Case study : Grass-roots campaign on loaders

As general manager of Ag-Tech’s Schaffer Loaders division, Mr Moir began investigating a potential market for the German-made loaders in Australia almost three years ago.

Now Mr Moir, together with his mother and company director, Elizabeth, have built a national dealer network and are looking to expand their east coast presence.

Encouraged by the findings of his market research, which involved lengthy discussions with construction, mining, earthmoving and agricultural industry representatives in Australia, Mr Moir completed three months of product training with Schaffer in Germany.

Following that, the Moirs set up a new division of their agricultural importing business and became the exclusive importers of Schaffer loaders into Australia.

Mr Moir said he was confident the loaders would perform strongly in the local market because of their quality and ability to be custom-built to customer specifications.

But trying to establish a new brand in a market dominated by major international players, such as Bobcat and Caterpillar, proved a challenge.

“No-one has taken them [the big players] on. It’s a massive market. [Schaffer] are pretty standard in Europe, but not so much in Australia,” he told WA Business News.

“There’s nothing else on the market as compact and articulated and industrial heavy built, but still light weight.”

Mr Moir said attracting dealer interest proved difficult, but their extensive product knowledge enabled the Moirs to inform dealers on the Schaffer loaders’ competitive advantages.

Establishing trust in their ability to ensure consistent delivery of product was also important.

“We spent a lot of time driving around, doing demos. They [the dealers] could see how good the product was, but it took a bit of convincing,” he said.

“We had to encourage people to look outside the square and past the big brands, who have a one-size-fits-all approach.”

The Moirs drove around the state selling the product, cold calling and targeting specific industries they thought would benefit from the product.

They also called on agricultural contacts from their previous boom spray business to market the new product. A number of people involved in initial market surveys also ended up signing on as customers.

With the number of sales growing nation-wide, word-of-mouth marketing started to grow, and proved an effective promotional tool.

“Now we have customers coming back and buying multiples, replacing established brand names which have given them trouble,” Mr Moir said.

“People who haven’t even seen the machine are ordering over the phone; even if they have local representation with bigger brands.”

With a strong and loyal client base, including local councils, construction companies, landscapers and farmers, Schaffer Loaders is now focused on growing its east coast business, due to the size of the market.

“We’ve grown to love what we do, we have a passion for the industry and that enthusiasm really comes through,” Mrs Moir said.