b'From Fufu Dust to Cropping MustI STARTED IN THEbiologicals business as a salespersonPartner up. Partnering with respected universities or indus-in 1977. Back then, it wasnt uncommon for other agriculturaltry institutions that already inspire confidence will also enhance stakeholders to refer to biological products as snake oils, oryour companys credibility. Before Dr. Gary Harman became our what I call fufu dust. We had our work cut out for us buildingchief science officer, he was a distinguished scientist at Cornell the credibility of our sector and our businesses. Now, some fourUniversity. Our relationship began when I contacted him about decades later, Im the head of a successful biologicals companycollaborating on some work. We developed ideas and then pro-in an ever-expanding marketplace where our products are takenjects to carry out together. From that work, we developed four seriously because of the crop health, quality and yield benefitsnew products. they provide. But we didnt get here overnight.Many years ago, most of the recommendations on soybean When I began as a salesperson, there was no social media orproduction, inoculants and seed treatments in the Midwest were even an internet. A company depended on its sales managersmade by Dr. Jim Beuerlein, who was at the time an Ohio State and advertising and marketing teams to do their homework andUniversity scientist and professor. We worked very closely with to help its salespeople, like me, to attract and retain customers.him on soybean inoculants, and we still collaborate with Ohio And the sales call was the driving force behind the company. ItsState to this day. Establishing a good reputation with these types really no different todayweve just got different tools. However,of institutions through project development and research trials what hasnt changed is the importance of building your compa- can be crucial to building a companys credibility. nys credibility and reputation. Ive spent many years figuring outBe true to your word. Perhaps the most important point of all how to do just that. Heres what Ive learned so far: to increasing your companys credibility, and yours, is if you say Integrity is essential. Your salesforce is your frontline whenyoure going to do something, do it. You must follow through and building your credibility in the industry. They have the most con- be a person of your word. This is something I learned very early tact with the companies you are doing business with. The quali- on and has served me well in business and in life.ties of each and every person on your sales team could make orHow many times in a week do you say youre going to do break your companys reputation. something, and you carry that action out? This directly affects One of the qualities your salespeople must have is excellentyour credibility with others and how you view yourself.communication skills, which will help them build rapport withOne cant talk about business credibility and reputation and their customers. Your salespeople should also be honest, sincerenot mention social media. The message or information you are and moral. The integrity of your salespeople is integral to yourdelivering must be consistent across all platforms. It must also companys performance and is something that cant be faked. Itbe concise, accurate and useful to your audience. Additionally, is vital to everything we do and how we do it.ensure the basic message you want your audience to receive is In addition, when calling on potential customers, dont wastepart of your overall sales strategy.their time. Have something of value for them, such as informationThe tools we use to deliver our they can use to further their own goals. That information doesntmessages may have changed have to be about the product you are trying to sell them, it could now we have the ability to be information youve picked up about the industry.reach thousands of potential Let the numbers do the talking. Make sure all information youcustomers with the click of are presenting to potential customers is accurate, especially dataa button, but without cred-of any kind (e.g. trial data). In our industry, independent, third- ibility, whos listening?party data speaks volumes. Concentrate on building third-party data to validate the claims youre making about a product. Recruit professionals with the proper credentials for your busi-ness. Having qualified employees will only raise your companysDAN CUSTIS credibility and reputation. Our scientists have the required back- CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, ABMgrounds and knowledge to conduct our R&D. Not only do they @ABM1sthave the correct credentials, but they were already established inDan@abm1st.comtheir specific fields before being recruited by ABM.abm1st.comConsider the company you keep. Who are you doing busi-ness with? Are they well respected and credible in the industry? How many years of experience do you have working with them? Working with highly-valued companies in the industry will boost your own companys credibility.FEBRUARY 2020SEEDWORLD.COM /41'