The Cost of Bad Marketing
- Grant Wiese
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
SW Financial Literacy
Slow to Hire, Quick to Fire:
The Cost of Bad Marketing Fit
I'm going to share a quick story with you which is always painful when I hear this, and it happens more than you would think:
A farmer has been working with a marketer who just isn’t the right fit. Three years ago, they clashed on pricing and nothing was sold. The farmer wanted to sell grain. The marketer advised that prices would go higher and they should wait. No $6 corn was sold, and they rode the price down. Since then, the farmer has set a goal to be 50% sold by early June to take advantage of seasonal rallies. As you know, the rallies haven't come and the farmer hasn't hit a target for the past three years.
This isn’t just about one mistake or one bad year. It’s a pattern. And in farming, patterns of missed marketing opportunities quickly become financial train wrecks. Margins are already tight, so compounding mistakes can be fatal to the operation. Operations are losing massive amounts of liquidity with $4.50/bu sales. What is going to happen when the grain is unpriced across the scale at $3.90/bu?
It’s easy to stick with someone because they’re friendly, or because their services are cheap. But just because a marketer is nice and affordable doesn’t mean they’re the right choice for your farm. The approach has to fit your operation, your financial goals, and your marketing preferences. Otherwise, you’re putting your business at risk.
Yes, people make mistakes. Markets don’t always follow the seasonal patterns we expect. But there’s a difference between riding out volatility and standing still. If your goal is to be 50% sold and you’re sitting at 0%, that’s not a market problem, it’s a management problem. And that responsibility ultimately falls on you, the farmer. You hired the marketer. You set the expectations. You decide whether to keep letting history repeat itself, or to make a change before the lack of action costs you the farm.
I'm not intending to come done hard on those that are in a tough spot. Marketing can be complex and hard to understand, but it doesn't have to be. Take control of your operation and your own fate. Find a marketer that can make the complex - simple. Find a marketer that can understand your goals and financial needs, can come up with a plan to mesh with your needs, and can execute. That simple.
One piece of very popular business advice applies here perfectly: be slow to hire, but quick to fire.
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Have a great week!
Grant
