Dealer Spotlight: Shoberts Feed Supplements

Sharing personal experiences that they’ve had with products has helped Shoberts Feed Supplements of Hennessey, Oklahoma, excel as a DuraFerm® dealer. Chad and Amy Charmasson, owners of Shoberts also own Charmasson Club Lambs, where they run 200 ewes, and have had had a fantastic experience with the nutritional products from BioZyme. Their experiences combined with positive experiences of existing customers, helped propel them to the number two DuraFerm store front dealer in the company in 2020.

“The DuraFerm products have proven themselves over and over for us. It’s not hard to sell a product that has such great results from a production standpoint in terms of healthier ewes that are in good breeding shape. Our conception rates are better, and that helps make it easy for us to sell this product,” Charmasson said.

He added that not only does he talk about his own flock’s health and reproductive status to potential customers, but he also feeds off of the results that his customers have had with the DuraFerm products and shares those results. Potential customers want to hear about outcomes, especially when they might already be using a product and not be getting good results.

He said the majority of his customers are not new to a mineral program. They have simply used a competing program that doesn’t work.

“They are willing to try something new, and BioZyme® products have a good reputation based on consistency. It is extremely important to me that these products are backed by science. I like the idea that research trials have been conducted and nutritionists have formulated the products to benefit our industry,” Charmasson said.

He said the easiest product for him to show instant results on is the DuraFerm Sheep Concept•Aid® HEAT® mineral because regardless of the time of year, the sheep don’t stress much due to the hot temperatures when they are on the HEAT formula. However, he said the DuraFerm Sheep Concept•Aid Protein Tubs are probably the most popular product he sells as many producers choose to leave those out year-round, except for maybe right at weaning.

Charmasson advises that dealers that are acquiring new DuraFerm customers tell their customers to be patient and explain that since their sheep or goats are likely mineral deficient, they will consume a lot of the mineral at first. The animals are just regulating themselves, but once they even out, the DuraFerm program will be a cost-effective mineral program.

“Too often, the customers see their animals overconsume the DuraFerm mineral and think it is too expensive, but once they level out, the producers will actually spend less money on the DuraFerm products and have healthier ewes and does that are in better shape with higher conception rates than they were when the fed mineral from the competition,” he said.

Happy, healthy flocks and herds are made of nutritionally sound animals backed by the Amaferm® advantage. Thanks to dealers like Shoberts Feed Supplements, flocks and herds are being taken care of by the Charmasson family who show care that comes full circle!

Capitalize on Marketing DuraFerm®

The number of sheep and goat producers in the United States might be on a decline, but the demand for the red meat and natural wool fibers is on the rise, making supplies tight. When supplies are tight, prices tend to increase, providing producers the incentives to raise the highest quality meat and wool they can. Now is when these producers need a high-quality nutritional program that all of you have access to sell: DuraFerm®.

Now is the time to capitalize on marketing DuraFerm as a line of vitamin and mineral supplements for sheep and goats that emphasizes reproductive performance. With producers aiming to have healthy lamb crops and vigorous kids, now is a great time to market a high-quality supplement to sheep and goat producers.

With the goal for both ewes and does to breed and settle and to give birth to twins, there is a DuraFerm Mineral right for both ewes and does for all times of the year. The Marketing Team has been making a concerted effort to market these DuraFrem products to a variety of audiences.

Promoboxx:
Don’t miss out on the content that is created specifically for dealers to share on their social media pages. This content meets up with national and regional campaigns, so your local messages have a cohesive look and feel.

Event Partnerships:
Members of the BioZyme staff recently attended the Midwest Stud Ram Sale in Sedalia, Missouri, and are preparing to attend the Texas A & M AgriLife Sheep and Goat Expo in San Angelo. By attending these industry events, we can contact a wide array of producers who might not be aware of DuraFerm and point them in the direction of a dealer in their area.

