Category: Business Resources

How to Reach New Markets During Chick Days

Chick Days will be here before we know it. For many farm and home and feed stores, chick days turns into chick weeks or even months, as the stores order chicks in advance and carry inventory from March through May, or even longer. Some might have chicks in-stock while initial supplies last, and others, like Weiss Milling (see Dealer Spotlight), might custom order chicks. You can make chick days a way to reach new markets that you might not think of during other times of the year.

Be a one-stop Shop

You’ve got the chicks. Make sure you’re stocked with all the necessary items that a first-time or even a repeat chick-buyer is going to need. Do you have the bedding? Feeders and waterers? Feed and health supplements? Coops and fencing? By making it convenient for the buyer, that shows you’re there to provide service, which could lead to a repeat customer for other products, even those not chick-related, in the future.

Provide Education

Consumers are hungry for education. They want to know the best way to care for their chicks to the best of their ability, and they want information in an easy-to-read format. They want to know about feed, water, housing, egg laying and general flock health. Since chicks don’t come with a label that contains all this information it is your job to provide the label information. Create a handy FAQ Sheet that is easy to follow, has all the information you would want to know about raising backyard birds and your business contact information. You might even provide a website with further flock information like www. backyardboost.co.

Educate your Employees

Part of providing customer education starts with educated employees. Before coming to work at BioZyme, I worked as a part-time farm store vendor and set up chick drinkers and feeders in chick days displays in the Chicago suburbs. I remember two college-aged girls oohing and aahhing over some baby chicks, who asked one of the farm store employees if she thought the chicks would be ok in the apartment as they got older. The employee replied “definitely.” I don’t know that I’d want five or six grown chickens in my apartment or if they would actually thrive without fresh air and sunlight, let alone what the landlord would think! Be sure you and your employees know the city ordinances for surrounding towns – do they allow chickens in backyards or not? Know how much space an adult bird needs, know about waste management protocols and provide good, sound advice.

Use Social Media

Social media is a great way to create excitement about your chick days event, especially if you have dedicated an opening weekend or first few days to launch your event. Use your various social media platforms to get the word out that you have chicks or announce their arrival dates. Photos and videos of baby animals are great attention grabbers and will catch the eyes of those scrolling through their news feed. Use a Facebook Live for in-store promotions or even for educational snippets during and after chick days to keep in front of your customers. Keep the excitement of backyard birds going long after chick days through social media with user engagement: have your customers post photos of their grown chickens, share their success stories or other funny stories of raising chickens.

Chick days are almost here. With people still staying home and looking for hobbies and ways to feed their families, you can use chick days to gain traction in your business, provide another service to your community and market your business to an audience that you might not traditionally reach. Once you reach this chick day audience, remember to ask if they have other animals that you might be able to help them with like dogs, cats or horses. Animals lovers regardless of species will appreciate doing business with a company that shows care that comes full circle and can supply them products for all their animals’ needs.

Upselling, Cross-selling Adds Value to your Business and Customer

Upselling and cross-selling are two terms you likely have heard before. They are often confused or used interchangeably; however, they are two distinct ways of marketing products that not only will help your business see more growth but will help your customers achieve more long-term success.

Upselling is the practice of encouraging customers to purchase a comparable higher-end product than the one they might be originally considering. Cross-selling urges customers to buy related or complementary items. These two practices are most effective when they are used synergistically, and the end result for you, the dealer, is increased sales and hopefully a customer who sees better results.

Cross-selling is a practice that should be used in business nearly every time you make a sale. Products in the new Backyard Boost® line like Backyard Boost Daily Essentials and Backyard Boost Defense were created for cross-selling opportunities. Most people won’t immediately think of nutritional supplements for their backyard birds. However, they will think of other essentials like coops, heat lamps, bedding and feed. When they go pick out their feed or have questions about bird health, these are some ideal times for some cross-selling statements:

  • Have you thought about how you’re going to keep your chicks healthy?
  • Would you like to add a supplement to your chick feed to keep them feeling healthy and keep them happy?
  • Did you know that a product like Daily Essentials will help your chickens get the most nutrient supply from their feed?
  • How are you going to treat your chicks when they stress out and get sick? Have you thought about Defense?

