Podcast – Greg Martinelli: Recent Episodes
Greg Martinelli
Says every farmer in today’s economy
If you call on farmers or livestock producers, then you hear that quote far too many times on your sales calls. So often that you believe it’s true. So often that you hang your head and struggle to make sales calls on current customers, let alone cold call on prospects. You just know that you will get a shotgun blast if you cold call on a farmer and try to sell them a $600,000 piece of equipment, or building!
If this is you:
- Don’t lose hope.
- Don’t hang your head.
- Most importantly, don’t buy into the easy story line that, “I can’t afford it”.
Instead, Listen in to hear 4 thoughts for building your confidence in what you do as a salesperson
**Ever been asked to complete a SWOT Analysis?
Ever wonder why? Or what you should do with it?**
SWOT stands for:
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Opportunities
- Threats
To complete one, you first pick a subject. This could be a product, a competitor, or most often, yourself. Then, in a four-box diagram, you identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to your subject.
A SWOT is a great way to evaluate anything in your business.
Listen in as we discuss how to actually use the information you put into your SWOT Analysis
3 ways to help stubborn customers
Farming is tough business. And it just got a lot tougher in the last 12 months.
**This means selling to farmers is also tough!
Many times when selling to a farmer, we are asking them to change the way they farm. We are often introducing new products, services, or technology to them.
While we are convinced it is a great solution to their problems, our stubborn customers may not.
What to do when your stubborn customer says,**
“Well, Dad farmed here successfully for 40 years, and he never used your products…..or used that technology…..or farmed that way.”
Click on the audio player below to listen to the podcast to learn 3 ways you can help stubborn customers step out of Dad’s shadow.
Selling to farmers in tough times.
Farming is always challenging, but right now it’s tougher than usual, with profitability under serious pressure for farmers.
This means those selling to farmers are feeling the strain too.
Recently, I had the privilege of collaborating with Margy Eckelkamp from Farm Journal. Together, we outlined seven actionable steps that ag sales professionals can take to support their producers, offering real solutions rather than just commiserating about the tough times.
Margy did an excellent job capturing our conversation in a concise article, which I think you’ll appreciate.
You can read it here: 7 Ways to Be a Lifeline to Farmers
Or click below to listen to my audio version of the article.
And what is your role as their salesperson when they do?
Your farmer customers are struggling to stay afloat right now, more than probably ever in their farming history. Unless they farmed through the 1980’s, right now is their most difficult time.
Your role as their salesperson or more importantly, their trusted advisor has never been more important.
Here are 4 thoughts on a farmer’s decision-making that can help you to help them:
- Avoiding bad decisions versus making good decisions:
- Safe vs Speculative decisions: “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM”
- Apply DISC to help your customers make better decisions
- Coaching your customer
Listen in as we cover the details of these four decision making concepts, so you can help your farmer customers make better decisions!
How many of them are you?
- A salesperson they like: work on this first. Before going after the sale. Start by getting to know them as a person and then know them as a business. Key = Be genuine
- A salesperson who also likes them: You certainly can sell to someone you don’t like and I’m sure you will over the span of your sales career. But life is much easier selling to someone you like. Key = Get to know them. The initial impression might just be a tough guy cover that your customer uses to block sales people. Be patient in getting past it and you might actually like them more than you think. There’s a popular adage that fits here: “Everyone is fighting an internal battle that we know nothing about”
- A salesperson that Listens & Pays Attention: Seek first to understand. Key = Ask open ended questions. Learn more than you are taught. Think “Why” but ask “How, What, Where, and When” questions. The word “Why” can make customers defensive. So use it sparingly.
- A salesperson who cares: You have to care about your customer. This one is normally not tough for a sales person to convey. However, it has to be perceived by the customer as real & authentic caring. Not just caring till you get the sale and then you’re out of there.
- A salesperson that keeps her word: “I’ll get that to you tomorrow” you tell a customer. Do it. Consider that comment a promise or an oath. If you can’t deliver on it, get back to the customer on why you can’t and when you can. This is critical as you expect and want them to do the same for you. When the farmer tells you “I need to talk it over with my son and I’ll let you know our decision to do business with you” – you fully expect and want them to actually get back to you. This is a two-way street and you need to live up to what you tell them.
- A salesperson who is an expert in his field: Great news if you are already an expert. If you aren’t, show your customer how you are working towards becoming the expert. In the early years, find those experts on your internal team and network them with your customers as much as you can. Find out who your customer thinks is the expert in your field and connect with them.
- A salesperson who is Honest, Ethical and Above Board: nothing to add here except that you just have to be all three of these. No matter how much your customer has these traits or not, you have to have them at all times. If one of your company’s past sales people was not the most honest and ethical person with customers, there are a couple steps to follow. First apologize for the customer’s bad experience with your company. Acknowledge that this person is no longer in the company (hopefully they aren’t). Show that you consistently possess the right qualities and over time the farmer will build trust in you.
- A salesperson who is “Real”: don’t try to be anything other than who you truly are. This doesn’t mean you don’t change or try new things. But your overall style needs to come from you. Try not to spew company policy, rules, or mandates all over your customers. Instead, explain it to them in real and easy terms. One helpful way to do this is explain why your company is implementing the policies.
- A salesperson who is humble: no matter how important you become internally in the company or how good you are doing with sales, be humble and treat them with respect
- A salesperson who is busy: not too busy to keep their word and follow up on their concerns, but farmers want to know that you have a viable and active business and other farmers are working with you.
- A salesperson who is helpful: this doesn’t mean you have to become their personal Wikipedia source of information or assistance, but a farmer will take flexible & accommodating over rigid & difficult any day. Warning: There’s a balance to the two concepts of “My way or the highway” versus “We’re everything to every customer”. Too much of the first way and you will chase customers off. Too much of the second way and you can fail miserably or go broke trying to serve everyone.
- You – If you work on the above 11 factors –
Good luck and let me know how it goes
Segmenting your way to Sales SuccessAre you calling on the right prospects in the right places? Are your salespeople calling on the right prospects in the right places?
You might want to double check with them as I find far too many of us in agribusiness are “Fishing in Swimming Pools” Lots of activity but no results.
Ask anyone of your salespeople to describe the ideal prospect. How close do their answers match between salespeople or between what you have in the business plan? After eight years of asking thousands of Ag salespeople this question, I still find too many who can’t clearly identify the customer segment they serve best.
Click on the podcast below to listen in as we discuss the importance of customer segmentation
Dairy Boots and getting “Robbed”
Every customer has a customer!
This is so important for salespeople to understand that I want to repeat it. Every customer has a customer!
