We’re “Fixin” to get busy in the farming and agribusiness world. Many parts of our industry are busy all the time, but late March through mid-June is an extra busy time. On the farm, ground needs to be worked, fertilizer spread and crops planted. In our Agribusinesses, we prepare for this rush of activity and […]
Trap #1: What do you have for me today? See Last Week’s blog post for more on how to handle this situation Trap #2: What’s Your Price? Other potential versions of this are: “How much is this going to cost me?” or “I can’t afford that!” or for my grain buying friends, “What’s your basis?” […]
I really shouldn’t call them traps because I truly don’t think our customers are setting a trap. They are just busy people and want to get right down to the point. As most of us know, the sales process involves – Connecting-Asking good questions to uncover needs-Presenting a solution to those needs-Closing […]
Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of training many salespeople in the skills and art of becoming an Ag Sales Professional. While it’s true that selling is selling, there are some specifics that help when you know the industry you are training in. For this week’s article, I started to think about how I […]
It’s closing in on 30 years now that I’ve heard the same argument or should I say “pointed discussion” going on in the offices, feed mills, grain elevators and Ag Retail facilities. It goes something like this: The Salesperson says – “I am the eyes and ears of this business and nothing happens until something […]
I’d Like a Brand-new Feed Mill for Christmas The old saying “Be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it” comes to mind throughout this adventure in what was to be my second worst day at selling feed. We operated two mills in the area. One, built in the 1950’s and […]
The Day our Feed Trucks Quit I still remember the location on Highway 90 that I was driving on when I got the call from the feed mill. On a boiling, warm Tuesday morning in July, my family loaded into the minivan and headed to O’Hare for the vacation of a lifetime. Fifteen years […]
I know why I want to segment my customers, but How do I go about segmenting them? In our last blog, we covered why you want to segment your customers…. increased sales, increased profits, increased sales productivity, gaining clarity on who to call on and what products or services to offer them. Now comes the […]
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