Farmer gets a cold shoulder, or would you rather have a real advisor?

Through the speakers in the car I heard the song of a Dutch/Belgian singing duo: "Now we don't talk anymore." It sounded nice, but I heard something more in it. That same week I had also heard something about interest among young people. Direct, verbal communication from person to person is becoming increasingly rare. I also encounter this increasingly in my work as a business consultant.

Much has changed in the field of communication in the last decades. In the past, it was a coming and going of representatives, advisers, traders, contractors and what not on the farm. You knew each other personally and there was recognition and acknowledgement for what you did and wanted to do. That changed when you were no longer addressed by your name in many companies, but when you became a customer number.

Waiting, waiting
The range of communication tools has become increasingly larger. Think of the smartphone in particular. What progress have we made with it? With every step of commercialisation and greater distances, this has accelerated even more in recent years. These steps were often sold to you under the guise of cost reduction or staff shortages. For example, you now usually get a menu of options instead of an employee directly when you call. Be careful not to make the wrong choice, because you will get lost in a telephone maze with transfers, waiting, waiting again, disconnecting and above all a lot of frustration.

If you still want to get in touch, you can fill out an online contact form. Then just wait for a response. Or even better; start a conversation with an AI chatbot. You're having a nice conversation (you think), but before you know it, the conversation stops and you're asked to contact a customer service - annex call center - somewhere abroad, or to fill out another online contact form.

Quest
In short, you are spending a lot of your own time and frustrations, but what else can you do? The good old days, of personal contact and 'we know each other', at least resulted in less frustration. We notice it every day in our work. People lose their way in their search for the right person and not only in large organizations. People no longer know who their point of contact is, after a series of changes and shifts. If you have missed the mail or online messages about this, you are the one who is left behind. Customers give up after the umpteenth search.

Too bad we think so little of each other these days. The conversation from person to person, about your company and the future, inspires and leads to further deepening of the strategic choices of the company.
No AI, no chatbot and no call center in the faraway land to whom you have to explain your heart and soul. Just together at the kitchen table. In a confidential atmosphere, that is where the entrepreneur wants to be approached and heard. We all know that communication is more than just words. Non-verbal communication (intonation, attitude, attention, etc.) is of great importance to understand each other well. Without the total package, you will not get to the essence of the question and therefore certainly not to a correct follow-up.

Questions to people
We are increasingly seeing that entrepreneurs are finding companies where they can ask their questions from person to person, fortunately. Now we just have to wait for the chatbox and customer service to come to you for coffee. For the 'traditional' and human advisor, the proverbial coffee is always ready.

Sjoerd de Beer

Sjoerd de Beer is an experienced business advisor at Farmers Funding & Advies. In more than 35 years of working with agricultural entrepreneurs, he has acquired knowledge and know-how in business, financial and fiscal areas.

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