Dealer Spotlight: LaJunta Mill

Simple Actions Grow Dealership

Some people learn about the Amaferm® advantage from feeding one of the many supplements BioZyme® offers. Others read educational material, visit the website and/or ask questions of the Area Sales Managers. And yet, a select group run their own trials so they can experience and witness the benefits first-hand. That’s the case for Cody Stoker, who co-manages LaJunta Mill, LaJunta, Colo., with his brother.

About 10 years ago, LaJunta Mill received a request for a custom show ration with Amaferm added to it, according to Stoker. Unfamiliar with Amaferm, he started doing some research, comparing it to other additives from other companies he had used in the past. Once he saw the results, he was hooked, and has been mixing Amaferm into all his ruminant feeds as well as some horse feeds.

“You see those animals really get a healthier look, and you know if they look healthy on the outside, they are healthy on the inside. I have also seen a reduction in feed intake, especially dry matter intake,” he said.

Stoker has been feeding a custom mineral tub he developed for the Mill with Amaferm included in it for about the past five years. He uses the tub while feeding free-choice cane hay to mature cows. He said he sees a reduction in forage consumption while those cows maintain their body condition score, therefore he knows his cows are getting the maximum nutritional benefits from the Amaferm.

Stoker uses computer software to assist him when it comes to formulating the Mill’s custom mixes and its own brand of feeds. He has been around livestock his entire life and understands the importance of a precision-based prebiotic like Amaferm that aids in intake, digestibility and absorption.

In addition to feed, custom mixes, tubs and show rations, the Mill also includes Amaferm in some of its range cubes. He has one producer who feeds the range cubes to his cows and has seen tremendous response to his cows’ nutrition at calving time.

The biggest challenge Stoker has with suggesting Amaferm as an additive in a custom-mixed feed is the price tag producers see for the bulk order.

“They shy away due to the overall cost when they see a product with Amaferm in it. But if they would do the math and break it down, they would see it’s only costing them about two cents per head, per day,” he said.

A simple suggestion by a customer led one leader at LaJunta Mill to dig deeper. With a little research, some trial and error, Stoker discovered the benefits of Amaferm on his own animals and knew this was a secret he needed to share. Progressive dealers like LaJunta Mill care about their customers and their customers’ animals and that is why they choose Amaferm as a trusted additive for their products.

Master Dealer Training Program Empowers all Employees

Professional development is a great way to empower your employees to grow in their skills and knowledge. Most licensed professionals from teachers to attorneys to medical personnel require continuing education hours on a regular basis. At BioZyme® , we’ve provided you and your staff with the tools needed to stay current on product information and knowledge as well as sales and customer service skills through the Master Dealer Training Program.

The Master Dealer Training Program was introduced at the 2017 Dealer Retreat as a way to increase knowledge and productivity within a dealership. It provides online training tools to all employees to learn more about all product lines, so they are armed with the information they need to talk to potential customers. In 2018, an advanced level of the Master Dealer Program was available to those who had completed Year 1. The second tier provides product updates and also focuses on marketing and selling techniques.

“In the beginning, the Master Dealer Training was just taken by one person per dealership, but we’ve made it so multiple people per dealership can participate,” said Trent Gabler, BioZyme® Inc. Sales Coach. “The end-users really see those counter people as experts, so I emphasize that everyone in a dealership who works with customers complete the Master Dealer Training, so they know the product features and benefits.”

Because it is important to the company that all employees understand the products and their benefits when they are talking to customers and potential customers, every individual who successfully completes the training is rewarded. Once a dealership completes the first year of training, that dealership receives Master Dealer designation on the online dealer locator (the most visited page on the website) as well as special store signage indicating they are Master Dealers. Individual employees receive a special Master Dealer jacket from BioZyme. Once a year has passed, the dealership is eligible for the second level of training that focuses more on marketing and selling techniques. Rewards are also sent after the second phase is successfully passed.

The training program is available online through the Online Dealer Center. A series of training modules allow employees to watch a short video presentation and then take a quiz about what they have just learned. If you do have multiple employees that want to complete the training, you should contact your Area Sales Manager or the Outreach Support Center at (816) 344-5769 to secure multiple login credentials.

