Selling in the Paddock

Georgia Stormont
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Selling in the Paddock is a podcast about real sales in agriculture. Hosted by Georgia Stormont, The Ag Sales Coach, it cuts through the noise and gets to the point—how to sell better, lead stronger, and get results. Guests include Paul Roos, AFL premiership coach turned leadership consultant, and Troy Williams, CEO of the National Farmers’ Federation, plus top ag reps, buyers, and business owners. If you work in ag and want to sell smarter and build better teams, this podcast is for you.

  1. 4d ago

    Ep 86 - Is Cold Calling Dead? Or Have We Just Stopped Doing It?

    Is Cold Calling Dead? Or Have We Just Stopped Doing It? Have we become a generation of order takers in agriculture? It's a question I've been thinking about a lot lately. After a recent discovery call with a branch manager, one thing stood out. His sales reps were busy. They were servicing customers, responding to enquiries, processing orders and sending quotes. But when he looked at their sales pipeline, there was a problem. There were very few new opportunities coming in. And it's something I've been noticing across agricultural businesses for quite some time. Since COVID, the way we sell has changed. Face-to-face visits became less frequent, remote communication became the norm, and biosecurity requirements have made turning up unannounced at a farm driveway less appropriate in some parts of agriculture. But have we adapted the way we prospect? Or have we simply stopped doing it? In this solo episode of Selling in the Paddock, I'm challenging the way we think about cold calling, prospecting and the difference between being busy and actually growing a business. I share my own experiences selling vegetable seed, driving up farm driveways, building relationships with growers, and how prospecting looks very different today in my coaching business. Because these days, my cold calls often look like a LinkedIn message, a handshake at a conference or an introduction through an existing relationship. The approach has changed. The responsibility to create new opportunities hasn't. In this episode, we unpack: Have agricultural sales teams become too comfortable taking orders? The difference between servicing existing customers and creating new business How COVID may have accelerated the shift towards reactive selling Why biosecurity considerations are changing the traditional farm visit Whether we've lost the skill of prospecting or simply the confidence to do it How cold calling has evolved through LinkedIn, referrals, conferences and planned farm visits Why a full diary doesn't necessarily mean a healthy sales pipeline The questions sales managers should be asking in their weekly sales meetings Three practical challenges to help you start creating new opportunities And here's the question I want you to think about: If no new opportunities entered your pipeline this month, where would your sales come from in three or six months? Because if we're only talking to customers who already buy from us, we're not necessarily building tomorrow's business. We're servicing today's. And there's a big difference. Selling is a privilege, team. But we have to be prepared to start the conversation. 🎧 Tune in to this week's episode of Selling in the Paddock. To learn more and find a copy of my book selling in the paddock.

  2. Oct 19

    Ep 85 - Your Customer Doesn’t Care About Your Product

    Your customer doesn’t care about your product. Well… not in the same way you do. You know the formulation, the genetics, the horsepower, the trial data, the specifications and exactly why your product is better than the competitor’s. But your customer? They care about what it changes for them. They care about getting the crop off. Margin. Reliability. Labour. Risk. Profitability. And whether spending another $20K, $50K or $200K is actually going to make a meaningful difference to their business. In this solo episode of Selling in the Paddock™, I unpack one of the traps I see technically brilliant agricultural salespeople fall into all the time: using product knowledge as a safety blanket. Because talking about what we know feels safe. Asking better questions requires curiosity — and sometimes a little courage. I explore the difference between a feature, benefit and impact, and why you can't truly know the impact of your product until you understand the individual customer sitting in front of you. We also talk about: Why technical expertise is incredibly important — but isn't enough on its own How product knowledge can become a place to hide in a sales conversation The difference between demonstrating expertise and dumping everything you know Why knowing where your product doesn't fit can actually build credibility How to respond to questions about price, trials and competitors while staying curious Why “our people are different” and “our service is second to none” aren't automatically compelling value propositions What commercially confident selling looks like when your product genuinely isn't the right fit And I leave you with one simple shift to make before your next customer meeting. Instead of asking: “What do I need to tell them?” Ask: “What do I need to understand?” Because your customer cares about their farm, their business, their people, their risk, their profitability and their problems. Understand those first, and you'll know which parts of your product actually matter. Better thinking creates better conversations. And better conversations create better commercial outcomes. Want to go deeper? Grab a copy of my book, Selling in the Paddock™, where I unpack the skills, mindset and conversations behind selling well in agriculture. And if you're looking to build greater commercial confidence across your sales team, head to Selling in the Paddock™ online to explore my sales training, workshops and programs for agricultural businesses. sellinginthepaddock.com.au