If you sell to an agribusiness like a feed mill, grain elevator or Ag retailer, then that is obvious. However, you might be thinking that since you sell direct to farmers, this doesn’t apply to you. But think about a farm. It’s a business. Yes, they might be the end user of your fertilizer or tractor, but the consumer chain is just getting started.
Listen in as we discuss why it is so important to focus your sales efforts on your customer’s customer!
Do this fun and easy exercise to build one of your most important selling skills
A critical component to building connections with prospects and customers is the skill of empathy.
You might be wondering why I called empathy a skill and not some built in talent or ability. That’s because I think you can develop empathy by practicing it.
Knowing how important this skill is in sales; I violated the rule of Strength Finders. I set out on a mission to fix my weakness.
One exercise that I developed and practice frequently helped me in many ways.
Listen in as we learn how to develop this critical selling skill!
How to outsell your competition without the lowest prices, the best technology, or biggest marketing budget
In the 1975, Van McCoy released a hit song and dance called “Do the Hustle”. The lyrics are very simple and so is today’s message. The lyrics were literally, “Do the hustle”. The irony is that it’s also the secret to outselling your competition.
Your competition might have better prices, technology, or marketing. They may have more sales reps, stronger brand recognition, or more free giveaways. However, you have one thing you can always control….Your level of hustle.
Listen in as we go over the 5 ways to hustle harder for your customers and earn their business!
Channel the power of DISC styles
Bad news…down markets…increased costs…It’s all over the agribusiness headlines. Every day, the outlook for farmer profitability is reported as dismal and getting worse. When it comes to agribusiness company news, it doesn’t get any better. Sales and profits are down, generating work force reductions, mergers or location closures.
This may sound strange, but this is great news for you as an Ag sales professional. You now have a huge opportunity to grow your sales position as a resource to your customers and your company.
Listen in as we cover the four DISC styles and how they react to stress during tough times
How healthy is your prospect funnel?
Prospecting and cold calling are some of the more difficult selling skills for salespeople to master. I am often asked to help salespeople improve them.
My first question to them is always, “Tell me about your prospect funnel?”** And guess what? Many do not have one.
That becomes problem number one. You need to create a funnel that you continuously develop.
Listen in as I cover the 4 key components to maintaining a healthy prospect funnel!
How dysfunctional is your sales anatomy?
Last week, we covered the proper functional Anatomy of a Sale. Podcast version. Go back and read or listen to it first to gain a better understanding for this article.
Listen in as we discuss the 5 Systems that make up a healthy sales anatomy and the symptoms of dysfunction****
Let’s study the healthy anatomy first
Listen in as we discuss the healthy anatomy of a sale.
We will cover the Purpose and Key components of the 5 Systems that make up a healthy sales anatomy:
- The Preparation System
- The Discovery System
- The Performance System
- The Closing System
- The Future System
And the mental minefield you must navigate to use these truths
- Your time management skills are far more important than your selling skills!
Sure, selling skills are great and necessary to succeed. Asking good questions, how to present your products, closing, and dealing with objections. However, I see more people who fail in their time management skills than in their selling skills.
- Confidence: To convince customers to buy, you have to be convinced!
Listen in as we discuss all ten on today’s podcast
Have these discussions immediately, even if you think you know the answers
The answers to these seven questions are critical for your success as you join any organization. Originally, I titled this “7 questions every new salesperson should ask their manager”. But then I realized, the answers are critical to every new hire. No matter which part of a company you work in, the answers to these questions will help you be a better employee. You will have a much better picture of how your role fits into the bigger picture of serving the customer.
Another important point: These questions are more for your first day on the job; not during the interview. Some could be asked in the interview process, but most involve confidential information and you might be overstepping confidentiality boundaries a bit.
It’s also important to understand that your manager may not have great answers to all of these questions. That’s perfectly ok. If that happens and your manager is completely stumped by the question, turn the question into an open discussion. They might prompt her to seek the answers from her manager and generate further discussion with you later on.
Listen in as we cover all 7 questions you need to ask. They are also 7 questions you should be able to answer if you are a manager!
How to capture 2/3rds more sales in the same amount of time and effort
The strategy to grow my territory was always an exciting concept to work on. Over the years, I spent countless times trying to decide who, how, where, and when I would focus my most valuable resource: my time!
One of those concepts that amazed me is how often I passed up or missed 2 out of every 3 sales opportunities.
To explain, we need to agree on some common selling concepts.
Listen in as we discuss the concepts and the three sales you need to make with every customer you sell!
The 1 question you need to ask every farmer you sell to during an inflation
Remember that childhood challenge from the local bully? The one that sounded something like,
“Yeah? So, what are you going to do about it?”
Well, it might just be a great solution to the current environments you are running into when selling to farmers in today’s inflationary markets.
The bully asked this question because they felt you had no options. Meaning, they were going to say or do whatever they wanted. You were just going to have to deal with it. In many of those cases, you agreed that you had no choice and just let it go.
The farmers you sell to today feel that very same way.
Listen in as we discuss how to work with farmers and sell in agribusiness during an inflation!
3 areas to differentiate yourself as a salesperson
When your customers interact with you and your company, do they say, “Wo! Or WoW?”
Wo means, their experience is so bad, they exclaim, “Wo! That was bad.”
WoW means, their experience is so good, that they exclaim, “Wow, that was fast, easy, great!”
Listen in as we discuss how to set yourself apart from all the other salespeople in your market!
Use the Buddy Shirt Method to develop teamwork
Everyone knows or should know that we can all accomplish more through teamwork. And most of us in business actually practice fairly good teamwork behavior.
The Problem:
However, there is a group of employees in our business that historically struggles with teamwork. This group can sometimes even feel like they are above the rest of us. Feeling superior, they often practice poor teamwork skills and create resentment within the organization. By now, I’m sure you realize, I am referring to
Listen in as we discuss the teamwork issues you are experiencing and an effective method of improving the culture in your organization!
Listen better, gain more understanding of what your customer needs, and sell better
Every customer or prospect you meet is seeking one common goal. Do you know what it is? Is it money, bigger yields, lower input costs, or increased ROI? Maybe. But the one thing every one of them wants from you as their salesperson is to – Be understood.
Listen in to learn how “Looping” can help you be a better listener and sell better!
People buy from people they Trust
There is a well-known phrase in selling, “People buy from people they know and trust”.
The struggle that most of us face in selling is, “How do I build trust?”. If you are a new salesperson and don’t have established relationships, this can be difficult.
Listen in as Greg discusses the actions and Words that build Trust with your prospects and customers!
