You just shared your recommendation or opinion with a customer. The response was clear: his eyes went down; he turned his head slightly away; the shoulders slightly slumped and then exhaled audibly through pursed lips. The customer’s gut instinct was likely engaged.
Jeff Walter discusses accounting for gut instinct in an ag world that has developed reliable technology and data tracking.
Source: Marketing to Farmers, April 5, 2018.
In research about the role the gut check plays in data analysis, it’s noteworthy that data analysis and intuition are not mutually exclusive. One feeds into another, and your understanding of your experiences and your gut instinct are what can help you make sense of the information produced through objective research.
Tradition and heritage play a vastly important role in ag, and these will continue to guide the gut-based decisions of farmers, producers and veterinarians. However, as more data is available, so too is a greater amount of business intelligence. Yet this sense of industry trending, what needs are being met and what deficits exist, is only as valuable as the individual who can integrate them into the traditions and cultural practices of his or her daily farming.
INSIGHTS: Maybe not in quantifiable research terms, but we’re learning that there is value to the gut leading the way, and when compared to data, it seems like there is significant common ground.