  3. Oct 12

    Ep 84 - Selling Change: Why Great Technology Still Needs Great Sales | Michael Whittaker, Tabula

    Selling new technology into agriculture isn’t just about proving that the product works. You’re often asking someone to change a process, rethink the way they’ve always done something, invest real money and trust that the change will make their business better. In this episode of Selling in the Paddock, I’m joined by Michael Whittaker from Tabula, an agricultural technology business celebrating 20 years of selling technology into agriculture. Michael shares a brilliant perspective on the tension between the speed of technology and the seasonality of agriculture — and why successful adoption often comes from small, incremental changes rather than trying to change everything at once. We talk about why you need to get your “muddy boots” on if you want to sell into agriculture, and why understanding the practical realities of your customer’s business matters just as much as understanding your own product. We also unpack ROI — because value isn’t always measured in dollars. Sometimes the biggest return for a customer is time, efficiency, simplicity or removing another job from an already overloaded day. Michael and I discuss: • Why selling technology is often really about selling change• The importance of incremental wins when introducing something new• Why understanding the realities of farming matters in agricultural sales• How to communicate value rather than getting stuck talking about features• Why ROI can mean time and efficiency, not just dollars• The power of customer advocates and social proof• Why overselling and overpromising can destroy trust• How seasonality creates a unique sales cycle in agriculture• Why salespeople need to know the limitations of what they sell• Why the human side of selling may become even more important as AI, automation and technology advance One of my favourite ideas from this conversation is simple: AI doesn’t do business with AI. Humans do business with humans. Technology will continue to change agriculture. But the ability to listen, understand, build trust and have great commercial conversations isn’t becoming less important. It may be becoming more important than ever. To view Tabula's website here Connect with Michael Whittaker on LinkedIn 🎧 Listen now to Selling in the Paddock.

  4. Oct 5

    Ep 83 - Stop “Just Checking In”: How to Follow Up Without Sounding Desperate

    Have you had a chance to look at the quote? Three days later… Just checking in. What would happen if I removed “just checking in” from your sales vocabulary tomorrow? In this solo episode of Selling in the Paddock™, we’re talking about follow-up — why it matters, why so many of us avoid it, and how to follow up with confidence without sounding desperate, pushy or annoying. Because silence doesn’t always mean rejection. Harvest happens. Weather happens. Budgets get delayed. Priorities change. Someone else needs to approve the spend. But sometimes silence does mean there wasn’t enough value or urgency to progress the opportunity. And your job in the follow-up isn’t to endlessly chase a yes. A good follow-up should do one of two things: move the opportunity forward or give you enough information to qualify it out. In this episode, I unpack: Why “just checking in” gives your customer very little reason to respond The psychology behind why salespeople avoid following up Why fear of rejection leaves opportunities sitting in pipelines for months How a follow-up problem can actually be a discovery problem Why a clean no can be incredibly commercially useful How to bring something valuable into the conversation instead of simply asking about your quote Why clarity with the customer matters more than trying to maintain “power” over them How communication preferences are changing across generations Why you shouldn't follow up with a generation — you should follow up with a person The simple question you can ask customers to understand how they actually want you to communicate with them And perhaps the biggest lesson: The best follow-up strategy starts before you ever need to follow up. Great salespeople design the next conversation before the current conversation ends. Instead of finishing a discovery meeting with: “I’ll send something through.” Try: “I’ll have the proposal to you Thursday. Why don’t we book 20 minutes on Monday afternoon to talk it through?” Now you're not chasing. You both know what happens next. So here's the challenge from this episode: Go into your CRM and find three opportunities you've been “just checking in” on. Ask yourself: What conversation actually needs to happen here? Maybe you need to add value. Maybe you need to ask a better question. Maybe you need to pick up the phone. And maybe you need to give someone permission to say no. Because sometimes the follow-up isn't the problem at all. The conversation you had three weeks ago was. Better thinking. Better conversations. Better commercial outcomes. 📘 Read the book: Selling in the Paddock: A Proven, People-First Framework for Selling with Confidence in Agriculture — available on Amazon Australia. 🌱 Sales training, workshops and more: Visit Selling in the Paddock™ to learn more about working with me and building greater commercial confidence across your agricultural sales team. Keep learning with Selling in the Paddock™

