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Who here is a Dealer....

6K views 57 replies 21 participants last post by  The_Modifier 
#1 ·
Who here is a dealer for Generac, Kohler, etc.

What are the real advantages of becoming a dealer in lieu of just purchasing from HD, Norwall or a local supplier and installing. I understand it could be another revenue stream with maintenance and warranty work.

Is it profitable to be a dealer? What is the break-even, either in units you have to sell a year, service calls a month, etc. to make it worth making the investment in the training and other costs associated with becoming a dealer?

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
I am a dealer for Generac and soon Briggs/GE. I haven't figured out any break even points. I just got tired of relying on others to repair things. You are either all in or out though. If you aren't selling a whole lot of them, then you may find someone who gives you a good deal on them and can handle delivery for you. My supply house gives me prices close enough and take care of delivery for me. They have a cart and will set them in place for me. Having to wait for freight delivery and then handle the units is a pain unless you have warehouse space and the means to load and unload. My supply house will take delivery of ones I order from the factory and deliver those to me when I need them. Establish a good relationship with someone.

The service may take awhile to make you some money. You need to invest in classes and parts kits. A couple of days of classes is a good start, but it takes time to learn this stuff and you learn by doing. Prices paid for warranty are flat rate. See where I'm going? Don't let this discourage you from trying though. If there aren't many doing the service, you can get work from other installers.

The Briggs/GE thing was the next logical step because I have a couple of customers who have Briggs units and a couple with Briggs parts ie Pow'r Gard and Dayton. Need a supply chain for parts. Its hard to get any support for anything without being a dealer.
 
#3 ·
We are a dealer. Got the dealership to save some money on equipment. There is no exclusivity but I understand that since Generac bought Koehler that May change. To do service on warranties you have to send someone to their training. I see that as the money maker. We don't do residential work so I can't speak to the profit on that part. Depending on purchase levels, u can drive your costs down significantly. Kinda like Grainger. It's been a good deal for us for about 3 years. We stock some portables. That help?
 
#4 ·
Being a Generac dealer actually costs you money in the long run....

I can buy generators for less money from Norwall that using my "confidential pricing sheet"...

You have to go into service big time to mike any money after you pay for their schooling and mandatory parts stock...

But I keep my dealership up to date by buying at least one unit per year....
 
#7 ·
Sorry about the misinformation. U r right. It was Baldor. The exclusivity comment is based on things I have heard & a gut feeling. I'm probably wrong but it never hurts to think outside the box. We only service what we sell & we're not "qualified" to do Generac warranty work.
 
#12 ·
Of course I would focus on installed packages and not merely selling the units. The money is made on the sale and install, and I am assuming the follow up maintenance and service (I am assuming).

If the product is not stellar, (I.e. I have heard service issues with generac) wouldn't it be a rather good stream of revenue, since there would always be service work to do?

What are the coop advantages?

What will you do with the traded in portables? Re sell them?
 
#18 ·
I recently became a Kohler Sales and Service and Generac Service dealers. I have yet to purchase a Generac to seal the Generac Sales Dealer but Kohler requires you to take there service course to activate the generators.

Other than buying the service package it enables warranty repairs that are flat rate and selling maintenance agreements. We do get a slightly better price with Kohler but that's because i can pick them up at a local distributor. Generacs almost cost more to buy thru them till you buy enough and level up to a different tier.

I took them and will be taking both company's liquid cooled course. I thuirst for knoledge and as of now if you take generacs 2 day air cooled it covers Generac, Gaurdian(hd brand of generac) Seimens(rebadged generac) , GE(rebadged generac) and Honeywell(rebadged).

Good luck
 
#21 ·
It's just not worth being a dealer.
They hustle you into stocking units that you will never, ever sell.
You can Find any unit and any part on line.
I haven't found any thing wrong with a Guardian I couldn't fix using common sense.
The demand for units will long gone before your stock will.
 
#22 ·
You are only required to buy one unit per year nobody hustles you to stock more . You can find parts for your car online but if it is under warranty you wont go to the local mechanic but will take it to the dealer. Most people when doing a search will go directly to the Generac site which will direct them to a dealer. The demand for gensets will be strong for many years to come especially with the aging electric grid.
 
#34 · (Edited)
No they dont make you buy stock anymore..at least no said I have to.
I dont know about you guys but I sold 22 generators last year. I have my fingers crossed for another serious storm..
And so far im 5 and 0 when it comes to the generators starting during an outage.....
Generators are going to become more and more popular as the global warming wreaks havoc
Im actually happy to see that a lot of you guys dont like messing with gens...
 
#38 · (Edited)
In our experience the money in generator service is meeting new people to to become electric service & repair clients. Since most generators we go to service were not properly installed. We get the work to correct deficiencies and the opportunity to sell the homeowner a generator maintenance agreement, perform electrical safety inspections and the potential safety updates that follow. We turn them into long term clients not just one time customers.

Generac finds us leads and we are able to get paid to meet new clients!

If we didn't do this we would not do generator service, on its own we have found it to have a very low profit margin.
 
#40 ·
Being a Generac dealer or any generator dealer for that matter, doesn't work for everyone. It has for us. We have been a Generac dealer for 15 years. We spend money training techs. That's why we're a Power Pro Dealer, which increases the befits from Generac for being a dealer. I have 5 men with certification on up 150KW units and 2 certified on H panels. We do sells, service, and complete installation packages (turnkey installs including gas).
 
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