You Selling You to You
Your first customer is you and the first product you sell is YOU! Might be a tongue twister, but it is true.
This is not your standard run of the mill, “Fake it till you make it” message. I want you to understand that in the beginning and maybe even later in your career, you are going to harbor a lot of self-doubt in sales. Some of the reasons I feel this happens is due to the nature of the job. We have to know a lot about our products, our company, our customer’s industry, our competition’s products, the current market forces, and our suppliers. Secondly, no matter how good we are at all of that, most of our customers can leave us for our competition at a moment’s notice.
Listen in as we cover some of the methods you can use to build your sales confidence.
How to develop your own “Pain Relief” as an Ag Sales Professional
Ever thought about your daily selling struggles as pain? When you decide to go see that difficult customer or collect from that past due account, do you think of it as pain? If so, then we can jump right into pain relief. If not, then I really want you to think about your perception of these difficult selling activities. This may sound negative or counterproductive to being happy as a salesperson
Think about going out to fix a customer complaint. Late delivery or no delivery, product quality issues for the 10th time this week…. invoicing errors…always with the invoicing errors. We have all been through these situations and they are best described as pain. And our natural human tendency on pain is to avoid it. We just naturally move away from pain. As salespeople, we have one of two special ways to avoid pain: blame or tough guy exterior.
Listen in as we discuss the Do’s and Don’ts of dealing with pain when selling
- Closing rate
- # of cold calls to make a sale
- # appointments
Useful or useless? Make your selling data work for you
Sitting in my first official sales training session, one of our company’s top salespeople was giving all of us new salespeople a short training presentation.
One of his opening comments struck me as odd. Meaning, I didn’t think it was right, but I was too new and inexperienced to say anything.
He opened with, “Selling is a numbers game! If you want to grow your sales, you have to call on more customers”. He went on to explain, “Let’s say you want to sign up 5 new customers. And it takes 4 appointments to sign up one new customer. And it takes 6 cold calls to get an appointment. Then, you need to make 120 cold calls (5X6X4).”
Have you ever had someone explain selling this way? If not, you might someday. My question to you is, does this seem accurate and helpful or inaccurate and a nonsense connection to data?
Listen in as we discuss the two ways to make your data work for you
A Salesperson’s guide to teamwork
in a dysfunctional culture
Salespeople need to build internal teamwork even when other departments don’t want to.
It’s March and most of the agribusiness trade shows are winding down. Now, it’s time to get out into the market and follow up. In other words, deliver on all those promises.
Before you do, I want you to accomplish one more networking event. I want you to do an authentic round of internal networking. Too many of us that sell in agribusiness feel like we are on an island.
We are remote and seldom see our support teams: accounting, customer service, delivery, or production teams. However, we need them in today’s market.
Most of us are all for teamwork. And it’s a great thing when everyone gets along.
However, many of our teammates act like kings and queens of their own little silos. They don’t play nice with others
Listen in as we combine some of the best business practices to generate teamwork, and communication and serve our customers
See if you or your sales team can answer them
When preparing to do a sales training program, I always interview several people on the team.
During each of those interviews, I have a short window of time to discover as much as I can about them, their specific strengths/weaknesses, their specific market, and what they want to gain from the training program I’m putting together.
In that limited amount of time to interview, I found three questions to be most helpful. They are indicators of whether or not the salesperson knows what they are doing.
Listen in to learn those three questions and what their answers tell you about yourself or your sales team
2 requirements to win sales and influence customers with an aggressive approach
The best salespeople I know are very aggressive. I didn’t say they were pushy, salesy, or annoying to their customers. Quite the opposite. Their customers love them for their aggressive style.
Often, when I am brought in to work with a sales team, the manager is looking for a way to inspire or motivate their sales team to get more aggressive when selling. They want their team to “get out of the office more”, “be confident and call on more prospects”, and “check in with customers less and sell more”.
Listen in as we discuss how to understand aggressive selling versus pushy
Quit talking and let them test drive your products
The picture enclosed is what I drew up as the order of learning.
As someone who runs training programs every week, I needed some way to explain to my audiences the importance of putting their customers in the driver’s seat of their products.
Your customers are called on by an army of salespeople. They need some way to remember you when they go to buy your products. By moving your selling process up the Ladder of Learning, you increase your chances of being selected.
Listen in to hear more about how you can do this when selling in Ag
The subtle view that makes a world of difference If you answer yes to any of the below questions, then this article is specifically written for you. Also, if you are a sales manager and you answer yes for any of your salespeople, then this article is definitely written for you. Listen in as we […]
How a proactive HR resource can shape your company for success
People Spark joins us today for insight on how to use your HR (human resources) department to build the culture you want, retain more of your employees, and be more profitable. As the title says, HR is more than just paperwork. In many companies that Erin and Kristen work with, there is no HR department. Or possibly one person has been designated as the HR person. In this video/podcast episode, we shed some light on how to make better use of the HR department.
Timeline and Topics
- 00:30 – One tip for HR departments to be more effective in their role
- 03:04 – Key areas you help with; companies without an HR department and Ag manager development
- 08:02 – HR’s role in company culture
- 17:10 – Difficult or toxic employee when shaping company culture
- 21:05 – Working in circles….who is reporting to who? And Who is selling who?
- 24:01 – Retention issues and the cost of turnover
- 32:45 – The dilemma “Anybody is better than nobody” the difficulty of finding employees
- 34:03 – How to be 30X40 times more effective in your use of timely and positive feedback
- 38:30 – Discussion on using 360 feedback with your team
- 45:20 – Why did you start People Spark?
–
To Learn More and Connect with Erin and Kristen from People Spark
Website: PeopleSparkConsulting.com
Email: Kristen Ireland – kristen@peoplesparkconsulting.com
Erin Mies – erin@peoplesparkconsulting.com
For a more in-depth understanding of today’s topics,
Go to: https://mailchi.mp/d357231d3429/the-podcast-for-the-ag-sales-professional
Listen to the interview
What would You tell Yourself,
If you could go back to the beginning of your sales career?
Toward the end of many interviews, the interviewer will ask, “If you could go back to the beginning of your career, what would you say to yourself?”
I find this to be a very interesting part of the interview. This is often when you find the most important lessons that this person took from their career.
#1 Network more: Above all else, this would have helped me more than anything else. Network early, often, and always. Today’s version of ABC = always be connecting.
Listen in to hear more about networking and the other 6 messages you will find helpful in your sales career.