  5. Sep 28

    Ep 82 - Are You Busy… or Actually Productive? with Kacee Bohle

    Agriculture is full of incredibly capable people. People who know how to work hard, push through and get the job done. But what happens when “pushing through” becomes the default? When being busy starts to feel like proof that we’re valuable? Or when someone who is technically brilliant gets promoted into leadership without ever being taught how to lead people? In this episode of Selling in the Paddock, I’m joined by Kacee Bohle, agricultural mindset and leadership coach, speaker, podcast host and founder of AgriMinds in the United States. Kacee grew up on a fourth-generation corn and soybean farm in Indiana, believing she would one day take over the family operation. When life didn’t follow that plan, she built a career in corporate agriculture, including roles with John Deere and Bayer, while navigating motherhood, identity, burnout and eventually the move into her own coaching business. And there was SO much crossover in this conversation. We talk about the mentality agriculture has inherited from generations before us — work hard, keep going, don’t complain and push through — and why some of those beliefs have served us incredibly well… while others might be worth questioning. We also dig into: Why activity doesn’t necessarily equal productivity The difference between being good at something and actually getting energy from it Why technically brilliant people don’t automatically make brilliant people leaders The danger of promoting someone simply because leadership is the “next step” Building work around the way you actually perform at your best Why weaknesses don’t always deserve more of our attention Kacee’s experience using Patrick Lencioni’s Working Genius framework Why quieter periods in business can make high performers uncomfortable The mindset shift that changed the way Kacee approached sales Why rejection in sales isn’t actually about you One of my favourite parts of this conversation comes towards the end when Kacee talks about getting out of her own way in sales. Instead of seeing herself as a burden or worrying that someone might not want what she was selling, she started looking at it differently: If you genuinely have a solution to someone’s problem, withholding that solution because you’re scared to sell it doesn’t help them. YES. That is exactly why I believe selling is a privilege. The right customer has a problem you can help solve. Your job isn’t to convince everyone. It’s to understand people, ask the right questions, offer genuine value and be willing to walk away when the fit isn’t there. This is a cracking conversation about mindset, leadership, strengths, burnout, business and selling — with plenty of laughs and a few rabbit holes along the way. 🎧 Listen now to Selling in the Paddock with Kacee Bohle from AgriMinds. Get in touch with Kacee on Linkedin or her website AgriMinds

  6. Sep 20

    Ep 81 - When the Pipeline Goes Quiet: Don’t Let Scarcity Change How You Sell

    What happens to the way you sell when the pipeline goes quiet? Because it happens to all of us. The calendar opens up. A few big opportunities are sitting in proposal stage. You’ve followed up. You’ve done what you can. And now… you’re waiting. That’s when scarcity can start creeping into the sales conversation. In this solo episode of Selling in the Paddock, I’m sharing something I’m experiencing in my own business right now — and what I’ve noticed about the way a quieter pipeline can subtly change how we sell. Talking too much on discovery calls. Explaining instead of listening. Following up because we need reassurance rather than because there’s a useful next step. Discounting too quickly. Trying to turn every enquiry into a customer. Or simply filling the day with activity because being busy feels better than waiting. The problem? Busy and commercially productive are not the same thing. In this episode, we unpack: Why a quiet calendar doesn’t necessarily mean you have an empty pipelineHow scarcity changes your behaviour in a sales conversationThe difference between convincing someone and genuinely understanding whether there’s a fitWhy knowing your pipeline numbers mattersHow to stop confusing activity with progressWhat commercially useful action actually looks like during quieter periodsWhy “yes is usually best, but no is second best”How your energy enters the sales conversation before your words doThe difference between selling from curiosity and confidence versus needing to be chosenWhy sometimes the best thing you can do for your business is allow some spaceI’ll also leave you with three questions: What does my pipeline actually say — not what does it feel like? What’s one action I could take today that would genuinely move something forward? Am I selling from curiosity and confidence, or am I selling from needing to be chosen? You don’t need every customer. You don’t need every opportunity. You just need enough of the right ones. Keep the pipeline moving. Keep having conversations. Stay curious. And don’t let a quiet week convince you to start selling like someone you’re not. Selling is a privilege. 📕 Get the book — Selling in the Paddock: 🌾 Selling in the Paddock website: 💬 Connect with Georgia on LinkedIn:

