In April, we added an antioxidant to the granular VitaFerm®, Gain Smart® and DuraFerm® product lines, to improve quality. Dealers and customers could see some added ingredients listed on the label. We continue to provide the highest-quality ingredients to ensure the best shelf life.
HYALURONEX® AND TRIXSYN®PRODUCTS NOW PART OF VITALIZE® FAMILY
Hyaluronex® and Trixsyn® joint health products are officially part of the Vitalize® brand. The products that many equine, dog and cat lovers have come to know and trust still consist of the same great formulas, but now are labeled under the Vitalize name and have a new label and look.
PERSONNEL CHANGES & ADDITIONS
We have made some changes and additions to our staff that you should be aware of including the following. Please note the new titles & responsibilities:
Brandon Barlage, Inside Sales Representative – New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
Alison Brunner, Animal Health Sales Manager
Hardy Goodman, ASM – Florida, Georgia
Wyatt Marshall, Industry and Events Support Specialist
Word of mouth marketing is one of the most important marketing tools you can use in any type of marketing vehicle: social media, website, sales letter, advertisement.
According to socialfresh.com, “customer testimonials have the highest effectiveness rating at content marketing at 89%.” In other words, testimonials are 89% better at increasing conversion rates than other forms of marketing.
At BioZyme®, we love to earn customer testimonials, and we use them frequently. The hashtags #TestimonialTuesday or #FeatureFriday are a great way to showcase what customers are saying about the products on social media, and as you will read below, there are other ways to showcase testimonials as well.
However, it isn’t always easy to get customers to share what they like about a product.
“I usually find that if I start the conversation asking about their animals and their goals, they will be more open. I ask what challenges they were having and what led them to using the particular BioZyme product. Then, I ask them specific questions about the results they saw. What was their overall conception rate? How many more lambs did they wean? How many more pounds of gain did they experience with the Gain Smart mineral? Our producers are typically very data driven and keep great records and those are the stories we want to share,” said Shelia Grobosky, BioZyme Content & PR Manager.
Below are four types of testimonials you can use in your marketing.
Quote Testimonial:
The most common type, it is exactly what its name implies, a simple quote. You can get these over the phone, via email or in person, and use these a variety of ways. These are often the most read and most effective. The audience can read these quickly, and the quote gets right to the point.
Longform Testimonial:
This might be a five-minute testimonial. You might record a conversation with a customer (always ask for permission before recording), and he or she has a great story. You can transcribe this for your website or even ask permission to post the entire audio to your website, as some people will prefer to listen to it over reading this long paragraph. These will also typically show more emotion, and emotion sells.
Social Testimonial:
This is another effective testimonial where you ask your customer to post their own review of a product on their own social media account, perhaps with a photo of the product.
Video Testimonial:
Like its name implies, this is a video of a customer telling you and your audience why he or she likes the product and the impact they have seen with the product. This is often the most beneficial since there is no reading involved, and the viewer can see and hear the emotion in the speaker’s voice.
Testimonials are a great marketing tool. We encourage you to use them in your marketing, and if you have a great testimonial to share with our team, reach out to Grobosky at sgrobosky@biozymeinc.com.
Care that comes full circle can start with little acts of kindness that help grow sales. But first you need to know your customers and understand what their passion points are.
Every single person has a passion point or hot button. Once you find that for particular customers that are willing to invest in the goods and services you offer, remember that hitting those passion points in a genuine way can often boost sales.
There are several ways to show appreciation for your customers. One of the most effective ways is to host a producer meeting, where you might serve a meal or appetizers while educating the customers about the benefits of the product you offer. Everyone looks forward to the camaraderie of the event, and many look forward to the meal; however, most will remember that XYZ Dealer took the effort to plan, invite and host the event and talk to the producer group. Make sure you use the Marketing Resources in the Online Dealer Center to help secure invitations and a speaker from BioZyme®.
With sale season in full swing, another way to show appreciation is to attend your customers’ production sales. Put on a logoed cap or jacket and make an appearance at a customer sale. Bring along a stack of VitaFerm® gloves or some ink pens so the buyers can pick one up – it’s also good promotion. Be sure to say a quick hello to your customer to let him or her know you are there if any help is needed, but don’t be a nuisance. Remember, this is the big pay day for them.
