b'All of these common mistakes con- New Ways of Selling Seed tinue to be made during COVID, ParkinThe pandemic in 2020 changed, for the says. The salesperson needs to start withforeseeable future, the way seed com-the mindset that they will learn how theypanies market their products. Old ways can help this farmer today. When thehave been suspended. New ways are farmer realizes the salesperson genuinelybeing tested and revised.wants to bring real value to the farmer,Sales, ultimately, is about connecting the farmer is less defensive and morewith people, building trust and becom-open-minded in allowing the salespersoning a trusted advisor, says Parkin. Large to provide solutions. Other mistakes aregroup community sales and educational assuming the farmer is not ready to makeevents are a great way to connect with seed purchasing decisions and the farmera lot of farmers all at once. Since in-does not want to meet with sales staff inperson events have been challenged, the person. sales force now has to increase efforts Bounds says not listening is a commonin having more one on one meetings in mistake made by many salespeople.a compressed time frame. The use of Some salespeople get so excited abouttelephone calls, not just texts, and the what they have to offer they tend toBruce Howison, Wyffels Hybrid Seeds. use of virtual tools to conduct business spend too much time telling the farmerhave increased. All in all, with few excep-about the company and products insteadproduct. We have lower retention withtions, farmers still prefer the face to face of asking questions to find out whatgrowers that buy based on price thansocially-distanced meetings despite the grower actually needs, he says. Ifthose that value what we offer. You wontCOVID. Some sales calls and educational you ask the right questions you will findalways be the best price. events have also taken place using virtual out what they really need to know. TheA lack of pre-call planning is a criticaltools. salesperson may be spending time onmistake too often made by seed sales- Bounds says Stine Seed salespeople a product or program that will have nopeople, says Bruce Howison, vice presi- are prepared and more cautious about benefit to the grower. dent of sales and marketing at Wyffelshow a grower may feel meeting face to Bounds adds that another problemHybrids. Experienced salespeople will,face. involves not asking the right questions. Ifbefore the call, think through their objec- So far, most growers have been okay you ask the grower questions about histive and the outcomes they expect fromwith meeting our salespeople as long operation, and take time to listen, you canthe call. as they are following specific guidelines find out a lot about what they really need.Howison says that listening, particu- such as wearing a mask or staying six feet A salespersons job is to bring the growerslarly in the current environment, is anotherapart, he says. Calling ahead is more operation a product or service that willproblem. We cant necessarily under- common now rather than pulling onto the help improve their profit/acre. If you askstand what a customer is going through,farm unannounced. We want to respect enough questions, a lot of times you canwhat is happening with the growers daythe growers feelings and not put them in find the things they are lacking with otheror with their family. It is important toan uncomfortable position.companies. If you have a good solution,pause and consider where they are at.Wyffels salespeople are doing a bal-that may be your way on to the farm! He adds that salespeople need to beance of virtual meetings and belly to belly Bounds also notes that after a growerready to recalibrate their approach andselling, says Howison. The one thing that has been sold seed, it is important toexpected outcome based on what theyhas gone away because of COVID is what follow up before planting to make surehave learned. we call the extended sales call where you they remember how the product shouldWyffels Hybrids employs a full-timemight sit and visit with a customer for a be placed and managed.professional development manager thatcouple of hours. We tend to get down to There may be several monthshelps new sales team members developbusiness faster.between the time of purchase and plant- their skills.Howison adds the dependency of the ing, he says. If the product is not man- Make sure your salespeople have timegrower on people they trust has gone aged properly, there is a stronger chanceto develop their customer relations skills,up. I think we are going to have higher they will not want you back on the farmHowison adds. Listening and under- customer retention than we have ever because of poor seed performance. standing your customers is more impor- had because people are saying they want Bounds also says that salespeopletant than ever today. We need to knowto do business with someone they trust. need to focus on value, not price.how customers want to communicate.They dont want to have people cold call-Some salespeople assume this is theAre they comfortable meeting face toing and they dont want to change things most important thing to the grower or it isface or would they rather communicateup in these times of uncertainty.the easy way onto the farm.The growerby email, Zoom meeting or some otherThe importance of customer relation-has to be confident in what he is buyingmethod? Customers are very responsiveships has taken on a new meaning under and see value in the salesperson and theto this. COVID.16/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2021'