Dealer Profile: Burke Outdoor

Equipping Arborists with Education and Tools

Burke Outdoor, Morganton, N.C.

Story by Heather Wilson

In 1996, Burke Outdoor opened its doors in the foothills between Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina. Approaching three decades of sales and service, the dealership continues to innovate and serve its customers.  

“My mom and dad started it,” said General Manager Rein Behlke, III. “My dad started working at another power equipment dealership in town when he was 14 or 15 years old. So, he had roots in it. Then, he had an opportunity to purchase the power equipment portion of an ACE hardware in town.” 

With a variety of brands, from Scag to Ferris to Stihl and more, Behlke has tried to fine tune and reduce brand offerings to ease the sales presentation process.  

“We had Echo, Husqvarna and Stihl when we started, and we’ve narrowed it down to Stihl for handheld equipment,” Behlke said. “We spend less time explaining. There are still a tremendous number of models within each brand. We get what we feel are the best brands for that task.”  

He said building relationships with suppliers is key to success with the brands they carry. “You can have the best products in the world, but if you can’t get along with the suppliers or if they don’t offer the support we need to take care of our customers, then it’s basically worthless,” Behlke said. “We are big on relationships. I may be able to get something cheaper somewhere else, but if I’ve got an ongoing relationship and it costs me a little bit more, we’re going to maintain that and be loyal to that company.” 

Filling a Need

Shortly after the dealership began carrying specialty equipment for arborists, about two or three years ago, a customer who had been in the industry for going on 30 years approached Behlke.  

“He asked if we would have any interest in creating grassroots arborist educational meetings or a series of sorts,” Behlke said. “I was thrilled that he was even interested, because we were trying to get into the arborist niche and learn as much as we can.” 

They began to work together to create small, informal canopy classes at a facility about a quarter mile down the road that has large, mature trees that allows for them to demonstrate techniques and such.  

“Now, we’ve established a committee of about four or five professional arborists, so we try to sit down and discuss the class content and get a schedule together,” he added. 

The dealership handles the majority of the organizing and marketing of it, as well as recruiting sponsorship for giveaways. Attendance averages 40-50 people; some people drive as much as four hours to the class.  

It’s allowed Burke Outdoor to serve existing customers in a deeper way by providing specialized ongoing education, and to build relationships with new customers who might have heard about and chose to attend a class.   

Burke Outdoor also supports its customers with rental of equipment that might only be needed at select times throughout the year. “We got started in rentals about 4 to 5 years ago,” Behlke said. “With where our facility is, we’re sort of limited on space [to store rentals], but landscapers rent pluggers and spikers [plug aerators and spike aerators] to prep lawns for seed and fertilizer quite frequently in fall and spring. We’ve tried to steer aware from renting dangerous things like chainsaws.” 

Looking Toward the Future

As Behlke’s parents are nearing retirement, they are trying to get systems and people in place so they don’t have to be in the dealership as much.  

“My family takes pride in taking care of customers,” Behlke said. “With independent dealers, I think that’s a huge aspect. We’re always looking for cutting-edge things that might help people in various ways. We try to stay on top of trends and products. We want to be as efficient as we can, not only in business structure internally, but we want to make our customers’ lives easier and more efficient.”  

Behlke said a shop assistant role can help improve efficiency, as the individual’s main responsibility is moving and cleaning equipment. It allows the four technicians to spend their time diagnosing and repairing, while the two service advisors can support the customers and technicians.  

Behlke said he stays focused on the future and how they are going to evolve as time goes on. His son, the third generation, has even begun working part-time at the dealership.  

“I’m always looking at what we can do to take it to the next level,” Behlke said. “Maintaining customer service and support. Carrying quality products and maintaining integrity in what we are selling. We want to be strategic.”