Congratulations to our 2020 VIP Dealers!!

Associated Feed & Supply Co
Basore Cattle Company
Bowman Grain
Central Farm Supply of Kentucky
Coal Valley Feeds
CV Ledbetter & Sons Inc
Darlington Feed, LLC
Earlybird Feed & Fertilizer
Falling Timber Farm LLC
Farm & Ranch Feed Inc
Ful-O-Pep Feeds/Allied Feeds
Gatlin Feed
Gro-Tex Supply
High Hill Supplements
K Triangle Feed
LaMoure Feed & Seed
Maryville Vet Clinic, LLC
Proven Sire Services
Randy & Pam Quam
Sandage Feed
Shawnee Milling/Shawnee Feed Center
Stillwater Milling Agri Center
Stockmen’s Feed Bunk Inc
Tri State Livestock & Hay
Twin Rivers Vet Supply
VFC Distributors, Inc
William T. Carnes
These dealers achieved VIP status by reaching the sales minimum of $250,000 of supplements and $2,500 of specific Vitalize® and Vita Charge® products in 2019.
Track your 2020 VIP status here: https://dealers.backofficeapps.com/vip-program

Nurturing Your Network Can Pay Dividends

Growing your business is important. Establishing a brand identity, promoting yourself and growing your customer base is imperative for growth. But, do you know what is even more critical to growing your business? Making sure your loyal customers remain satisfied and are treated with the best services and experiences possible. You simply must nurture your current network to experience growth.

Think about the last book you read or new restaurant you took your family or clients to. Did you make those purchase decisions based on an advertisement in a newspaper or did you make those decisions based on the recommendation of a person that you know and trust? Chances are you based your decisions from a friend’s recommendation because word-of-mouth messaging is so strong.

Studies show that the probability of selling to an existing customer ranges between 60 to 70%, where the chance of selling to a new customer is only 5 to 20%. Furthermore, it costs more than six times more to acquire new customers than it does to keep current, happy customers. So, keep your current customers pleased, and they will likely start singing your praises to others in their circles, who might also become your customers.

Steven Shapiro, an innovation consultant and speaker writes, “I’ve found that sometimes simply calling or writing a past client to say hello is enough. In doing so, when a new need arises, they think of me first. I often introduce clients to one another so that they learn about innovation from a peer, not just me. Sometimes I’ll send a small, personal gift. Or if I find a relevant article, I mail it. The key is not to sell to these customers, but to provide value. You want them to view you as an ally, not a vendor. And this repeated, friendly contact keeps you front and center in their minds. Should they (or a colleague) require someone with your skills, they will think of you first.”

Providing value is just one way of nurturing your network. When you provide value, your customers will remember that. Providing them a quality product that helps them reach their production goals is another way to provide value, as is delivering products, staying open later one or more nights a week and reminding customers when it is time to order certain products for specific production cycles.

A happy customer is the best marketing tool you can have to grow your business. Perhaps you could offer a customer loyalty program, where a loyal customer receives a gift or percentage off for referring a set amount of business or so many new customers. A satisfied customer will sing your praises to their friends and neighbors. However, they will likely share their discontent even louder, so make sure to keep your customers happy. Nurture your network and watch your business grow.

The Advantages of a Testimonial

It’s easy to get caught up in the everyday life of selling products to help your customers achieve their goals. But do you know what can make your marketing efforts more effective and simplified? Testimonials from loyal customers or respected industry individuals will go a long way in selling your goods and services. Testimonials are unbiased, often unprompted and come from peers in the industry that have often faced that same challenges as your prospective customers. Yes, you can relay all the benefits of a product, but those benefits become more meaningful when your prospect hears that the Rocking S Ranch improved its conception rates to 97%, especially in a year of drought.

There are several ways to incorporate testimonials into your marketing strategy. You can use testimonials in your advertising campaign. Post them to your website, even having a dedicated space for testimonials like BioZyme® Inc. does. You can feature testimonials on your social media each week using the hastag, #TestimonialTusesday. Or, often satisfied customers are glad to talk to others on behalf of your company and your brand at events like trade shows or producer meetings.

When compiling a testimonial, there are a few things to keep in mind to keep it genuine and effective. Remember, the purpose of testimonials is to create reliability and to convert prospects into new customers. Follow this 5-step approach to build up your testimonial strategy.