Cross-selling allows you to add on an essential product that will benefit the customer in his or her endeavor. Often times when you cross-sell, the customer hasn’t thought about that additional need yet, but when you mention it, it becomes an “ah-ha” moment for them, and a cross-sell suggestion often saves the customer a trip back to the store in the future, while helping you create a sale.

Upselling is a tool that should be used anytime you have a product that contains Amaferm®. With a precision prebiotic like Amaferm, products like Backyard Boost Daily Essentials and Defenses are already more beneficial than other supplements that exist on the market. The Amaferm advantage and other natural ingredients in these supplements will:

  • Support performance and health of the birds by supporting the digestion and absorption of nutrients.
  • Reduce digestive upset, therefore improving the overall health and wellbeing of the birds.
  • Increase egg production, while improving eggshell and yolk quality.
  • Support growth and feather quality.
  • Boost immune response and combat negative effects of stress.

Upselling allows you to share experiences of a high-quality product with your customer and those benefits that a premium product will provide. Remember, a premium product doesn’t always have to be the one with the highest price tag; it is the one that is backed by research and has the most high-quality ingredients included in it.

Both upselling and cross-selling are marketing tools that will allow you to help your customer and yourself. They help your customers succeed in their feeding and production endeavors and they help you meet your sales goals. When you combine the two and work them together, your business will experience even more growth.

Take the time to practice upselling and cross-selling across all species and products. There is always a product that will add value to another product. Try these marketing techniques and watch your business grow!

Letters From Lisa – February 2021

Importance of Emerging Markets

My start with BioZyme® really came from being Bob’s wife. Both of these were very good decisions for me. I traveled with him to shows, and as a true animal lover became totally engaged, but as a business visionary who never stops thinking, I saw lots of opportunity. One of my favorite stories on this front occurred at the National Western Stock Show (NWSS). I was “working” the booth when a very nice lady stopped by to tell me how the Amaferm® Pellet had made a significant difference to her rabbit breeding operation. She was passionate about it, and I was so excited to tell Bob the story. When I did the response back was, “so how many rabbits does she have?” I excitedly shared the answer, 800. He replied, “how many Amaferm Pellets does a rabbit eat?” I replied 1 pellet. You know what came next, a mental evaluation to see if I had lost my mind.

I share this story because I am sure your initial response to this Backyard Boost® idea could be the same. So please give me a minute to explain before you immediately send me to the insane asylum.

Backyard chickens are cropping up everywhere. Nearly 1% of all U.S. households surveyed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported owning backyard fowl in 2013, and 4% more planned to start in the next five years. That’s over 13 million Americans flocking to the backyard poultry scene. A 2015 review of 150 of the most-populated U.S. cities found that nearly all (93%) allowed backyard poultry flocks.

The coronavirus pandemic is heightening interest in raising young chickens for a reliable supply of eggs, with hatcheries saying they’re seeing a flood of new customers.

“We are swamped with orders,” says Nancy Smith, owner of the Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, Missouri. “We can’t answer all the phone calls, and we are booked out several weeks on most breeds.”

“We’ve never seen anything like this, and I’ve been here since 1964,” Smith says, describing the spike in her business.

For families adapting to disruptions brought on by COVID-19, raising hens is seen as an answer to vexing questions about the availability of staple items at grocery stores. Starting a backyard flock could also be a rewarding project for Americans who now face the prospect of spending weeks or months at home with schools closed and workers laid off, furloughed or working remotely. Folks who are feeling cooped up, in other words, may want to start a coop of their own.

Where do I see this product line growing/going?
Through the roof.