Knowledge is power. In a world where customers have many options, make sure to empower your staff with information they need to be effective in product promotion and sales. Take charge and take part in the Master Dealer Training Program. It’s just one of many tools BioZyme offers its dealers to help them reach success in their business.

How to Empower your Sales Staff to Ask for the Sale

Developing relationships and providing top-notch customer service are two of the keys to a successful business. However, if you want your business to generate profit, you need to grow your sales. Perhaps one of the most challenging things about business, once you’ve developed those relationships is making the actual sale.

“A lot of good conversations take place when we build relationships, but did we flat out ask for the sale? Even the most experienced sales staff feel comfortable talking about products and having rapport, but they are scared of being told ‘no,’ so they might avoid the ask,” said Trent Gabler, BioZyme® Inc. Sales Coach and former ASM.

The fear of rejection is a natural reaction; however, until the question is asked, the answer is always ‘no,’ and when you do get a positive yes, it makes you and your business’ bottom line and outlook a little brighter.

Gabler offers three methods to empower your staff to feel more comfortable in closing the sale.

1. Summary close. Once you have discussed a particular product’s benefits or the Amaferm® advantage, have one or two summary statements and then simply ask when the customer would like to try the product or place an order. You could summarize with the three main selling points of improving intake, digestibility and absorption each time. Just keep your closing statement simple with an impact. For example, you might say, “Concept•Aid offers the benefits of increased reproductive success. When would you like to give it a try?”

“I think the summary close is the best. It highlights the benefits and reconfirms why the producer should invest in your product. How can a producer afford not to use it? Then, suggest how and when to order,” Gabler said.

2. Now-or-Never. One way you can ask for the sale without really applying sales pressure is during a promotion or sale. If you are a dealer that offers a good deal during or directly after a producer meeting or during a particular season of the year, this is a particularly effective pitch, according to Gabler. People like to save money, so if they know they have to buy “now” or they will “never” save money, they are more likely to buy on the spot. With the now-or-never approach, you might say, “This promotion ends tomorrow. If you don’t place your order now, you will miss out on this incredible savings.”

3. Direct Ask. If you aren’t afraid of hearing no or maybe, then try asking directly, “Would you like to place your order today?” If you don’t ask immediately after your conversation, and your potential customer says they need a little time to think, make sure you follow up with him or her within two to three days of your original discussion. That allows enough time for the person to think about the products and do any research they might want to do, and yet keeps you and the products fresh in their minds. Never assume they will get back to you; that is why it is imperative that you reach back out to them.

Training your employees to have product knowledge, customer service skills and build relationships are all important. Those skills will lead to empower them to make the ask and close the sale. Making sales and hearing “yes” will further empower and elevate your employees’ self-esteem. Make the ask, make the sale and watch your business grow!

Grow Your Business by Engaging and Empowering Your Staff

Good help is hard to find. But once you’ve found a good and loyal employee or several of them, you want to make sure they stay with your company. Turnover and hiring are costly in both money and time, and let’s face it, if you’ve found someone that meshes with your company values, mission and culture, isn’t it worth it to keep them as part of your team?

In a recent Inc.com 1 article, author Maria Matarelli suggests the best way to empower and grow your business is to empower and engage your employees. She quotes,

“According to a Gallup poll, only 37% of employees who feel they are engaged in their job would leave for a raise of 20% or less. That’s a big indicator of just how important engagement and empowerment are. Employees are willing to turn down more money if it means less empowerment.”

Employees need to feel like they are being treated as an unique individual, not just a robot following a set of rigid rules to accomplish a task. Yes, policies and guidelines are imperative to workplace productivity and safety, but happy employees are the key to a job well-done.

Matarelli reminds readers, “A machine can’t surprise you. A machine can’t be creative. A machine can’t innovate or contribute to the culture of your workplace.” Once you have hired someone provide them with the company vision and let them work. You might just be surprised at the type of contribution they make to improve a process, create a new product or provide other valuable input to help your company.

Follow these three simple steps to empower your employees and watch them succeed and help your company succeed simultaneously.

1. Listen. This might seem simple; however, often times employees have great ideas but have no one to share them with. People want to know that they have a voice and their opinion matters. As their supervisor, you don’t have to say yes, but you might just hear the next great idea for your company to soar.

