Question:

As precision farming dealers, what types of summer training/on-farm visits do you provide for customers, and how are you leveraging these contact points as sales opportunities?

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Answers:

“The only training we have planned right now is our annual combine clinic, which is July 30. I will be discussing yield monitoring setup/calibration. I will also talk about guidance on the combines and row guidance on the corn heads, and the advantages to having them.

“I am going to try to talk about fall applications and how customers can tie their rate controllers in with the guidance monitor so they just have one monitor in the cab, and then also get automatic section control and as-applied maps. Hopefully, this will get the guys thinking and asking questions and lead to new sales.

“This will be a big opportunity and an efficient way to show a lot of customers at once what we have to offer them. I am also going to try to make on-farm calls with the customers to follow up on how the spring went and also see what we can do for them this fall and next spring to make it go easier. 

“We’re also trying to get a precision farming field day where the customers can use the products, but at this point it’s only an idea.”

— Jerod Murra,
Titan Machinery,
Grundy Center, Iowa

“During the summer, I make on farm visits with customers to follow up on the past planting season. We discuss anything that needed to be changed or corrected, or look for ways to improve both efficiency and down time for the farmer.

“I point out trends with other customers, success that other customers have with newer technology and things that I feel would benefit the customer’s operations. With the John Deere Field Connect moisture probes out in the fields, I now have an even more involved role with the customers.”

— Kyle McClary,
Green Line Equipment,
Grand Island, Neb.

“We’re planning to have a technology training day at one of our locations to provide customers with information and support on products they have already purchased or have been looking to purchase. More than likely, we will be working with Ag Leader to put on a fall meeting to review this past spring and cover any issues we had and also go over the solutions.

“We will also go over what to expect for this coming harvest and walk customers through the basic steps to ensure they get everything set up correctly for their guidance and yield monitoring needs. We don’t push sales a whole lot in these meetings because we consider them more of a customer support meeting, to help them get rolling, and to answer questions before they hit the field.

“However, we will touch on some new things such as the hydraulic downforce that Ag Leader released this past year just to make customers aware of it and spark some interest for early orders for next spring. With this training we will also be doing on-farm visits just to get a feel for what our customers are looking to do down the road and maybe key in on some of those who couldn’t make it to our meetings.

“Our salespeople usually do a very good job finding out if someone is looking for something, but with it being kind of a slow time, it does give us a little time to meet these customers in person. In addition to customer meetings, we are also getting some demo equipment out there. We have a few farmers demoing guidance with their mower-conditioners for hay and combines for wheat. It gives them a chance to use it and also an opportunity to buy it before fall so they can take advantage of it then.”

— Nathan Zimmerman,
A.C. McCartney Equipment Inc.,
Durand, Ill.