Bushel, an independently-owned software technology company focused on developing digital tools for the agriculture industry, is expanding its platform to include a customer relationship management (CRM) system tailored for agribusinesses.
Bushel’s CRM integrates directly with 15 different enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, significantly reducing agribusiness staff 's need for manual entry. These integrations help manage workflows from ag retail sales through the grain contract process. Today, many features help ag retailers and grain businesses manage customer account data, drive more grain offers through digital enablement, and provide contact management through text messaging, emails, and push notifications.
Bushel will demo the CRM during the Bushel Buddy Seat Conference on Wednesday, June 12 in Fargo, N.D. Bushel’s CRM provides agribusinesses with a holistic view of customer interactions, especially when farmer customers are linked to multiple farm entities. This visibility is key for personalized service and effective sales strategies to drive grain origination and boost ag retail sales.
With CRM integration into ERP systems, businesses can maintain comprehensive records of past interactions and transactions with farmers, allowing for more targeted and effective communication strategies. This is increasingly important as agribusinesses navigate challenges related to staff turnover and labor shortages, making accessible and detailed customer histories essential for business continuity.
“For the past two years we’ve been developing features common in CRM systems today. The goal has always been to provide information to agribusiness staff in an easy, straightforward manner to help them better understand their customers,” said Bushel CEO Jake Joraanstad. “These latest features are another step in our mission to equip agribusinesses with secure, user-friendly digital tools, ensuring our agribusinesses have the best resources to manage their day-to-day operations efficiently.”
Functionality available today:
- Automated customer records: Bushel’s CRM does not require setup fees, a lengthy implementation process or duplication of data entry. Rather, the information comes straight from existing systems and auto-populates into the CRM for staff to easily see customer records
- View customer records: This feature offers a complete view of what a farmer sees within Bushel, including open contracts, current storage, recent deliveries, prepaids, bookings, and more. This is accessible seamlessly from mobile apps and web browsers, anytime and anywhere, whether in the office or not. This is available for all customers using the Bushel customer portal today.
Two upcoming key features:
- Comprehensive customer profiles: This will provide ag retail and grain merchandising staff with a single view of all associated accounts and farms, helping to identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities by accessing purchasing histories, preferences, and other relevant data. Agribusiness staff can simply open a profile by clicking on that customer name in their standard workflow, or search for customers by name, ERP account, or phone number.
- Customer and team notes: This feature will track historical records of interactions with customers, enabling quick access to past conversations, preferences, or concerns, thus fostering personalized and informed communication across grain and ag retail teams. This capability is vital for documenting issues, proactive problem resolution, transparency, and accountability within the agribusiness.
“We're talking to our customers daily to understand how Bushel can best help them. The ability for staff to see a complete view of what a farmer sees within Bushel is cited as one of the key workflow tools grain and ag retail office staff use daily to see the status of their farmer-customer relationships,” Colette Bersie, product manager of Bushel said. “We continue to iterate and add new features based on these conversations to help our customers drive more ag retail sales and originate more grain.”
Bushel provides a consolidated software platform that integrates sales and origination enablement, financial workflows, and farm management into a seamless service for agribusinesses. Bushel’s pioneering technology solutions, including the first highly-adopted white-labeled customer portals, are backed by years of industry experience, ensuring that they meet the specific needs of clients.
All data and information in Bushel systems is managed through its information security program and audited annually against SOC 2 Type II criteria. A SOC 2 examination is a report on controls at a service organization relevant to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, or privacy.