Category: Business Topics

Digital Marketing Is An Efficient Way To Reach Customers

Marketing is essential to your growth as a business. Yes, many dealers rely on word-of-mouth as their number one marketing tool, but as more people become connected via their phones, tablets and even smart watches, digital marketing efforts are increasing. The BioZyme® marketing team has several ways it can work with dealers to simplify this cost-efficient method to reach existing and potential customers.

Promoboxx

Promoboxx is a digital tool that connects BioZyme’s national marketing efforts to its local dealers. The BioZyme marketing team creates social media content for its product lines each month and generates posts that dealers can publish on their own Facebook business pages. It saves time and resources of your already limited staff, and if you sign up for “auto share” in settings, the posts are automatically posted to your page.

“The biggest benefit to our dealers is that it is content that is going to marry up with what we say on a national level and because we do such a good job of pull-through national marketing, this is going to look like something their customers are going to have seen before. So, people are more likely to click on it and engage with it because they probably also like our Sure Champ® page, for example, and they are very comfortable with the look and the feel and how that content is presented,” said Ashley Fitzsimmons, BioZyme Inc., Regional Marketing Manager.

In addition to the similar look and feel to the national advertising, other benefits include the fact that busy dealers don’t have to create and plan a social media calendar regularly, and fresh content comes out monthly for each of the six product lines. For dealers that are interested in Dealer Reward Points, Fitzsimmons said 250 points are rewarded per quarter for dealers who engage in Promoboxx for that quarter.

Dealers who use Promoboxx are not limited to only the content on Promoboxx. They can use a combination of the BioZyme-created content from Promoboxx while also posting their own organic content on their Facebook page. And, if the brand has provided downloadable assets as part of a campaign, you can download the assets and publish/post them via your social channels outside of Promoboxx, so the post looks like it is an original from you.

Since BioZyme started making Promoboxx available to its dealers, dealer engagement through Promoboxx as a marketing tool has grown 270%, Fitzsimmons reported. It’s not a one-size fits all approach, and each dealer uses the tool at his or her comfort level.

Email Marketing

“I think email marketing is fantastic, and it is super underutilized,” Fitzsimmons said.

In an age where every marketing dollar spent counts, and reach and engagement matter, email marketing makes perfect sense. It is a free tool, that when used properly, can help you reach a large audience with little effort.

Fitzsimmons encourages dealers to create and build their customer email list. Once a customer database of email addresses is built, it is simple to send reminders about your in-store promotions, new products or product updates, or producer meetings. By using a platform like Mailchimp or Constant Contact you can also see analytics and determine effectiveness of your email blasts.

“Email blasts are a great way to more quickly and easily talk to your customers about the advantages of the BioZyme products or new product alerts. It doesn’t cost anything, but some time to build your customer database. It’s a really great tool when used sparingly, and we’d love to help you with it,” she said.

Website Banner Ads

A final digital tool that Fitzsimmons reminds dealers about is the use of the web banner ad. She said she has worked with several dealers who have a good web presence to create these ads that when clicked on, link to the BioZyme website for more in depth information, without bogging down the dealer’s web page with all that information.

“I’ve had some dealers who have been able to convince customers to add Amaferm® into a custom ration based off the information received off those click-throughs,” she said.

Again, web banner ads are an easy way to communicate and educate customers and potential customers about your products without spending resources and they can help you reach a potentially larger audience who is always connected to the online world.

For more information about any of these services, contact your Area Sales Manager or read more in the Online Dealer Center.

Nurturing Your Network Can Pay Dividends

Growing your business is important. Establishing a brand identity, promoting yourself and growing your customer base is imperative for growth. But, do you know what is even more critical to growing your business? Making sure your loyal customers remain satisfied and are treated with the best services and experiences possible. You simply must nurture your current network to experience growth.

Think about the last book you read or new restaurant you took your family or clients to. Did you make those purchase decisions based on an advertisement in a newspaper or did you make those decisions based on the recommendation of a person that you know and trust? Chances are you based your decisions from a friend’s recommendation because word-of-mouth messaging is so strong.

