Implementing Anvil: A Practical Look at Dealer Installation Experiences
Anvil customers shared their experiences with transitioning to and installing Anvil’s CRM and inventory management software in their dealerships.
Why I Built Anvil App Works
Jason Hoult knows your pain.
As the founder and creator of Anvil App Works, Jason’s roots in ag equipment run deep. Early in his career, he worked directly in marketing for Caterpillar and AGCO. Then, transitioning to John Deere, he became the VP of Sales at 21st Century Equipment in the heart of the Plains.
That’s where the seeds for Anvil were sown. “We were doing the things that a lot of our Anvil customers do,” says Jason. “We struggled with managing information and dealing with the various independent dealer systems John Deere provides. We needed to have a customer relationship management (CRM) system, but we weren’t really happy with any of the existing products that were available.”
Because of the siloed structure of the various John Deere systems, working in them often caused user frustration. “Our dealership customers are used to needing swivel chairs,” Jason relates, “where they enter one system to get this piece of information, then switch to another program to record it. And then, they’ve got to go to a third place to look up the customer. Additionally, by the way, they have some pictures of used equipment they need to save. It’s a complicated multi-step and multi-process situation. Why can’t the information be easily accessible through one platform?”
Salesforce: The Leader in CRM
The search for the right solution finally led to Salesforce, and Jason felt things click into place. He recognized that Salesforce stood as the leader of the CRM segment. “That was a really good approach for us as we invested in a CRM,” he explains. “We started using it, working through a consulting firm to build and customize our org, and went through all of the normal experiences customers of Salesforce do.”
Although the implementation was a success, Jason, serving as the executive sponsor for the program, also got to see the downside of that process. Early Salesforce deployments provided a more generic platform that partner consultants had to customize to fit in with the dealership’s specific needs. That process was time-consuming, tedious and quite expensive.
But Jason says he could see the tremendous potential Salesforce had and eventually transitioned to working as a Salesforce consultant. Over several years, he earned 13 different Salesforce certifications and advanced to become a Certified Salesforce Architect.
“I just dove deep into that world, and as I was learning and doing work for these big corporations, I kept saying, ‘Man, I wish I knew this back when I was back at the dealership. This would have really helped me solve that problem.’ Because I am still an equipment guy at heart, right?”
Building a Platform for Equipment Dealers
Eventually, the progression to Salesforce architect brought him full circle. “I became aware of its reseller program and learned how to build apps that accessed Salesforce features,” he says. “My wife told me, at that point, I needed to either stop talking about the solutions or do something about them. We started building Anvil on the side, and at the end of that process, we felt we had something with potential. So, we brought it to the John Deere Users Group (JDUG) convention in 2018,” he recalls.
“Anvil contains all the bells and whistles I would’ve wanted in my role, and it is really tailored to the needs of the equipment industry,” says Jason.
Jason describes Anvil’s trajectory since then as a “rocket ride,” as the industry begins to recognize the advantages Anvil brings to the table in affordability, scalability, convenience and power. This momentum builds at the same time the dealer landscape transitions toward more multi-location businesses and frequent acquisitions.
Scalability becomes even more important when dealerships begin to manage many locations. “You used to be able to throw more people at the problem or work a little harder,” Jason says. “But now dealers have to take a hard look at their business in general.”
How to evaluate equipment? How to manage sales teams? How to process deals? How to quote equipment packages? What are the processes for even keeping the files together?
“You can’t shove more down that old pipe, so you’ve got to get better at what you are trying to do,” he explains. “That’s a strong suit of Salesforce: process and digital workflow. And Anvil accesses that power and hands it over to John Deere dealerships as an optimized, turnkey system.”
Jason recognizes that dealerships have really good people in place, and they also have some good processes. “They may be breaking a little bit at scale, or need to digitize and such,” he says. And that’s where his experience and knowledge of the ag machinery industry pays his customers dividends. “At Anvil App Works, we bring turnkey technology solutions into place that allow our customers to accelerate their businesses.”
What more do you need?
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