Q & A and then more Q’s

The Ag Sales Professional’s Guide

to better discovery methods

Selling can be viewed as a Q & A exchange (questions and answers).  We go to the farm, ask questions to find a need, and then sell a product that hopefully meets that need.  The struggle occurs when we do a poor job of truly identifying that need.  It can be due to a resistant farmer or due to our poor questioning skills.  Another reason for not gaining information on a sales call is when we fail to dig into the answers a farmer may give us. 

Riding with many salespeople, I have a great view of their Q & A style.  And the salesperson often stops after getting the producer’s first answer.  Yet there is so much more to be learned from that initial answer.

A typical salesperson will drive out to the farm, find a busy farmer, and quickly make a presentation on the product or service they are excited about.  It might be early order seed booking time.  So, the Ag salesperson presents on their lineup of genetics.  Following the salesperson’s hasty presentation, the farmer might have a few questions, usually one around price.  If the salesperson is lucky, the farmer might even have a follow-up question to the salesperson’s answer.  But most often, the farmer nods and says, “I’m not interested…I’m happy where I’m at…I’ll look at the info when I have time”. And our sales call dies right there.

An experienced or trained Ag sales professional will start the farm call off with a planned set of discovery-style questions.  By planned, I mean you do your homework to learn as much as possible about a producer before your farm call.  From that homework, you develop several high-value questions and you write them out.  You also anticipate their most likely answers to those questions.  These basic steps will uncover the gold mine of information you need to help this customer.

I call this technique, “Q & A and then more Q’s”.  Too many salespeople struggle to uncover meaningful information from their customers because they lack this one discovery-style questioning technique.  A big contributor to the salesperson’s problem is the poor listening habit of, “thinking about the next question”.  This happens when we fail at listening to the farmer’s answer.  Instead, we are thinking about our next question.  All the while, missing out on the gold mine that is just one or two additional questions beyond.

For example, one of the most basic pieces of information you need to know when meeting a customer is, who they currently buy your type of products from.  Using our seed example, you might ask, “I saw a lot of different seed company signs along the road coming in, can I ask which company you work with for seed?”  The producer might answer, “I’ve been with XYZ Seeds for a couple of years and like where I’m at”.

In my early years of selling, this seemed like a dead end.  Since they were buying from my competition and happy with them, it felt like there was nowhere to go with the sales discussion. I didn’t want to be a “pushy salesperson”.  So, I handed them my business card, asked them to call if ever interested, and got onto the next sales call as soon as I could.

Then, I learned the power of follow-up questions based on their answer to the initial question.  Look at the answer he gave us and the information available.  First, he’s typically going to be in his 50s-60s, which means he has been farming and buying seed for 20 to 30 years.  He said he has only been with this current supplier for a few years.  That is a huge red flag of information you need to dig into.

• Who were they with before a few years ago?
• How long were they with that seed company?
• What was it that caused him to switch to this seed company?

Next, he said he was happy where he is at.  Is that the truth or is that just an early way for him to tell you he doesn’t want you to pressure him to switch?  Here is an example of how to add a few additional discovery questions to the “I’m happy where I’m at” objection.

• “I’ve seen them out in the market, what was it about them that interested you the most?”  or “What is it about them that you like the most?”

This is a starter-style follow-up question to gain a deeper understanding of this farmer’s buying process.  Before you compete against the incumbent provider, you need to know what you are up against in the mind of this producer.  From this starter question, you have several pieces of info to gain:

• Was their choice based on your competition’s product performance, technical support, a service like delivery, a specific genetic variety, their neighbor’s results with this company, a pricing program, or his relationship with the salesperson?

All of these answers have at least one or two additional questions beyond them. 

Two key points about this technique:

First, listen intently for keywords like, “Free” or “Zero”.  I sold against a company that offered free delivery, while we invoiced freight as a line item.  Nothing is free.  Companies don’t have volunteer drivers who drive a free truck filled with free fuel.  Somehow, it’s getting paid for.  Dig deeper with a few more Q’s. 

Another term that will catch my attention quickly is when I hear the word, “Zero”.  Often used in the term “Zero percent financing”.  Money might be cheap, but even with low interest rates, it’s not free.  Dig deeper with a few more Q’s. 

One of the best ways to dig deeper into a competitor’s unbelievable offer is to ask, “Wow, that sounds pretty good.  I wonder how they do that?  I wouldn’t mind figuring it out so we could offer that as well”.  This has to be asked with a genuine tone.  Be careful not to use a sarcastic tone or you will alienate your customer. 

The second key point in this method of questioning is to avoid the word, “Why”.  Often, the word “Why” comes across as challenging to the customer’s thought process.  They can become defensive when you ask them why they made a choice.  In their mind or out loud, they may be thinking, “That’s none of your business” or, “I don’t have to explain myself to you”.  Turn your why into what and how style questions.

This method of “Q & A, and then more Q’s” can be observed in any great interviewer’s style.  Watch any talk show host as they bring out their famous guests. Their first question is always a setup for more discovery questions.  It’s in those follow-up questions that we gain a deeper understanding of that guest. For example, the host might ask “So, you have three grown kids, right?” This is the set-up question, which gets the guest onto a topic.  The actor answers with a short, “Yes, great kids!”  We are now drawn in and want to know more about them.  Where do they live? Are they into acting as well?  What do they think of their famous parent? etc. We wouldn’t watch the show very long if the host didn’t dig deeper into that first answer. 

Lastly, there are no guarantees in sales.  This method may uncover a gold mine or you might run into a brick wall when trying to learn more from some farmers.  However, in my experience and those that I have trained on it, the better you get at adding more Q’s after the first A, the better the selling experience and results.