And 3 ways to turn them around Every day in the agribusiness world, it happens. Somewhere out there, good, hard-working salespeople are hustling, having success, doing all the right steps to grow their territory, and then it happens. A “bad” thing happens to them. Sometimes it’s their fault. Sometimes, they happen with plenty of warning. […]
It’s a primary role for every Ag Sales Professional The problem: Working with Ag sales teams over the last 30 years, there is one common theme that runs through every one of those teams. Most salespeople prefer to call on current customers at the expense of prospecting. It doesn’t matter if they are selling agronomy, […]
And 7 years of running a sales training service I know I don’t look old enough to have been in sales for 58 years, but I am. Soon, I will turn 58. And I have been in sales my whole life. So have you. And so has everyone you meet. The reason for this topic […]
“Does your product solve a producer’s problem?” Customers purchase solutions to their problems! No problem…..No Purchase Listen in as we discuss the importance of understanding the problem that your product solves. A recent Ag Tech webinar prompted this topic. This lesson could be helpful for you as your company launches new products or services.
Unique thoughts that can help you when selling on-farm Sounds crazy, but to achieve success, you have to put up with spending 99% of your time on tedious, monotonous, and boring tasks just to have that 1% of successful moments. Listen in as I go through this topic and the other two thoughts to help […]
Lessons learned from a fan poster Last weekend, I had the great pleasure of competing in another Ironman race. As always, thousands of fans lined the streets and cheered us on as we swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and finally capped it all off with a 26.2-mile run. Fans and the posters they hold […]
Just like an annual physical, we need to stop at some point and take some tests, check the numbers, evaluate the business, review our results, and set goals for the new year. This is part preventative and part proactive. Listen in as we go over some of the tests and analysis you should look at […]
“I sure hope another salesperson stops by today!” Listen in today to get help with one of your biggest dilemmas. One of the most common reasons for not prospecting or cold calling is that salespeople don’t want to be pushy, salesy. They don’t want to be a bother. As salespeople, we want to be wanted. […]
Interview with Pat Sullivan from AgVend
Listen in as we discuss Ag tech software and how it can make you more efficient so you can get on more farms and help more customers. Not to mention making sense of all the data you have so you can make better more informed decisions
Key Interview Times:
- 00:30 – “As an Ag salesperson or as an agribusiness, why should I care about Ag Tech software?”
- Data and better decision making
- Efficiency – “I’m so busy….I have no time…”
- The combination of data and head knowledge in your business
- 04:30 – What customer does AgVend serve and what do you do for them?
- 07:50 – Getting salespeople and other users to use the program
- They have to believe in the data
- Now they need to see how it makes them faster and better
- 12:40 – “Could you tell us about a customer example that you helped?”
- Recovered 70% of lost customers
- Less customer turnover
- Saved time – got on more sales calls
- 17:00 – Customer Adoption rate: “How do you help the agribusiness get their customers to use your program?”
- 21:01 – Future Plans
For more information on AgVend, go to:
AgVend.com
https://www.agvend.com/
How to navigate the deep waters of selling in agribusiness
Today, as you jump into your pickup and venture out into your sales territory, remember that there can be some treacherous waters out there. These waters are filled with dangerous reefs, strong currents, and menacing creatures. But they are also filled with opportunities, new worlds, and a lifetime of great experiences.
Hold on to the ship’s wheel as we take a few minutes to navigate through the 7 seas of selling in agribusiness
1. A Sea of Objections
2. A Sea of Sameness
3. A Sea of Mediocrity
4. A Sea of Information
5. A Sea of Opportunity
6. A Sea of Change
7. A Sea of Uncertainty
Listen in as we learn a few navigation tips to help you on your voyage!
How to differentiate from competitors and increase your selling success
One of my favorite training points with any audience is on the subject of differentiation.
It should be the first step in your sales career because it completes the most important phrase in your vocabulary:
“Customers hire me to _________ when they want (because) ___________.”
Listen in as I go over how to fill in the answers to this statement and why it’s so important to your selling skills
3 sales math equations to make you more successful when selling in agribusiness
Several years ago, I wrote the blog, “Sales Math”. The reason I wrote it was the lack of understanding that I saw in new and experienced salespeople alike. When coaching or training a salesperson, I explore their understanding of these basic equations.
As an addition to that original article, I thought we needed to explore a few more math equations to ramp up our skills as dedicated Ag Sales Professionals.
Listen in as we cover three additional math equations that help you run your territory as a small business!
3 Frequently Asked Questions I get as a sales trainer and coach
- “How do I close more sales?”
- “I am not good at Cold Calling. How can I get better at it?”
- “I know how to sell, but I just need more hours in the day.”
Listen in as we cover some highlights and tips
to help You with these common questions!
7 Benefits of going from a salesperson
to The Trusted Advisor in your market
- Salesperson: Anyone given the job or hired as a salesperson.
- A Professional Salesperson: This is a salesperson who knows how to sell and has a certain level of technical knowledge about their products and how they serve the customer.
- A Trusted Advisor: This person has entrenched themselves into their industry and developed their own personal brand.
Listen in as we discuss the 7 Benefits and the 7 Essential Selling Skills to becoming a Trusted Advisor in your market
*“Pain Relief” for the Ag Sales Professional*
As humans, we spend a lifetime avoiding pain as much as possible. Our two biggest motivators are seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.
In sales, when you pick up the keys to the company pickup truck and agree to go forth and sell, you are now going to experience some “Sales Pain”.
Sales pain includes fear, rejection, distrust, anger, humility, appearing incompetent or foolish, making a mistake, and Losing control.
Listen in as we cover three coping mechanisms you can use to apply your own “Pain Relief”
The most important topic to discuss when time is limited
Ever get on a farm call and get rushed into giving your sales “pitch” and then rushed off the farm? If you’ve been selling for a week, I’m sure that has already happened. One of the struggles most salespeople run into is over-presenting on their products. It’s their comfort zone. When they get rushed, the first thing they want to do is tell the prospective customer all about the good things about their products.
Listen in as we go over two methods of solving this common sales problem
The process of going through a short-term coaching program to propel you forward
Nancy Vander Byl from Core Cool Systems joins me in this week’s episode.
You may recognize her journey as she struggles to launch a new product line in a large geographic territory – North America!
Most dairy cattle buildings are cooled by standard fans, which are fairly inexpensive but only provide a limited amount of cooling. Her company has created an inclusive cooling system that involves moisture, humidity, and variable-speed fans.