Media Placements:
With both paid advertisements and press release coverage in industry print and online publications, we are helping to share the message of DuraFerm and how it helps keep the flock or herd nutritionally sound while keeping females bred. A few of our media partners include The Goat Rancher, Livestock Weekly, RingSide, ChampionDrive, Integrity Livestock Sales and some breed publications.

As a dealer, the Marketing Team and your ASM is here to assist you to market products like DuraFerm, that might not be as familiar to you. Reach out to your ASM or the Outreach Support Center if you need specific tools and materials to help you market DuraFerm. The time is now to take advantage of the market that exists.

Help your sheep and goat customers strengthen their stock and have healthier, higher performing, growthier lambs and goats. Help your customers reach their full potential, and your DuraFerm sales will reach its potential. That’s care that comes full circle.

Reach for New Audiences to Promote DuraFerm®

Commercial sheep and goat producers often depend on the income from their livestock for their livelihood. Wouldn’t it be nice to help them improve their bottom line while increasing the overall health of their herds and flocks and even helping them get more lambs and kids on the ground?

It might not always be easy to break into this demographic of commercial breeders. However, they are usually hungry for information on animal health, nutrition, parasite and predator control and reproduction and will reach out to experts in their areas for this information. Since the challenges and opportunities vary so much in each region, it is important for producers to build and cultivate relationships with their veterinarian and local or state Extension sheep specialists to learn information about specific regions.

Just one way BioZyme® is making strides to reach out to more potential DuraFerm users in the largest sheep and meat goat producing state – Texas – is by sponsoring and having a booth at the Texas A&M AgriLife Sheep and Goat Expo, August 20-21 in San Angelo. This event is supposed to draw attendees from all across the country who want to hear experts talk about ways producers can improve their bottom lines, and we knew we didn’t want to miss it.

“Sheep and goat producers are thirsting for knowledge, and these are great events to create awareness that we offer sheep and goat nutritional products that are science-driven. We’re choosing to get involved in these programs not just to market products, but to lend a helping hand to producers, which is living our company motto of ‘care that comes full circle,’” said Sam Silvers, BioZyme Area Sales Manager in Texas and New Mexico.

Although not all states have an Extension sheep specialist, many do. And, as part of their Extension and outreach mission, these specialists host either a state-wide or regional educational workshops annually. Look on their websites or Facebook pages to discover when these are. Contact them to see if they are looking for a sponsor. Chances are, they will be excited you are willing to offer to have a booth or information table, as a lot of Extension funding has been depleted. The more interaction you can have with the attendees, the better. Remember to reach out to your ASM to see if he or she might be able to help you.

Even if your state doesn’t have a state Extension sheep and goat specialist, chances are that your local or area Extension office will have a field day or expo that you can participate in.

“Extension Service centers and their corresponding field days/expos are one of the best places within communities, and states as a whole, to find the ideal BioZyme product customers. Attendees are typically progressive stockmen looking to always see what is new and upcoming in their respective industries, those who are always looking to make the best decisions for their operations based on current economic decisions, but also futuristic projections and opportunities. Extension offices provide a huge benefit and asset to their states and communities and are a great way to help support the future of the industry,” said Ashley Fitzsimmons, Regional Marketing Coordinator for BioZyme.

Partnerships come in all shapes and sizes. Look for partnerships in educational outlets where you can not only educate producers about the Amaferm advantage and the high-quality nutrition program of DuraFerm but establish relationships with commercial producers. Build these partnerships and watch your business grow!

Sheep, Goats are Economical Grazers, Browsers

During a time when Mother Nature wreaks havoc on the climate, it can be challenging to provide adequate forages to cattle. However, regardless of if you are in dry climate where resources are dwindling or if you are in an area of excess rain, sheep and goats often compliment the grazing system.

