FarmCall® Programs

SITUATION

According to USDA reports, there were nearly 6 million acres of wheat grown in Montana in 2014, 2.5 million of which was winter wheat. Our client had two customer-facing sales people covering the entire state, whose primary focus was on building relationships at the seed house level. With the introduction of a new two-gene technology, our client identified a need to provide education at the grower level, but needed more resources beyond their two reps.

ISSUES THE WORK IS TRYING TO SOLVE

Historically, this client’s crop protection system had been a product used to fix a specific problem, like cheatgrass or feral rye, and the perception was that these varieties did not perform as well as conventional varieties.
The latest of the seed varieties manufactured by the client, which use two-gene as opposed to single-gene technology, performed as well, if not better, than conventional wheat varieties, indicating need for improved education at the grower level.
Extend the reach of the client’s limited sales force to build relationships at the grower level.

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

Create demand that will advance and grow the number of acres of this new variety of seed being grown in the state of Montana. Specifically, help lay the foundation to increase the variety’s acres planted from 300,000 to 600,000 in 2015.
Provide local, timely, relevant insight to influence the client’s customers, and to change their purchase behavior toward using the client’s wheat technology in their operations.
Continue to help position the client as a partner to the grower.
Grow sales, market share, and customer satisfaction for the client’s business and portfolio of products.
Support the client’s agronomic solutions team, who focused on providing agronomic counsel to growers, as well as to the client’s sales representatives, in converting competitor acres.
Work to assist in the continued building and enhancement of grower relationships in the state of Montana for the client’s business.
Continue the ongoing capture of customer information and market data.

STRATEGY AND ACTION

The strategic recommendation from AgCall to accomplish the client’s goals was to implement a three-phase approach:

Phase 1:
Conduct 400 FarmCall sales visits to introduce and promote the client’s wheat varieties and support its products – including email follow up.

Phase 2:
600 phone calls to follow up as a second touch point and promote other relevant products from the client.

Phase 3:
Measure the success of the program by contacting (via phone) a representative sample (25%–30%) of growers, after use, to determine purchase quantities, product satisfaction, future intentions, etc., reporting on overall program.

RESULTS