Just one hatchery, Cackle Hatchery, supplies chicks to some 1,600 feed, farm and home stores across the country. Chickens are the hottest new backyard “pet”! It seems that every Tom, Dick and Susan wants to raise chickens in his or her backyard, whether that yard is one square foot or one hundred.

Dealer Spotlight: Dakota Mill and Grain

Helping Others Helps Make the Sale

In a world where one size does not fit all, it is vital to provide customers with the individual information and resources they need to succeed. Paul Jons, location manager for the Dakota Mill & Grain in Murdo, South Dakota, said getting to know his customers and helping them with their challenges makes them more receptive to him. He puts forth the effort to really know his customers and understand their specific challenges.

“There’s no such thing as a cookie cutter program when it comes to feed because neighbors could live two miles apart and do things completely different. So, to be able to take the time and listen to both those guys and get them on different tracks on where they need to go, not only helps me as a dealer, it helps them succeed so they tell their friends, and their friends tell their friends,” Jons said.

Service with a smile is something Jons picked up when visiting the local feed store with his dad and grandpa as a child, and he has carried on that tradition today. However, he goes beyond that smile, to offer education and options to producers on the products that can best help them achieve their production goals. One thing he likes about being a BioZyme dealer is the wealth of information available to him to share with his customers, both from the website and the Online Dealer Center.

“I feel like I have good information to pass along to my customers. Anything I don’t know, I can go to the website and find in about 10 minutes. I also go to the Online Dealer Center all the time to fact check and get pricing,” he said.

Jons became a BioZyme dealer more than a year ago, after feeding the VitaFerm® products on his own operation for two years. As a fifth-generation dairy farmer, he was thrilled to discover a beef cattle mineral with prebiotics and chelated minerals, similar to what they had fed their dairy cows.

“I like the quality and proven performance of the product. So, when I first discovered there was a product out there that is similar to what we do with milk cows but targeted toward beef cows, I got really excited about it. Not a lot of people realize how important chelated minerals are in their breed-back program. Coming from a dairy farm, we used chelated minerals for 10 to 15 years, so being able to pass that information on to these guys Is worth a million bucks to a lot of them,” he said.

He hosted his first BioZyme producer meeting in mid-December and credits those gatherings as another great way to provide information to a group all at once from outside experts. Producer meetings also provide opportunities to learn from others and think about deeper questions that they wouldn’t think of during a trip to their feed store.

“Producers have more than ample opportunities to raise their hand and ask more serious questions that I can’t answer. Or they come into get mineral on a daily basis they are more concerned about weather, weaning calves or moving cows to a different pasture. When in a producer meeting, and we start talking about specific products, they say instead of weaning my calves this year, maybe I should try the Gain Smart® program and keep them for 45 days” Jons said.

When it comes to selling a product, Jons exemplifies care that comes full circle. He’s there to help his customers succeed before he is there to only sell them a mineral product. Here’s why.

“The reward is equal to the work you’re willing to put into it. If you don’t want to learn and read and get the knowledge behind you to be able to explain to people why this product is good for them, why this product will work for them, there’s no point in doing it. Be enthusiastic about it. People see you care, they feel that you care about them as well, and that you’re not just trying to shove a bag of mineral down their throat. I believe in this product because it is superior and is going to help you on your farm.”

Sharing Knowledge Helps Grow Business

In today’s world, you aren’t just a feed dealer, mineral supplier or farm and home store. You are more than a business. You and your sales staff become industry experts. Experts that your customers rely on for their nutritional advice as it relates to their herd, flock, show stock, horses and dogs. That’s why it is more important than ever before to have knowledge available and ready to share.

According to Shep Hyken, New York Times and Wall Street Journal best selling author and customer engagement expert, 96% of customers will leave a business because of one bad experience. These experiences could range from poor customer interaction, untimely responses, lack of response, rude personnel, consistently being out of stock on a product or never showing appreciation.

In a recent presentation, Hyken offered several tips to help create customer amazement. The central idea to creating customer amazement is to be better than average. When it comes to customer service, no one wants just “fine” service, they want excellent service. Hyken said fine is an acronym that stands for: Fake smile, Insincere feedback, Never coming back, Emotionless (business is dead to the customer). Let’s explore the five ways he recommends providing customer amazement.

