I would like to see the forklift manufactures and dealers work together to come up with a solution to this problem, after all SERVICE for their products will be needed LONG after the SALE.
Sevice has always been an important part of the picture, I have seen customers who were "DIEHARDS" for a particular Brand, but made a change to another because the service was better.

Selling material handling equipment is important but service is equally if not more,

How well you take care of a customers equipment will determine your next SALE!
That sweet taste that a customer gets after the SALE will quickly turn sour after a few doses of lousy service
In my opinion they need to think of the service side of this Indusrty as well as the marketing side, You can have the best lift on the market, with all kinds of "Bells and Whistles" , but what good will it be if you cannot get it repaired correctly and in a reasonable amount of time at a fair price. It's NOT the customers responsibility to provide a machine for a "GREEN HORN" to practice on as well as pay for the time, I have seen this in the past.
No matter what brand it is, it will eventually need "Fixin", but it needs to be done by someone who knows what they are doing.