Sponsor a livestock show. Spring jackpot shows are right around the corner. Chances are you have customers with children or grandchildren who participate in local stock shows. It doesn’t take much financial investment to sponsor an award or back tags in return to get your name and business recognized. Your customers will be happy to see you participated in a way that gives back to the youth, and they should be more willing to invest back into your business. Community outreach and giving back can pay dividends.
Be present. Sometimes just showing up is enough to show you care. Showing up at church, the local spring concert and home opener baseball game are the little things your customers are looking for to know that you are invested in the community and there for them. When a customer knows you are invested in the community, they are more likely to keep their local business rather than drive a distance to purchase similar products.
Show your customers some appreciation and be a part of their passion points. Be present in the community.
Care that comes full circle is a philosophy that postulates if you truly care for someone or something, that care will eventually, naturally come full circle back to you.
Naturally meaning if we take care of the animals, they will take care of us by ensuring we get to eat or feel unconditional love. Naturally meaning if we take care of our customers, they will remain loyal, which allows us to continue to have the resources to research new technologies for them. Naturally meaning if we take care of our vendors by communicating and staying loyal to them, they will help us during challenges. And last but certainly not least, naturally meaning if we take care of our employees by being understanding, good communicators and fair, they will passionately fuel the care throughout the company.
Care that Comes Full Circle. Those five words are the value statement that drives BioZyme® Inc. each and every day.
How can you embody care that comes full circle into your dealership?
A fair question after every minute of every day statement is, if something takes this much energy, is it really worth it? If you Google “care that comes full circle,” you will either find items about BioZyme (which made me quite proud), or you will find items about caring for an aging parent. So, at first glance I guess it doesn’t really have a role in business where money usually tends to be the main driver. However, think of this well-known statistic: “A customer who has had a good experience will tell two people, but a customer who has a bad experience will tell 12 or more people.” This is true of vendors and employees as well. I like to refer to vendors and employees as internal customers. They deserve the same care as external customers. Care starts and ends by embracing the four items below and yes, they apply to a chicken and horse as well as a human.
Listen Make yourself available to hear with as many touch points as possible. Take a genuine interest in what the other person or animal seeks to deliver to you.
Respond Hearing is one thing, responding is another. Be an ally, putting the other person’s needs first. Ensure emails are followed up with in a timely manner; phone calls are answered; waterers are full, feed stays consistent, and time and attention are given where they are needed, when needed.
Resolve What good is a response if it doesn’t make something better?
Follow Up Seek and be ready to hear honest feedback, and then remain committed to making whatever it is better, happily remembering that this is a cycle that never ends.
Care – we know it is an important component of life, but we often forget one of the simplest principles: to show we care is to find out what people or animals need and then deliver on those needs. Getting started is a matter of holding yourself accountable to the above four actions. If you take the time to do this, I promise it will come full circle.
Don’t put all your eggs is one basket is a proverb that dates back at least to the 1600s. There are several stories concerning the origin of the expression, but it may have been inspired by the real-life experiences of poultry farmers who used wagons and baskets to take their eggs to market. If all of a farmer’s eggs were placed in one basket, it would only take one unfortunate accident along the way to ruin his entire investment and opportunity.
By not putting all your eggs in one basket, you reduce the risk of having nothing to offer at the market by pinning all your hopes or future goals on one and only one option. In business, we refer to this as diversification.
Diversification Diversification is a foundational principle of a sound, long-term plan. One of the key benefits of diversification is that it makes for a smoother ride on the path to achieving one’s goals. In short, we are vulnerable if we rely too heavily on one species, one major customer or one region. Diversification is about developing new products, exploring new markets and taking new risks. None of this diversification lingo is not new information. So why don’t we diversify?
We Intentionally Say No I’m as surprised as anybody, but Crocs’ all-purpose footwear is still going strong long after their 2002 debut. They’ve come a long way since then; their initial batch of 200 pairs sold out immediately, but they now weigh in as a $880 million company, just in the U.S. And still they remain singularly focused on their flagship product. Michelin is another company that notably stuck to its guns – or, in this case, tires. Although they’ve dabbled in manufacturing things like road maps and rocket components, Michelin keeps coming back to the product that made them famous: tires. They were the first radial tire company to span the globe, and today they’re one of the most recognizable names in the automotive industry.