It is important to point out that these small ruminants will often eat different parts of the plants than cattle and are more efficient at converting their forages to gain. Sheep and goats vary from cattle in the types of forages they prefer. They will eat the shorter forbs or shrub-like plants before they eat the taller grasses. They typically will go for the most nutritious parts of the plants first, the leaves and anything that is soft before they eat the stems or even grass. It is best to have a variety of plant species and turn your sheep and goats out when those plants are in the vegetative stage instead of a more mature stage to receive optimum nutrients from the forages. It is essential to have forages that are high in digestible fiber and at high enough levels of crude protein to keep their rumens functioning properly.

Especially in a drought situation like many producers are currently facing, sheep and goats would make more economical sense to raise. They will still help with pasture management while providing protein and a source of income with a relatively good ROI, depending on your overall investment in the livestock and fencing materials.

Anytime you or your customers are grazing small ruminants like sheep or goats, don’t forget they still need mineral. During the drought, especially, the Amaferm® in the DuraFerm® line, will help stretch your feedstuffs to get the most nutritional value out of your forage. Amaferm is a research-proven precision prebiotic designed to enhance digestibility by amplifying the nutrient supply for maximum performance. It is designed to increase the energy available to the animal resulting in more milk production as well as the ability to initiate and maintain pregnancy and fertility.

During the summer heat, your sheep customers will want to use DuraFerm Sheep Concept•Aid® HEAT®, specifically designed with the HEAT package to help mitigate heat stress anytime temperatures reach hotter that 70 degrees. The combination of HEAT and Amaferm help maintain that core body temperature, keeping the sheep cooler and helping reduce heat stress, which in turn helps get ewes bred and keeps them bred if breeding in the summer and early fall.

Goats are referred to more as browsers than grazers, because although they do graze like sheep do with their heads down, they also like to climb up a structures and trees to get leaves and greens that are up high, too. If you or a customer has goats, be sure to provide them with a DuraFerm Goat Concept•Aid Protein Tub. This convenient tub offers 20% protein, especially important during a drought when protein might not be so readily available. The other ingredients in Concept•Aid are key to reproductive success of the herd.

Smaller animals take up less space. They also will eat some of the less popular forages that cattle will leave standing. Sheep and goats make economical sense from a grazing standpoint, especially during a drought. Contact your local extension personnel if you have questions about grazing sheep and goats or even comingling them with cattle. However you graze your pastures, don’t forget the Amaferm advantage in DuraFerm.

Letters From Lisa – August 2021

Diversification is a key component of a long-lived, healthy business. Diversification is the process of a business enlarging or varying its range of products or field of operation. Personally, I don’t think of diversification as a process, I think of it as a conscious decision to prosper. Diversification is a proactive growth strategy. Adding new products and services to your business can gain you entry to an attractive new industry full of new customers and high sales potential. It can also kick-start growth again with your current customers.

At BioZyme®, sales diversification is one of our five corporate goals. As a high growth, innovative company not diversifying is not really an option for us. Of course, the tricky part is determining where and how to diversify. Adding the small ruminant brand wasn’t all that tricky, but it has been a pretty easy way to accomplish diversification.

It all started with end-users asking why their sheep and goats could not get the Concept•Aid® line like cattle people could. Being taught by Dr. Francis Fluharty that sheep and goats are not the same and that they are way different than a cow, I wanted us to create products for each of these small ruminants instead of a one-line-fits-all approach. While the population numbers make you think you would put them together, my educator taught me to realize that would not be best for the animal. As an animal lover, having both sheep and goat products in the DuraFerm line became the only way to go for me.

The population of sheep and goats in the U.S. has been stable over the last few years at around 8M head. This is just about the same number as the population of dairy cows and horses. In all cases, we should be focused on a targeted sales approach with salespeople that have time to focus on the diversification, a specific marketing strategy for the diversification effort and a thorough follow-up effort on both to keep the pipeline funnel moving correctly.

At the risk of being long winded, I can’t pass up the opportunity to expand on how diversification brings up the importance of knowing your customers’ demands. To deliver value to your customers, you must have a clear understanding of their needs. This doesn’t change if they are a sheep, goat, dog or horse customer. However, it is probably more important to acknowledge it as a business owner when one is trying to diversify.

