Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60“We’re still in the growing season, and there’s some natural resistance from producers to plan what they’re going to do next year when they haven’t seen the results from this year. That’s a challenge to overcome,” Downey says. “An even bigger question is, ‘How do I get farmers to plan and act more inten- tionally no matter what time of year it is?’ Buying seed is a cyclical decision, and getting the farmer to think outside that box is a challenge.” Planning Ahead According to Rod Osthus, the solution is to convince farmers to think of their farms as a business, which they often don’t do. Osthus is president of R.C. Thomas Company, the top seed sales training and consulting firm in North America. After 40-plus years in the seed busi- ness, he has developed a unique understanding of how salespeople can stay relevant in a changing industry. “If you try to get a farmer to plan right now, he’ll tell you he’s not going to plan until after harvest. He needs to plan before harvest. He needs to start his planning way ahead of next year, because the farmers with the highest yields always have their cropping plan done before harvest,” Osthus says. He explains that this takes the emotion out of the plan. “If he’s looking at the markets and how his crops did, there’s so much emotion involved he can’t make good pragmatic decisions,” he says. “When we take that emotion out by planning early and sticking with the plan, he always gets better results.” That means it’s incumbent on sell- ers to get their customers out of what Osthus calls the “Ag Cycle,” that tradi- tional rhythm farmers get into where they don’t plan next year’s crops until after harvesting this year’s. That cycle is caused in part by many growers feeling overwhelmed with information, Downey reiterates, and the seller who can communicate most effectively will be the most successful. “When people are overwhelmed, they revert to what they did in the past, rather than making more forward- thinking decisions,” he says. So, how to get a farmer out of the “Ag Cycle” and thinking about the future? Both Osthus and Downey say good communication skills are more impor- tant than ever. “You have to have those skills to get him to follow you and plan ahead, to SEPTEMBER 2016 31 help him make more money,” Osthus says. “Sadly, many companies don’t realize that. They try to compete on price, but it never works.” That’s where the communication skills come in, Downey says. “My task is helping shift the mindset of the grower from what’s in the field to where they’ll be next year. That has a lot to do with asking questions that help that producer think. The real skill development is asking questions that go beyond, ‘What are you thinking of doing for next year?’” Osthus agrees. “What the farmer needs to do is manage his budget and have ways to produce more bushels,” he says. “What we do is focus on the social skills side while tying in the technical side. “You have to get a farmer to want to listen to you, and get him to stop focusing on price and think about his business.” Marc Zienkiewicz “You have to get a farmer to want to listen to you, and get him to stop focusing on price and think about his business.” — Rod Osthus