2016 Ag sales exam

Young sales people often have a hard time understanding that they should know as much about their customer’s business as possible. One agribusiness sales person often checkscommodity prices several times a day

• He is watching his investments

• Wants to know impact of commodity supply and demand on customer’s cost structure

• Wants to be able to anticipate “price” moves that will impact his company.

• Just following a hobby

Credit is…

• Only for banks to grant

• Never offered to a customer by a sales person.

• Providing product to a proven customer to be paid at a specific date

• A way of providing product to a customer who cannot afford it

Leroy has explained to his sales manager that Mr. Smith is very elusive and avoidsappointments. He has successfully evaded Leroy and several other sales people from thecompany. Mr. Smith would be a very big account. Recently, Leroy learned from one of hiscurrent customers that Mr. Smith is an avid collector of Ford Thunderbirds. So Leroy looked upthe names and meeting times of all of the “thunderbird clubs” in town and began attendingtheir meetings during the evening. Eventually, he encountered Mr. Smith and got anappointment. This is an elaborate example of which of the following sales techniques?

• Goal- setting

• Sales strategy

• Wasting time

• Human interest

As a sales person, what is a method you can use to help maintain relationships with your customers.

• Follow-up with customers

• Product summary

• Payment collection

• Establish features and benefits of your product

You are selling 50 pound bags of beef feed. The feed retails for $14.50/bag. The companymargin is $2.00/bag. You as a sales person offer a large but difficult customer a discount andsell the product for $12.00/bag. At the end of the week your sales manager informs you that heis not happy with your sale. Why?

• You made sale and gained a difficult customer

• You made sale but lost money for company

• You made sale and gained commission

• You made sale without a manager’s assistance

Costco (trademark) discount stores have a simple pricing system. They price all products asfollows: “cost + 15% = price.”

• This is their competitive advantage

• This is their comparative advantage

• This sets their product margin

• None of the above

Sales people are important to a corporate enterprise because…

• Someone has to take product orders

• No product ever sold itself

• Someone has to discover how the external economy is going

• Someone has to develop golf skills to represent the company

A good product demonstration often involves…

• A professional sales approach

• A well-rehearsed presentation

• Showmanship

• All of the above

Not all customers or potential customers play fair or by the rules of the game. Some customers are inclined to use or manipulate young sales people. Which of the following is an example of the “dirty” tricks customers can use.

• Free consulting request before a sale will be granted

• Asking questions during the sales demonstration

• Giving and objection during the sales call

• All of the above

• None of the above

A cold sales call is always a challenge for a sales person; the task is not easier when it is done by telephone. When talking to the potential customer on the telephone, you should…

• Make a personal appointment as quickly as possible

• Know what you want to say and listen to responses to guide your presentation

• Know what you want to say and don’t allow yourself to be distracted during a call

• Know your product and match it to the person’s needs