A customer need is a problem that a person is trying to solve, which motivates them to seek a product or service to do so. Another way to understand customer needs is to think of them as jobs to be done. The jobs to be done (JTBD) theory was first introduced by Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen. In the online course Disruptive Strategy, Christensen asserts that customers don’t really buy products; they “hire” them to get a “job” done. In Disruptive Strategy, a JTBD is defined as “a circumstances-based description of understanding your customers’ desires, competitive set, anxieties, habits and timeline of purchase.”

Based on this definition, customers hire a product or service based on how well it fits their job description. If you understand the jobs your customers are hiring your product or service for, you can create a winning value proposition and drive innovation within your organization.

By aligning your company with JTBD, you can tailor your offerings to deliver value to your customers, achieve differentiation in the market, and avoid disruption. There are a number of ways to learn about your customers’ jobs to be done. Here are three ways to develop an understanding of your customers’ needs to better serve them with your products and services.

  1. Reflect on Your Experiences
    The first method for identifying jobs to be done is to reflect on your own behaviors and experiences, identifying patterns in your decision-making process. You yourself are a customer and, in the absence of other data sources, self-reflection can be a helpful starting point.
    • What motivated me to make the purchase?
    • What other options were available to me?
    • Why did I choose this product over the other options available?
    • What goal did the product help me achieve?
  2. Observe Behaviors Around You
    In addition to reflecting on your own experiences, you should observe the behaviors of those around you. If possible, look for opportunities to observe people at each stage of the buying process—from the time the job to be done arises to the final decision. Observe how people use the product or service to understand what goals it helps them achieve or challenges it helps them avoid. Look out for compensating behaviors or actions people take when a product or service doesn’t exist to fulfill their needs. Understanding the JTBD at the core of inconvenient alternatives can help you identify an underserved need in the market and inspire ideas to satisfy it.
  3. Order some DuraFerm
    Force yourself to diversify and figure out how to get the job done!

August 2021 Changes

We have lots of changes happening this month. Be sure to check them out below.

PRODUCT UPDATES

  • Temporary Tub Packaging Update: Over the course of the next 4-6 weeks, Consumers will potentially be updating their top plastic slips on all tubs from clear plastic to white plastic due to supply issues. No other changes are being made to the tub products. This change will be temporary lasting between 4-6 weeks.
  • We have increased the mold inhibitor in our pelleted Sure Champ products to the manufacturer recommended level for 1 year of shelf-life. This will help our products stay fresh smelling and mold-free while maintaining the quality of nutrients in the product.
  • On July 1, the Vitalize® Alimend® and Vitalize® Alimend® K9 labels were updated to comply with NASC standards. Though the presentation of the labels look different, the formula and ingredients remained the same. The feeding directions were changed to mL (instead of ounces), but the feeding rate did not change.
  • Vita Charge® Gel and Vita Charge® Climate Control Gel are now being produced and shipped in 60 mL tubes. This change was made in June due to supply issues with the 80 mL tubes. The case quantities, product numbers and SKUs of these two products did not change.

SHIPPING UPDATES

  • EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: Due to consistent service delays, high damage rates and a change to their freight claim reimbursement policy, BioZyme, Inc is no longer shipping products with Holland Transfer Company. Customers and Area Sales Managers [ASM] can still choose to use Holland Transfer Company for shipping LTL orders. However, both the Customer and the ASM must sign a Release of Liability for each order for which Holland Transfer Company will be used.

PRICING UPDATES

  • At BioZyme, we are experiencing price hikes due to shortages in both ingredients and materials like packaging. As we always do, we are trying to do everything we can to keep pricing under control.

ORDERING UPDATES

Dealer Spotlight: Kenneth Regnier

Kenneth Regnier Builds Business on Trust and Reputable Product

For long-time BioZyme® dealer Kenneth Regnier, having a quality product to help his customers is a top priority. The product combined with a strong relationship built on trust and loyalty is what has kept him selling BioZyme products for more than 20 years.