When we met in late 2022, her challenges were:
- Launching a new product
- A new technology that is priced much higher than the traditional competition
- Reaching an entire continent as a solo salesperson
- Inventory challenges as most of us have dealt with during the last 3 years
- Brand recognition
Join me as we discuss her coaching journey we went on. Topics we worked through in her 3 months of coaching include:
- Go-to-Market Strategy
- Geographic focus – time efficiency with the highest ROI
- Brand recognition and marketing focus
- Features versus benefits and digging deeper to uncover the total cost of the traditional cooling system
For more information on Core Cool Systems or to contact Nancy:
For www.CoreCoolSystems.com or Nancy@CoreCoolSystems.com
Or Listen to the PODCAST:
The most important selling skill for the Ag Sales Professional
“How are you evaluated?” Those four simple words turned out to be the most important learning moment with our largest customer. It changed the way we presented products and how we thought about the products & services we offered.
Selfishly, I love this part of sales training. First, it’s the biggest transformation in a salesperson’s selling skills. Previously, they viewed the part of asking their customers questions as a nuisance to get through so they could present all the great things about their products.
After this part of the training workshop, they now view the discovery part of selling as the most important.
Listen in as we cover the Entry Level, the Next Level, and the High-Value level of sales questions
9 Positive affirmations to build your confidence
Confidence is one of those intangible emotions in selling. When you have it, you know it. Your customer knows it.
Likewise, when you are not confident, you create a sense of uncertainty. Your customer also senses it. That moment of doubt causes customers to second guess the choice to buy from you. But how do we develop confidence and why is it so important?
Listen in as I cover 9 positive affirmations designed for the Ag Sales Professional
- I am a large part of the overall value my company offers
- …..
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The importance of putting your customer on your company org chart
Do you have a company org chart for your company? If so, does it look like this?
Listen in as we discuss how the Ag Sales Professional can create a new and improved Org chart to increase sales and ultimately become a Trusted Advisor!
Pre-Sell the Sale
Got a tough sale coming up? Maybe a price increase? Maybe your company is dropping one of your favored product lines and you are faced with switching your customers to a different product. Maybe your marketing department just sent you the new promotional plan for the quarter?
These are all real-life scenarios that we face as salespeople.
Listen in as we discuss one technique for handling these situations
And why it’s so important you ask it on every sales call
“What’s Next?”
There it is. I gave it to you right up front. Ever see those clickbait web posts that make you weed through mountains of ads to get to the point? Not this article.
It’s so easy to ask and such a powerful question. In sales training workshops, we spend extensive time training and practicing how to ask good sales questions. It’s one of the most important skills for a salesperson. Often, attendees are hesitant to ask some of the tougher questions, ones that feel like they might be prying too deep into the producer’s business.
So, we design some easy questions for them to keep communication flowing.
“What’s next?” is one of those questions.
Part 2: Digging into two over-used sales phrases you should stop believing now!
Please listen through the entire article before reacting to the title. While it may sound contrary to everything sales experts have told you, I want to caution you that… it kind of is. The purpose of this podcast is to help salespeople make sense of an old sales adage.
Last time, we covered the old sales adage, “We don’t take No for an answer”. Podcast version Today, I’m taking aim at another common adage that is very difficult for salespeople to understand, “It’s never about price”.
Listen in as we discuss how to use this concept and understand it from a salesperson’s perspective
Digging into two overused sales phrases you should stop believing now!
Recently, I have seen repetitive social media posts regarding two sales phrases that everyone just keeps posting, reposting, and must believe. The purpose of this article is to shed some real light on the damage those sayings do to a salesperson’s motivation.
The first is, “We don’t take No for an answer”. The idea is that we don’t end our sales call just because the customer tells us they don’t want to buy from us. We are supposed to persist through the “No” until we mentally wrestle the customer into submission and they say “Yes”.
Listen in as I examine how this over-used phrase is really hurting your motivation or your sales team’s motivation and more importantly, how to use these old sales adages in real-life selling!
When over-serving customers becomes a nightmare,
it’s everyone’s problem
You might find it hard to believe a salesperson has anything bad to say about customer service that goes above and beyond the call of duty. But I am. And here’s why.
We’ve all heard the stories of a restaurant waiter that had a customer order a Coke but they only sold Pepsi products. So, he runs down the street and buys one at a nearby store to provide ultimate customer service. Or we hear about the cab driver who turns off his meter and drives an elderly passenger all over town including grocery shopping, picking up the tab, and even carrying her groceries into her home.
You’re probably asking, “What’s the problem, Greg? These are true workplace heroes.”
Not so fast.
Listen in as we talk about a very big customer service problem…Same-Day orders. As salespeople and sales managers, we have to lead the charge at solving this problem.
The 2 data points you must have to plan your schedule
The wild, wild west vs. assigned territory strategy
Too many times in the last 7 years of training sales teams, I have run into the same sales productivity problems. Thought the discussion might help you on your sales productivity journey. As I call it, the “never-ending journey” because no one can tell you exactly how to do it. You have to take the concepts and apply them to your local situation. I hope these tips help.
Listen in as we cover the Sales Productivity exercises you need to do with your sales team or your sales manager.
Tis the season for following up
As I write this, it’s four days before Christmas. You might think I’m going to recommend that you relax, or maybe even rejoice. Not today!
Right now, I want you to Follow up.
*Listen in as we cover the Key Concepts and the 3 Levels of follow-up intensity…….*
*and Listen all the way to the end for an additional or 4th level of follow-up.*
Selling ~~Myself~~ Yourself
Remember when we had a dozen or more candidates per open territory? Today, it’s more likely that you have a dozen openings per candidate. It’s too expensive, time-consuming, and frustrating for your customers to turn over your sales team. Here’s a very important component to solving that problem in your business.
This podcast is for those of you that are looking to develop your sales team or develop your own selling skills. Especially if you are trying to solve these problems with you or your team:
Problems I enjoy solving through training and coaching:
- Cold Calling Reluctance/Prospecting Skills
- Closing Skills
- Objection Handling (most often from pricing)
- DISC assessments and how to use them to sell.
- Differentiating themselves in the market so they can confidently sell themselves and get paid what they are worth.
- Not digging deep enough in the Discovery phase, which doesn’t allow them to close or overcome objections.
- Lack of follow-up skills…they give out the price quote and then think it’s over.
- Overall disorganization leading to dropping the ball, lack of follow-up, and no structure in their approach to the market.
If any of these sound familiar, then listen in as I work through the components of working through a customized sales training and development program for you or your sales team.
As mentioned, I would like to have a conversation with you about your selling skills development or your sales team’s development. Here are the ways to reach me:
Schedule a zoom call: https://calendly.com/gregmartinelli/30min?month=2022-12
Ph: (608) 751-6971
Email greg@gregmartinelli.net
Web: www.gregmartinelli.net
Do you know how to calculate what you are worth to your customers?
