Tanner Smith
Spring Block 2015
April 15, 2015
ALE Reflection
During my freshman year of college while serving was a Texas FFA State Officer. I had
the opportunity to take a tour of Priefert Manufacturing in Mt Pleasant, Texas. Having grown up
around rodeo and the agriculture industry I was very excited to see how the leader of the ranch
equipment industry operating. I loved every minute of the tour and after the tour I was asked by
Priefert’s marketing director what my dream job would be I without hesitation looked and at him
and replied “I think you have the coolest job in the world and I would love to have your job.
Little did I know that when I took this tour that four years later the same individual who gave me
my tour would be my supervisor for my internship. Working for Priefert going in between two
different departments has been an amazing opportunity I was able to move back and forth in
between sales department and the scratch and dent yard which allowed me to get an extremely
well rounded and diverse experience while I was on my internship.
While at Tarleton I took many different classes that I felt helped to prepare me for my
internship. I was actually able to spend a lot of time doing sales work in the sales office which
required lots of time on the telephone and practicing proper phone etiquette. While at the scratch
and dent yard I had lots of face to face contact with customers needing different products. I felt
that my previous experiences with my Ag sales class helped to play a huge part in me being
comfort and effective with helping dealers and customers. My Ag marketing class came in very
handy to help me to have a general understanding of how the chain of marketing works and with
supply and demand.
Everyone who is a long term employee at Priefert Ranch Equipment knows that keeping
open effective lines of communication is an absolute must. With the constantly changing dealer
orders being placed among the twenty-six inside sales employees and the twelve outside sales
employees who generally spend a majority of the time traveling helping to ensure customer
satisfaction and dealer happiness around their regions. Therefore, good communication through
emails, texts, meetings, and phone calls is extremely important to keep Priefert profitable;
however, I feel that good communication skills cannot be taught in any class and eventually has
to be learned through doing. Being able to adapt quickly is something that unfortunately is not
learned. Many days in my internship would I be setting up arenas with the sales department and
the next I might be taking order over the phone from a dealer in New York. I had to constantly
learn and change as my internship went along.
During my internship with Priefert I learned I need to be very versatile, I might would be
sitting up arenas at majors rodeos like RFDTV’s The American, and the next participating in a
photo shoot for a new product that is about to be launched. I very rarely knew what I would be
doing until I arrived at Priefert property some days. My first two days of my internship was
spent setting up an arena for the RFDTV American semi-finals rodeo. After returning Mt.
Pleasant on Wednesday I was asked to bring western clothing to help partake in a photo shoot for
a new product. Shortly after the first week I was asked to help in the scratch and dent yard
where my customer service and sales experience came in handy. The constantly changing work
environment kept me on my toes and always striving to be prepared for whatever it was I need to
help get done. I feel as if my versatility and preparedness helped me to have a successful
internship. I feel like being a well rounded individual is extremely important in the workplace
and while having different experiences at a university and at the workplace have helped to mold
me into a well rounded employee.
The knowledge and skills I learned on my internship and during my experiences at
Tarleton I believed will help me with my future in devours. The skills someone can learn with
the combination of both an education from Tarleton and hands on experience like what I gained
on my internship is extremely beneficial to anyone heading into the workforce post graduation.
The skills one gains with just social interaction with other people during their college years can
help to make someone an effective communicator while in the workplace. The hands-on
experience that is gained can teach an individual so much.
With Priefert Equipment being sold every day all around the world, global awareness is
very important especially. Farmers and Ranchers who buy Priefert product are the mainstay for
any country, it was important for myself as a Priefert intern to how a good understanding of
agriculture in other countries. For example Priefert has to make some of the product able to put
in shipping containers so it was important to have the product be bolt together as it was
necessary for the product to be as small as possible to ensure that as many items as possible
could be put in a shipping container. A great company like Priefert didn’t become a global
powerhouse right away it took effort and learning different culture and what cattle producers in
other countries need to safely work their livestock.