  1. Create moments of magic. Make sure that you provide the information and education that the customer is looking for. If they ask a specific question, answer that question directly, not five other questions and don’t beat around the bush. Share another customer testimonial or if you have used the product, share about that positive experience too. Customers want to hear about why something will work for them and their program.
  2. Embrace feedback. Both negative and positive feedback can be good things to help your business grow and share information with others. For example, BioZyme® heard your feedback about the paper mineral bags. A positive change was made due to that feedback. If you hear positive feedback about a product, you can use that to your advantage when talking to others about that specific product.
  3. Communication is key. When providing your customers with valuable information, remember communication is a two-way process. Provide information. Ask the extra questions. Listen for their concerns or challenges. Address their specific needs. Don’t talk circles around them, and don’t do all the talking, but always make sure to be sincere and listen to what they need.
  4. Offer convenient solutions. Perhaps you have all your product information on your website, but not all your customers have internet access. One of the best ways to lay out the information is in a FAQ document. What frequent questions do your customers have? Create the answers for those and answer them in one document and have them readily available to distribute when talking about a product or time in the production cycle.
  5. Show appreciation. You rely on your customers for your success just as much as they rely on you. Be sure to thank them for their patronage and for believing in you and your products.

Providing information is an ongoing process, and mastering the process is ongoing as well. Be sure you and your employees understand the above steps and the importance of providing education and information. Customer amazement is an important step to customer retention. Continue to educate your customers and watch your business grow!

Look to BioZyme Resources for Education and Information

As a feed and supplement dealer, your customers look to you as an expert in animal feeding and nutrition when it comes to helping them achieve their goals. Do you feel like you are armed with the proper information and knowledge you need to help the producers who ask you questions? Do you have the answers to the questions they seek? Are there existing resources to help you when you need them?

If you answered “no” to any of those questions, or if you are just curious on how to be more informed and prepared to answer your customer questions, read on.

BioZyme® understands how important its Dealer Network is. That’s why we have prepared the tools to help you succeed when it comes to providing the best and most accurate information to your customers. The more information you can provide and in a timely manner, the more your customers will value you, and be more likely to return.

VISION

If you are reading this, you know that we care about getting timely information to dealers each month. We strive to provide you relevant product information and tips on how to position those products, give you sales and marketing tips, general business development guides and update you on company happenings.

Dealer Facebook Page

The BioZyme Dealer Facebook is a great space to share ideas with other dealers, see information about product launches, and keep current with happenings. Regular posts make this a great place to see information about live educational events and other news from the company.

Master Dealer Program

The Master Dealer Program was created to provide you and your employees the opportunity to learn more about BioZyme products, how to use them, how to market them, and how they can help the customer succeed. Multiple people from a dealership can complete the program to each learn about the products. Sign in to the Online Dealer Center to complete these quick learning tools today!

People

Each dealer should feel good knowing he or she has an Area Sales Manager and an Outreach Support Dealer Coordinator that they can contact for help. These people are a phone call or email away to help you with your needs. These staff members can also put you and your customers in touch with nutritionists to answer questions and help with hay testing services.

Online Dealer Center

Perhaps one of the most comprehensive places you can find the information you need to help you and your customers succeed 24/7 is the Online Dealer Center. Once inside the ODC, there are multiple tools and resources for you to use. You can ask questions and search for answers on the message board, place and track orders, learn more about the products in the Product Center, calculate LTL shipping costs, order swag and literature and download and print literature. Let’s explore some of the great resources available when you log in.

Product Center

The product center contains all the information you need about each product including selling points, feeding directions, ingredients, spec sheets and much more. It can be searched many ways to easily find the products your customers need. To access the Product Center, go to Products > View Products.

