have what they need, rather than have a part sit at a depot in the next big town an extra couple of days.”

Mindful of how isolating the current lockdown conditions have been, Warren said he often spends a little extra time talking to his customers – from an appropriate distance of course.

“Our customers live where they work. At the moment they might only be seeing their partner, family or a farm worker with sport, schools and other community gatherings on hold. Beyond delivering the parts, it’s nice to have a social conversation and check in to see how they’re doing.

“My biggest problem is my natural inclination is to shake hands. Whether you know someone or not you shake a person’s hand and it just feels weird not to do that!”

Despite the changes with COVID-19, your uptime is still our priority. If you need a part delivered, talk to your local branch about:

• Parts delivered to your door: We will organise with you the safest place to leave your parts. Charges may apply.
• Phone orders: Order ahead of time and we will leave the parts for you outside or in a safe place.
• Pick-up in-store: You are still more than welcome to visit us in store, keeping in mind COVID-19 regulations.

Placing your parts on a taxi truck: Depending on existing taxi truck services.