As we move into the final week of January, you may be asking yourself, 

“How are we already a month into the new year?”

More importantly, what did we do with our time during that first month? During the 2017 Precision Farming Dealer Summit, Arlin Sorensen, CEO of HTS Ag in Harlan, Iowa, opened some eyes when he shared the number 168 — which represents the total number of hours that we have in a week. 

“It’s the great equalizer,” Sorensen says. “Everyone get’s the same amount. What makes a difference is what we plan to do with those hours. That’s why we have to plan if we want to grow. We’re not getting anymore time, so it’s up to us to use it effectively.”

Talking with dealers during the Summit, many had the same mindset with how they plan to prioritize their time this year — figure out how to implement a profitable plan for billing out precision service. 

It was a recurring message from speakers as well, with the majority at least mentioning the significance and value of recouping revenue for time spent supporting ag technology. Service is a precision thread woven into any part of the business, from marketing, to compatibility to easing customers’ points of pain. 

Looking at the results of our most recent online poll, which asked dealers to identify their top precision farming business priority in 2017, 50% indicated that beginning to bill for service is their primary resolution. 

But for any of us who make annual resolutions, without action the words only offer empty optimism. As Sorensen notes, “The key to planning is to write it down. If you don’t write it down, you didn’t really create a plan. You had a hope and a dream, which means nothing.”

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