We Don’t Like Risk Keep in mind that the path toward diversification will be decided, at least in part, by how much of a risk we want to take – and how much money we have available to take it. If one is risk averse, they tend to not diversify, which in the end is sometimes very risky.
We Don’t Have the Right Expertise When you do one thing, you can train your staff and use their expertise to execute, unlike when you offer dozens or hundreds of products that require additional expertise not currently possessed by your staff.
We Don’t Have the Right Mindset Diversification must be a purposeful mindset to influence the future of the company. For many, this mindset is just not an option. Having the openness to hear new ideas, and the flexibility to act on tactical diversification opportunities that can ultimately serve you better than sticking strictly to your original strategy takes an open, visionary mindset. Note that only 3.2% of Americans are visionary so this is difficult.
Diversification can mean something different to every single business. It takes effort and its own kind of focus, so it’s important to first assess whether it’s something your company is striving for, and if so, then examining and perhaps also trying different avenues that may suit your business and your company mindset.
But remember, for diversification to be an option in the first place, openness and willingness to change is the most important criteria.
A new year means a fresh slate. Many people say it is a good idea to start the year with a fresh perspective and focus on how to put your best foot forward.
There’s a Buddhist parable called The Second Arrow. The story explains that in life, things that don’t go the way we desire is inevitable. This is likened to being shot by an arrow – an instance which is outside of your personal control.
The option of pulling out that arrow and then complaining about the event is entirely on you. This is referred to as the second arrow. Here are a few tips to help you with that second arrow so you start the year with a clean slate as opposed to leaving remnants of those first arrows.
Practice Gratitude
Being truly grateful assists you in fresh perspective and putting your best foot forward.
Make a No “What Ifs” Rule
Spinning on what might have been keeps you from moving forward. Your thoughts may seem to circle back again and again to the things you think you could, or should, have done differently. When you catch yourself thinking a “what if,” just recognize that you didn’t, and move forward.
Get Physical
Take a weightlifting or yoga class or give one-foot barn cleaning or ballroom dancing a go. When you choose an activity that requires your focus to balance or to learn a sequence of motions, your brain will be busy doing something other than ruminating on arrow one. I really need to get this incorporated into my life in 2023. Stay tuned for how that goes.
Make a To-Do List
Having a plan for today keeps you from feeling ungrounded. If you fill your day with meaningful tasks, you will have something to keep you from focused forward and grounded. This takes time, but the payoff is seriously worth it.
Remember, Happiness is a Choice
In every moment, you have the choice to be happy. Victor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust and founded the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy, is said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” If you are choosing your old perspective as a pattern, consciously make the decision to replace it with a fresh perspective.
Start with a Mantra or Affirmation
If your day begins with a thought like, “Today is the first day of the rest of my life,” or “I’m excited for what today will bring,” it keeps your focus on the present and future. Choose a positive affirmation to start each day. One of my favorite gifts during the last year was a set of Daily Prayer cards given to me by a friend who lost her husband too early as well. Each card is a very short Bible verse focused on the good God provides. I would say those cards have helped my perspective each day more than anything. It does work. Try it!
Perspective – yours, mine and others – are all equally important. Take the time to know them all so you can ensure yours is fresh.
December is my favorite month. This is because I get to give many “gifts” to those around me. These gifts include the most days off work of any month, end of year performance reviews, the annual Christmas bonus, Christmas gifts, happy New Year hugs and pausing to celebrate Jesus’ birthday.
The word in there I would like to focus on this month is pausing.
Pausing at times — even for just a few seconds — can make a major difference in how we think and react. Before you dismiss this as simple common sense, remember: the pause is easy in theory, difficult in practice.
Emotional intelligence (EQ) includes the ability to understand and manage our emotions, using them to work for us instead of against us. Emotional intelligence can help us think logically, rather than solely reacting with emotion. Like any ability, it can be learned, exercised and honed to help produce desirable outcomes. What one action can sharpen your EQ?