“I like people and I like to talk to them. I’m going to keep going as long as the good Lord will let me,” said Kenneth, who turns 74 in August. Kenneth, who runs his own cow-calf herd near Kinsley, Kansas, started as a BioZyme dealer in 2,000 because he had heard that VitaFerm® carried a superior product, and he was unhappy with the nutrition company’s product that he had previously sold when they made a corporate switch. He started selling the VitaFerm, took his existing customers with him and has never looked back.

He said the quality of the VitaFerm products that he sells speak for themselves, and he has had numerous customers share their reviews with him. If he has a potential customer approach him about the products, he suggests they try the VitaFerm products on just one set of their cows and keep using their current mineral and compare where they are in six months. That will usually get them hooked.

“One customer on the HEAT mineral told me he can see that the HEAT is working. His cows are out grazing, and he drove by two groups of his neighbor’s cows and they are grouped up and not out grazing. That is all it takes to know the product is working,” Kenneth said.

Helping others is important to Kenneth, and the loyalty he’s given his customers has been returned to him. He said he is now selling products to the second generation of producers. His customers’ kids who used to help him unload feed are now his customers.

Service and trust are important traits to Kenneth. He still delivers most all of his product to his customers with his one-ton Ford pick-up and a flat-bed trailer. Often times he doesn’t even see his customers, but they know he will use their skid steer loader and have their VitaFerm in place when they get in from the field or pasture.

An annual producer meeting each spring allows Kenneth to share new product information with his customers, gather customer orders for the next few months and provide fellowship among area producers. It’s something he and his wife and business partner Jacque have been hosting for years.

“Our producer meeting is a way to show we care. We give them a steak meal, and everyone can get around the table and talk. It’s the fellowship of doing business. It’s a good time for them to order their summer mineral,” he said.

And with typically dry summers in Southwest Kansas, the HEAT products are very popular; however, with a wetter than normal spring, flies are heavy. Kenneth is glad to have a product with ClariFly® to offer his customers this year. His own cows have been eating the HEAT with ClarFly and he notices that there are no flies on them.

A love of people and a love of good nutritional products for cattle and horses is what drives Kenneth Regnier to keep selling the BioZyme products. He said the business has been a good outlet for him to “slow down” since he quit farming and also since a bad ATV accident in April 2020 that required physical therapy. As long as he can keep helping people help their animals, he’s going to keep on keeping on. We’re certainly glad to have you in our Dealer Network, Kenneth!

Use the Marketing Tools that BioZyme Offers to Help You Sell

Regardless of your dealership size or status, BioZyme® offers a variety of tools to help you share about the products, promote the products and help educate your customers about your business and the goods that you offer.

Ty McGuire, Area Sales Manager in Michigan, Western Ohio and Kentucky, encourages all dealers to learn about and use the tools that are offered to them. He said that starts with product knowledge so you can talk about products and costs at the drop of hat when the subject comes up in conversation.

“Knowledge is power. Wherever you are, you should know the products and be able to talk about them,” he said.

One of the best ways to familiarize yourself with the products is through the Master Dealer Training Program. This online training tool gives a brief overview of all the products. As an incentive to complete it, dealers are offered a special designation on the Online Dealer Locator, in store signage and a Master Dealer Jacket.

For new products, Facebook trainings have taken place on the BioZyme Dealer Facebook Page, another resource that offers timely information, tools and company news.

Another great tool that McGuire recommends his dealers use regularly is the Online Dealer Center. The Online Dealer Center allows dealers to gather product information and trainings as well as monitor their own sales activities.

Promoboxx and social media are two more marketing tools that McGuire said have been game-changers during the past few years. As people have technology and information at their fingertips, it is important to have a presence on social media. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are becoming increasingly popular for businesses to publicize featured products and in-store promotions.

