Liebherr’s decision to go direct in terms of its tower crane sales in the UAE allows it to follow the succesful example of the mobile cranes model, says Jorg Muller, area sales manager at Liebherr.
The dealer/distributor debate is one that many manufacturers admit to having off the record. What’s better? Have someone do the leg-work, the marketing, the client building for you, or take control of the servicing and operation yourself. Muller said that although dealers are generally preferred for tower cranes but in the case of the mobile cranes this is not unusual.
“From an organisational point of view, it’s a better situation for us. This happens elsewhere in the world with these cranes,” he said. “Tower cranes mostly have a dealer network but in some countries we do it ourselves. If you want to be able to control prices to end customers, for instance, then you’re better off doing it yourself.”