Message Board

Ask questions and receive feedback directly from the BioZyme staff on a variety of topics including nutrition, product information and more. To access the message board, visit Training > Message Board.

LTL Freight Quote

Receive an estimated freight quote for your order by filling out the LTL Freight Calculator located under Products > LTL Freight Calculator.

Literature and SWAG

All of our literature along with branded apparel and merchandise is available through the ODC. Literature is available to download in PDF format at Marketing > Marketing & Sales Aides. To have printed literature shipped to you or to order any of the swag, fill out the Literature Request or the Merchandise Request under Marketing > Marketing Requests.

Information is power. The more information you can provide your customers, the more they will rely on you to help them succeed. Good, reliable information builds trust. Trust builds relationships, and relationships are the foundation of a successful business.

Letters From Lisa – January 2021

Part of the customer experience includes product education, and it’s up to you to provide it. An educated customer is more likely to be a customer in the future. A customer desiring to use knowledge to learn about a product is entirely dependent upon how effectively knowledge is delivered to them by you, yes you.

Barring the rare customer who will dedicate significant time and effort to teaching themselves a product, most customers need guidance to help them gain confidence in using a product. Therefore, the effectiveness of the learning content provided is crucial.

Once you accept the fact that helping people get to know how to use products is a key to sales, it’s easy to see why customer education influences customer experience. Few things or products are so intuitive that they require zero instruction. All customer education efforts must remember four key points to be effective.

Accessibility

Don’t compromise access to learning your product because the content isn’t accessible enough for people without advanced computer skills. When product learning requires lots of effort and skills to access, one deprives scores of people of the ability to learn how to use the product offering. And if they can’t figure out how to use it well, they’ll simply go find another product that does provide the learning they desire.

Engagement

This is the part of the customer education process that will either cause excitement or indifference. Focused, concise bits of content that breaks the learning down into smaller pieces, makes the content much easier to follow so learners are more easily able to engage. This also helps you as you’re equally able to assess what works and what needs improvement in your learning content. People rarely stick around if they’re not engaged in what they’re learning. They’re already interested in your product (why they’re trying to learn), now it’s your responsibility to teach them in a manner that attracts their attention, engages them and delivers useful instruction in an easily digestible manner.

Care

Even with accessibility and engagement, the recipe for customer education isn’t complete. You must also deliver content that is unintimidating. Every bit of care you put into your learning content and customer education is telling your customers how much you care about their success.

Fun

Learning should be fun. Even if the learners are lacking motivation, lessons fused with laughter can be highly effective. Not only are they entertaining, but humor has actually been seen to boost retention significantly! By sandwiching humor between instruction and repetition, one can learn incredibly fast while still having a laugh. You have an obligation to your customers to be a good teacher.

You have an obligation to your own company’s success to be a good teacher. Because it’s not only about putting together a few presentations so people can get the gist of your products. It needs to be your goal to build learning content that works so well that your customers are excited about how good they are at using your products. When people are good at something, they talk about it. That team that buys your products and is excited about how great they are at using it will become product evangelists.

Dealer Spotlight: Roy Umbarger and Sons

Focus on Quality, Family Priorities for Show Feed Manufacturer

Jackson Umbarger is the fourth generation to own and work at Umbarger Show Feeds in central Indiana. Although this family-owned-and-operated feed business has remained in the family for more than 80 years, he said it isn’t just blood that is considered family. The employees, the dealers and the customers are all considered part of the Umbarger family.

“We strive to have that feeling of family. We really do care about your kids and their show livestock. Our company has a family feel and our employee retention rate is high, with a lot of our people having been here 15 plus years. That’s how its always been, and that’s how we like it,” Jackson said.

Jackson oversees the daily operation of the feed company that places its sole focus on show feed manufacturing. A new state-of the-art mill was completed in November to better ensure a consistent, accurate product. All Umbarger feed is manufactured on-site and shipped to its dealer network on a regular basis to deliver accurate, fresh product. For dealers within a two-day driving range, the company uses its own dedicated truck line to deliver to customers. They work efficiently in their dealers’ favor since they are so specialized with low seasonal minimum orders, like this time of year for example. They will also mix products within a pallet.