Studies show that the probability of selling to an existing customer ranges between 60 to 70%, where the chance of selling to a new customer is only 5 to 20%. Furthermore, it costs more than six times more to acquire new customers than it does to keep current, happy customers. So, keep your current customers pleased, and they will likely start singing your praises to others in their circles, who might also become your customers.

Steven Shapiro, an innovation consultant and speaker writes, “I’ve found that sometimes simply calling or writing a past client to say hello is enough. In doing so, when a new need arises, they think of me first. I often introduce clients to one another so that they learn about innovation from a peer, not just me. Sometimes I’ll send a small, personal gift. Or if I find a relevant article, I mail it. The key is not to sell to these customers, but to provide value. You want them to view you as an ally, not a vendor. And this repeated, friendly contact keeps you front and center in their minds. Should they (or a colleague) require someone with your skills, they will think of you first.”

Providing value is just one way of nurturing your network. When you provide value, your customers will remember that. Providing them a quality product that helps them reach their production goals is another way to provide value, as is delivering products, staying open later one or more nights a week and reminding customers when it is time to order certain products for specific production cycles.

A happy customer is the best marketing tool you can have to grow your business. Perhaps you could offer a customer loyalty program, where a loyal customer receives a gift or percentage off for referring a set amount of business or so many new customers. A satisfied customer will sing your praises to their friends and neighbors. However, they will likely share their discontent even louder, so make sure to keep your customers happy. Nurture your network and watch your business grow.

The Advantages of a Testimonial

It’s easy to get caught up in the everyday life of selling products to help your customers achieve their goals. But do you know what can make your marketing efforts more effective and simplified? Testimonials from loyal customers or respected industry individuals will go a long way in selling your goods and services. Testimonials are unbiased, often unprompted and come from peers in the industry that have often faced that same challenges as your prospective customers. Yes, you can relay all the benefits of a product, but those benefits become more meaningful when your prospect hears that the Rocking S Ranch improved its conception rates to 97%, especially in a year of drought.

There are several ways to incorporate testimonials into your marketing strategy. You can use testimonials in your advertising campaign. Post them to your website, even having a dedicated space for testimonials like BioZyme® Inc. does. You can feature testimonials on your social media each week using the hastag, #TestimonialTusesday. Or, often satisfied customers are glad to talk to others on behalf of your company and your brand at events like trade shows or producer meetings.

When compiling a testimonial, there are a few things to keep in mind to keep it genuine and effective. Remember, the purpose of testimonials is to create reliability and to convert prospects into new customers. Follow this 5-step approach to build up your testimonial strategy.

1. Be Selective. 

The key to testimonials is that they include specific product benefits that help prospects decide if they want to try your products or not. Therefore, your testimonials need to include specific information, not just “I like VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® and my cows do too.” Provide a testimonial that tells the benefits of the product: “We have been feeding VitaFerm® products for several years. VitaFerm Concept•Aid® plays an important role in the performance of our breeding cows and heifers, as well as our bulls. We see increased conception rates of our embryo pregnancies by 23%, and on our bulls, we see an improvement in semen quality.”

2. Add a Face.

Remember to include a photo to each testimonial to give it a persona. We might not always remember Tim Smith’s name, but when we see the man in his signature pearl snap shirt and beat up hat, we remember him as the guy who gets top dollar at the sale barn each year. Adding a face to your testimonial makes it more real and significantly increases the trust factor. Research has shown, that on web-based testimonials, adding a picture increases your click-through rate significantly.

3. Use them Everywhere.

Once you’ve got a testimonial, use it. You can add it to your print advertising, post it to your website, use it on social, make posters to hang at businesses around town, and even use it in mailers and texts.

4. Remember your Audience.

Be sure to capture testimonials for each potential customer you are trying to reach. You are trying to grow your market share in the cow-calf sector, be sure to get some testimonials from cattle producers. Perhaps, there are several horse farms in the area. Talk to an equine enthusiast who uses the product to get a testimonial from them. It doesn’t do any good to have one testimonial for one product line when you are selling multiple lines.

5. Never Be Fake.

The most important thing to remember is that testimonials are designed to establish trust and credibility. The most important rule in sharing testimonials is to use real testimonials from real customers. It’s not worth the risk to fake anything in your marketing plan, especially testimonials.

