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.

Use Amaferm® to Sell Across All Species

With vitamins, minerals and supplements aplenty, there is one thing that sets BioZyme® products apart from all the rest – the Amaferm® advantage. This is the selling point used by many when it comes time to market the products we offer.

“I always talk about Amaferm and how it can help all species across the board,” said Lori Lawrence, ASM in Eastern Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Lawrence attributes the brand recognition of Amaferm and VitaFerm® to the success of the products she helps her dealers sell, and she uses that recognition to trickle down into other products for other animals besides cattle. The product guide is her number one favorite selling tool.

“People are not typically single-species raisers, so that product guide is a great way to showcase all the products we have that contain Amaferm, all of them,” she said.

In her sales area, she might visit with a customer who has show lambs and a cowherd and a few horses. Therefore, she can talk about Amaferm and how it can help their lambs stay on feed and water, while helping with general herd health of their cows.

With an area that is predominately store front dealers that offer a variety of products, Lawrence said training new dealers and existing dealers on new products is a top priority. Because so many people do have multiple species, she recommends that the stores carry some of every product. She also encourages in-store displays during the high-selling seasons since often if a product is “out of sight, it is out of mind.”

“During HEAT® season or whatever season, I remind the dealers to bring a few bags of product into their stores to display. When they bring those products in for customers to see, their sales do increase. I like to remind the dealers that Amaferm is the biggest differentiation between our products and others they might carry. We are a premium mineral with premium results,” she said.

Western ASM Britney Creamer agrees that Amaferm is the key sales tactic that she uses. Creamer travels Colorado, Utah and Wyoming and also works with a diverse group of customers.

“Amaferm is always the first thing I talk about with customers and potential customers as it is the one thing that significantly separates the BioZyme line from competitors and provides the most overall benefits no matter the situation,” she said.

The Amaferm advantage of increased intake, digestion and absorption is important regardless of geography, production goals and species. Once a customer has seen the results in one species, he or she will typically understand them and be excited to use a product with Amaferm in other animals.

Creamer said once she has talked about Amaferm and its benefits, she likes to share examples of how the products have helped others. She makes sure they don’t have impractical expectations, and she always follows up.

“Utilizing testimonials, research and personal experience with products always seems to resonate best with potential customers and allows them to feel more comfortable or confident in what you are offering them. I make sure to not create unrealistic expectations as well because people want such quick results that they can visually see with their eye these days. It’s important to let them know what they can expect to see with the eye and also remind them that what is working inside an animal may take a few weeks to see on the outside,” she said.

With an ingredient like Amaferm, it makes differentiating the BioZyme products from their competition a little simpler. Sharing “premium minerals with premium results” across all species should be the goal of every dealer, and that is definitely what the Amaferm advantage does for you.

Letters From Lisa – June/July 2021

I believe that a profitable, fun business needs to be kept simple and can be easily described with a triangle. How?

At the very top of the triangle and business must be its goals. Goals should not be plentiful, nor too complex. These goals must be supported with strategies that are so important that without their completion, the goals won’t be met. And then finally, these strategies must have amazing, defined tactics behind them, to ensure they are accomplished.

The triangle must be supported with investment and structure, as a well thought out set of business goals, strategies and tactics can only be completely successful if they have these behind them. Without all these features, a business will not be able to maximize its growth potential, since we need to make plans for the future to create opportunities, rather than simply wait for new business. Without an organizational structure that puts key employees together on a regular basis, it will be difficult to create effective strategies and impossible to hit the related goals.

Strategic management includes creating growth through introducing new products, using new distribution channels, expanding geographically or going after a new target market. These strategies give the path needed, while the tactics are much more concrete and are often oriented toward smaller steps and a shorter time frame. In other pages of this month’s VISION we talk about a variety of strategies and tactics to position products and hopefully help sell the BioZyme products.

Business is not simple, but it does not have to be complex either. Remember a triangle is the simplest form of a polygon and “It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.” – Amelia Barr

July 2021 Changes

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

PRODUCT UPDATES

  • On July 1, the Vitalize® Alimend® and Vitalize® Alimend® K9 labels will be getting updated to comply with NASC standards. Though the presentation of the labels will look different, the formula and ingredients will remain the same. The feeding directions will be changed to mL (instead of ounces), but the feeding rate will 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.

PRICING UPDATES

  • If you have purchased anything in the past few months, you have likely noticed a price surge. Most of this is due to the simple business principle of supply and demand; when supply is low and demand is high, the price increases. Unfortunately, the same is true for those of us in manufacturing. 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. However, these are unparalleled times in our history; and hopefully ones you will be able to tell your grandkids about overcoming. So, hang in there with this and we will all survive together. Remember, it is not how we stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but how we stand during times of challenge that really matter.

ORDERING UPDATES