1. Be Selective. 

The key to testimonials is that they include specific product benefits that help prospects decide if they want to try your products or not. Therefore, your testimonials need to include specific information, not just “I like VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® and my cows do too.” Provide a testimonial that tells the benefits of the product: “We have been feeding VitaFerm® products for several years. VitaFerm Concept•Aid® plays an important role in the performance of our breeding cows and heifers, as well as our bulls. We see increased conception rates of our embryo pregnancies by 23%, and on our bulls, we see an improvement in semen quality.”

2. Add a Face.

Remember to include a photo to each testimonial to give it a persona. We might not always remember Tim Smith’s name, but when we see the man in his signature pearl snap shirt and beat up hat, we remember him as the guy who gets top dollar at the sale barn each year. Adding a face to your testimonial makes it more real and significantly increases the trust factor. Research has shown, that on web-based testimonials, adding a picture increases your click-through rate significantly.

3. Use them Everywhere.

Once you’ve got a testimonial, use it. You can add it to your print advertising, post it to your website, use it on social, make posters to hang at businesses around town, and even use it in mailers and texts.

4. Remember your Audience.

Be sure to capture testimonials for each potential customer you are trying to reach. You are trying to grow your market share in the cow-calf sector, be sure to get some testimonials from cattle producers. Perhaps, there are several horse farms in the area. Talk to an equine enthusiast who uses the product to get a testimonial from them. It doesn’t do any good to have one testimonial for one product line when you are selling multiple lines.

5. Never Be Fake.

The most important thing to remember is that testimonials are designed to establish trust and credibility. The most important rule in sharing testimonials is to use real testimonials from real customers. It’s not worth the risk to fake anything in your marketing plan, especially testimonials.

Testimonials are a great way of using established relationships and growing your customer base. Follow these simple steps to create your own testimonials and convert prospects to new customers.

Effective Use Of Producer Meetings Can Grow Your Business

Any time you get a group of like-minded people in a room to talk about solving their challenges, you will likely have a successful producer meeting. However, you can use the relationships you have already established to create an even more fruitful meeting. There are a few ways that using existing relationships when planning your next producer meeting can help build your business. Let’s explore.

  • Cooperate with another agricultural company.

Have you considered co-hosting your next producer meeting with another complementary agricultural company? Sure, the companies might have some overlap in customers, but you each will likely have some unique customers who could benefit from the other company’s products and services. Perhaps you could partner with an animal health company. And, for those young producers who are interested in show livestock, you might feature the Sure Champ® and Vita Charge® products during a youth workshop co-hosted by one of the show supply companies.

Area Sales Manager Ty McGuire said he likes to work with animal health companies who have the same goals for their customers as he does when planning a producer meeting. He adds that another benefit to cooperating with hosting these meetings is the cost savings since both companies will be sharing in the meal costs.

Building on these already established relationships gives you a leg up. It shows your potential customers that you are easy to get along with. It also provides an unspoken endorsement on the products and services you provide.

  • Encourage your customers to bring a guest.

Your customers are already likely attending, but you could offer an incentive for bringing a guest who has the potential to become a new customer. McGuire said he will go through his contacts the week before a meeting and text everyone within a 30-mile radius with a reminder about the meeting and encourage them to bring a guest. He likes to raffle off a product at the end of the meeting, which serves a dual purpose. First, it gets the attendees excited and engaged; next, it provides McGuire and the host dealer new names with contact information to follow up with.

“I like to raffle something off. It gives everyone an incentive to bring a guest. A 50-pound stress tub is the perfect raffle item. It’s something everybody can use,” he said.

  • Engage with the audience.

McGuire said he has a pretty good handle on the crowd before the meeting starts because he has either built a relationship with the customers through the dealers or met the customers during the meal. Once he starts his presentation, which he always begins by talking about Amaferm®, he will use the attendees’ names and engage with them during the presentation. He said calling them out by name and talking about their specific operation – cow/calf, club lamb, etc. – helps build trust and respect between those in attendance and himself.

  • Call upon your allies.

Word-of-mouth and testimonials go a long way in building trust and securing new customers. McGuire said he likes to have a veterinarian who either uses the products or is familiar with the products at each meeting and will extend a personal invitation to ensure his or her attendance. Veterinarians are trusted resources who will speak up about a product’s benefits and substantiate how the products work. It is also a good idea to have a well-respected producer who has had good results give a testimonial if they are attending. McGuire said he’s found he can build trust with prospects because of his own experiences in his own cattle operation.

Producer meetings are an efficient way to show appreciation to current customers and establish relationships with potential customers. Building on current relationships at these meetings makes them even more effective and gives the dealer a leg up in building their business. Like any other enterprise, use your resources, count on your relationships and use those relationships to grow your customer base.

