Ag Sales Professional's Podcast by Greg Martinelli

Greg Martinelli
  • 5.0 (9)
  • MANAGEMENT
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Bringing you top sales strategies and information to build your territory and agribusiness

Episodes

  1. FEB 12

    No means much more than No when selling – PODCAST

    How to overcome the fear of rejection and keep the sale alive Farmers (really, all customers) shop harder during tough times.  This week, I want to also remind salespeople that in tough times, producers will reduce all expenses with their vendors.  You are going to experience more “No” responses in your closing questions than you did previously. That fear of rejection (no) is still one of the strongest emotions that salespeople have.  So fearful, many salespeople will find any excuse not to cold call or prospect.  Just the act of turning the steering wheel and driving down the farmer’s driveway seems impossible.  7 of the most common No’s: No for now No to you No to your company No to that product or service No to changing No to the risk/reward No to the price Listen in as we uncover some ways to overcome these objections

    5 min

  2. FEB 4

    Your customer’s journey – PODCAST

    The seven stations on every customer’s journey Are you helping, hurting, or ignoring them? Over the last ten years of weekly blog articles and podcast episodes, the focus has mostly been on improving your selling process.  I think it’s important to spend a few minutes discussing the buying process that your customers go through.  It’s appropriately called the “Customer’s Journey”.  It’s their journey to becoming your customer.  It’s also their journey when they decide to stop being your customer. This journey has seven stations or stops along the way.  The visual below helps to understand them. Listen in as we discuss how you can use a simple set of questions to understand your target market and sell more ideal customers.

    12 min

  3. JAN 28

    Persistent versus Pushy Selling – PODCAST

    How to be persistent to get the sale versus being pushy Every salesperson knows they have to be persistent to gain a customer, to get a prospect appointment, or to make a follow-up appointment again and again. However, not one single salesperson in the world wants to be known as pushy.  This is even more true in agribusiness.  Listen in to hear how you can go from pushy to persistent, and increase sales in the process!

    6 min

  4. JAN 21

    Change small to build a large territory – Podcast

    Set the bar low to build daily selling skills that stick! We hear it every day, “Shoot for the stars…. Reach for the stars….Aim High…..Set your sights high…..Dream big.”  Even the famed Herb Tarlek told us to, “Think big to be big”, on the 1970s sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.  While those sound great, most people fail to achieve those lofty goals because they don’t know what to do on day one of that journey.  They set New Year’s resolutions on Jan 1, but by Quitting Day (Jan 16 this year), they don’t know how to sustain their journey.  They set the bar so high and the daily journey effort so high that they crush under the weight.  Salespeople fall into this same trap! Listen in to learn the three steps to achieving great success in sales and life!

    12 min

  5. JAN 14

    Your customer’s Best and Worst – Podcast

    An easy way to better understand your customer Listen in as we discuss some of the easiest and most productive sales questions to ask. Great for prospects and current customers. Even those long-term customers, you think you have a great relationship.

    9 min

  6. JAN 6

    Inheriting Customers – Podcast

    5 action items to consider when inheriting customers or a territory Most of us began our sales career by inheriting a set of customers in our sales territory.  You signed on and were most likely given a list of customers to call on in your designated territory.  In Ag, we are typically given a geographic territory.  The strange thing is that we often inherit these customers with little guidance on how to manage them: who to call on, who to ignore, or how to grow the business.  Part of the reason can be that our managers may not know a lot about them.  Maybe the previous salesperson was a long-term employee who retired and kept their customers closed off from the company.  Maybe these customers are part of an acquisition and they are brand new to your company and to you.  Whatever the reason, we are challenged to venture out into the country and make the best out of our territory.  With your time as your number one resource, it’s important to spend it wisely when given a large group of new customers.  Listen in as we cover 5 action items to consider when inheriting customers or a sales territory

    9 min

  7. 12/23/2025

    Hear me now, Sell me later! – podcast

    Do what every customer wants their salesperson to do Every customer or prospect you meet feels the same way about you when you call on them.  “Hear me now.  Sell me later”.  As salespeople, we struggle with this concept.  We get pressured by our customers to speed up the sales call.  Customers might ask us to, “Let’s cut to the chase!  What are you selling today?”  This shortening of the sales call leaves out the most important part:  high-value questions in the discovery phase of the sale.  However, everyone in the world is seeking to be understood.  Listen in as we go over the easiest and fastest way to get customers to hear you. Listen first, then sell. A throwback to SNL’s Hanz and Franz from 1987!

    9 min

  8. 12/17/2025

    Holiday Communications for the Ag Sales Professional – podcast

    7 Ways you can make this the “The most wonderful time of the year” It’s the week before the Christmas Holidays and I have several questions for you: Is it really the most wonderful time of the year?  Does it really only come around once a year?  Is Santa really on his way to spread cheer throughout the farmland? If you are older than 12, then the answer to all three questions is “No”.  Let’s just summarize this entire situation as a stressful tradition.  We are glad to have but happy when it’s over and we can get back to “normal”. Holiday stress is where the salesperson and sales manager can make a huge difference in the lives of their fellow employees as well as their customers.  A little effort by the sales team goes a long way.  Why? Because making any effort to reduce this stress when you don’t have to will show up all year long.  Listen in as we discuss the 7 Ways you can make the holidays, “The most wonderful time of the year”

    11 min

  9. 12/09/2025

    What happens if your customer doesn’t buy from you? – podcast

    Do your customers understand the downside of not buying your products from you? Do you know how to build the case for buying your product line?  And buying it from you?  With narrow profit margins, every decision your customer makes is critical to this year’s financial results.  That means fear plays a big part in their decisions.  As their salesperson and trusted advisor, it is your role to uncover their fears and help them make better buying decisions. To do that, you need to know how to build the case for buying your product line.  Then, build the case for buying that product line from you.  Listen in as we dig deeper into how you can help your customers during fearful farming times!

    10 min

  10. 11/18/2025

    Using comedy skills to help you sell – Podcast

    Interview with Kevin Hubschmannon how to improve your selling skills through improv and open mic nights Even if you don’t want to become a comedian or an improv actor, if you are in sales, you can learn valuable skills by studying and practicing their methods. If you have followed my weekly articles and podcasts, you know that I have focused on this topic at times over the last ten years. The main reason is that selling is not a scripted activity. Sure, you have PowerPoint presentations with a script. You have brochures and other collateral that have scripts. Yet, we get in front of our customers and we are off script 90% of the time (maybe more). Many salespeople, especially in agribusiness selling, will sell in environments that don’t allow for PowerPoint or formal sales presentations. The skills needed to: Think on your feet Listen intently to your customer Use positive replies to build the discussion to a sale – “Yes, and” Summarize and bring the discussion to a close to get the next appointment All of these skills line up with comedy skills Listen to the podcast as Kevin Hubschman from Laugh@events joins me to discuss how you and your sales team can develop these selling skills.

    45 min
  • 10 Episodes

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5
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9 Ratings

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Bringing you top sales strategies and information to build your territory and agribusiness

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