Approximately one million years ago I started my career as a sales rep for one of the top crop protection companies. After a few months, I was sent on a sales training course, where I learned about Features, Advantages and Benefits. We practiced our new skills selling coffee cups and bulldozers as I recall. I went pretty far using this product-focused approach to selling, and a lot of weeds in the Red River Valley got sprayed with our products.

Fast forward to today. Ag retailing is at a serious crossroad. Products have become more technical, but many provide similar benefits. Salespeople trained in technical and benefit selling are facing customers who perceive fewer and fewer differences among products and retailers. I am convinced the success of most retail sales staff is not limited by their technical or product knowledge. They are not reaching their potential for sales, profits and customer loyalty due to inadequate customer knowledge.

Many retailers are experiencing a glass ceiling in their business results. Every year they work harder, and yet customer loyalty does not improve. They work harder but profitability declines. Hoping for better results is not a strategy. I have worked with ag retailers for 25 years and have seen a significant increase in their agronomic knowledge and operational know-how. What has not evolved at a similar pace is the level of customer knowledge that helps salespeople direct their agronomic knowledge toward solving the business problems of their customers. To break through the glass ceiling of current results, retailers need to use new business tools and implement new customer strategies.

I make it my business to ask people what's bugging them. I am persistent in finding points of dissatisfaction in our client's and prospect's business. Many salespeople don't know what problems their customers are facing, so they have difficulty developing solutions that meet customer needs. Instead there is a tendency to diagnose quickly and write prescriptions based on assumptions and a general awareness of what might be the customer's pain.

On the next page is a model we use at AgKnowlogy that will help direct your sales efforts. Improving questioning and listening skills will help diagnose true customer pain or business problems. Once these are established, help the customer quantify the impact of not addressing these problems. Finally, engage your customers in developing solutions with you that address the identified problems.

Which brings me back to “What's bugging you?” Over the past few years I have asked this question to AgKnowlogy clients and other retailers I come in contact with. My goal is understanding the business problems of today's ag retailers, so AgKnowlogy can develop customer knowledge tools and implementation training that addresses their needs.

Just before the holidays I had supper with several retailers in Ames, IA. The subject of soybean rust was on everyone's mind, and we discussed how this might impact their business this spring. After a while I asked the “What's bugging you” question, and the discussion took off in an entirely different direction. It never ceases to amaze me how retailers love to talk about the technical side of ag retailing, but when you ask what their “problems” in growing their business are, these same technical topics rarely come up. Once again technical knowledge and operational skills don't seem to be growth-limiting factors for most retailers.

Here is my list of what is really “bugging” today's retailer. I believe your ability to make progress in these areas over the next short amount of time will determine the probability of your survival.

• “I need to know my customers better.”
• “I need a planned, strategic approach to marketing.”
• “I want to differentiate myself from the pack.”
• “I want to focus our resources on the right customers.”
• “I need more accountability for sales results.”

These business problems can't be solved with conventional approaches that have been in place and perfected in your operation over the last 10 to 15 years. I believe that many of today's retailers look more alike to customers than at any time in memory. Thinking you can regain customer loyalty and improve profitability with yesterday's strategies is a strategy based on hope. Breaking through the glass ceiling of current results requires a new plan, not greater effort. This painful lesson has been learned in numerous industries. Why not take the time early in this New Year to investigate new business tools that might significantly improve your results going forward? Remember, working hard is not a business plan, and hope is not a strategy.

Bill Keogh is the owner of AgKnowlogy Inc., a company that helps retailers use customer information to reach their potential sales, loyalty and profits. To reach him, send an e-mail to info@agknowlogy.com, call 905/868-9953, or visit www.agknowlogy.com.

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