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'Sales Problem of the Month'

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'Sales Problem of the Month'

Hello!

Recently, I have been having conversations with various dealers about issues they were struggling with. One conversation we discussed the changes that he implemented in his dealership. John had a small dealership that sold and serviced “specialized” farm machinery. With ever an ever growing client base, and overall changes in the industry John and his wife were faced with more problems than solutions as one of his seasoned sales people had left also. Maintaining leads, closing deals and organizing clients became more and more difficult to manage alongside the newest problem, needing to hire a new salesperson.
Like many other dealers, traditional methods like whiteboards, spreadsheets and personal records was a easy way to keep track of the dealerships operations.
At this point he needed to evaluate – stay the same or adapt.

How are things organized at your dealership?

Is analogue (non-electronic), a thing of the past?

Where do you think analogue applications should apply in the sales industry, or should it still be used at all?

Is what you are doing considered to be analogue, or are you seeking to change to become digital?

Is the process you are using working or does it need to change?

We had quite a few discussions on what a sales department and its processes should be. I challenged John to listen to two audio books that I love. They provide a tonne of insight and a broad scope of potential solutions to his problems.

                  'Good to Great'
                         by Jim Collins

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

'The Goal: The Process of Ongoing Improvement'
by Eliyahu M Goldratt and Jeff Cox

Thank-you for Participating!!!

Dave Gross
President | CEO

InternationalAgUniversity™

Problem of the Month Submissions

For those new to the "Sales Problem of the Month" , let me explain a little. Each month we'll be posting a problem. We hope that participants will think outside the box and propose the best solution. Top answers will be published to our new website where managers and sales professionals all over the world can comment and discuss options.

Please submit your response via the button below; I look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to connect with me for more information or if you have a specific sales question

Remember, there are no right or wrong answers to these questions. These questions are meant to challenge your sales knowledge and allow you to exercise what you have learned in a professional sales setting and receive feedback. We appreciate everyone taking the time to participate in these problems and very much look forward to your submissions.

Email me at d.gross@iau.ag or use the links below to connect with me.

SUBMIT YOUR ANSWER TO OUR EXPERT

| CLICK TO VISIT OUR NEW BLOG PAGE |

Here you can find all of our most recent Sales Problems and the top answers we received from sales professionals all over the world. Feel free to leave a comment or reply to other comments. We hope to create a global network of sales teams, where everyone can learn new ideas and concepts to help them in their sales operations.

Be S.M.A.R.T

Use the SMART mentality when setting goals, prospecting new clients and making changes to your sales process.

S- Specific: ensuring the scope of activities are narrow, focused

M- Measurable: activities and efforts are done so in a way that performance outcomes are quantifiable

A- Attainable: efforts don't deviate from companies core competencies

R- Realistic: reaching the desired outcome of your efforts is within your sales processes means to achieve them; avoid ambiguity

T- Timely: activities and new objectives can be executed in a time efficient manner

These become especially important when developing your strategic objectives, especially when a sales team is experimenting with different ways to reach new clients, manage existing clients and branching into different markets.

Dave's Interesting Facts of the Month

Used Value and Crop Yield Location Congruence
Likely an oversight by strategists in the Ag Industry; stats recorded show a positive trend in the value of used farm equipment sold and crop yields for the area. Knowing your clients operations crop yield information, could provide you with useful insight into their buying behavior.

Illegal Workers = Cheaper Produce in Stores
With our governments cracking down on the illegal immigrant issues in North America, alongside overall price increases for crop inputs like fertilizer and decreases in output prices. Farm operations are beginning to lose leverage to assets that helped costs stay down. Immigrant workers on average make approximately $5000 less annual. Spread over a larger operation, farm businesses can be losing into the 10's of thousands by losing access to immigrant workers. This will likely result in an overall increase in produce to consumers.

Call Reluctance
Over 25 years of pioneering research by world-renowned behavioral scientists, George W. Dudley and Shannon L. Goodson, have shown that sales people typically manifest this fear in one of twelve avoidance behaviors. Sales people AVOID following through on sales (or even initiating that first contact) by diverting themselves into unproductive activities.

Farmers Advised to Purchase Available Fertilizer ASAP

According to UFA Cooperative, Urea, ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate prices are going to continue going up into the next year. Considering the worlds demand continuously increasing while the supply is generally the same, experts are saying farmers with the capabilities to purchase in advanced would be much better prepared come Spring.

Saskatchewan grain producer Norm Hall; vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, says higher nitrogen prices will really hit farmers.

“Right now, I’m paying around $70 a tonne more for urea than I did last year,” Hall mentioned.

That breaks down to $7 to $8 per acre, adding up to a potential $40,000 extra on his 5,000-acre operation.
Due to the ambiguous nature of phosphate prices leading into the next year, and bottleneck peak seasons, shortages in routinely used fertilizers are more than likely subject to an increase all over North America.

Sales Perspective- So you might be thinking, if you're a salesperson, how can this information benefit you. Use information like this to " break the ice" with a client. A great way to start a conversation in the sales industry to establish rapport and credibility is to constantly have access to new information that will help the farmer in other ways. By informing your clients of trends like this, it could save them lots of money going into the next season. In addition to that, you just created communication that doesn't relate to buying equipment. Most farmers are reluctant to even engage in conversation, due to the mentality that salespeople are pushy and sales driven. It's a big surprise when they receive a phone call to keep them up on information that will help them in their operations, rather than a pushy salesperson just looking for a sale. Sales professionals should focus on being helpful in more than just a sales aspect; but moreover informative.

Tips, Trends and Tactic

SPQ GOLD^®: The Call Reluctance Scale^®

Laser sharp and amazingly accurate, this objective psychometric instrument answers a very simple question: "Will this person prospect or self-promote?" The answer is the difference between a genuine candidate and an expense. The test reports are used in the Fear-Free Prospecting and Self-Promotion Workshop^®.

Sales managers use these tests to evaluate prospective sales people and to plan the development of their current staff. It is a very valuable recruiting and development tool for sales managers.

What Does SPQ GOLD^® Measure?

The amount of physical energy a person brings to his or her career;
Their goal levels and how focused these goals are;
Which of the 12 types of Call Reluctance^® they have,
and how much.

Follow the Link Below for more information on Call Reluctance

12 TYPES OF CALL RELUCTANCE

The Changing Picture In Farm Power

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