Letters From Lisa – February 2020

Consumers are a confident bunch. If a business doesn’t know what a customer’s likes or dislikes, he or she will be more than willing to jump ship to another option to gain a sense of personalized connection. Therefore, the importance of building relationships in growing a successful business cannot be overlooked. No matter how obvious this seems, we need to stay focused on what it really means day in and day out. Some ways are easy and some not so much, but in any case, they are all worth considering when it comes to finding new customers.

1. Don’t blow off your current customers in search of new customers.

You always want to stay true to the people who have helped you get to where you are. And, those people can help you get even further. Your current customers have a lot of clout. Their engagement and loyalty can make or break your ability to attract prospective customers.

2. Build a solid foundation with your current customers to get free publicity.

That’s right, reviews and referrals will flow freely if you treat your customers well. Positive reviews can attract new customers to your business. One survey found that 92% of consumers read reviews. That means that the majority of prospects are judging your business based on your current customers’ opinions. If your current customers have good things to say about your business, they can bring in a number of referrals.

3. To add to your customer base, work on your first impressions.

If a potential customer contacts you with questions, make a good impression. Otherwise, you might be sending him or her in the opposite direction. Provide value and establish yourself as having an in-depth understanding of the problems they are looking to solve.

4. Build partnerships that have value to current and new customers.

Teaming up with businesses that offer complementary services offers you the opportunity to take advantage of synergy, which can be very effective in building a business. For instance, if you have a company that specializes in search engine optimization, consider teaming up with a business that builds websites.

When all is said and done, nurturing relationships, either with other business owners or customers, helps you expand your customer base. Focus on building human relationships. The stronger your relationships are, the more likely your customers will be to tell their friends about you. And, the more likely they’ll be to become repeat customers.

Need Help With Promoboxx?

Check out our how-to guide with answers to several of the Promoboxx questions most frequently asked by dealers like you. This also includes screenshots and links to make it easy to follow.

 

 

How do I edit my business information?

Moving your store? Changing management? Got a new Facebook page? Find out how to manage your business settings below.

Where can I find my Business Settings?

To access and change all of your business information in Promoboxx, Login to Promoboxx and then click Business Info on the left menu bar.

In this section of the platform, you can…

  • Update your business information: name, website, phone number and logo
  • Add/edit locations
  • Add, delete and turn automation (auto-share) on or off for your Facebook and Twitter accounts
  • Add or request to remove users from the account

How Do I Connect my Facebook Account?

Promoboxx makes managing your social channels easy. To use Promoboxx to its full capacity, we suggest connecting your business’ Facebook and Twitter accounts. To do this, Login to Promoboxx and then navigate to the Business Info tab on your Promoboxx Dashboard.

Adding a Facebook Page:

  1. Navigate to the Business Info tab on the left-hand side of your Promoboxx Dashboard, click Social Accounts and then Add a New Page

  1. Click Authorize Facebook

**Please note, you may see your personal profile when clicking this button. The system is not connecting the personal profile to post content, it is connecting the personal profile to ensure that you are the admin of the page that you want to connect. Our system cannot post to personal profiles, only business pages. If you are not the admin of the business page, please contact your admin to authorize your profile as an admin or have them follow these steps.

  1. Enable all permissions in the middle column, select the correct Facebook page on the right and click add this page
  1. Check off the box under Connected to ensure you can use the content available from the brands on your account. Auto-share is an optional feature that enables brands to post content onto your business page on your behalf. If you do not want this feature enabled, leave it unchecked.
  2. Once you have checked off the brand(s) under Connected, click Save.

How do I turn Auto-Share on/off?

Follow the steps below to turn Auto-Share ON:

  1. Login to Promoboxx
  2. Navigate to the Business Info tab on the left-hand side of your Dashboard
  3. Click on the Social Accounts tab
  4. Click Manage Settings on the connected Facebook Business Page

  1. You can select the corresponding brands that are connected to the social accounts and if you want Auto-Share enabled for that page. Once you select the correct boxes and see check marks, press save.

Can I create my own posts while also using Promoboxx?

Yes, you can create your own posts in Facebook as normal while also using Promoboxx.  They can be used in tandem.  You would log-in to Promoboxx to review brand provided content and schedule your shares as you see fit.  You would then build and post any other shares via your Facebook instance directly.

Can I use Promoboxx content but post/publish to Facebook myself?