One of the customer services that Jackson takes great pride in is partnering with like-minded high-quality companies with a show focus whose products they can also distribute to Umbarger dealers. That is one of the reasons their partnership works so well with BioZyme®.

“The BioZyme product line compliments ours. It matches what we believe in. We also put Amaferm® in a lot of our feeds,” he said. Umbarger Show Feeds also distributes Weaver show supplies to its dealers at no additional freight fee – another service to assist its dealers. As Jackson said, if an exhibitor is looking for a big item like a showbox or fitting chute, and his or her local Umbarger dealer can get that item for that person, that person is more likely to build loyalty to that feed dealer instead of taking his or her supply and feed business to a competitor.

One area that Jackson said he would like to focus more on is marketing; however, providing apparel that is trendy and recognizes winners has been effective over time. When he assumed a leadership role in 2008, the company awarded about 40 winners’ jackets that were personalized with the exhibitor name, show name and the Umbarger logo. In 2020, more than 1,500 jackets were awarded, showing the growth of the company and creating even more walking billboards.

Family. Quality. Customer service. For a company whose logo is “we feed champions,” it’s no wonder that they also provide “care that comes full circle.” A partnership like that is just one reason BioZyme values a customer like Roy Umbarger & Sons.

Your Inventory Calendar Can Help Create A Marketing Plan

Developing an inventory calendar can be useful for more than just inventory management. It can serve as the framework and guide for your marketing schedule as well. It makes sense to align marketing and promotion with the inventory you’re housing at the time and to be prepared to turn seasonal stock as quickly as possible.

You know you have the inventory, so why do you need the marketing plan? You surely don’t want to set on the inventory you have for long, and you don’t want to be short on inventory for specific seasons of high demand like breeding, weaning or calving, for example. That is why it is vital to have a marketing plan, which often is synergistic with the inventory you maintain.

Create a Marketing Strategy
Before you create a marketing calendar, it’s important to decide on an overall marketing strategy. Some questions to ask yourself include:

• What is your estimated marketing budget for the entire year?

• Who is your target audience?

• How frequently will you promote your company?

• When is your peak demand? Factor in different times of the year, such as weaning, calving or fairs.

• What kind of media will you use? See the list below.

Once you have answered some of the above questions and have started thinking about your strategy, you can star planning your marketing calendar. Consistency is often one of the biggest struggles for dealers and establishing a marketing plan can give you a guide to follow to help you stay on course and in front of your customers in the most effective way possible.

First, establish the list of marketing tools you plan to use to reach your customers. That list may look something like this:

• Radio Ads

• Social Media – Promoboxx, Facebook, Twitter

• Email Marketing

• BioZyme Quarterly Mailers

• Print advertisements

Next, reference your inventory calendar to know what items you should be promoting for that respective month. Promotions need to be done in advance of your selling season to prepare customers, so it’s always good to set your marketing plans in advance. A general rule of thumb is to begin talking about products six weeks to a month before that buying season really starts to take off. Your customers and prospective customers are studying and researching the next product they’re going to use well in advance of making a purchase.

An inventory calendar will help paint a visual picture of the opportunities you have to focus on, what promotional efforts could be combined or if it is necessary to run multiple campaigns simultaneously. Obviously, margin and/or volume will factor into your focus each month, but don’t leave out ‘door-opener’ products that could generate traffic or interest as well. And don’t forget to have inventory for any cross promotion or upselling opportunities that you plan to promote.

Once you’ve established your product focus for the month, detail your marketing plan to include specific tactics, contacts you need to reach out to, deadlines, etc. If you haven’t, be sure to sign up for Promoboxx to get the most updated BioZyme content. In addition, coordinate with your ASM to have any custom materials designed to help you spread your specific message.

