Erika Tebbens is a Sales Strategist and Speaker. She worked for Michael’s farm, Kilpatrick Family Farm for a number of years as the market and sales manager before running her own farm for several years. In this fascinating interview, she unpacks how to cultivate raving fans, how Kilpatrick Family Farm innovated and outsold much more established farms by implementing simple sales techniques, and her pet peeves that farmers do that decrease their sales unintentionally.
In This Episode:
>> What her experience as a customer, then a stand manager, and finally running her own farm taught her
>> What over 15 years in sales taught her about customer service and what your farm can do to offer superior customer service
>> Erika’s top tips for farms looking to grow their social media presence
>> How to hire the best people to work at your market stands
Quotes from the episode:
“Farmers have this weird mindset that they should be poor, but that is absolutely not true”
“You should be constantly reminding your customers what you do, why you do it, and why they should care”
“People will spend again and again with people they know, like, and trust”
“You can charge more money because people treat the farmers market as an experience”
“Always put your showstoppers in the hot spots of your table”
“One thing that we all have in common is that we all eat. That is the ultimate bridge for connecting”
Resources that Erika mentioned
Chillpreneur book by Denise Duffield Thomas
Small Farm U member The Looney Farm
Farmers’ Market Challenge with Michael and Erika runs July 30-August 1st
About the Guest
Erika Tebbens is a Sales Strategist and Speaker. She coaches female, and gender-expansive entrepreneurs, on how to sell smarter, earn more and create raving fans for their business. She’s been selling and teaching others how to run successful businesses, for over 15 years.
When she isn’t working, she’s relaxing in her Upstate, NY home with her husband, teenage son, and two spoiled dogs.
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