Selling to Farm Businesses is an intensive 2-day course designed for professional salespeople who work with farm businesses and/or businesses that sell to farmers. Participants who take this course will learn


  1. How farm businesses make purchasing decisions and how this can be used in developing effective sales strategies

  2. What constitutes effective communications and how sales people can improve their presenting and listening skills

  3. The different type of customer behavioral styles and how sales approaches should adapt for each type
    of customer

  4. Various approaches to prospecting for new customers and how to establish priority for these prospects

  5. How to develop a sales strategy for each customer and a call plan for each sales call

  6. Utilizing sales planning tools, such as CRM and other record-keeping and analysis programs

  7. Methods that can be used to open a sales call and initiate relationships with current and potential customers

  8. Methods salespeople can use to discover the broad range of needs a buyer is attempting to meet and attempt to quantify the significance of these needs

  9. How to effectively present the features, advantages and benefits of products and services to address specific buyer needs and attempt to sell value over price

  10. Approaches to deal with buyer concerns, focusing specifically on dealing with price

  11. Successful approaches to obtain commitment from buyers

  12. Strategies to create and reinforce customer loyalty


Participants learn concepts relating to the fundamentals of selling, and then using relevant case studies and exercises, learn to apply these concepts to current agricultural selling situations. After completing this course, participants may participate in a follow-up course (Creating Customer Specific Value) which focuses on the  application  of concepts to a selling situation relating to their own work environment. 

 

Program Faculty


Justin Funk is the managing partner of Agri Studies and has taught agricultural sales and marketing to industry professionals for over 20 years.  He currently has taught Marketing Strategy in the University of Guelph’s MBA in Agriculture program, and currently holds a faculty position at Purdue University teaching Executive Development programs at the Center for Food & Agricultural Business.


Please contact Justin Funk at jrfunk@agristudies.com or by phone at 519-827-5507 to discuss how this program may fit with your organization’s training objectives.


Selling to Farm Businesses - Level 1

Creating Value Through Communications and Consultative Selling