Most salespeople don’t. Listen in as I interview Dale Furtwengler to help you figure it out.
In his career as a CFO and 30+ years consulting with business owners and sales teams, Dale has a clear message on how you can get very clear on what you are worth to your customers
Much of your struggle is due to confidence. Learning how to come up with real numbers is critical for you to gain true confidence in what you should be charging.
Interview Highlights:
- 4:30 – If you are better than your competition, then why do you have to be the same or lower price than them?
- 7:10 – The 5-step process you need to go through to charge what you are worth
- 17:35 – Bundling, pricing…..Selling Down versus Selling Up. Which is right?
- 24:20 – The connection between a Price Buyer being a Price Seller. Is there a link between your selling style and your buying style?
For more information or to contact Dale Furtwengler:
- Email: Dale@Furtwengler.com
- Web: https://teachingconfidence.com/
- Phone: 314-707-3771
- His book. “Pricing for Profit” is available on Amazon
3 and a half techniques to jumpstart you back into the selling mode after the holidays
The holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas pose a challenge to many salespeople.
Finally, it’s now the next working day after the holidays. You’re groggy, trying to get a handle on what happened over the downtime of the last few days, and which customers need help to get back to “business as usual”.
Listen in to learn how you can get yourself out of the post holiday hangover quicker
3 and a half techniques to jumpstart you back into the selling mode after the holidays
The holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas pose a challenge to many salespeople. Our sales productivity drops as the festivities ramp up.
First, we spend weeks building up to them. We make sure orders are entered according to production shutdowns. We make sure customers understand the change in our delivery schedules. We go to great lengths to make sure our customers are taken care of.
Next, we try to enjoy the holiday as everyone else does. Hopefully, without too many customer emergencies. It’s a darker and colder time of the year when the weather can throw a wrench into any of our plans. Stress levels rise despite it being the most wonderful time of the year. A light snowfall is only uplifting if you don’t have to drive 3 hours on an interstate to deliver last-minute orders.
Finally, it’s now the next working day after the holidays. You’re groggy, trying to get a handle on what happened over the downtime of the last few days, which customers need help to get back to “business as usual”.
If you’re in an office, all your co-workers are sharing their great family time experience. Meanwhile, you are trying to figure out your next step in selling. Should it be paperwork and emails, cold calling and prospecting, or connecting with your current customers? With so many choices, you are now experiencing the Holiday Hangover.
Here are three ways to jumpstart yourself out of a holiday hangover:
- Physically get up right now, jump in your vehicle, and go see your closest customer. Do this unannounced if necessary. But get moving now. If you have nothing to talk with them about from a sales standpoint, then let them know you are “doing the rounds” after all the chaos of the holidays.
- If you can’t do step one, then pick up the phone and call two customers and two prospects. The purpose of these calls is primarily to get you right back into the working mode, to get you out of your hangover.
- Get up, grab your coat if needed, and walk through your location. Meet and have a quick chat with each department you can. I like to start with customer service or the order entry team. They will often be the first to know what’s going on with customers. You can make sure there aren’t any fires to put out. Next, head out into the production area if you have one in your location. I like to start from the finished goods and warehouse/distribution area and work my way back through the production process. Are inventories looking normal? Are trucks rolling? Are customers picking up getting taken care of, etc.? Head back into the office and run by accounting and marketing.
The key to getting this done is brevity. Move fast. You are looking for big issues and getting your work mindset going. Let people know you are doing the rounds and want to make sure they don’t need anything from you. You are simply making sure all systems are back up and running. The other main reason for brevity is to avoid over-socializing during this hangover. If you slow down during these visits, you are going to get stuck in the lengthy discussion about everyone’s holiday celebration. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a balance to social visits or discussions about how the holidays went, how the football game turned out, and which relative is annoying them. However, on this day, with your holiday hangover stressing you out, the purpose of these activities is to jumpstart your work and selling mind.
Be courteous and respectful, but try to minimize these tangent stories that will only slow you down and make your hangover worse. Spending 5 minutes longer with each person you meet to discuss how the refs called the game wrong or how awesome grandma’s cranberry sauce tasted is going to kill your productivity at a time when it’s already slower than usual. And really? Cranberry sauce? How good can it be? It’s cranberries put through a blender.
Good luck and I hope these tips help you this week and in the upcoming weeks through December and January!
Here’s the half technique: Quit using the excuse that, “It’s the holidays. Customers don’t want to see me”. First, it’s a very negative self-image comment to tell yourself. What you do should be important to your customers all the time. Sure, I understand there are times to back away, especially in the seasonality of agriculture. But you are important.
Secondly, customers don’t want you to make a normal sales call. They want to help them navigate the holidays as well. Remember, they are going through the same hangover experience as you are.
Lastly, if you want to use that excuse for not going out to make sales calls, I can get you down to about 5 days a year when it’s just the right time to make sales calls. Between, holidays, harvest, planting, meeting with their bankers, vacation season, bad weather, good weather, spraying, etc. there is almost never a perfect time when they are just sitting around waiting for you to show up. So, go ahead and make today the best day to go see them.
And if you want to make up a story in your head to feel better, tell yourself, “They are going to be so happy I stopped by, they just don’t know it yet!” It works for me.