The pause.
The pause isn’t only effective when dealing with upsetting situations. Often, we are tempted to jump on opportunities that look really good at the time but that we haven’t really thought through. Used effectively, the pause can help reduce those “What was I thinking?” moments. Now wouldn’t that be a nice gift to give everyone around us?
HowtoUsethePause Effectively
Stop. Resist the urge to act immediately.
Take a deep, long breath.
If possible, take a walk. At least 10 to 15 minutes is great; longer is even better.
Using the pause can help us look to the future with more optimism. It is the pause that allows us to digest information and begin to use that information effectively. We can move logically through the processes of thinking, then planning and then doing. The order is important, and it is that order that allows the future to be all it can be for you and for your business.
Some situations do require immediate responses, and a pause may not always be an option. Time is money, but in big decisions that may have great impact, a pause can pay dividends.
Take the time this process requires, and you will find better decisions throughout business.
The Thanksgiving holiday likely conjures up hopes of family, food and football. And for sure thankfulness. Thankfulness is defined as being “pleased and relieved.” To be grateful is to “show appreciation of kindness.” There is a difference. Being thankful is a feeling whereas being grateful is an action.
Saying “thank you” is one of the easiest and simplest ways to show gratefulness. This small action of kindness is a powerful tool that’s constantly at our disposal. Below are eight ways to take this very action and instantly make someone’s day:
1)Write a note: Few people hand write anything anymore, but when one does, it’s meaningful and not forgotten.
2)Do what you do best: Everyone is good at something! Love cooking? Make a meal and drop it off to someone needing an act of kindness. Love kids? Offer to babysit so their parent can have a break. Interestingly, doing more of what you love makes you happier, too.
3) Be present: In very busy times, getting 100% of a human’s attention is a rare luxury. Show someone how much you care by truly stopping and listening to them.
4) Be sneaky: Leave a surprise somewhere totally unexpected. Studies show that variations to normal routine make us happier – and that goes double when it’s a surprise thank you.
5) Reciprocate: Anything someone has done for you, you can do, too.
6)Pay it forward: The recipient of your kindness will often be so inspired by your action they will continue the trend.
7) Make cookies: Few people can resist homemade cookies, so mix them up and make someone’s day. Making cookies is my favorite act of gratefulness. It makes me so happy to see how much people like a tasty homemade cookie.
8)Write a poem: How many people get custom-made poetry these days? Not many! It doesn’t need to rhyme or follow rules. It just needs to make them know how awesome they are and how much they’re appreciated.
So here it goes . . .
No matter if you are grateful or thankful, it’s about care.
Care is what we need to share.
No matter which of the above caring actions we choose to do,
It’s the do that we must always pursue.
Doing is what causes the care to come full circle
And allows us to clear all of life’s hurdles.
Be thankful, be grateful, every Turkey Day.
Actually, let’s be so every day no matter what the media say.
In business it is easy to get bogged down and to try to work on tons of things. But complexity is potentially the enemy in all that we do.
Now often at the start of a year, we resolve to “fix” things. Luckily a literal and figurative clear-out like that can often help us focus on fewer things more effectively rather than trying to focus on too much at once.
According to Merriam-Webster, keeping it simple means making something easy to understand or do, not going into too much detail, and sticking to the point.
Humans tend to like complexity more than simplicity, especially at work. We often find it hard to believe that simple solutions will actually work. We mistakenly think ‘simple’ is the same as ‘easy’ when they’re actually very different. As we start this new year, let’s work together to keep growing business by trying to keep things simple.
In fact, let’s commit to focus on three things all year:
Know Your Customer
Know Your Checkbook
Tell Everyone
Know Your Customer
Understanding what your customers want collectively and individually is key to growth. Having an in-depth of knowledge – or knowing more than their name, gender and herd size is paramount. As a business, knowing your customers’ kids, hobbies, tastes and interests along with what they watch, listen to and read can be a profitable advantage.
Understanding your customers’ buying behavior is also very important. As a business, you need to comprehend what type of person is most likely to need or want the product or service you provide. These are some of the key questions that you need to ask yourself daily:
What is their reason for purchasing your product or service?
