What will the precision farming specialist of the future look like? How different will their role be within a dealership?

As new technologies mold the business model of many ag equipment dealerships, the responsibilities of precision staff are evolving as well, with more emphasis placed on service-centric revenue and data-driven decisions for customers.

Dealerships will likely need to redefine the “why” and “how” of their precision teams, according to business consultant Jim Henderson, influenced by rapid advancements in ag tech and taking cues from industries outside agriculture to adapt and grow their businesses.

At this month’s Precision Farming Dealer Summit in St. Louis, Henderson shared lessons learned from advising entrepreneurs in the early stages of launching start-up companies and how those lessons can be adapted to the precision ag industry.

One takeaway emphasized by Henderson was the need for businesses to rethink how they determine and define precision roles.

“You’ve got to build a dynamic team. You can’t have a sales guy anymore; you’re going to have somebody who knows the equipment, you’re going to have somebody who knows the agronomy, you’re going to have somebody that knows the data, you’re going to have somebody that knows the software, — so these teams are going to form and un-form. That was very challenging to manage. And of everything that we learned I think that aspect is going to be very different for you and each individual organization here, but that was a big one. So I would recommend looking at that.”

Get more takeaways and insight from the 5^th Annual Precision Farming Dealer Summit at PrecsisionFarmingDealer.com.