The BioZyme Marketing Team creates regular posts through Promoboxx that align with current advertising campaigns. Dealers can sign up for Promoboxx and use these posts or elements of them across all brands to help create awareness on their business Facebook pages.

Perhaps one of the most important tools a dealer can create is a customer mailing list. Mailing lists “fill the pipeline with contacts,” according to McGuire, and those contacts are essential when it comes time for BioZyme to send quarterly mailers.

For someone who hasn’t started a mailing list yet, McGuire suggests starting with a simple Excel spreadsheet and start adding names, mailing addresses, city, state and zip codes. You might also want to add a space for phone number or email and even the types of animals or products they use for future reference. If you are not sure how to get all these addresses, start with getting information from the check or envelopes that the remittance comes in from bill payments.

Marketing tools exist and so do people who are willing to help. Don’t forget to reach out to your ASM or the Outreach Support Center. The tools and people that BioZyme offers are available to help you succeed.

Opportunities to Address Challenges Lead to Sales

For some on the BioZyme sales team, they take the relationship approach to getting products in front of customers. It is more about being problem solvers or helping the potential customer reach their production goals with a nutrition program, than it is “selling” a product.

Brett Tostenson, ASM who represents South Dakota and Eastern North Dakota, said he does extensive homework about a potential customer’s production goals, both commercial and seedstock, before he ever makes contact or sets foot on his or her ranch. With the use of the Internet and state-wide ag publications, there is typically a plethora of information about the larger cow-calf producers he calls on.

“I’m a huge proponent of connection-based selling to help them meet their needs. I look at the birthdates and sire groups in their sale catalogs, see if they have a ranch website or Facebook page, and Google to see if there is information about them, where they market their cattle. This helps me have a plan before I ever meet them,” Tostenson said.

He adds that is it is imperative to be genuine in the conversation, and with knowing background about their operation or having a mutual contact, it shows that you have an interest, and you are not just another cold call salesperson.

Once he knows about their operation, he will set up a time to stop by to look at their cattle, which he enjoys doing. Then, after he’s seen their cattle and had a good conversation, he’ll listen to any needs the producer might have like poor breed-backs, retained placentas or low conception rates. That is when he tells them about the reproductive mineral he uses on his own herd, VitaFerm® Concept•Aid®. His closing statement is strong:

“I don’t try to sell something I would not use on my own cattle.”

Once that trust is established and the producer decides to try the product, Tostenson will put him or her in touch with a dealer. He does follow up to make sure the dealer and the product is meeting expectations. And, he said it is important to be visible at their sale, but just to say hello, and not to talk shop on their big pay day.

The Consultant
Similar to Tostenson, Ty McGuire, who represents Michigan, Western Ohio and Kentucky, said he too likes to help potential and current customers meet their operation goals. He likes to consider himself as more of a consultant rather than a salesperson.

“I want them to know that I am looking out for them, and they can confide in me for answers whether it’s about nutrition, A.I. protocols or anything. I am a straight shooter, and that helps gain their trust and get the sale,” McGuire said.

Typically, on an initial visit, he will leave them with some beneficial literature that might include the sale report from a local livestock auction market, along with some BioZyme product information and his business card.

He agrees that sales books are a great way to learn about operations, and you can tell a lot about calving times, calving windows, sire groups and just about the people from the contents of the sale book. He said his initial face-to-face meetings can last from 20 minutes to an hour, and you can tell how much a person will open up and trust another in a short amount of time. Once he has their trust, he likes to talk about Amaferm®.

“I will bend over backwards for a potential customer to get the Amaferm advantage into their livestock. We have great products for every species and every situation, and I want them to know I will help them meet their goals, not only with nutrition but in other areas, as well,” McGuire said.

Do your homework. Build the relationship. Gain the trust. Sometimes selling isn’t even about selling as much as it is helping a fellow producer meet his or her production goals. Relationship selling is all about helping others. And that is care that comes full circle.