Real ways to use mental strength to be a better salesperson and enjoy it Listen in or watch this interview. With over 35 years of selling experience, Joy Rains focuses on one of the greatest tools a salesperson can use to improve their sales and get more from their career: the mind Way before you […]
Now, We have our own holidays to celebrate! Recently, I saw a list of nationally “recognized days”. It was in the thousands and almost none of them involved the one skill that every person needs in their life! Selling. We are going to fix that today. It’s long overdue for professional salespeople to have their […]
The #1 problem with the explosion of CRM programs and how you can avoid it from day one The agribusiness industry has been inundated with CRM programs. The Problem: It starts early in the selling process. When the CRM salesperson calls on a company, they start at the highest level: CEO, CFO, or VP of […]
Big moments in training with a lifetime impact on your results In the last six weeks, I have been in front of five different audiences in the US and Canada. I’d like to share a common experience that has occurred in all five of those and how it can help you or your sales team. As […]
5 Ways to sell to the reluctant customer Just about every industry is affected by new technology. We are all trying to become faster, better, and always with an eye on increasing the ROI for our customers. However, as salespeople, we struggle to get our customers to adopt this new technology. Listen in as I walk […]
and learning when to choose the correct one Working around sales organizations every day as a sales trainer and coach gives me a chance to compare and contrast great salespeople versus their peers. While there are dozens of key factors in achieving high results, these three skills seem to always come through on high-performing salespeople, […]
“I have no problem selling, I just struggle with making cold calls” “How do I start the conversation?” “I know the customer doesn’t want to see another salesperson stopping” If these sound like you or your sales team, then you are in the right place. I hear these statements in some form with every sales […]
3 Ways to focus your selling process on Outcomes As salespeople, one of our greatest fears is to appear pushy or annoying to our customers. Prior to sales training workshops, I spend a lot of time interviewing the salespeople that will attend. After many years of doing this, one problem seems to come through in […]
Quick tips to get organized, stand out from the competition, and sell more! Talk Less to Sell More: Who’s talking more in the sales process? You or the customer? Listen in as I explain all 7 of the tips that you can implement today to improve your sales results
The importance of succession planning for farm families and how you might play a helpful role for your customers Andy “Caygeon” Junkin plays a unique role in the agribusiness world. Listen in as he shares his own story of farm succession planning. And how he came to launch his own service Stubborn.Farm in an effort […]
Today we discuss: The importance of your self confidence to Sell yourself first: Overcoming the fear of rejection when we realize that every salesperson meets rejection. The importance of connecting with people first, then sell them Her new book, “From Zero to Sales Hero” Her upcoming retreat: “The Best Version of You” Her Triple-A Formula: […]
4 critical components when struggling in sales After riding with and coaching hundreds of salespeople over the past 30 years and watching my own behavior, I try to come up with great ways for busy salespeople to improve their selling skills. After running into the same scenario time after time, I try to bring those […]
The Why’s Guy Method to Better Selling For those of us that remember being called a “Wise Guy”, we know it’s not really a good thing. In slang, it meant you were over-confident, conceited, kind of a know-it-all. In the Three Stooges episode, it was the comment right before Moe would hit Curly. In mafia […]
3 Ways to continuously improve your selling success The old saying is, “Don’t mess with success”. Another version of that is, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”. This might not be the best advice for a sales territory! Listen in to get a different perspective on why you should be messing with your success…..at […]
3 Tips for those that sell complicated or invisible products Do you sell a highly technical product? One that is difficult to explain? Like a biological soil product, a pre-biotic for dairy cattle, or option strategies for grain marketing. Do you sell an invisible product? Like yeast, probiotics, soil additives, or micro-nutrients. Do you sell […]
That’s why your customers need you now more than ever before To prove it to a recent group, I took my weekly agribusiness newspaper and counted up every single article into three categories: Negative, Positive, or Neutral. The count was 13 negative articles, 5 neutral articles, and 3 positive articles. The problem for Salespeople in […]
Become a Big Fish in a Small Pond The Problem: You struggle to sell your branded products because… You’re not the brand leader: In most markets, there is one company that has spent more time, resources, and money to become the brand leader. They rightfully deserve brand recognition. However, it’s tough to sell into this […]
And the importance of hyper-availability Differentiating yourself in a commoditized world: In sales training workshops, there is a time when we share what is working in our selling process. In one recent workshop, one of the higher performers in the group shared his secret, “I answer my phone”. At first, the group laughed as it […]
Watch or Listen in as Belinda Harter from the Women in Agribusiness Summit joins me to discuss this great opportunity for professional development This September in Dallas, the three-day Women in Agribusiness Summit has a long list of development and networking opportunities. Keynotes from top Agribusiness leaders Breakout Sessions Scholarship Program The Demeter Awards Special […]
Set the bar low and blow your goals out of the water Before you think I’m crazy in my goal-setting recommendations, please read or listen all the way through. It may sound like I am against goal setting. Or that I want you to set low standards of achievement. Quite the contrary. I am a […]
10 Takeaways from the J.L. Farmakis Inc. 2022 Farmer Speaks Survey I am always looking for ways to understand customer decision-making processes. This information is critical when selling to someone. You must know what factors are influencing their decisions. Knowing them allows a salesperson to sell on purpose versus just out there spreading the good […]
Sales Innovation – PODCAST Borrowing from everywhere to improve your selling skills Innovation is not typically associated with the sales team. We are most often depicted as foot soldiers in the war to get in front of customers and get them to buy. The wild creativity is left up to marketing, R&D, engineers, or maybe […]
FYI: It might be a kid from the suburbs Originally published in the Wisconsin Agribusiness Assoc Quarterly: https://issuu.com/joanviney/docs/22_summerlo/30 In the Fall of 1982, my high school guidance counselor scheduled an appointment with me to discuss my college planning. I informed him that I wanted to pursue an Ag degree. His laugh was completely involuntary and […]
Lessons from walking the World Pork Expo Walking through the World Pork Expo in Des Moines last week, I couldn’t help but wonder how a swine producer makes their decisions on product lines. I felt this same way as I walked through the Info Ag Conference in St. Louis last year. Aisle after aisle of […]
An interview with Aly Robins on Ag selling-marketing techniques. Aly and I discuss the importance of having: A quality website, A clear message, and The sales & marketing team connection to build your brand in the marketplace. Aly is launching her group coaching/mentoring The Rural Business Accelerator Starting next Wednesday, June 1st. Sign up now […]
An interview with Jim Miller on selling success. Jim and I combine to bring you 50 years of advice on selling in agribusiness! Watch the Video or Listen to the Podcast Video and Audio timeline on our topics: 1:12 – The three most important skills for an Ag seller today 9:27 – The importance of […]
Click on the audio bar below to listen to our conversation If you struggle with cold calling, prospecting, and how to get away from a customer’s snap judgment of you as “just another salesperson”, then you will enjoy this interview! Over the years of working with thousands of salespeople and surveying hundreds of agribusiness managers, […]
A Salesperson’s internal war that rages every day and 3 ways to win each battle Mental Warfare I describe it as a battle or a war because that is exactly what it feels like as salespeople venture out into their territory. We go from calling on a current customer who loves us and gives us […]
The higher you climb, the lower the objections Over the last six years of blogging and podcasting, personal brand building has been the subject over a dozen times. The importance can’t be stressed enough. You either climb the brand ladder or remain stuck on a rung you might not like. The higher you go, the […]
Listen in this week as James Hulsey from Taranis joins me on the podcast. James has been involved in the agribusiness industry for many years across several product lines and from Texas to the Eastern corn belt and into Kansas & Missouri. We talk all about his journey in sales and helping Ag Retailers do […]
Use Persistence, Empathy, and Genuine Optimism We’ve all heard someone in a meeting say, “We need to double down on our efforts to get the job done”. Whenever I hear this, it always makes me think, “What if we triple down or quadruple down? Why just double?” Selling is tough today. As always, customers have […]
You have to be remembered to sell Your customers are swamped. They are busy, super busy! If they fail to learn about you and your products, they will certainly not remember you when deciding who to buy from. If they currently get a similar product from your competitor, they are heavily inclined to just keep […]
Just remember how to do the tough stuff Listen in as we enjoy today’s selling environment, but keep one eye on the future. It’s often said that tought times don’t last. If so, neither do good times. Be ready to shift your selling skills into action when the change happens.