2. Provide Safety. People like to feel a sense of security in the workplace. This can shape up in different ways. First, your employees will want to know they do have job security. No one works to their potential when rumors of firing or downsizing are circulating. If your company is experiencing hard times, be open with your team so they know what to expect. The second way you can make your employees feel safe, is by letting them voice their opinions, ideas, or thoughts on what works well and what could be improved on.

“The problem with leadership roles is that leaders are rarely the ones who interact directly with the customers. It’s important to hear from your employees that do, because they have valuable insight to offer. But they won’t share their thoughts if they don’t feel safe doing it,” Matarelli writes.

3. Mistakes Happen. Nobody likes to make mistakes. But, if you turn a mistake into a learning opportunity, it might be one of the best things to help boost your company’s growth. Being in the animal nutrition business, we conduct research trials with our products continuously. During those trials and experiments, we know that there will be mistakes, and that is often when we can learn both what doesn’t and what does work. Amaferm® , the product featured this month, might not even exist if Mr. Kistner hadn’t observed the growth effects of his livestock when he threw out some bad experiments and noticed how much more efficient his animals became. Allow your employees to try new ideas and let them feel safe with the idea that they might make a mistake.

Empowering your employees is a great way to help your company grow. Happy, engaged workers who feel a true connection to the business will flourish, work harder and smarter and help your business achieve its goals. Customers don’t want to do business with a robot, so make sure that you treat your employees like people, and keep them a part of your team.

– Source: https://www.inc.com/maria-matarelli/so-you-want-higher-performance-in-yourbusiness-empower-your-people.html?cid=search

Amaferm Positioning Tools

Why Your Customers Need It:

• Promotes Feed Intake: Intake is controlled by many factors including physical fill and energy requirements. Amaferm increases digestion, which would allow the cow to eat more feed in a day

• Increases Feed Digestibility: The digestibility of feed determines the amount that is used by the animal for growth, reproduction, etc. Essential nutrients in the form of energy, proteins, minerals, vitamins and water (above those necessary for maintenance of normal body functions) must be not only provided to the animal, but digested if the animal is expected to maximize performance.

Maximizes Nutrient Absorption: Absorption is the movement of molecules across the gastrointestinal (GI) tract into the circulatory system. Most of the end-products of digestion, along with vitamins, minerals and water are absorbed in the small intestinal lumen by four mechanisms for absorption: (1) active transport, (2) passive diffusion, (3) endocytosis and (4) facilitative diffusion.

How To Administer Amaferm:

Granular – (Pure Amaferm®): To be added into low inclusion products for proper mixing.
Target Application: 
• Micro Machines
• Cake or cubes

• Liquid – (Pure Amaferm®): Liquid direct from fermentation.
Target Application: 
• On farm use of liquid tank products

Pellet – (Digest More®): To be added into higher inclusion products for proper mixing.
Target Application: 
• Top dress on farm
• Addition to TMR or grain mix on farm
• Higher inclusion pellet for grain mixes in feed manufacturing; sweet feeds, show feeds, etc.

Beef Expected Results and Key Research:

For more results and research for other species, visit www.amaferm.com

Selling Tools:

The new Amaferm website is now available by visiting www.amaferm.com.
Key Features Include:
• Detailed information about what Amaferm is and how it works
• What to Expect with Amaferm broken down by specie
• Searchable Online Research Center

February 2019 – Letters from Lisa

Multiplication of effort has the power to allow you to achieve extraordinary, profitable growth through a structure that allows for a balanced life; however, you choose to define balanced. Empowered, energized people result in multiplication of effort that GROWS business.

If you want your employees to be defined this way, you must invite them to be more than just an order-taking drone by cultivating a culture of energized employee empowerment.

Every employee you have will eventually arrive at an intersection, if they haven’t already. At that point, you hope they turn the right way and buy-in to the vision and values of the company. Turning the right direction means that they see a future for themselves within the organization, so they’ll invest themselves fully and go all-in.

In the book “All In,” leading workplace experts teamed up with research giant Towers Watson to analyze an unprecedented 300,000 people, and they made a groundbreaking finding: managers of the highest-performing work groups create a “culture of belief.” In these distinctive workplaces, people believe in their leaders and in the company’s vision, values and goals. Employees are not only engaged but also enabled and energized (termed the three Es), which leads to astonishing results—average annual revenues three times higher than for organizations lacking such a positive culture.

