Stihl Timber Sports Company

Stihl is a manufacturer of many power tools; they began in 1920’s when founder Andereas Stihl saw people in the forest cutting down trees and chopping them up with axes so they can haul them to trailer to be distributed. In 1926 Stihl developed the first two-person chainsaw, although it was electric, it increased the production for all forestry workers. Since then Stihl has grown and has representatives in over one-hundred and sixty countries and has made life easier for everyone in the farming and agricultural business (About Us , 2020).

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In 1970 Stihl decided to open their first manufacturing plant in Virginia where it employed fifty people whose job was to assemble chainsaws. Currently Stihl has twenty-one hundred employees working to assemble multiple versions of the chainsaw (About Us , 2020).
Stihl corporate office provides support for all their dealers so that those dealers can provide the best purchasing and best customer service experience possible when buying a Stihl product. Stihl continues to grow their product line offering multiple types of chainsaws.

They offer gas, electric, or battery-operated chainsaws to help people choose the best one for the job they need to complete. In addition, Stihl offers multiple chainsaws with different horsepower, the more you use the chainsaw the higher horsepower you want. If you just use the chainsaw occasionally, then they might offer you one of the lower horsepower since it will not be used as much. The most compelling thing about Stihl products is that they have been the number one ranked dealer of gas-powered chainsaws since 2009 by professional American landscapers (About Us , 2020).
Stihl is using their patented anti-vibration system as one of their advertising messages. This system allows users of the chainsaw have better control of the saw while cutting and can help reduce fatigue when using the saw for long periods of time. They achieved this by using rubber parts to help absorb some of the vibration during use. A few years later Stihl was able to further improve their technology by adding some polymer to the handle of the chainsaw reducing the vibration more than before. While looking at various Stihl products, there is not a certain type of strategy Stihl uses to advertise their product. They have advertisements on the internet, TV, radio, newspaper, and magazines. With each form of advertising they use Stihl is either demonstrating their capabilities with a you tube video, or doing a brand comparison on TV with people praising Stihl and at the end of the commercial the person switches from the competitors brand to a Stihl brand. Magazines and newspapers have coupons or have ads announcing some type of upcoming sell on Stihl products at participating dealers.
One of Stihl’s sales promotion strategies is sponsorships. Stihl sponsors many sporting events along with art and culture events. Stihl is the sponsor of the World Logging Championship, where people compete in cutting down trees and grading them on precision, quality of cut, the safety of how then tree is cut down (Sponsorship: Stihl, 2020). Another type of sales strategy used t promote the sir chainsaw is in the art and culture. The chainsaws can be used to trim and shape trees into certain shapes that customers request. Stihl has offered rebates for their battery powered chainsaws to help promote eco-friendly use. These could be used as both as a sales promotion and an advertising strategy. Stihl has teamed up with Independent We Stand, an organization that promotes small businesses. Stihl has contests that give away Stihl products, rebates, or discounts to people who shop local businesses. Stihl also does a type of trade show called the Stihl Timber Sports. These is a competition where both men and women compete in various events that have to do with cutting or chopping logs.
The personal selling strategy Stihl is most known for is their customer service. Stihl is known to have one of the most durable chainsaws in the industry. The corporate office constantly communicates with the dealers, so everyone is on the same page and everyone knows what promotion is happening and when the sales start and end. The warranty and service on Stihl chainsaws is what customers have grown to appreciate from Stihl (Warranty Service Info: Stihl, 2020). The Stihl dealerships do a good job with Relationship Selling also, when customers purchase a Stihl chainsaw the dealer has a service plan to go with the warranty. One of the services includes sharpening the chain of the saw. It is services like this that builds the Relationship Selling and continues to bring repeat customers back to purchase new equipment.
Stihl has many ways that allow customers to communicate with the company and for customers to communicate to other customers. One way is using Blogs, blogs are a social media platform where the company and customers can share their experiences and other things. There is Do It Yourself projects on this blog that shows people how to cut your own firewood for the winter, how to build a lamp, and how to make your own furniture (Blog:Stihl, 2020). Stihl also offers Instruction Manuals and Safety Brochures with each purchase of their equipment. These brochures show you how to operate and properly maintain the piece of equipment you bought. Each brochure is specific to a certain chainsaw, if you buy one with higher horsepower it will go through more oil and needs more maintenance done to it rather than one bought for an occasional use. The main thing people like about the Stihl public relations is that they have numerous ways to contact them and several social media sites that they monitor and respond to quickly to help keep customers relationships strong.
While doing the research for Stihl’s Marketing Mix, I found that Stihl chainsaws are slightly higher than the competitors chainsaws but when they apply the rebates and if customers have any coupons then the prices become comparable. Stihl is involved in a lot more events that help protect the economy by using battery-powered equipment and helping promote small business growth. Stihl was founded on inventing ways to help people out and over the past ninety years have continually been able to deliver new and improve ways to help people. The impressive thing is that Stihl has been able to make several improvements to their chainsaws over the years that can be used on some of their other products to help sale and grow other markets within their company. Another improvement Stihl has been able to do is change and grow with the times, meaning when the use of internet and social media came to the forefront, Stihl embraced the change and used these platforms to grow their business. It is beneficial to both Stihl and the supporters of Stihl that participate in the events like the Timber Sport competition. At these competitions it would be a good idea to capitalize on setting up some training booths to display other types of chainsaws for the beginners. While I personally own several Stihl products, what I found interesting, the blogs have several Do It Yourself projects that I am eager to try and see if my results can look anything like the ones that were produced on the videos.