Kentucky Agriculture Sales CDE Rules
1. Agriculture Sales Teams will consist of four FFA members. All four scores will count.
2. The regional product will be released in August. The regional product will be a general product such as a “two gallon hand sprayer.” A specific product will be released to teachers in the region approximately 2 weeks before the regional contest.
3. The state product will be released in March. When the state product is released, it will be a general product such as “a two gallon hand sprayer.” Specific product information including model, retailer, and price will be released on or before May 25th. Students are not expected or permitted to bring the product with them to either the regional or state contest.
4. Each team member will be allowed to assemble a 1 inch binder related to the selected product. The binder may include any information applicable to the product including brochures, price list, a list of related products, sales blanks, etc.
5. The contest will consist of three parts:
- Written Examination- 100 points per student X 4 students- 400 points
50 multiple choice, true/false, and/or fill in the blank questions.
- Team Sales Activity- 150 points
- Individual Sales Activity- 150 points X 4 students- 600 points
- Total Points- 1150 per team
6. Team Sales Activity
a. Each participant will be allowed to bring a one-inch binder to the team activity containing the provided product information and any other information gathered by the participant.
b. Team members will work together to demonstrate teamwork, group dynamics, problem solving, data analysis, decision making, and oral communications.
c. The team will act as if they were a group of sales people working together to develop the pre-call planning prior to conducting a sales call. They will be provided with profiles of different customers and be expected to develop plans for selling to each customer type.
d. The team will be provided with paper and writing utensils. No presentation equipment such as laptops, flipcharts, or dry erase boards will be allowed.
e. The team will then develop the strategy (for the product(s) provided prior to the event) necessary to sell the product(s) in a face to face sales call. This strategy should include but is not limited to:
i. Determining customer needs and wants
ii. Identifying features and benefits of the product(s) that address the customer’s needs and wants
iii. Identifying potential customer objections
iv. Identifying possible related/complimentary products and their suggested selling strategies
v. Develop information gathering questions to be utilized in clarifying the customer’s needs and wants.
f. Teamwork and involvement of team members will be judged during this event. Students are expected to justify their decisions based on selling principles.
g. The team will be given 15 minutes to analyze the information given and develop a presentation to provide the information listed above. During this time, the team will be judged using the team activity scorecard found in the National FFA CDE Handbook.
h. At the conclusion on the 15 minutes, the team will give a 10 minute presentation. The judges for the team presentation will act as the team members immediate supervisors. At the conclusion of the team presentation, the judges will have 10 minutes to ask questions of all team members.
6. Information and products from the team activity will be used in the individual sales activity. (Individual activity will be conducted after the team activity at the state level.) Participants will directly sell the product(s) to the judge(s). The judge(s) will fit one of the customer profiles identified in the team pre-call planning activity. The judge(s) will act as a real customer which may include not buying the product. Participants will have to establish rapport with the customer and ask probing questions to ensure they meet the customer’s needs. Participants will have 15 minutes to interact with the judges. Participants are allowed to use their one inch product information binder during the individual activity.