Finning aiming to shake up the way people buy its 'baby' Caterpillars

It may be reasonably priced but I am still terrified of breaking it, or of making myself look a complete wally. I have been let loose at the controls of a five-tonne 305 excavator. It's a neat little 42 horsepower machine with a cab that is surprisingly comfortable and full of controls. Two operate the digger arm and the bucket. Two long sticks can control the digger moving backwards and forwards, but we'll skip that today. I've got my hands full as it is.

I slowly swivel the cab to face a pile of gravel, extend the arm, tilt the bucket and scoop up some gravel. It's a pathetically small amount but I feel an inordinate amount of pride. I empty it out and do it again, getting more this time. I realise I am having the most enormous fun.

And it is that 'try before you buy' approach that underlines a new sales strategy at Cannock Caterpillar equipment dealer Finning UK. It is taking the tried and tested techniques of a car dealership and applying them to the builders and small companies looking at buying a compact Cat.

As Finning's Jeff Scholfield says, :"Let someone loose in one of these machines and it can virtually sell itself."

A few minutes instruction from Finning product manager Tom Moss and even a complete neophyte like myself is off and away. A week's training would qualify most people for a CPCS – or Contract Plant Competence Scheme – operator card. And with an increasing shortage in trained operators, Finning believes its tapping into a growing market for its smaller machines.

Jeff Schofield had led the team aiming to transform the way Finning retails its smaller machines, but credits company MD Kevin Parkes with driving the idea. "It started off at the Plantworx trade show last June, where we had people trying out the machines, and started thinking 'why do we only do this once a year'? Kevin said we should be able to do this for people when they came to Cannock."

The culmination has been the recent opening of Finning's first Cat Compact Store at its headquarters on Watling Street in Cannock. Like a car showroom it has machinery on display inside and out, as well as hugely popular Caterpillar-branded t-shirts, mugs and workboots. Out the back is an area where potential customers can try their hand with a range of equipment.

"All they have to do is go to our website on the mobile phone and book an appointment with the touch of a finger at machines@finning.com," said Jeff. "Like a showroom we open on Saturdays, because that's when people are more likely to have time to visit us. And, like a car showroom, the price is on the machine. That's been fairly unusual in our industry before now, but people can see what it will cost, even on a weekly or monthly basis. And we work with Caterpillar's Cat Financial arm to help them pay for it with zero per cent finance.

"Like a car, we even offer a bundle of extras like a security tracker, telemetry to monitor when a machine needs servicing, and so on, for no additional price. The cost of extra additional attachments like hammers and drills, can also be added into a deal.

"It's about the three 'A's: making our products accessible, affordable and available. Our Ready2Go range can literally be bought with on the day collection. We're moving away from the way things have always been done because we think there is a huge potential market out there. As more work gets under way on major infrastructure projects across the Midlands, that's going to soak up a lot of trained machine operators. That leaves a lot of work on small projects for people perhaps starting out on their own. We want to make it easier for them.

"The smaller machines are very popular with owner operators and smaller building and civil engineering firms. The people who own those firms often started out operating these machines so they know what they are looking for. And being able to take it for a test drive is ideal for them."

The company is already looking at ways to make the process even easier, with more developments to come later this year.

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