Do your customers understand the downside of not buying your products from you?
Do you know how to build the case for buying your product line? And buying it from you?
Earlier today, I began shopping for a spare key Fob for my truck. I called the dealer – just over $600, depending on my vehicle. That seemed high to me. So, I did as we all do. I pulled up Amazon – the price range was $40 – $300. What to do? I went to the dealership to discuss with the parts counter. After a few minutes, I asked him how there might be such a price difference between them and the Amazon range. He had no answer. Now, I know enough to understand that the $40 option is probably not going to work. It will need to be programmed, etc. But I really wanted to buy it from the dealer for convenience and working with them as a customer in the future. I was really looking for some way to justify paying that difference. Yet, he instilled no fear of buying a lower-cost option online, which might end up costing me more in the end. I was left to figure it out on my own. An easy sale walked out the door, confused and wondering what the next steps are.
This happens a lot in our sales approach with farmers.
Farming and agribusiness are an adventure in fear. Maybe adventure is too nice a word, as lately, it has been a constant state of fearful decisions.
With narrow profit margins, every decision your customer makes is critical to this year’s financial results. That means fear plays a big part in their decisions. As their salesperson and trusted advisor, it is your role to uncover these fears and help them make better buying decisions.
To do that, you need to know how to build the case for buying your product line. Then, build the case for buying that product line from you. The opposite of this is also true. You need to know what will happen if the customer does not buy your product line or does not buy it from you. During fearful times, customers tend to stick with what they know versus trying something new, risky, or experimental. A key sales tool is to understand how their fear of your product line or buying it from you is affecting their decision. In other words, can you walk a customer through the risk of not buying?
If you sell a product line like seed or feed, you don’t really need to sell customers on your product line. If they don’t buy seed, they don’t grow a crop. No feed, no livestock. However, many of us sell a product that is not an absolute requirement: biologicals, fungicides, feed supplements, and software programs. These products and services can either be done manually, swapped with another product, or skipped altogether. For this salesperson, the first job might be selling the customer on the value of the product line itself. Then, convincing their customer to buy from them.
Before going too much further, I want to preface this discussion by clarifying one thing. I am not suggesting that you go out to customers and generate fear. Nor do I suggest that you focus all your efforts on this area. However, if you don’t think that farmers and Ag buyers are buying based on fear, then you haven’t talked to customers recently. Difficult times raise the emotion of fear to the top of the buying criteria for all of us. That means, if you are not addressing these fears with your customers, then you are going to lose out to a salesperson who will. Even though farmers are often stoic and don’t show it, fear is on their minds.
As their trusted advisor, they need you to help navigate which fears are legitimate and which are not.
How?
As always, I want to know their opinions first. Using exploratory questions to get them to open up about how they are making decisions. One key area is their expectations for their operation. Did they have a successful 2025? If not, or if so, why do they feel that way? What are they going to do differently this year? If no changes, then how are they going to get different results? If they plan five major changes, how will they know which ones worked?
One critical question when addressing fear: Walk them through what they are actually afraid of. For example, “When you mentioned the risk of locking in prices early, what do you think will actually happen?” Then listen closely. Then address those fears one by one. Ask them how often that fear actually happens. A wild analogy of this is shark attacks. Most of us have a big fear of swimming in the ocean and getting attacked. However, statistically, we are more at risk of getting hit in the head by a falling coconut than eaten by a shark. Yet, I walk under coconut trees with zero fear and swim in the ocean with my eyes searching for any movement. I might have watched Jaws too many times.
What fears can you walk your customers through and understand them better?
Which can you help them dismiss?
And, which can you help them manage their exposure to?
Another tool for working with your customers is to understand their DISC style. If not familiar, this is the four-quadrant personality style that is very helpful in sales. Each person has their own level of each quadrant. Each of those quadrants has their own fears and handles them differently. Spend some time understanding the customer’s DISC style as you work through their fears. Your sales relationship efforts will be more successful if you better understand their views, which are based on their DISC style.
As you develop these selling skills, it’s important to keep one thought in mind. Fear is typically on a scale from “100% irrational to 100% rational”. Fear of falling off a cliff is 100% rational for hikers. Fear of alien attacks is 100% irrational. However, those are my opinions of fear. And when selling, my opinion has nothing to do with making a sale. It’s my customer’s opinion of these fears that must be dealt with. They may have a real fear of aliens. As crazy as that sounds, I have to work through that fear with them to understand how they are making decisions.
Good luck in building your sales bravery as we work through these fearful farming times.
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