Farmers shop harder during tough times

That’s both good news and bad news for the Ag sales professional

If you haven’t guessed the theme for the last two months of my articles,

it’s “Selling to farmers in tough economic times”.

The focus has been and will continue to be about why this is a good time to be in sales. I want to bring you as many positive reasons why this downturn is so critical for your sales career. More importantly, why it is so important for your customer relationships.

Today’s message is an easy one to understand and will help you stay motivated to keep selling.

“Farmers shop harder during tough times”

Really everyone does. During good times, producers are trying to maximize their time and yield goals. They may not see the value of over analyzing purchasing decisions.

However, now that every dollar per acre and cost per cow per day makes a big difference, every product and service must be scrutinized for its ROI (return on investment). Each must earn their place on the farm or in the agribusiness that you sell to.

Thoughts to keep in mind:

The Good News: Your prospects are shopping harder

If your efforts to call on a set of prospects have stalled out, this is the time to go back and revisit them. We all have those prospects that we’ve called on for months or years to no avail. They have heard everything we have to say and offer, yet we make no progress in selling them. So, we wait. Many salespeople will tell me, I’m waiting for something to change. Well, tough economics is that “change” you have been looking for.

While they weren’t open to your products, services, or technologies before, now is the time to approach them with renewed energy. If you did a good job in the first phase of selling them, you asked a lot of questions and understand how you could help them. If you didn’t now is your chance to launch into the discovery phase of your selling process. Don’t just go back out and present. Start with the discovery phase (good open-ended questions).

To Do:

Review your prospect files for those that seemed like a good fit, but went cold.
Do a pre-call plan before going to see these prospects. At a minimum, review your discussion notes and write down four solid open-ended questions.

2. The Bad News: Your current customers are also shopping harder

Seller beware! Buyers aren’t for life. Don’t get caught falling down on the job of serving your current customers. While they may love you, they too are looking harder at alternative methods to stay afloat. In that search, they might find your competition. Especially if you are a market leader. It’s time to really be aware of this threat to your sales.

To Do:

Increase communication.

Do a customer audit with them:
- Thoroughly discuss their current spending with you and look for ways they can be more efficient or managed better. I know we all want to sell as much as we can, but for now, we have to consider what might help them get to the other side of 2025.
- See if they are considering other products or alternative farming methods. With increased communication, you might catch wind of their early efforts to switch from your company. While you can’t stop everyone from leaving, this early awareness gives you the chance to discuss it with customers before they get too committed to switching.

Learn more and more each day on your sales call. Find out what is working and what is not working. You have the unique ability of going farm to farm or Ag retailer to Ag retailer all day, every day. While doing so, you can learn from your customers. By learning about other parts of your customer’s business, you become more valuable to your customers. Take advantage of this ability now. While you can’t gossip about another customer by name, you can help steer a customer in the right direction based on your observations in the market.

Follow up and follow through like never before. In other words, put your follow-up skills on steroids. This is no time to drop the ball and forget to get back to your customer on anything. You said it, now make it happen. Better yet, make it happen sooner than you promised.

Make it as easy as possible to do business with. Ask customers what you or your company can do to make it easier to do business with you. This might include short-term changes to policies until times change. Billing practices that might time better with customer income. Minimum order or delivery requirements that can be adjusted. I’m not suggesting that you do all of these at your own expense. However, you might find simple customer benefits that are low or no cost to you.

A recent poll by Farm Journal uncovered how farmers plan to reduce their spending in 2025.

I think any salesperson calling on farmers should first review it themselves, then with their fellow salespeople/managers, and finally with their customers. It shows where farmers are going to shop the hardest. Large farm equipment and switching to generic products are the biggest changes from this poll.

The discussion to have is what impact will this have on a bigger scope (nationally or globally) and then what impact locally. For example, the longer you put off new equipment, the more parts and services are needed. Service and service techs are already in short supply. What effect will this have on the local dealer’s service rates? What about farming efficiency (breakdowns, DIY repairs, etc.)? If farmers are going to use more their own time and on-farm equipment, will they decrease their ability to get the greatest yields?

Stay tuned for more ways you can become that trusted advisor to your best customers and help them during some very difficult times in Ag!