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 the sales team.  Yes, the people ..read more

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.  Not just understand farming or crop/livestock farming.  Not just farming in this area.  But their specific farming circumstances on their farm, with their financial situation, and their family/business dynamics. And there ..read more

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 ..read more

People buy from people they trust There is a well-known phrase in selling, “People buy from people they know and trust”.  A great quote and certainly true.  Customers prefer to do business with salespeople and businesses 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.  The most common ways to bolster trust with a customer are actions, such as: Do what you say you will do.  Be honest, sincere, and authentic Care Promptly de ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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.  However, you can’t really fake your way out of feeling the pain.  You might try to ignore it or de ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

A ..read more