SeedSeller Academy

How Much Do You Bench Press?[Start Your Week]

How much can you bench press? 

That’s probably the most common question asked to someone who lifts weights, by someone who doesn’t.   After all, to the non-weightlifting aficionado, the bench press is wrongly viewed as the real test of overall strength. It’s not. Being able to bench a lot of weight is about three things.

One, leverage. The shorter your arms are the more you can bench. It’s just physics. Second...genetics, some people are born stronger. 

And third, learning to get past the sticking points. Today’s lifters don’t just focus on the amount of weight they can lift.  Instead, they concentrate on getting rid of the sticking points...

7 Steps to Eliminate Order Cancellations & Returns [Livestream]

How many current customers are going to cancel their seed order because you haven’t taken the time to confirm it?

How much money will haul back surprises and high inventory end up costing your company? What will you say when a current buyer wants to leave you for a cheaper price this year because they don’t see the true value you provide over your competitors?

The lack of having a proven plan to follow this confirmation season may already be costing you and your company a great deal!

Commit, Then Figure It Out! [Start Your Week]

Going to Battle Without a Weapon [Start Your Week]

Did you know that the Uniform Code for Military Justice says, that any military officer can be Court-martialed for sending a soldier into battle without a weapon? 

Well, if that was a law in the ag business, the jail would be full of prosecuted sales managers and the hospital would be full of wounded field sellers. That’s because every day, salespeople are sent out to call on current customers or new prospective buyers unarmed.

They’re asked to call on prospects and customers without the ONLY weapon that can keep competitors at bay, keep them from getting pinned down by strafing rounds of objections, pulled into fire fights on price, or have their egos mortally wounded by getting turned down.

How to (Properly) UseTest Plot Data [101]

Stop Blaming the Variety [Start Your Week]

Buckle your seatbelt today, I’m going to talk about handling product performance problems for a few minutes, things like Tar Spot.   

So how has your year been so far?

Did you have a variety or two that surprised you in a good way or bad way. Almost every sales rep I’ve talked with in the last 2 months has experienced a mixture of both excitement and disappoint.  But of course, they don’t call me when things are going really well. Most of them call me when they want to know what to say to a customer when their variety got killed by tar spot, anthracnose or spider mite. They want to know what to say to a customer when he says your variety fell over and your competitor’s didn’t.

There were plenty of those kinds of issues this year.  But every rep has the same question. “How do I handle it, the guy is blaming the variety!”

Who‘s Doing Your Thinking? [Start Your Week]

Do you have farmers who still want to delay ordering their seed for next year?

Why is that?

It’s mostly because they’re waiting for a reason, an excuse to order. 

That excuse comes either in the form of an attractive program, or from the seller convincing the grower it is in his best interest to plan early. Which one is easiest? Of course, it’s easier not to have to THINK about it and just wait for a program or a winning yield trial to do the job instead taking time to build a value story...

Why You Always Should Be Uncomfortable [Start Your Week]

Create Deadlines For Yourself! [Start Your Week]

On April 11, 1970 Apollo13 was to be the third mission to land on the Moon.  An explosion in one of the oxygen tanks crippled the spacecraft during flight and the crew was forced to orbit the Moon and return to the Earth without landing. 

The mission was aborted two days into the flight...

Old Age is No Place for Sissies [Start Your Week]

The iconic actress, Bette Davis said, “Old age is no place for sissies.” 

She was right.

I can tell you from experience that if you want to continue to compete with the younger crowd as you grow older, you really need to step up your game. You need to stop whining about getting older and be able to endure the pain that comes with working hard to stay in shape both physically and mentally...