;22-Grower & Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 1,2003 E: The Farmstead: Direct / (Continued from Page El 9) that should be considered by direct marketers trying this approach. First, the most important issue they found was that it was critical to cultivate a strong, positive relationship with the district people that were doing the buying. Often this is mistakenly assumed to be the cafeteria supervisor. Most often, local buying deci sions are made by the school food service director that has jurisdiction over all the schools in the district. You need to find this key person and initiate the rela tionship. If you start by con vincing your neighbor, which happens to be on the school board, and they strong arm the food director, you might get the initial sale but will quickly learn that “something is wrong” with your product and they are no longer inter ested in a purchase the next time you show up. This person will make you or break you, so work to get it right and build a sense of trust with them over time. And don’t make the second mistake by starting with the largest school district first. This is a whole new approach for you. If you start with the smallest district, gain valuable expertise, and make a fatal error, all is not lost. There are larger districts you can still go after. Second, provide what they want. Seems simple enough, but do you know what that is? Many districts print their menus in the local paper or post them on their Websites. Look them over to find places where you could offer prod ucts to be direct substitutes for what they are already using. Or maybe you could offer oth ers that they aren’t using yet. And by all means think value-added. If you can offer a product that saves them time, effort, cost, or has more customer appeal, you will go a long way toward developing a new, long-term buyer. Just be cause you have apples to sell and they’re local doesn’t mean they are going to be interested. They already get apples in #lO cans off a truck, delivered twice a week. What can you offer to en tice the purchase? Semi-pre pared apple products, sauce, or prebaked items? Or maybe dried apple snacks? Be crea tive and don’t overlook the nutritional angle. You might even be able to enlist the help of a local nutri tionist to develop proposed menu changes and the benefit to the kids. But don’t overlook food safety concerns in value added products and that is an other area where the nutri tionist can help. Third, think quality! This is no place to get rid of lesser grades of your product. The director knows what top qual ity looks like and will expect no less from you. If you make a delivery and get a call about a quality related issue, quickly replace it with a no-questions asked policy. And be on time with deliveries your compe tition was and you’ll be ex pected to do the same. Know going into the situation what the minimum is you are will ing to deliver and the maxi mum you’re able to produce. This is another good reason to start small. And keep in mind this is mainstream. Or ganic is probably not going to get you a premium like it would at the growers’ market in the nearby town. The bottom line is there could be a good bottom line here if you learn to work the system and make calculated expansions over time. Explore all the facility possibilities in your area and carefully con sider if you have the people skills needed to nurture sales with institutions. You can receive the in depth information on Dan Schofer’s project by calling him at (202) 690-1170 and asking for his publication ti tled, “Innovative Marketing Opportunities for Small Farm ers: Local Schools as Custom ers” and “How Local Farmers and School Food Service Buy ers Are Building Alliances.” He also has a number of relat ed publications on the project that have a wealth of great tips on the subject. All the publications are free and worth reading. Customer Service A Quick Refresher Good customer service is the difference between having a customer once and having a costumer forever. Since you want to be in the latter catego ry, you need to train those new employees you’re getting this season on the needs and desires of your clientele. Never lose sight of the fact that your sales team is an ex tension of you and generally will be the face of your busi ness the customers remem bers. Teach your staff they are not just there to take up floor space, they are there to sell and cater to the range of cus- m m u. You grow the fruit of the land. And that usually puts you in a tight spot. A regular tractor in your orchard or grove or vineyard can be like a bull in a china shop. What’s why Massey Ferguson makes the MF 3300 Series of specialty tractors, just for operations like yours. The F Series, for traditional and wider vineyards. The S Series, for orchards and groves. The V Series, or narrow, modern vineyards. And the GE Series, with its extra-low profile, for modern and traditional orchards and vine yards. Stop by today, and get the skinny on the MF 3300 model that’s right for you. SEE YOUR NEAREST DEALER FOR DETAILS PEOPLE’S SALES MILLER NORTHEAST C.J. WONSIDLER & SERVICE EQUIPMENT CO. DIST. & EQUIP. 1975 Trumbauersville Rd. Oakland Mills, PA 17076 Stauffer Road Rt. 106 Quakertown, PA 18951 (717) 463-2735 Bechtelsville, PA 19505 West Clifford, PA 18413 (215) 536-1935 (610) 845-2911 (570) 222-9090 MEYERS (570) 222-9020 TAYLOR IMPLEMENTS, INC. LONGENECKERS EQUIPMENT, INC. 400 North Antrim Way INC. FIELDS 1300 Washington Rd. Greencastle, PA 17225 Rt. 866 South IMPLEMENT STORE Westminster, MD 21157 (717) 597-2176 Williamsburg, PA El 9 ht V Four. PA 15330 (410) 848-4474 (814)793-3731 (724)222-1154 M.M. WEAVER 4000 Brown Rd &SON LEBANON VALLEY caqS’SSmidmcSv Taneytown, MD 21787 N pf™ IMPLEMENT ca FAR JJ. ™ ENT (410)751-1500 Leola, PA 17540 RD #2, Box 24A (717)656-2321 MANOR MOTORS (717)866-7518 4910 Kernsville Rd 3655 Rt. 553 Orefield, PA 18069 Penn Run, PA (610) 366-2095 (724) 254-4753 * WHAT TO 0N . miwwii MWiMiiiWr tomers you typically have. They need to realize they are the key ingredients to make your business a success and ultimately their own employ ment rewarding and sustain able (i.e. a job next year!). They shape your image with the customer that directly in fluences sales. Customer service is giving the customer what they want, when and how they want it, and in such a manner they will pay a premium for it. Staff always need to be re minded of the value the cus tomer plays in the equation. They also need to know that 60 percent of customers polled annually complain about the service they receive. Well, this is a refresher, so how about a few quick points to review: 1. Smile and be friendly. 2. First impressions are LOVES A SPOT. made in the first 10 seconds and influences most buying decisions. 3. Perception is reality and it’s the customer’s perception that matters. 4. Quality, consistency, courteousness, and willingness to listen always count. 5. Customer distress or un easiness needs to be observed and corrected quickly. 6. Good attitude + good im pression = repeat business. 7. Angry customers tell 20 others, resolve issues before they leave store. 8. Dialogues with customers and quickly call them by name after learning it. 9. Surprise the customer by meeting their expectations plus offering something extra. 10. Did I mention smile! Thomas B. Murphy Extension Agent
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers