BUILDING a Legacy

Yard & Garden, Jan 2008 by Wartgow, Gregg

Third-generation dealer eyes new products and markets while strengthening an already stellar reputation for service.

A typical of most million-dollar dealers, Klei Mower's income is skewed more heavily toward service. Where most high-volume dealers see less than 20 percent of revenue coming from service labor, Klei Mower sees roughly 40 percent. "The toughest thing we deal with is not being able to get to everyone all the time," says Dennis Klei, the third-generation owner of the dealership.

That's why Klei Mower now limits what it will accept for service repairs. "As far as residential mowers, we'll only work on the brands we sell, because we usually have the parts in stock," Klei explains. "Commercial mowers are limited, too. More often than not, we'll only work on certain brands."

SETTING THE STAGE

Since Klei Mower started this policy a few years ago, the service department has never come close to running out of work. "We never lay off employees," Klei points out. "It's my job to keep our service department busy in the winter by constantly reminding customers that it's the perfect time to get their mowers in for service."

Being a dealership built on service, Klei's focus is on creating an environment where technicians can be as productive as possible. The first step is diligently sending out service cards at the start of the off-season to drive service work. This helps alleviate the number of frustrated customers needing service when the spring rush is on and their grass needs mowing.

Discounted rental equipment is also available, which helps ease the customer's frustration while they wait for their equipment to be repaired.

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE

Perhaps most importantly, Klei has continually made facility investments to keep up with growth. In 1960 the dealership started off in a 20x40 garage. An old barn was used for storage. In the '70s the barn was expanded by roughly 1,000 square feet. A new 3,200-square-foot showroom was built in 1984, and a 4,032-square-foot warehouse was erected in 1995.

The warehouse was used for storage (2/3 of it) and service operations. With business continuing to grow, especially on the wholegoods retail side, technicians were finding themselves more and more cramped, which put a strain on production.

Continuing with his father's and grandfather's traditions of making substantial facility investments every 10 years or so, Klei gave the go ahead for a huge expansion in 2006 that added approximately 3.5 acres of land and 9,000 square feet of warehouse space.

The new 9,000-square-foot warehouse is split in half. One side is used for equipment setup and crated inventory. The other half is used for units that have already been serviced, handheld equipment and other "smaller" wholegoods inventory. The old 4,032-square-foot building is now devoted entirely to shop production.

"Giving our techs more room to work has proven to be the best thing we've done in a long time," Klei says. "Production has been record-setting since we did. We've also added parts storage cabinets in the service department, making better use of wasted space for shelving while also keeping things more organized."

Klei says the new warehouse has also helped the dealership maximize sales of accessory products like mulch kits, since more can be ordered in at a time and stored more orderly. Plus, large amounts of mowers can be set up and stored in advance of customer requests, helping Klei Mower deliver equipment faster.

"We also added a second drive to serve as the entrance to our business, making the original drive an exit," Klei tells. This has been a great feature for landscapes pulling trailers. "We removed the old barn and service garage. We also removed the old farm house that was one of the oldest houses in Colerain Township. That was a tough decisionto tear down so much history-but we couldn't afford to maintain it in the condition it was in."

The Klei Mower history is an interesting one. Like many dealers, it started off as service only. The dealership gradually added equipment lines. Klei's father purchased the business from his dad in the 1970s. A couple uncles also spent time in the business, as did Aunt Phyllis.

"She was key to the company's survival, especially in the '90s when my father was ill with cancer," Klei tells. "I started out in the business around 1980 performing odds and ends like taking out the trash. Through the '80s I got better in the shop. When a severe drought hit in 1987, I left the business to do some other things. I returned when my dad took ill, and assumed control in 1995 with very little experience. Aunt Phyllis taught me a lot, and made sure I wasn't making any major mistakes. Without her help, I'm not sure what would've happened to the company.

"My mother Carol also started helping out part time in accounting," Klei continues. "Today she works alongside my wife Sherrie. I'm lucky to have a great wife who understands what it takes to make it in this business-long hours and late nights."

MONEY IN MULCH