The ethical challenges of selling in agribusiness “You do know that’s metric tons, right?” Don asked me. With that question, my world spiraled into a state of panic. Things were going great. After my first year as a trainee, I had the exciting opportunity to work in the corporate office, helping to manage the […]
Don’t forget to have fun Sooner or later as an Ag Sales Professional, you will have a customer service issue like the one I had. It’s not a matter of if, but when. So, get good at handling them to keep from losing a customer over it. Driving up to my customer’s feed mill, […]
Do you recognize any of these from your customer list? Previously, I wrote about the 7 farmers you will meet in your territory. Today’s update on that article is a deeper dive into the 7 challenging customers you will meet in your territory. Over the course of 25 years of selling to farmers and […]
What to do when “The customer is always right”, even when they are dead wrong We all know the two golden rules of customer service – #1. “The customer is always right.” And #2. “When you think the customer is wrong, refer to rule #1.” The reason these rules are valid is that the […]
Celebrate Customer Service Week Oct 2-6 The classic 1999 movie Office Space was playing recently and I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched the interview scenes from the Bob’s. They were two consultants, both named Bob, brought in to conduct employee interviews and make recommendations on who to downsize. In one of the interviews, […]
More people than you think! Driving down Highway 26, I was “stewing” in my emotions. By that, I mean I was angry, upset, disappointed and frustrated. All at the same time. How you ask? I just came off a bad sales call. I failed to prepare for it the way I should have and […]
The Ag economy is in tough shape for producers and Agribusiness! What to do? Rethink Upselling! A word of warning about this article. Please read it entirely before passing judgment on what I am proposing. The reason I say that is because it challenges a long-standing belief that we should continuously upsell customers. I am […]
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 […]
Are After Market Discounts, Returns & Free Goods killing your profits? Last week, I mentioned a pair of unsightly polyester plaid golfing pants and a pair of bright white shoes I received one year from my uncle Paul. He didn’t exactly have the best taste in clothes nor did he know me very […]
On The 12th Day of Christmas, My True Customer gave to me Well, it’s Christmas time and I thought we could use a version of this old song but with a twist for all the Ag Sales Professionals out there. By this afternoon, hopefully, we will have parked the pickup, read or deleted all the […]
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