Customer Service at the Core of Michigan Dealership

Clayton Irani and Nick Korte were raised on neighboring dairy farms. They went to school together, worked for the same local irrigation dealer and, late last year, the lifelong friends became business owners.

“We opened a Zimmatic™ dealership – Great Lakes Ag Irrigation – in Six Lakes, Michigan,” Irani said. “Nick and I grew up here. We know the landscape and understand the challenges that growers in our area face. We’re excited to be part of the Zimmatic family, and we’re looking forward to providing our customers with solutions that will help them achieve their efficiency, yield and sustainability goals.”

Since opening, Irani said he and Nick have been busy getting pivots ready for the upcoming growing season and visiting with customers to make them aware of all that Zimmatic has to offer and reinforce their commitment to outstanding customer service.

“In our industry, we don’t have an influx of new customers. So, it’s important to establish and maintain solid relationships with those we have,” he said. “We both used to work for one of our competitors, so we know the growers in our area have choices. We’re prioritizing customer service because we want them to choose us and then keep coming back to us.”

With drought conditions in the forecast, Irani expects his team will be plenty busy throughout the upcoming growing season.

“We’re already down two inches of rain, and it looks like our dry spring will turn into an even drier summer,” he said. “If it doesn’t rain, the pivots will be running non-stop. Our team will do whatever it takes – working early mornings, late nights and weekends – to make sure our customers’ machines are running and they have the support they need.”

Irani said area growers are also interested in remote irrigation management, so he’s anxious to show them how FieldNET™ can benefit their operations.

“My career is built on remote telemetry – it’s my go-to solution for better management, improved efficiency and more control,” he said. “In our area, reporting is huge. With FieldNET, growers can analyze their system data and determine how they can improve. It’s all about doing better with what you have, and FieldNET takes that reporting to a whole new level.”

Despite this year’s challenging weather conditions, Irani believes the future is bright.

“Michigan is number two in the nation when it comes to agricultural diversity. We service potato, seed corn, vegetables, organic crops and more,” he said. “The market is there, so we’ll work hard to build a loyal base of existing and new customers that keep coming back to us for all of their product and service needs.”