  7. Sep 13

    Ep 80 - From Shearing Sheep to Selling AgTech: Gavin Leersen’s BaleTime Story

    What happens when a farmer tells you to stop mucking around and build something that will actually help him? For Gavin Leersen, that conversation eventually became BaleTime. Gavin is a shearer, electronics tinkerer and the founder of BaleTime — an Australian agtech product designed to help hay producers monitor conditions in the windrow and know when it’s time to bale. In this episode of Selling in the Paddock, Georgia sits down with Gavin to unpack the wonderfully unconventional story behind BaleTime — from building his first unit for a farmer he was shearing for, to discovering that word of mouth had been doing much of his selling for him. They explore what happens when you have a genuinely useful product but suddenly realise building it and selling it are two very different skill sets. Gavin shares what he’s learnt from field days, talking directly with farmers, digital marketing and simply listening to the problems customers are trying to solve. They also discuss why you can’t convince every farmer they have a problem, the importance of understanding what an individual customer actually values, and why sometimes the best sales conversation isn’t really a sales conversation at all. There’s also a great conversation about perfectionism, innovation and knowing when something is good enough to get into the paddock. As Gavin puts it, if he’d waited until BaleTime was perfect, some of his customers would have missed out on a decade of better sleep. Plus, Gavin shares where the technology could go next, including flood irrigation monitoring and potential applications well beyond hay. It’s a very Selling in the Paddock conversation about curiosity, solving real problems, learning from your customers and figuring out how to sell something you genuinely believe can make their lives better. How Gavin went from shearing sheep to developing agtechThe farmer conversation that sparked BaleTimeWhy Gavin's first customers became his unofficial sales teamLearning to sell when you don't naturally see yourself as a salespersonWhy field days are about much more than making salesSelling innovation to sceptical agricultural customersWhy the problem you see isn't necessarily a problem your customer valuesPrice objections versus the cost of getting hay wrongUsing customer feedback to improve a productPerfectionism, AI and knowing when to shipThe future of BaleTime and Gavin's other agricultural technology ideasWhy Gavin is starting to think “farmers first” rather than “Australia first” as he looks towards international markets BaleTime website: Gavin Leersen on LinkedIn: BaleTime on Facebook: Selling in the Paddock website: Georgia Stormont on LinkedIn:[ADD LINK] Selling in the Paddock book:Selling in the Paddock Instagram: I reckon “if I’d waited until it was perfect, they would have missed out on 10 years of it making their life better” is also the clip I'd be hunting for from this episode. That's a cracking little founder/innovation moment, especially paired with his story about the farmer's wife thanking him because her husband was finally getting better sleep. In this episode:Connect with Gavin & BaleTimeConnect with Selling in the Paddock

  8. Sep 7

    Ep 79 - My Sales Numbers Don’t Lie: What My Pipeline Is Teaching Me

    My Sales Numbers Don’t Lie: What My Pipeline Is Teaching Me We’re nine months into 2026, so I thought it was time to take you behind the scenes of Selling in the Paddock. In this solo episode, I’m looking back at what has already been a massive year — the agricultural businesses I’ve worked with, the travel, workshops, conferences, keynotes, launching the Selling in the Paddock book and continuing to grow the business. But more importantly, I’m opening up my own sales pipeline. Because I’m not standing on the sidelines teaching sales. I’m in it. I’m prospecting. I’m following up. I’m writing proposals. I’m getting ghosted. I’m hearing no. I’m winning work. And sometimes, I’m losing it. Recently, I sat down and properly interrogated my Pipedrive CRM and my sales numbers. I had a gut feeling about where I was strong — particularly once an opportunity reached proposal stage — but I wanted to know whether the data actually backed me up. It did. And it also showed me where the bigger opportunities are in my own sales process. In this episode, I unpack: What 2026 has looked like behind the scenes at Selling in the PaddockWhy I use Pipedrive to manage my sales pipelineWhat I actually track in my CRM — and what I don’tWhy every genuine opportunity needs a next actionWhy I don’t assign a dollar value to every lead immediatelyThe difference between a genuine pipeline and a list of people you hope might buyWhy marking an opportunity as lost can actually help you sell betterWhat my own conversion numbers revealed about my strengthsWhy closing isn’t currently the biggest opportunity in my sales processHow knowing where you’re strong helps you decide where to put your time, energy and resourcesOne of my biggest takeaways? A pipeline isn’t a list of people you’d like to buy from you. It’s a list of genuine commercial opportunities at different stages. And when you understand those stages — and your own strengths within them — you can become much more deliberate about where you put your energy. If this episode gets you thinking about your own sales pipeline, send me a DM. I’d love to know: where are you strongest in your sales process, and where are your opportunities getting stuck?

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About

Selling in the Paddock is a podcast about real sales in agriculture. Hosted by Georgia Stormont, The Ag Sales Coach, it cuts through the noise and gets to the point—how to sell better, lead stronger, and get results. Guests include Paul Roos, AFL premiership coach turned leadership consultant, and Troy Williams, CEO of the National Farmers’ Federation, plus top ag reps, buyers, and business owners. If you work in ag and want to sell smarter and build better teams, this podcast is for you.

Information

  • Creator
    Georgia Stormont
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    91
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Georgia Stormont
  • Show Website
    Selling in the Paddock

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