Testimonials are a great way of using established relationships and growing your customer base. Follow these simple steps to create your own testimonials and convert prospects to new customers.

Effective Use Of Producer Meetings Can Grow Your Business

Any time you get a group of like-minded people in a room to talk about solving their challenges, you will likely have a successful producer meeting. However, you can use the relationships you have already established to create an even more fruitful meeting. There are a few ways that using existing relationships when planning your next producer meeting can help build your business. Let’s explore.

  • Cooperate with another agricultural company.

Have you considered co-hosting your next producer meeting with another complementary agricultural company? Sure, the companies might have some overlap in customers, but you each will likely have some unique customers who could benefit from the other company’s products and services. Perhaps you could partner with an animal health company. And, for those young producers who are interested in show livestock, you might feature the Sure Champ® and Vita Charge® products during a youth workshop co-hosted by one of the show supply companies.

Area Sales Manager Ty McGuire said he likes to work with animal health companies who have the same goals for their customers as he does when planning a producer meeting. He adds that another benefit to cooperating with hosting these meetings is the cost savings since both companies will be sharing in the meal costs.

Building on these already established relationships gives you a leg up. It shows your potential customers that you are easy to get along with. It also provides an unspoken endorsement on the products and services you provide.

  • Encourage your customers to bring a guest.

Your customers are already likely attending, but you could offer an incentive for bringing a guest who has the potential to become a new customer. McGuire said he will go through his contacts the week before a meeting and text everyone within a 30-mile radius with a reminder about the meeting and encourage them to bring a guest. He likes to raffle off a product at the end of the meeting, which serves a dual purpose. First, it gets the attendees excited and engaged; next, it provides McGuire and the host dealer new names with contact information to follow up with.

“I like to raffle something off. It gives everyone an incentive to bring a guest. A 50-pound stress tub is the perfect raffle item. It’s something everybody can use,” he said.

  • Engage with the audience.

McGuire said he has a pretty good handle on the crowd before the meeting starts because he has either built a relationship with the customers through the dealers or met the customers during the meal. Once he starts his presentation, which he always begins by talking about Amaferm®, he will use the attendees’ names and engage with them during the presentation. He said calling them out by name and talking about their specific operation – cow/calf, club lamb, etc. – helps build trust and respect between those in attendance and himself.

  • Call upon your allies.

Word-of-mouth and testimonials go a long way in building trust and securing new customers. McGuire said he likes to have a veterinarian who either uses the products or is familiar with the products at each meeting and will extend a personal invitation to ensure his or her attendance. Veterinarians are trusted resources who will speak up about a product’s benefits and substantiate how the products work. It is also a good idea to have a well-respected producer who has had good results give a testimonial if they are attending. McGuire said he’s found he can build trust with prospects because of his own experiences in his own cattle operation.

Producer meetings are an efficient way to show appreciation to current customers and establish relationships with potential customers. Building on current relationships at these meetings makes them even more effective and gives the dealer a leg up in building their business. Like any other enterprise, use your resources, count on your relationships and use those relationships to grow your customer base.

Effective Action: Always Offer Great Services

Offering exceptional customer service seems like a given to keep your customers happy and returning to your business. However, offering outstanding service and offering great services are two different things. And to stay relevant in today’s business world, you need to also continually add services in addition to products to help your customers succeed in their businesses. Luckily for the BioZyme® Dealer Network, a variety of services are readily available for you to officer your customers to help add value to their experiences and will keep them wanting to return to your business.

