You get to train your customers how to treat you. It starts with prospecting.

Hey {{first_name|team}},

Ever catch yourself apologizing to a prospect before you’ve even asked for the appointment?

“Sorry to bother you. I know you’re busy…”

Hell of an introduction. You just told the guy you’re a bother, then gave him a reason to get rid of you. And you haven’t even told him your name yet.

I get it. He’s got a crew to manage, crops or livestock that won’t wait, and three people who need something from him. You don’t want to be the fourth. So you make yourself small. “Whenever works for you.” “Just need a couple minutes.” “I can work around your schedule.”

Then you wonder why he treats your time like it doesn’t matter.

Last week I told you that you’re always training your customers how to treat you. That training starts before the first handshake. It starts with how you ask for the appointment.

You get the same 24 hours he does. And if you can actually help his operation, you ought to act like spending fifteen minutes with you might be worth something.

Let’s work on that.

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We know he’s busy. We know he’s got the money. Somewhere along the way he becomes the superhero without a cape, and we become the one hoping for a few scraps of his time.

Knock. it. off. You’re a professional there to make a difference. Now, ACT LIKE IT.

That means knowing what this step is for. Appointment setting is about converting a little bit of their time into attention on you. Get onto the farm or through the door of the operation. Once you’re there, you can learn their needs and then position value. You’re asking for fifteen minutes to meet, not trying to generate interest in a product before you’ve even shaken hands.

Here’s an opener you can adapt whether your customers raise crops, cattle, hogs, or milk cows. Use your own name, company, and two times you actually have available:

“Hi, I’m Mark with [company]. I’ll be out in your neck of the woods next week and would love to stop in and put a face with the name. I have Tuesday at ten or Thursday at two available. Which of those two times works best for you? I won’t take more than fifteen minutes of your time.”

Every piece has a job.

Your name and company. Start there. He doesn’t need your résumé before he knows why you called.

A simple introduction. Put a face with the name. Shake a hand. See the operation and learn a little about the person running it. You don’t have to solve his business over a text message to earn an introduction. And you don’t have to lead with a product that boxes you in before you’ve even met.

Two specific times. You’ve checked your calendar. Give him two choices and ask which works best. “Would it be okay if I stopped out?” asks him to decide whether to meet at all. “Tuesday at ten or Thursday at two?” gives him something concrete to answer. He can still decline. You’re making the scheduling easier.

If he wants to meet but neither time works: “Would Tuesday or Wednesday generally be better?” He says Tuesday. “Does ten work?” Confirm it. Don’t pick his day and then assign him an hour like you’re the dentist.

If he declines, respect the answer. If it’s a timing issue, work toward a better day or week. Keep the conversation about finding a time to meet.

Fifteen minutes, and you keep it. At fourteen, say: “I promised you fifteen minutes, and we’re about there. Should we pick this up another day?” If he wants to keep talking, let him choose. Your first kept promise is the first deposit in the integrity account.

Same play, different barn

Start with the operation. Keep the invitation simple and fit it to the person you’re calling:

Across a tailgate or over a screen: a useful reason, two times, fifteen minutes. You might be 22 and brand new. You might be 50 and brand new to him. You show professionalism by how you handle the conversation and whether you keep your word.

Who you are → a simple introduction → two specific times → fifteen minutes.

“I’m [name] with [company]. I’d love to stop in and put a face with the name. I have [time one] or [time two] available. Which works best for you? I won’t take more than fifteen minutes.”

Confirm the time. Keep the promise. Print this play and add it to your Ag Sales Playbook. Keep it handy and use it before your next round of appointment-setting calls.

Brought to you by Jericho

Your own playbook, built around you. Run your appointment opener past Jericho before you make the call. He’s the sales coach in your pocket, helping you prepare, debrief, and decide what to do next. Take notes on every call, troubleshoot why they are not calling you back. Get objective coaching on how your last sales call went, objectively without the awkward manager watching over your shoulder…

Build my playbook

Grains and cattle finished lower. Here’s the September 28 snapshot.

Grains: December corn closed at $5.22 a bushel, down 6 cents. November soybeans finished at $12.87, down 31 cents, and December wheat at $6.87, down 15 cents.

Cattle: October live cattle finished at $217.82 per hundredweight, down $1.05. October feeder cattle closed at $332.32, down $2.60. Those are futures prices, not local cash bids.

Hogs: The same report listed the U.S. CME hog price at $81.62 per hundredweight, dressed weight, down 30 cents from the previous day. Read the full grain and livestock market report.

What that means at the farm gate: Volatility creates uncertainty in any market. When you follow good sales process like we are teaching through this newsletter you become the source of certainty that buyers crave. Whenever things look a little shaky, we all look for someone who can drive us confidently toward better decision making whether we want to admit it or not.

The appointment-setting connection: That’s context for understanding the person you’re calling. Keep the ask simple: put a face with the name, offer two times, promise fifteen minutes. Get through the door and find out how these markets are affecting their operation. Then you can position value.

Brought to you by The Momentum Company

Sales and leadership training for ag teams. Live in the classroom with the promise of ZERO death by power point - ever.

What if training could be enjoyable AND effective!? Come join us at Thriving Leader in Nashville, TN February 17 & 18, 2027!

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A reader sent me a good tough one this week. His customer would prefer to buy from him. But the customer doesn’t always plan ahead, and if he doesn’t get a response within an hour, he calls the competition.

Sound familiar? You’re everybody’s favorite until you’re in a meeting with your phone on silent.

Now, I could tell you to set some boundaries. Sounds great. Put it on a coffee mug. But you’d probably like to keep the business, too.

Find out NOW by talking to your customers today and TRAIN them what to do if they can’t reach you right away.

Have that conversation next time you talk - BEFORE the next fire drill:

“When something comes up fast, I want you to know how to reach us. I’m sometimes with another customer, or my family and can’t answer immediately. Let’s figure out a plan that works when I’m tied up. If I miss you, my commitment is to get back to you ASAP and get you taken care of - that sound fair?”

Then agree on something you can actually deliver. A realistic callback window. A backup person, if you have one. A clear way to flag something that genuinely can’t wait.

And when you say you’ll call at two, call at two.

You can’t promise instant availability while asking somebody else to respect your calendar. You can give them a clear expectation and keep your word.

That starts with the first appointment. Fifteen minutes means fifteen minutes. “I’ll text you Tuesday” means you text him Tuesday. You’re teaching him what your promises are worth long before the urgent call comes.

Pick three prospects you’ve been meaning to call. Use the opener to ask for a short introduction. Offer two specific times. Keep the fifteen-minute promise. Better yet - block 20 minutes and see how many you can send in that time frame. We recently did this with a sales team in Ohio and they booked 51 calls in just 20 minutes. It was phenomenal!

Then hit reply and tell me what happened, including the one that went sideways.

Hit reply and send it to me. The customer who won’t call back. The price conversation you keep losing. The one-hour fire drill that wrecks your day. Tell me what’s happening, what you’ve tried, and where you’re stuck.

I’ll address reader challenges in future issues of The Ag Sales Playbook, with practical advice you can take into the next conversation. The questions in this issue came from readers. Send me yours. You’re probably not the only one dealing with it.

You are always training your customer how to treat you. Give him a reason to meet, respect both calendars, and do what you said you’d do.

Go get after it. Fall waits for nobody and neither does your number.

Let’s grow your momentum,

Mark Jewell
The Momentum Company

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