At the end of the month, you should revisit each marketing medium used and analyze its effectiveness so you can make any necessary adjustments for coming months. As you review your marketing calendar, be sure to also revisit your inventory schedule to make sure you have everything on hand so you can meet the demands of your future marketing plans.

The Importance of Keeping and Tracking Inventory

You Can’t Sell What You Don’t Measure (Or Have)

Inventory management is an art that can elevate your business to new heights, if done well. It is highly variable, and the optimal system is different for each dealer. There are many tools that can be implemented to improve your inventory management, which will ultimately help you grow your bottom line.

Let’s explore five reasons why it is vital to your business to have a good inventory management system in place.

Improve the Accuracy of your Orders
Proper inventory management helps you figure out exactly how much inventory you need to have on-hand. This helps prevent product shortages and allows you to keep just enough inventory without having too much in the warehouse.

Successful inventory management involves balancing the costs of inventory with the benefits of inventory. Many dealers fail to fully appreciate the true costs of carrying inventory, which includes not only direct costs of storage, insurance and taxes, but also the cost of money tied up in inventory. This fine line between keeping too much inventory and not enough is not the only concern. Others include:

• Maintaining a wide assortment of stock — but not spreading the rapidly moving ones too thin;

• Increasing inventory turnover — but not sacrificing the service level;

• Keeping stock low — but not sacrificing service or performance;

• Obtaining lower prices by making volume purchases — but not ending up with slow-moving inventory; and

• Having an adequate inventory on hand — but not getting caught with obsolete items.

Organize Your Warehouse
An organized warehouse makes your business life simplified, and a good inventory management approach supports an organized warehouse.

If your warehouse is unorganized, you will be challenged in managing your inventory. Many companies choose to optimize their warehouses by putting the highest selling products together and in easily accessible places in the warehouse. This helps speed up the order fulfillment process and keeps customers happy.

Save Time and Money
By keeping track of which products you have on-hand or ordered, you save yourself the effort of having to conduct regular inventory recounts to ensure your records are accurate. A good inventory strategy also helps you save money that might otherwise be wasted on slower selling products.

Increases Efficiency and Productivity
Inventory management devices like barcode scanners and inventory management software, can help improve your efficiency and productivity. These devices will eliminate manual processes so your employees can focus their time on other areas of the business. All BioZyme products come with a preassigned SKU to assist in inventory control.

Forecasting will also help you increase efficiency in your business. A huge part of good inventory management comes down to accurately predicting demand. Make no mistake, this is incredibly hard to do. There are so many variables involved and you’ll never know for sure exactly what’s coming, but you can get pretty close. Here are a few things to look at when projecting your future sales:

• Trends in the market

• Last year’s sales during the same week/month

• This year’s growth rate

• Guaranteed sales from contracts

• Seasonality and the overall economy

• Upcoming promotions

• Planned ad spending

If there’s something else that will help you create a more accurate forecast, be sure to include it. A helpful planning tool would be to graph product sales from last year by month, so you have a picture that serves as a rough forecasting tool to help stay ahead of ordering and marketing.

Build a Repeat Customer Base
It’s a fact that good inventory management leads to what you should be constantly striving for—repeat customers. If you want your hard-earned customers to come back for your products and services, you need to be able to meet customer demand quickly. Inventory management helps you meet this demand by allowing you to have the right products available when your customers need them.

Accurate inventory management incorporates what you know about customer and product demand from the past and present to (ideally) predict your best course of action in the future. Optimize the value of such information by coupling your inventory management and marketing promotions to work together. For example, such insights can reveal potential opportunities to leverage quantity-based pricing suppliers may offer, while at the same time empowering you to offset times of lower demand with promotions or ‘packaged’ deals that strategically drive sales.

It is always a best practice to ensure you have product on the floor at least 2 weeks prior to the beginning of selling season for each product and then use the forecasting tools above to prepare for restocking throughout the season.

Inventory management is a good practice for your sanity and for your customer satisfaction. You can’t sell what you don’t have. So, stock accordingly, and watch your business grow.