Toro spreading the word

A while back I was on the phone with Bob VandenBoom and he told me about the Toro Leaderboard. I went to the site and played around with it for a bit. It's an interesting idea. And I know what Toro is thinking on this, because superintendents trust their fellow superintendent.

Below is the press release about Toro's Leaderboard:

In multiple GCSAA member surveys, golf course superintendents consistently rank word-of-mouth from other superintendents as one of the most influential factors in a new equipment purchase decision — second only to local distributor support. Based on this research and an impassioned customer base, the marketing team created the Toro Leaderboard ( www.toro.com/Leaderboard), a new website that facilitates word-of-mouth sharing between superintendents who own Toro Equipment or Irrigation solutions.

“Our customers are the best advocates for Toro products,” says Bob VandenBoom, Toro’s senior marketing manager. “The Leaderboard website simply facilitates connections for course superintendents who are researching a new equipment purchase. They can see what nearby courses say they like about Toro products in their own words and even pick up the phone and call the course to learn more details about the product or service related experience.”


Visitors to the Leaderboard website can select a specific product and view end-user quotes about that product on a map or simply read them on a single page. The quotes are sorted geographically from the nearest to the farthest away to be maximize the relevance to the site visitor. Users can also click on links to “Learn More,” “Request Info” or simply navigate to view quotes about other Toro products.

The Leaderboard currently displays nearly 600 quotes from superintendents, greenskeepers, mechanics, club managers/owners and other industry professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom. That number continues to grow, as Toro augments the site with quotes from other English speaking countries around the world.

“Since the site went live, we have seen a groundswell of support from our customers,” stated VandenBoom. “We’ve been amazed and humbled by the positive response. These aren’t formal testimonials — they’re just simple statements from customers about the value or experience they’ve had with a particular Toro product on their course. The feedback speaks for itself.”

Visitors to the site are also invited to contribute one or more quotes of their own as a resource for other superintendents who are researching similar products.

The best way to know what the site is all about is to experience it for yourself — go to www.toro.com/Leaderboard to view quotes and submit your own feedback.