  1. Nutrition Services
    At BioZyme, we realize that knowing what supplements are most important to your animals’ diet depend on what they are already getting in their feed. That is why we offer a forage testing service along with ration balancing to keep your customers’ animals getting the proper amounts of nutrients they need to strive and survive. Your ASM can help you get started with collecting samples and getting them submitted for analysis. Once the samples have been analyzed, and the results are produced, the Nutrition Team will work with you and your customer to determine a ration that will best fulfill the animals’ requirements for a specific production period.
    In addition to the hay testing and ration balancing services, your customers might like to access the Hay Analysis Tool online. This tool allows customers who have had their hay tested to input three numbers to help them calculate the additional energy and protein needed. All that needs entered is the amount of crude protein, amount of energy and the month you will start calving.
  2. Online Calculators
    Let’s face it. At the end of the day, the most important thing to our customers is profitability, and we’ve created tools that will help you help them become more profitable with the BioZyme products. There is a suite of Cost Calculators that will help you show your customers the advantages of the products and the money they can save or make by using the products. Calculators include a Gain Calculator that helps figure the additional gain advantage from feeding VitaFerm; a Conception Calculator, used to calculate the additional advantage per calf from VitaFerm; a Forage Savings Calculator, to compute the hay savings per pair from VitaFerm; and an Amaferm® Value Calculator, used to determine the additional advantage per day for your herd from feeding Amaferm.
    One of the most beneficial ways to remain profitable in the cow-calf business is to have shorter calving windows. BioZyme has also provided a Gestation calculator and a Gestation table to help producers take the guess work out of breeding and calving dates.
  3. Educational Resources
    For the livestock exhibitor, 4-H leader or FFA advisor, www.surechamp.com offers an array of educational checklists, articles and videos on animal selection, care, feeding, fitting and showing. These are geared toward beginners, but also provide timely information on current industry trends, a glossary of terms and are suited for all levels.
  4. Additional Expertise
    Perhaps one of the best parts of being part of the BioZyme Dealer Network is you’re not alone. Regardless of your location, there is always someone who is available and willing to assist you and your customers with a question. Reach out to your ASM, the nutrition team, marketing staff or anyone you’re comfortable visiting with to ask questions and get them answered. You can also search questions that have already been asked and get yours answered on the Message Board in the Online Dealer Center at www.biozymedealer.com.

We sell great products every day. But when you add great services to those products, you are keeping yourself relevant in the business circles and staying ahead of your competition. Customers appreciate both a great product and the services that seem like you are going an extra mile. But with these services already available, you’re ready to take that step.

Leadership Steps To Keep Your Business Top of Mind

Keeping your company relevant is about change. And to make effective change happen, you have to have strong leadership that is willing to take the necessary steps to move forward. Although staying viable in the industry you serve is all about providing goods and services to your customers and helping them with the challenges they face, you must first have a leader or leaders who embrace the following four steps.

  1. Plan Ahead. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had a crystal ball? We could see what tomorrow would hold; and even the days to follow. However, we don’t have the luxury to predict our future, so we need to lay our own groundwork to plan ahead. In agriculture, there are some variables out of our control, but we can still study history, read, talk to those heavily involved in each segment and continue to plan ahead so our business stays sustainable and we help our customers succeed.
    If you haven’t already, now is a great time of year to implement a strategic plan that can help you grow. As you develop your plan, think about what is important to your customers during the different times of year, and plan to have products available when they need them instead of waiting. Plan your marketing and promotions accordingly. Finally, plan some time to engage with your customers at different times of the year to hear what is on their minds.
  2. Communicate. Communications is a two-way street. However, we are often times guilty of doing all the talking, and not enough listening. As you plan producer meetings and open houses, set aside some time to ask your customers questions. Hear what is important to them. Do they have a common challenge among them that your business can help solve? Is there a new product that a customer could benefit from? It’s vital to listen and hear what your customers are saying. When you make sales calls or deliver product, take the time to find out what is truly on your customers’ minds.
  3. Get Involved. For most people in our industry, this should not be a challenge. However, for some less hands-on businesses, getting involved and becoming engaged with others is a struggle. If you are in a managerial position and spend a lot of time behind a desk or on the phone, it’s time to get up and be seen. Get out in the store to see how customers are treated. Visit the warehouse to see how employee morale is, and check on the efficiencies of loading and unloading orders. Visit your customers. Talk to your employees. Chat with truck drivers to see what they have seen or heard or how your business can work to create more opportunities. A little bit of movement and a whole lot of engagement with others will help you hear and learn about things your business can do or shouldn’t be doing to stay on top of its game.
  4. Be Responsive. All the listening, engaging and being active in your business means nothing if you don’t respond. Do you need to act on every suggestion? No, but if you hear the same suggestion more than once, maybe that deserves further research. Have you heard that there are better more efficient ways to get things done in your company? Perhaps that is worth looking into. If you rest on your laurels, and are afraid of making any changes, you will stay the same. Your competition will likely grow, and unless you are the only game in town, you could lose customers and ultimately watch your business decline.