The 10 people at your funeral …. The Arsonist in your life…and The importance of Sales Gratitude
The missing ingredient in your selling process Critical Selling Skill topic in the last 60 days Join me as I walk through one of the most important steps in the selling process. For such a small step, it has such a huge impact (pun intended) on your results.
Selling through FEAR
And how to manage fear when it shows up
Consider this a sort of think tank discussion on fear management ideas. We will discuss four articles written in the last several years on managing and conquering your fears when selling.
Join me via podcast or video as Carey Portell joins the discussion today:
Carey is a Farmer, Speaker, Author and has a great message on Farming with Disabilities. Listen in as Carey describes her tragedy that has taken so much, yet gave her even more in life.
- Today we discuss:
- Farming with Disabilities and regaining your purpose in life
- Her new book, “Facing Life Head On”
- Safety-Farm Safety
- Missouri AgrAbility
- AgriSafe
- Carey’s Primary Speaking Focus:
- To Farmers: You can continue to farm even with your disabilities. There are resources and people willing to help. You don’t need to quit farming nor go it alone.
- To Agribusiness Professionals: Bring this message to your customers and help those that might need assistance in getting back to farming.
You can reach Carey at https://careyportell.com/
Also recorded as a PODCAST:
How do I get better at Closing?
How do I get better at Closing?
Get better at Opening
Listen in as we discuss the primary focus area for getting better at closing sales…a stronger open…..and the 4 methods of getting better at opening.
Listen in as we discuss the balance needed between your Copy versus Content when selling!
Your customers desperately want this from you, but never tell you
We started this year off with a very specific focus. I went back over my 30 years of working in and around salespeople to come up with the absolute top focus areas that work. Not just once in a while, but work all the time, every time. They may seem like the basics, and they are. However, your competition is not doing them and your customers are desperately wanting you to implement them. The problem is that customers will never tell you that’s what they want.
Listen in to hear how you can take the first step on the three most important focus areas of your sales approach!
Customized and Combined Development
Grow your super strengths of Team Selling and
Customer Focused Skills to become a Trusted Advisor
Today, we cover part three in our three-part series. Ten, twenty or thirty years ago, our job as a salesperson was to go to the farm and inform customers about our products. We were the primary source of information. Not so much in today’s agribusiness environment.
Listen in as we learn Why, How and What Customized and Combined Development is. Including the 5 Components and 4 Benefits!
Go from price, product and feature dumping in the friend zone to Building your personal brand as THE Trusted Advisor in your market
Today, we cover part two in our three-part series.
Listen in to learn:
7 Components of becoming a Trusted Advisor
and
7 Benefits from using the Trusted Advisor selling approach to your career
If this podcast helped you on your journey to being more effective in your selling, I ask you to share it with those who might also benefit from it.
2022 Focus Area #1
Bring All your resources to the sale As the Sales Professional, You are the Quarterback of your company’s resources
Think about your own buying experiences. Who would you rather do business with? One single salesperson who only gives you their knowledge and skills? Or, a salesperson who brings a team of experts with her to the sale? For me and every customer I have worked with, we prefer to work with a team of experts. We prefer to work with a supplier who can bring us more products, more services, and more connections in the industry.
The lone ranger approach to selling is a tough way to go in today’s market.
Listen in to learn the 4 steps and 5 benefits of …Bringing all your resources to the sale!
7 Benefits of training all your teams in one workshop Agronomy – Feed – Energy – Grain
Sales – Marketing – Customer Service
Equipment – Parts – Service – Precision Ag
Dairy – Beef – Swine – Retail
- Does your agronomy team connect with your feed team?
- Does your energy team know who the feed salespeople are?
- In the last 30 days, has any one of your salespeople reached out to another department and referred a sales lead?
If you answered “No” to any or all of those questions, trust me, you are not alone. This scenario is too frequent in almost every company. A combined sales training workshop is a great way to tear down some departmental silos and establish a culture of collaboration.
Listen in to learn the benefits of building a Culture of Collaboration!
8 ways to get more from trade shows
4 Ways to get more from attending AND 4 Ways to get more from working a booth Originally published in Wisconsin Agribusiness Quarterly Magazine
Listen in to learn 8 ways to make the most of your next trade show!
Build a Scalable Territory 4 ways to drive less miles, call on more customers and be a more effective salesperson It sounds too good to be true, but every salesperson can drive less miles, call on more customers, AND be a more effective salesperson by building a scalable territory.
Listen in to learn 4 requirements to building a Scalable Territory!
Sales Confidence 3 Ways to Develop the Courage to Sell
When meeting with a sales manager, they often tell me they want their salespeople to be more Confident. They know that if their team is more confident, they will sell more and run into less resistance when calling on customers. I couldn’t agree more.
However, the struggle is that confidence it is an outcome. It’s an emotion. You can’t tell someone to be confident and have it stick.
In highly competitive markets like agribusiness, salespeople are hit with a lot of resistance (mostly price resistance). They need a deep self-driven confidence that they help their customers. This comes from the knowledge that they bring great solutions to their customer’s problems.
Great! So how do we gain that confidence?
Listen in to learn 3 ways to develop the Courage to Sell!
The Complacent Prospect “Thanks, but I’m happy with my current supplier” During most training workshops, we eventually get onto the subject of prospecting and cold calling. Besides the fear of cold calling, one of the most common struggles I hear from salespeople is all about the “Complacent Prospect”. By complacent, I mean they are happy with their current supplier and don’t want to make any changes.
It might sound like: “I’m happy where I’m at. I don’t think I’m going to make any changes.”
These comments from a prospect used to strike fear in my heart. It always felt like a dead end.
Listen in to learn a great way to react to the Complacent Prospect ! If this podcast helped you on your journey to being more effective in your selling, I ask you to share it with those who might also benefit from it.
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As a final request, take a look at the newest book on the market written specifically for you!
A Season for Sales: Your Guide to Ag Sales Success
The only book written specifically for the Ag Sales Professional, by an Ag Sales Professional!