At Columbia Grain International (CGI), customer relationships have always been the foundation of the business. But with generational shifts happening across agriculture—both in the office and on the farm—Columbia Grain faced a growing challenge: how to keep customer knowledge intact when employees leave, retire, or move to a new role.
“I’ve got a notebook with a bunch of notes,” said Sergio Hernandez, Business Execution Manager at Columbia Grain.
“But how do we get that information? How do we keep it there for that next individual to come in to be able to use it and hit the ground running?”
Important details about each farmer—crop plans, personal preferences, past conversations—often lived in notebooks, spreadsheets, or people’s heads. Without a centralized system, that knowledge risked disappearing with staff turnover.
Leadership recognized that preserving those relationships meant finding a better way to share and access information across the team.
Columbia Grain chose Bushel CRM to bring structure and visibility to how their team manages customer relationships. Backed by strong leadership support and daily use from the origination team, the CRM quickly became a core part of their operations.
“Our CEO was a big pusher of CRM,” Hernandez shared.
“Just like everyone else, you go through your turnover. When you do, where is that customer information and is it getting updated? We needed to keep it relevant and ready for the next person to be able to use it. And that’s where Bushel came in.”
Why it worked for Columbia Grain:
“I use it every single day—it’s the first thing I open,” said Nate Hicks, Grain Originator.
“I record every conversation and it keeps me from having the same conversation twice.”
The CRM also helped in high-stakes moments. When a customer questioned a missed sale, Bushel CRM provided a clear, documented history of what was said and when—helping the team address concerns quickly and preserve the relationship.
“That saved the relationship,” Hernandez said.
To keep momentum strong, the team made CRM a recurring topic during weekly calls. They encouraged open feedback and passed it along to the Bushel team, who used it to improve the experience.
“By the end of that meeting and after walking us through it—his whole shift just went from anti-technology to, wow, keeping track of this data is really user friendly,” Hicks said of a colleague who changed their mind.
With Bushel CRM now embedded in the daily workflow, Columbia Grain has changed how its team operates. Information is shared. Conversations are documented. And new hires can ramp up faster, with the history and context they need right at their fingertips.
The CRM has helped the team:
What started as a way to protect information has become a way to strengthen relationships—internally and with farmers.
At Columbia Grain, CRM isn’t just about managing data. It’s about building continuity, increasing transparency, and setting up the next generation for success.