Being complacent is not an option if you want to stay successful in the business world. If you want your business to stay relevant and grow, effective changes are needed. Don’t make those changes on a whim, but make sure they are driven by sound business practices and doing what is best for your company, employees and customers.

How Can Your Business Stay Relevant?

The business world is ever-changing, and that change can happen in the blink of an eye. Regardless if you sell animal nutrition products or the latest technology, there is likely someone in the same industry as you are working to create the “next great thing.” So, how do you keep your business pertinent in today’s fast-paced world? Author Andrew Griffiths offers seven tips to stay in the lead and keep your business relevant.

  1. Be present. Being connected to your customers and building those relationships can’t happen if you are not present. Determine the best way to connect and communicate with them. Perhaps for a younger customer, they prefer to get their information from a text or from social media. Maybe you have customers that still like doing business face-to-face, with a handshake. Wherever your customers are, you need to be available to them. Even, if that means stopping by the livestock auction market or the local coffee shop. “As soon as we are disconnected from our audience in any way, our relevance starts to diminish,” Griffiths writes.
  2. Select your communication method(s) wisely. With technology, there are many ways to connect with your customers and stay top of their mind. However, the challenge is staying relevant with the communication tool that your customers prefer. Just because you like to use one social media platform to promote your business, doesn’t mean that is the one the younger generation prefers. Maybe you need to use a variety of platforms to reach all audiences, and remember that personal interaction is always a good way to connect, too. You need to make yourself adaptable and be able to reach all your customers, at whatever level they feel most comfortable.
  3. Engage your customers. It is crucial to engage with your customers and not just talk at them, having a one-sided conversation. To keep relevant in business, you need to listen to their needs and ideas. A true two-way conversation allows for real engagement with your customers and allows them to share their thoughts, ideas, needs, all especially important for sales and new product and service development to remain viable in business.

  4. Be in the know about your competition. Just like anything in business, you need to be aware of what your competition is doing, but don’t be alarmed by their actions. By knowing what the competition offers, you can explain your competitive advantage in your products, so your customers know that you are aware that you do offer the best there is available.

  5. Know the trends coming your way and be ready to take advantage of them. By staying current in the industry or industries you serve, you will be able to better help your customer. Read newsletters, listen to podcasts or talk to others to stay current on timely topics so you can better help your customers. For example, is another drought forecast in your region? How about suggesting an investment in the Amaferm® advantage, so producers can get more nutrients out of the resources they do have available.

  6. Create great marketing content that solves problems. Since there are more ways than ever before to engage with customers, the content made available to them needs to remain relevant. Answer their questions, solve their problems and help them stay informed with the industry. Not every dealer has time to create this content, so the BioZyme® Marketing Team has created relevant content for you to share via Promoboxx. Log in at www. biozymedealermktg.com to share timely tips each month for various species and use the resources that are available to you.

  7. Continually develop new products. Businesses don’t stay relevant without creating new products, and new products don’t just happen overnight. By engaging with customers and knowing their needs you can create new products that can help them succeed in their endeavors. Remember, not every new product will be an overnight success; however, your customers will appreciate the effort you put forth in trying to make something new. You might have some failures, but according to Griffiths, “Our customers will no longer crucify us for not getting things right, they will crucify us for not coming up with ‘NEW’.”

Staying relevant in business all starts with your relationships with your customers. Be aware of their needs and wants. Connect with them and help them solve their problems. As we start a new year, make plans to be here for future years, and that all starts with keeping relevant in the industry. And then, watch your business grow.

 

Your Role In The Industry Matters

Too often we let our jobs define us. It is easy to do since we spend at least eight hours a day at our workplace. Many of us are guilty of introducing ourselves in an adult setting with our name, title and the place where we work. But you are more than just a worker. You are more than a salesperson, marketer, truck driver or person who works in a feed store. You are involved in agriculture, the occupation that ultimately feeds the world, and believe it or not, you are serving as a role model for others in our industry.

