Marketing Strategies: The Personal Sales Call

By Daniel W. Block
D.W. Block Associates

With today’s advanced in communication technologies, including overnight mail, teleconferencing, and talking computers that automatically dial phones, don’t be mesmerized into neglecting the oldest, and by far the most effective, form of marketing communications – the personal sales call.

Nothing beats the power of a face-to-face personal relationship between buyer and seller; not advertising, not coupons, not telemarketing. Those of us involved in marketing inputs to production agriculture, such as seeds, are in an enviable position. In almost all cases, effective personal selling is not only cost-effective, it is the big differential advantage you may have over your competition.

And changes in U.S. agriculture, like bi-modal distribution, are increasing opportunities. Producers are falling into two groups: very large operators and very small ones. Both represent viable target markets for growth, but the segment of very large farms represents significant opportunities for developing profitable, long term, customer relationships – and that is the greatest asset any firm can have.

Pumping the bottom line

This past year, a large agricultural supplier was evaluating its marketing expense budget, specifically "advertising." It was getting larger, and the company was being encouraged by its advertising agency to increase it.

But, the company realized that the size of potential customers of its most profitable product line were large enough to warrant a uniquely designed, individual personal selling strategy. The advertising budget was reduced substantially, the sales force budget was increased modestly, and the bottom line grew.

The battle cry of the successful agricultural marketers of this decade, and into the next, is: Get close to your ultimate customer.

Too often we overlook the basic strategies while getting caught up in the more "sophisticated" marketing communications techniques. Lured by the mass media options available to us today, and by well-publicized consumer marketers like Procter and Gamble, and Coca Cola, it is easy to be attracted to glamorous tactics.

But there’s another reason many companies focus on mass communications instead of personal communications. Selling is hard work, makes specific individuals accountable, and requires the best managers. Managing a sales force demands the finest skills – people skills – and for many in business today, those are woefully weak.

If you manage a seed marketing organization of any size, then most of your time needs to be spent with your two most valuable assets; your salespeople and your customers. Advertising, sales promotions, computers, video tapes, etc., have an important role in marketing, but only as they support your personal sales efforts.

The power of the personal relationship in selling lies not in the words that are shared between salesperson and prospect, but in the non-verbal communication. Customers react more to the attitude of the salesperson than to anything else. Certainly your product must have bona fide features and benefits to meet their needs; but the miracle of a mutually-beneficial relationship occurs more concretely, more effectively and lasts longer when it’s achieved by a sincerely-motivated professional salesperson.

If you are the owner or manager of a small retail operation or dealership, and you are selling against a "formidable" competitor, take heart, your ability to develop these long-term, personal relationships with your customers is the stone with which you can slay Goliath. You are more valuable to your supplier, and less likely to be cancelled as a dealer, if you have a tenacious hold on your customers.

Suppliers want dealers

Contrary to what many agricultural dealers think, suppliers would rather have an aggressive, sales-oriented dealer than go direct. I am familiar with two major agricultural suppliers in the U.S. who have taken hard looks at their dealer organizations. But, these progressive companies will not be simply direct-to-the-farmer organizations or strictly dealer-oriented. I know for a fact they want to keep their strong dealers.

Why? Because in many cases, it’s more profitable to go through a stronger dealer than selling direct. What these suppliers currently define as strong dealers are those who 1) can pay their bills, and 2) have strong relationships with their customers through effective personal selling.

What all of this means to those of us in the seed marketing business, whether a large supplier or a local retailer, is simple. Your success, if not your survival depends on your ability to build customer loyalty, and this is gained by spending time with these folks and asking about their needs.

The president of a very successful agribusiness recently told me that his company’s position was a result of a simple strategy that built his business from a small, family-owned retail operation to a national supplier. "We have been successful because we go to the country and see the people," he remarked.

There are many new tools today to help us sell our products, and used wisely, they can give us access to our customers in ways never before possible. But, while the competitors are transfixed on the glow of colorful advertising images and elaborate computer displays, you can get the advantage by going back to basics and putting people back into your marketing.