How often are they going to need to buy that product or utilize the service? If you can be proactive with your outreach efforts around the time you know they will purchase, chances are the customer won’t look elsewhere.
Where are they most likely to purchase? If you are a brick-and- mortar business and hear from your customers that they would prefer to order online, then it makes sense to change your business model to include an ecommerce or online ordering component.
Companies that know what their clients want and what they expect can also work on customizing the customer experience to create loyalty and repeat business. Listen to your customers’ feedback and provide sound advice if that’s what they want.
It is crucial to take every advantage to outsmart your competitor. Understanding and building upon your customer knowledge and relationship will put you ahead of the game.
Know Your Checkbook
Keeping accurate records helps keep the doors open. Knowing your records and simply using what they tell you to drive growth makes a business thrive. A business checkbook is often the primary source of record-keeping for many small businesses, according to the Internal Revenue Service. However, for a larger business know your checkbook translates into know your financials. Or in our new simple terms for all of us – know how much money you have and can/should invest in helping the business thrive.
It is ok to ask for help here. It is not ok to never look at your numbers and the money they are generating and also know what they are telling you.
Tell Everyone
The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends, “As a general rule, small businesses with revenues less than $5 million should allocate 7-8% of their revenues to marketing.” This percentage is based on companies that have profits in the 10-12% range.
Whether you run a small business or a multi-million-dollar corporation, marketing is essential to your profitability and growth. Products and services don’t sell themselves. By ignoring marketing until it’s too late, many small businesses risk hitting a brick wall and quite possibly, failing (just putting it simply).
So, what does tell everyone mean? Simple, tell everyone so everyone tells everyone (Tidbit: you must tell them 7 times before they even hear you). I like to think of the Christian song Pass it On for this concept. If you don’t know the words, it goes like this . . .
“It only takes a spark. To get a fire going. And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if the glowing was your business?
The paper clip. The post-it note. The BioZyme product center. Some of the best ideas in the world are also the simplest. Take some time to give these three simple, focused tactics a try. You might find yourself discovering a fresh lease on life at work. Happy 2022!!
Due to BioZyme additions at both Stockyards and Easton building locations and the resulting limited space for storage, customer pick-ups will need to be picked up within two days of the ship date requested by the customer which is reiterated upon the receipt of the email notice when your order is ready. We appreciate your cooperation during this time and hope we can count on your support without moving to more extreme measures.
COVID SUPPLY CHAIN UPDATES
At BioZyme, we are continuing to experience logistics challenges for our ingredients and materials, such as our packaging, which are resulting in both shortages and increased costs. In addition, we got word last week that many of our bulk ingredients will be under a severe shortage until Q2 of 2022, and if they are available can be expected to cost 200% more. We are working tirelessly to overcome these challenges to keep pricing under control and continue to deliver quality products quickly, but it is getting harder and harder.
FULLFILLMENT UPDATES
We are currently testing a new fullfillment process on our tubs, and as soon as the test is proven successful, all orders for tubs will be fulfilled directly from the manufacturer. Please watch your email in the coming months for more information about this change.
Starting January 1, 2022, BioZyme® will require a minimum order of 2.5 tons. We will also no longer be mixing pallets for VitaFerm and Gain Smart products. Pallets may be mixed for Vitalize, DuraFerm and Sure Champ products. These changes are being implemented due to the ongoing challenges we are experiencing with reliability and availability of LTL shipping. Distribution partners are available for smaller and mixed pallet orders with coverage in over 30 states. If you need help working through these partners, please contact your Area Sales Manager or the Outreach Support Center at (816) 596-8785 or jenmilller@biozymeinc.com.
PRICING UPDATES
Starting January 1, 2022, new MAP pricing goes into effect for several of the Page 2 products. Separate communication with the updated pricing was sent by both mail and email in November. If you did not receive this information, please contact Jennifer Miller at jenmiller@biozymeinc.com.
February 2022 Changes
PRODUCT UPDATES
Starting February 1, 2022, Vitalize® Blazin’ 32 oz bottle packaging will be updated from a 32 oz twin neck squeeze bottle to a 32 oz pump bottle.