Young people naturally are attracted to people in their respective field. And those who are growing up on a farm or ranch or who show livestock undoubtedly interact with you on a somewhat regular basis. Believe it or not, there is somebody out there who is watching you, listening to you and maybe evening dreaming of the day they can be in your position. It is important to remember these things to set the best example possible.

You, yes you, are making an impact as a mentor and role model. Think about that. Your role and identity are much greater than just your occupation, but because of your occupation and your role in agriculture, you can impact someone else’s life. And because you are involved in the animal health and nutrition business, you have likely helped a young person or his or her parent get on the right track with a nutrition program.

Sure Champ® Ring Leader Whitney Walker from Prairie Grove, Ark., shared her positive experience with leadership opportunities on the Sure Champ blog in November.

“It’s been a really fun experience so far. I’ve had a lot more kids interact on my social media more curious than I expected about the Sure Champ line and the Sure Champ products. You’d think a lot of the times the parents make feeding decisions and what to buy, but these kids are actually invested and want to know about what their animals are eating. I’ve had a lot of them ask me what Amaferm is, and now I can actually explain to them what it is and back up how Sure Champ products work,” said the Ring Leader who is a freshman at Oklahoma State University.

No doubt that those young people got their first feeding information from those of you that this newsletter is targeted to.

And even when it doesn’t encompass livestock health and nutrition, you are still making a difference. You encourage young people to get involved with youth programs like 4-H, FFA or other junior breed associations. You support the youth by being a sports booster, buying their project animal at the fair or sponsoring awards. Sometimes it is even as simple as listening to reasons for a livestock judging team or a presentation for a national competition.

Catherine Stangl, a member of the Kingfisher FFA Chapter recalls how local businesses in her community help support the local chapter, on a regular basis, in addition to when they are preparing for big competitions.

“Our FFA chapter is very well-known, and we come from a really good community that is there for us,” Stangl said. “When we were preparing for nationals, we would go to several companies and organizations whether it was an oil company or Rotary, and we presented our skit, and they helped us make it better.”

Stangl was a member of the seven-person Ag Issues Forum team that won in Oklahoma and claimed the 2018 National Championship last October that presented a skit set to resemble a courtroom. The issue they presented was over the temporary water lines and the oil industry, an ongoing controversial topic in their home county. Stangl said she and her peers spent countless hours practicing and had wonderful community support.

“This industry is a really good industry to grow up in, and I think we all become better people toward other people, whether it’s being nice or just being there for them,” Stangl said.

Never forget your role is more than your job title. You are a role model, a supporter, a voice in the industry. You are an advocate, educator and a hero. Someone is watching you. Your job doesn’t define you, but how you treat others and serve your community does. Remember people want to know about you, your story and what you do on a daily basis, and not just your title.

Effective Action: Review Past Actions as You Plan Ahead

Everywhere you look, there are signs reminding us how many days there are until Christmas or how many days there are left of this year. To me, it seems like we were just stocking up on bottled water and cash getting ready to ring in the year 2000, Y2K, and now we’re counting down to 2020. As a business owner, you are likely using these last few weeks of 2019 to plan for the new year, finalizing budgets and prioritizing marketing plans. Do you know what those plans look like? How do you plan for the future if you don’t review what you’ve done in the past?

Hopefully, as you’ve made your plans for the year ahead, you have spent time reflecting on what actions you took this year. Were they all successful? Did some of the marketing strategies you implement work better than others? Are there some actions that were smart, but could have used some better implementation? Think back on each strategy, before you plan what you will do in the future.

March on with Successful Strategies
Perhaps you conducted a producer meeting this year that had tremendous turnout, introduced some producers to your products and captured some new customers. That is the definition of success. Think about what made that meeting successful. Was it the speaker? The topics discussed? The audience? Time of year? Whatever made that event successful this year, you will want to capitalize on for the future. As the adage goes, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” move forward with similar events and marketing initiatives in the new year to ensure continued growth for your business.

Fix what Needs Fixin’
As mentioned in the previous article, it is best to debrief or reflect after each event to see what worked well and what didn’t. If you conducted a marketing event during the past year that had some good things going, but didn’t really hit the target, perhaps now is a good time to review those debriefing or post-event notes to recall what didn’t work out so great so you can go back and make necessary changes. Once you review the event, make the changes and add it to your strategy for the forthcoming year, you might find it to be the biggest success of all. Sometimes a little tweak is all that needs fixed to make a good event a great event.

