Speaking from Vanderloop’s Beaver Dam, Wis., location, Vanderloop’s Brian Neuman and Larry Schamberger have some thoughts about what you can and can’t teach a salesman, and the most important qualities for ag dealers.

The pair were both techs first, but their sales roles today are keenly focused on customer service. They say it’s easy to teach a new sales rep product lines and where a product best fits or doesn’t. But the list of traits that cannot be taught is significantly longer: punctuality, urgency, honesty, showing up and following up, along with the desire to act professionally — even when needing to deliver bad news, and being accountable.

Schamberger has been with the company since 2016. He grew up as a farm kid who cut his teeth in the truck dealer business before coming to Vanderloop. He says it was an easy transition, as the both of the businesses run similarly and hold similar values, emphasizing that making connections with customers is critical. He says you can't teach punctuality or being able to interact with customers in a professional manner. The things you can teach, he says, are details about the product line, the differences between the products. But, he adds, “They have to be able to show up, they have to be able to interact, they have to be able to follow through.”

For his part, Neuman brings 30 years of experience with ag dealerships, and has been involved in the hiring process. He stressed the importance of having a sense of urgency and thinking through solutions. He’s noticed Midwesterners seem to have a stronger sense of urgency, and an all-important sense of politeness, built into them.

“I think we're lucky being in the Midwest, we have that Midwest nice and that Midwest urgency built into us. I've been part of the hiring process and you'll get interns from down south and they're polite but have no sense of urgency. So I think this Midwest feel that we have here with our employees and ourselves really helps us.”

The same goes for delivering bad news to a customer. “In the industry, bad things can happen sometimes,” he says, but emphasizes that a combination of skills are important to communicate with urgency, while being polite and having ingenuity when tackling problems, as well.

Schamberger feels strongly about accountability. He says for some people, they have an excuse for everything, nothing's ever their fault, they pass the buck and pass the blame. Instead, he reinforces taking responsibility. “If something got messed up, own it, admit to it, you'll learn from it, then move on.” Neuman concurred, saying that accountability can be hard to teach. He says, “Be upfront and honest, don't start a lie, because once you start a lie, it just snowballs and it never ends well.”

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