KIOTI Tractor a Division of Daedong-USA, Inc., recently held their annual dealer meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina. This year’s meeting was extremely well attended, with a record breaking number of KIOTI Tractor dealers from the United States and Canada in attendance.
“We are extremely pleased at the participation in this year’s dealer meeting,” states Michael Boucher, Senior Director of Sales and Operations for KIOTI Tractor. “Each year we see an increase in attendance as our dealer network continues to grow, however this year’s increase was phenomenal, thanks to the loyalty of our longstanding dealers and the ambition of our new ones. There was an extremely positive vibe from the kickoff of the meeting at our opening night reception, right through the closing awards dinner.”
Following the Sunday night welcome reception where KIOTI kicked off the meeting by unveiling their highly anticipated CS2410 subcompact tractor, who’s design quickly gained accolades from the KIOTI dealer body, dealers headed to North Carolina State University on Monday for a full day ride and drive event where they test drove a variety of KIOTI tractor and UTV models equipped with a wide range of implements. “Our ride and drive event has become a popular part of our annual dealer meeting,” states Boucher. “It’s a time and place where dealers can learn more about the products firsthand by testing them across a variety of uses, then participate in educational product station workshops where they get training on the selling features of each model vs. competitive model tractors in a given size class.”
Dealers who had not had the chance to visit KIOTI’s North American Headquarters in Wendell, a short drive from the Raleigh meeting location, prior to the meeting, had the opportunity after completion of the ride and drive event to take a tour of KIOTI’s facility.
On Tuesday morning, dealers attended a ¨ö day session where KIOTI personnel shared with them the company’s vision for 2012, Daedong Industrial Company, Ltd.’s progress in their Tier IV engine development for KIOTI products, KIOTI’s corporate vision and the marketing programs in place for the coming year, details of KIOTI’s spring 2012 finance programs and the availability of a new line of KIOTI lubricants now available for sale exclusively through KIOTI dealers.
Following a short lunch break, attendees had the opportunity to visit with vendors offering exclusive support services to KIOTI dealers such as shipping, financing and marketing. The group then reconvened for a powerful presentation by renowned National Football League Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. Kelly shared with KIOTI dealers his compelling message of perseverance. Throughout his presentation, Kelly discussed how his journey to success and how the challenges he faced along the way, both on and off the football field, gave him the knowledge and understanding that allow him to be the person he is today. His message of perseverance struck a note with many KIOTI Tractor dealers who have diligently and successfully worked at increasing their market share over the past few years during challenging economic times.
“Kelly was an inspiring speaker and very well received by our dealer body,” states Peter Dong Kyun Kim, Chief Executive Officer of Daedong-USA, Inc. KIOTI Tractor Division. “We were extremely pleased to be able to obtain such a high profile keynote speaker for our 2012 dealer meeting. His message was both inspiring and relevant to our dealer body, making our 2012 meeting one that will be remembered for a long time.”
KIOTI’s 2012 dealer meeting wrapped up with their annual dealer awards dinner and ceremony, where the company acknowledged dealers who exceeded 1 million dollars in retail sales in 2011, as well as their 5-PAW, most improved and best new dealers.