Index:
Overview
Why Ag and CRM’s Have Struggled
Inside the Platform
Deep Research Reports
Producer Score
Tagging and Segmentation
On-the-Go Capability with CarPlay
Professionalizing the Ag Sales Motion
Marketing Augmentation
Commercial Tech Stack
Final Thoughts
Overview
Agribusiness has spent decades trying, and mostly failing, to make traditional CRMs work for the people who sell to farmers.
Salesforce, HubSpot, and Microsoft Dynamics were never built for ag. I even remember using ag specific CRM’s too, but they were often too clunky and administratively demanding to drive successful utilization or value creation.
All of these systems arrive empty, require constant data entry, and ask sales people to be data entry clerks before they can be salespeople. The outcome has led an entire category of software the industry has resented, and avoided. ‘CRM’ has in many cases become a swear word to agribusiness professionals.
CamoAg, founded and led by Corbett Kull, takes a different starting point that I find compelling.
Their platform comes pre-loaded with structured data on more than one million US agricultural operations, 800 million acres analyzed, and 150 million parcels of land. Land ownership, operation size, crop history, and key personnel are already in the system before a rep ever logs in. Layered on top is AI-powered deep research, proprietary producer scoring, and a native iOS app with CarPlay support that meets sellers where they actually work: in the cab of a truck.
Kull calls it a “lightweight CRM, batteries included.”
On a recent catch-up call with the CamoAg team, it became clear to me that it can act as a commercial catalyst for agribusinesses on the input manufacturing or retail side of things, and a foundational component of the entire software stack available to agribusiness teams.
For ag retailers, input manufacturers, lenders, and land services firms, CamoAg functionality is worth paying attention to.
Why Ag and CRM Have Struggled
A CRM only drives revenue for an agribusiness when a couple of considerations are delivered upon:
The platform is intuitive and actionable for users, helping them quickly identify opportunities, prioritize accounts, and take the next best action.
All while getting commitment from leadership to the change management process that enables teams to have the expectations and guard rails in place to use it consistently.
Anyone who has run an ag retail or input sales organization recognizes the recurring pattern of failure surrounding CRMs: The company buys a CRM platform, they roll it out and reps are told to load their customers, log their calls, and update opportunities. Sometimes the data trickles in for a few months, then slows down, and the system becomes a graveyard of old records that no one trusts, or have become irrelevant.
Three problems drive that ongoing challenge.
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