Agricultural Sales

Purpose

The purpose of the FFA Agricultural Sales Career Development Event is to evaluate and demonstrate skills that are essential for an individual to be successful in the agricultural sales career. Students will also develop an understanding of the opportunities available in the sales industry. The process of selling agricultural products is essential for the production and marketing of agricultural products.

Objectives

The agricultural sales career development event provides the opportunity for the participant to:

Develop verbal, written and interactive communication skills.
Demonstrate skills to build rapport with customers.
Discuss features and benefits of a product.
Identify potential customer objections.
Introduce the product to prospective customers.
Develop a sales call that determines and addresses customers’ needs and objections.
Attempt to close the sale by asking for a customer’s buying decision.
Identify and demonstrate the use of questions throughout the sales process.
Develop active listening skills.

Event Rules

The team will be composed of four students, and all four individual scores will count toward the team total.
FFA Official Dress is required for this event.
Any participant in possession of an electronic device, except a calculator, in the event area is subject to disqualification.
Business cards are not permitted and will not contribute to the individual or team scores.

Event Format

The event will be composed of three parts. Individual scores will be composed of the written exam and individual sales activity. The team score will be comprised of the team activity and all individual scores.

The product(s) utilized in the event and activity examples will be posted prior to the event on the OSU CDE webpage. Provided product information may include appropriate company information and price list.

Each participant will be allowed to bring a 1-inch binder to the event containing the provided product information and any other information gathered by the participant.

Equipment
1. The written examination scan sheet will be provided by the contest superintendent. All other equipment will be provided by the contestant, including a calculator and pencil.
Event Schedule
1. Each contestant shall complete the event in the time allotted:
  1. Written Exam - 30 minutes
  2. Team Activity - 40 minutes
  3. Individual Activity - 20 minutes
Individual Written Exam - 100 points
1. The written exam is designed to evaluate an individual’s knowledge of sales skills. The questions will be obtained from the previous questions used in National FFA competition. There will only be multiple choice questions. The test will consist of twenty-five (25) questions worth four (4) points each.
2. All questions will be multiple choice.
3. Students will answer using a scantron sheet; only answers filled in on the scantron sheet will be counted. Point values will be assigned to each question based on the skill level of the question.
4. Bringing a calculator is strongly encouraged for this part of the contest (although calculators are not permitted in the other parts of the contest)
Team Activity - 150 points
1. Team members will work together to demonstrate teamwork, group dynamics, problem-solving, data analysis, decision making and oral communications.
2. Teams will be allowed to use their 1-inch binder for the event.
3. The following information will be provided to the team as if they were a group of salespeople working together to develop the pre-call planning prior to conducting a sales call.
  1. Product information (available several weeks before the event on the event website, target date Feb 14)
  2. Profiles of different customers (at the event)
  3. Paper and pencils. No presentation equipment such as laptops, flipcharts or dry erase boards will be allowed.
4. Teams will be allocated a 20-minute period to examine the provided information and prepare responses to potential questions regarding the pre-call plan. The preparation phase will not be judged.
5. Each team is required to present their sales plan to the judges within a 10-minute timeframe, ensuring participation from all team members. Following the presentation, judges will have 10-minutes to ask questions to the team members.
6. Students must articulate the rationale behind their decisions in the pre-call plan, basing their explanations on established selling principles.
Individual Sales Activity - 150 points
1. Information and product(s) from team activity will be used in the individual sales activity. (Individual activity will be conducted after the team activity.)
  1. Participants will meet with a judge who will be playing the role of one of the four hypothetical customers profiled in the team activity.
  2. Participants are to implement their strategy for developing a rapport with the customer and determine which of the four hypotherical customers the judge is role playing.
  3. The judge(s) will act as the customer, which may include not buying the product. Participants will have to establish rapport, ask probing questions to ensure they meet the customer’s needs and clarify customer information as a part of the sales call.
  4. Participants will have 20 minutes to interact with the judge(s). Participants are allowed to use their 1-inch product information binder during the individual activity.

Scoring

Activities	Individual Points	Team Points
Written Exam	100	400
Team Activity	-	150
Individual Sales Call	150	600
Maximum Points	250	1,150

Tiebreakers

Individual

In the event of a tie in individualized scores, the following events will be used to determine award recipients:

Written exam.
Individual sales call.
Team activity.

Team

In the event of a tie in team scores, the following events will be used to determine award recipients:

Written exam.
Team activity.
Total individual sales activity.

Product Information

John Deere has four general lines of compact tractors, but we are only going to focus on the 2 Series. Within the 2 Series, we are going to focus only on the 2025R Model. So contestants only need to be familiar with the 2025R John Deere tractor.

The main job of the salesperson is to be familiar with all the different options, implements, and accessories that can be used with the 2025R tractor, so that when they hear how the tractor will be used, they can best guide them to the extra implements they will need. An “implement” is generally a piece of equipment you connect to the tractor. Below are screenshots of John Deere’s implement brochure, and what the implements can do. Some are best for maintaining grassy areas like sports fields, some are ideal for small-scale farming, and others are best for landscaping. You will notice some pages from the brochure are missing. That is by design, and you are only responsible for the implements and accessories shown below. Note also that tractor can have different accessories in addition to implements, such as a cab and phone holder.

Price information is available for a the baseline model and the addition cost of adding a cab, front-end loader, and backhoe, and students should know this information.

Specific price information for each implement and accessory is not provided, so will not be asked to know these prices. However, you should recognize that the more implements and accessories, the higher the cost.

References

This list of references is not intended to be all-inclusive. Other sources may be utilized, and teachers are encouraged to make use of the very best instructional materials available. The following list contains references that may prove helpful during event preparation.

CRISP Publications, 1200 Hamilton Court, Menlo Park, CA 94025-1427. 1-800- 442-7477. FAX 650-323-5800.
1. Professional Selling, Rebecca L. Morgan, ISBN 0-931961-42-4
2. Sales Training Basics, Elwood N. Chapman, ISBN 1-56052-119-8
3. Closing, Virden J. Thorton, ISBN 1-56052-318-2
Ditzenberger and Kidney, Selling-Helping Customers Buy, South-Western Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1992, 1-800-543-7972, ISBN 0538605316.
Understanding Ag Sales, FFA.org
ProSelling: A Professional Approach to Selling in Agriculture and Other Industries, W. Scott Downey, ISBN-13: 978-0978895211.

Past (national) CDE materials and other resources are available by logging in to FFA.org.

Note: Official FFA Dress is required for ALL parts of the contest. Contestants will be allowed to have a personal calculator with them during the written test, but NOT in other parts of the contest. Additional notes, books, or paper will not be allowed in the contest room. Cellular telephones and other electronic audio or video devices are not allowed. Scratch paper and other supplies will be provided as needed.

Supplemental Materials

Ag Sales Scansheet #105481

Scorecard

2024 Product Information