What does it take to accomplish a culture of “All In”? Ask yourself these questions. (Please note that those in bold are my weaknesses and what I am constantly working on trying to improve. I figure putting them in bold can be kind of like making my New Year resolutions public enough that I do them).

1. Do you really care? Beyond praise and financial worth, can you really say you care for the well-being of others? Selfishness has no place in empowerment. The more you care, the greater the results you can generate.

2. Do you listen? When you stop and truly listen to those that you interact with, do you provide others with a sense that you are all in? Being all in really matters when it comes to having others follow your lead, so you better be listening to any constructive criticism you receive.

3. Do you freely admit your mistakes? Great leaders recognize that they don’t always make the best or right choices, and they don’t blame others for those choices. Instead, a true leader finds the error, fixes it and moves on.

4. Are you open and adaptable to change? Leaders must be constantly open to new ideas and cultivate this throughout the team. Now more than ever before, you simply cannot stay with the status quo and expect others to be on that band wagon with you.

5. Can you laugh? If not, why do we want to hang around with you?
Being open to having fun is by far one of the most enjoyable feelings, especially in the workplace. After all, most people spend the vast majority of their lives working, shouldn’t they enjoy it?

6. Are you making decisions? Only decisive people succeed, the indecisive ones never do. As a leader try to focus on making crucial decisions and delegate the trivial ones.

7. Are you cultivating a way for new ideas to be easily brought forward? Every business revenue generator or cost saver starts with an idea. I have learned that those really doing the work on a daily basis always have ideas, usually good ones, but they are not given safe, easy ways to share them.

Now that you have yourself on the right track you need to ensure your leadership determines the direction your team chooses as far as being all in. Here are four ways to encourage your team to be all in and help grow the future of the organization:

1. Hold Them Accountable. Remember that employer trust and employee autonomy is a two-way street. Holding employees accountable for their work and for meeting established goals and deadlines motivates them to achieve better results. Don’t let them off the hook. Demand their best effort.

2. Provide Constructive Feedback. Regardless of the results, let them know how they’re doing, and give them the coaching they need to improve. Although they might not always ask for it, they want and need your feedback to further develop their knowledge and skills. At BioZyme ® we recently replaced Performance Reviews with Progress Reviews. Progress Reviews should be done when opportunities for personal development occur, not every December.

3. Acknowledge Them on the Spot for Stepping Up. A few seconds of genuine one-on-one acknowledgement and recognition can go a long way toward reinforcing an employee’s willingness to step up and stand tall. Show you appreciate their above-and-beyond commitment with a reward that matches the result. Often times, the best reward is additional trust and an added level of responsibility.

4. Have Confidence and Trust in Them. Confidence has the power to generate passion which provides for opportunity that would otherwise seem impossible. Trust is an absolute prerequisite of efficiency. Therefore, confidence and trust are natural leverages for successful growth.

I usually try to close in a motivational positive way, but I thought these facts were pretty motivational despite not being all that positive. According to a survey of 23,000 employees conducted by Harris Interactive, only 37 percent of employees understand what their employer is trying to achieve. Pretty hard to be “all in” when you don’t even know what “in” is.

To dramatize the seriousness of this, Stephen Covey translated this sad reality into a soccer analogy. He wrote that if the typical organization were a soccer team, only four (4) out of the 11 players would know which goal to shoot towards. Imagine trying to compete — especially in an ultra-competitive arena — with the majority of your team not even knowing what end of the field they are supposed to be heading toward. This of course would result in ZERO multiplication of effort as most of the multipliers are headed in the wrong direction. David Zinger says it best when he states, “Create caring and robust connections between every employee and their work, customers, leaders, managers, and the organization to achieve results that matter to everyone in this sentence.”

Growth with PromoBoxx

Have you taken advantage of Promoboxx yet?? Dealers who participated in our 2018 beta trial grew an average of 139.99% by using this easy-to-use social media platform! All dealers are eligible to use Promoboxx and we encourage you to do so. Being engaged on Promoboxx is not only a great way to grow your business, you also receive quarterly Action Awards Points!
Comment below with any questions you make have or visit www.biozymedealermktg.com to get started!