Interview with Colson Steber from Ag Access on the importance of market data

I’m convinced that every salesperson out there can improve the management of their sales, their customers, and prospects with better data. Especially data from farmers.

Today, I’m joined by Colson Steber from Ag Access. Coslon is co-CEO and Co-owner of Ag Access. They have a database of over 100,000 farmers and agribusiness contacts, which they survey annually. They work with all the major Ag manufacturers, Tractor companies, and cooperatives.

They also work with most of the Ag research companies in a contract role to gather on-farm data. As Colson describes it, if you received data on farmer activities, then it’s highly likely that Ag Access was involved in gathering it.

Key Interview Times

• 04:17 – Big picture view of Ag data
• 07:10 – Data for naming, pricing, communicating, and building value with farmers and livestock producers.  From needs assessments to Go-To-Market Strategy development.
• 11:00 – engaging over 100,000 farmers per year 
• 13:37 – Even helping those sales teams that think they know their customers, especially when those salespeople are not using data.
• 17:30 – They don’t just collect data, but help interpret it for better decisions
• 19:15 – Every year, certain questions are surveyed.  For example, “Will a rebate program be part of your decision on who to buy from?”
• 20:30 – Farmer data is elusive…how Ag Access gets it
• 24:44 – The latest trend is for agribusiness to have an internal team that manages the projects with Ag Access.  This helps disseminate the data to the sales team.
• 27:10 – Biggest observation?  “Ten years ago, it was all about will farmers adopt technology.  The thought was that farmers wouldn’t embrace technology.  However, Colson describes a technology shift.  Producers are much more tech savvy.
• 30:01 – The emotions behind farmer purchasing habits

Ag Access info:

Website:  https://ag-access.com/

Listen in as Colson Steber (Ag Access) and I discuss the world of Ag data collection and why it’s important to all levels in the company, especially the Ag Salesperson