When times are tough is when farmers need their trusted advisers the most, says Greg Martinelli. For the past eight years, he’s coached ag sales professionals specifically in the retail/inputs category.
“When I worked in corporate ag, there was a moment when this idea hit me like a ton of bricks,” Martinelli says. “I was visiting a Midwest row crop farmer in 2011, when corn was $6 and breakeven costs were close to $3.50. He told me, ‘I don’t need you now, I needed you when corn was $3.50.’”
Martinelli says there are opportunities to bring value in this current economic environment. To help refocus your efforts in sales and marketing, he offers seven steps to find success with customers despite the tough economic times of the cycle.
1. Don’t jump into the quick sand with them.
“Farmers love to complain and commiserate about how hard it is. And as sales people we love to commiserate with them on how you understand the farmer’s business,” Martinelli says. “But if you do that, you aren’t doing anything different than what they hear at the coffee shop.”
He equates reiterating the negativity as not throwing them a lifeline but rather jumping into the quicksand with them.
“Farmers are looking for someone with a solution. You show up on the farm with all of your company tools and resources and instead of using them to help, you jump into the quicksand with them. This is where a trusted advisor can set themselves apart,” he says.
2. Keep them moving.
With the magnitude and quantity of factors farmers consider, they can fall victim to analysis paralysis.
“Farmers are seeking ideas but more so clear answers,” Martinelli says “This is where you can—not in a gossipy way—share your insights from other farms. Every day all day you’re on farms. You can share in a professional way what you are seeing and what you are learning.”
This combination of experience and credibility can serve the purpose to keep farmers considering new ideas as well as help prevent someone from going too far or all-in on a risky choice.
3. Provide perspective.
“If you’re lucky enough to be in the middle or late in your career, you’ve gone through downturns before,” Martinelli says. “That means you know things change, and there will be an upturn.”
He cautions sales people from encouraging negativity and rather engaging in a positive way.
“You have to acknowledge what is going on, because the financial pain is real,” he says. “Often as salespeople we can seem like we’re acting like a psychiatrist, and the opportunity is to not let the negativity persist any more in the conversation than it needs to.”
4. Shed light.
“There are places farmers aren’t looking where there are opportunities for you to help them uncover,” Martinelli says.
As an illustrative example, he talks about crop marketing.
“This is a weak area across crop production because there are no right or wrong answers, and the skills required usually mean the oldest person on the farm does the work,” he says. “The thing to do is admit you don’t have the answers, but ask what they are doing with their marketing plan.”
He says many of those conversations unveiled farmers with even 30 years of experience didn’t understand crop insurance, which provided another valuable exploration of additional services.
5. Show them a path.
“Instead of selling an idea, explain why a change of approach is an asset to their business,” he says.
One common trap is to talk broadly about precision agriculture and not detail exactly what product and service fit an individual field.
6. Put your customer on your org chart.
While this may sound a bit off the wall, Martinelli advocates identifying where the customer fits into your business by the simple task of putting them on your company’s organizational chart.
“We all need an org chart to know who manages who, but if you really want to start the engines of the thought process, ask where on your org chart is your customer. Where would you put them.”
This helps illustrate how marketing, accounting and other teams are taking into account what customers are trying to accomplish.
“If things are changing, and times get tough for the customer, it’ll get tough on your agribusiness. How are we organizing around the customer?” he says.
7. Let them know they aren’t completely alone.
“At first, it may not be well received or completely understood that everyone is experiencing this downturn,” Martinelli says. “Farming and making decisions can be a lonely business for our customers. As their trusted adviser, this can be your chance to provide support. Let them know they are not alone in their struggles.”
He says when customers are venting, don’t interrupt them, but rather when they are done ask them with all of the negatively for how things are, what are they going to do different.
With the seven steps, Martinelli coaches advisers to take their three biggest customers, and list the steps they will do in 30, 60 and 90 days.
“Having a plan is certainly better than just showing up on the farm and kicking tires,” he says.
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