It’s Okay to Call it Quits
Did you conduct a marketing initiative, educational event or promotion that was an absolute flop? That is going to happen once in a while. No, it isn’t ideal, and for those of you driven business leaders, those flops hurt, but we can learn from them and move forward. Maybe it was something as simple as the timing of an event or maybe it was a promotion that just didn’t interest your customer base. Sometimes the biggest lessons come from the hardest times. Your debrief notes should indicate that this was something that your company doesn’t intend to do again. Don’t spend time dwelling on this event. Move on, learn from mistakes and don’t make them again.

Once you have reviewed what worked out well and what didn’t work out so well, you can start making some marketing plans. Try to have a rough plan in place for the next 12 months, so you can start sharing plans with your ASM and creating an outline with more concrete ideas. Remember, there are a plethora of activities and ideas listed in the back office under the Dealer Rewards Center. Or, you can always propose one of your original ideas to your ASM and the Marketing Team.

Reviewing your former marketing strategies is a great way to discover what worked, what didn’t work and what you need to continue to make work in the future.

How Reflection Can Serve as a Successful Meeting Example

Reflect, according to Dictionary.com, means to ponder, think or meditate. But according to an article on inc.com, U.S. military leaders take this definition even deeper, as they work continuously to improve everything they do. Businesses should be no different. You should want to measure performance and success, not only by sales figures, but also by marketing strategies, educational efforts, customer service and basically any action you take, or mission, as it is referred to in the military.

Military leaders use the debrief, a self-facilitated review of how the team performed on the mission, so things can improve for the next time. In other words, they gather all those involved with a project, engagement, training, promotion, and meet as soon afterward as possible to reflect, get feedback and adjust for future success. Author Gene Hammett said, “You should do a debrief when things are going well just as much as you should when things don’t go well. Using the debrief style of meeting in my work with fast-growth companies has given them a faster path to improvement and speeds a transfer of knowledge across all levels of the organization.”

Hammett offers three tips to business leaders to have a productive debrief through reflection, which should help increase sales and foster employee morale.

1. Include Everyone
 Make sure at each debriefing you include every person who was involved, not just those in leadership, but also those who actively participated. They all will have input – both good and bad. As Hammett writes, “Many organizations wonder why they have experience at the top of the company yet lack it at the middle and bottom. One reason is they are not including the full team in the moments of reflection and growth.”

A sign of a good leader is being sure to include everyone. Did you recently host a producer meeting? Have a debrief to reflect on how it was received. Be sure to include those who talked to customers, took orders and even served food. They will all have feedback so you can make future events better for your customers and ultimately your business.

2. Leave Rank at the Door
When you conduct the debrief from your latest “mission” or project, be sure to treat everyone as equals. Yes, that might seem challenging, especially for leaders who like to take charge of meetings. However, it is the best way to hear everyone’s perspective that could ultimately lead to areas for new growth. When everyone is viewed as an equal it is easier to admit faults to create better solutions for the future.

Rob “Waldo” Waldman, a former Air Force Fighter pilot turned author and speaker, offers this advice on the debriefing process: “Leaders must remove their ego. When you leave your rank at the door, you allow others to be open to their mistakes.”

3. Close Effectively
There are two ways to end the meeting with purpose and clarity. First, whoever is leading the meeting should ask for questions. Questions give the opportunity to clarify any topic that wasn’t discussed and ensure that everything that was covered is understood by all. Questions also provide insight about where the leadership might want to improve to make the next project or mission clearer for the audience.

Next, conclude the meeting with a statement that outlines clear and actionable growth steps that need to be made and list who will be responsible for those duties. Once that concluding statement is made, all attendees should be on the same page, and know what to expect for the next project, and they will know their role in making improvements.

The military debriefing might just be the next best thing since Amaferm® . It is a model for you and your employees to follow to reflect and meet after a project or event, so you know how to make the next one even better. Improving your business one day and one project at a time will help you grow your customer base and will help you grow your business.