Yes, if the brand has provided downloadeable assets as part of a campaign, you can download the assets and publish/post them via your social channels outside of Promoboxx.

Additional Resources

Promoboxx Academy for Retailers

On Promoboxx Academy for Retailers, you can find articles, videos tutorials, how-to’s, FAQs, and more on everything Promoboxx. These resources are organized by Mobile App, and Retailer Dashboard, and they deep dive into all of Promoboxx’s features and any questions you might have.

TalkPromoboxx.com

Talkpromoboxx.com is a site where you can quickly and easily schedule a 15 minute call with a Promoboxx expert. Just pick a date and time, and they will give you a call!

Promoboxx Support
If you prefer to speak immediately with the support team, you can call them at 800-380-7502 Ext. 1, Monday through Friday 9 am to 5 pm EST. You can also email them at support@promoboxx.com.

Exciting Changes Coming To The Dealer Retreat Format

With the new year, we are also planning new ways that we can provide the best and most effective professional development opportunities to our dealers. We are currently exploring how we can update our Dealer Retreat format to include more of our dealers in a similar educational and networking opportunity.

In the meantime, be sure to stay connected with us via the VISION Newsletter, email and our Facebook group to receive all of the latest updates on products, events and company news.

How Do You Position VitaFerm Concept•Aid Where It Is Most Relevant?

Be Where Your Customers Are.

The key to herd profitability is reproductive efficiency and success. In order for customers to multiply their efforts and maximize their success, they have to consider every advantage possible at each stage of production.

VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® is a line of vitamin and mineral supplements for beef cattle formulated to promote effective, easy breeding when fed 60 days pre-calving through 60 days post-breeding. High concentrations of vitamin E and organic trace minerals, coupled with the Amaferm® advantage, supports quick repair of the reproductive tract and more energy for reproductive success. Additionally, increased nutrient absorption and digestion leads to healthier and heavier calves giving you performance that pays.

Where will your customers be in 2020?

There is no question that 2019 was a tough year for cattle producers and in many ways, they are still recovering from the effects of the weather, the market and many other variables. The challenges and management decisions of 2019 will likely be felt as we move to 2020. Here’s the challenges customers are up against in 2020 and how VitaFerm Concept•Aid can play a relevant role in helping:

Click here for the Reproductive Success Report.

Ask the VIPs: What Is Your Best Advice To Keep Your Business Viable?

As we kick off a new year and a new decade, we spoke to some of the VIP dealers who have kept their businesses relevant and growing. We asked for their best advice, and they willingly shared some of their top tips on tactics they have used to keep their business relevant.

Tyson Basore, Basore Cattle Company, Deepwater, Missouri

“One thing we try to do is keep ourselves out there in front of the customer. We give a lot of hats and shirts to customers and potential customers to keep our name out there. We also hit up a lot of local bull sales and other events in the community where our customers are so we can have that face-to-face interaction. We’ve used social media through Facebook quite a bit and have also run radio ads.”

Jackie Coltrane, Coal Valley Feeds, Cherokee, Kansas

“There’s only one way to stay relevant. People don’t stay with a product; they stay with a face. The way we maintain stability is by gaining our customers’ trust and through customer relations. If they trust you, they will contact you when they have a challenge, and they will trust the advice you give them.”

Keith Micke, K Triangle Feed, Glendo, Wyoming

“I try to stay involved and like Britney Creamer once said, I’m a walking billboard. I never leave home without a VitaFerm jacket, cap or gloves. And I always have gloves to pass out when the weather is cold. But the biggest thing I do is make time for my customers and potential customers. The other day I was out with new customers and asked if I could see their cows. They were tickled pink. They said they had never had any type of salesman ask to see their cattle. In addition to making time to spend one-on-one, being seen at the county fairs in my area is important, and I always have a booth at the state fair. I run short spots on my son’s football and basketball games’ broadcasts. Ashley Fitzsimmons has helped me with a flyer in the Wyoming Livestock Journal for a few months, and I have recently started using Promoboxx on Facebook. Word of mouth is still important, and if I see a long-time customer around someone who is interested in the product, I’ll ask how they like their mineral. Hearing positive reviews from a current customer is a great way to build trust around here.”

Mark Rohr, Proven Sires Services, Hays, Kansas

“Proven Sires Services’ success in growing our business relies primarily on customer relations. Our customers depend on us and VitaFerm ® to make the right choices for their operations. If the right choices are made, and the product is successful in their programs, then PSS and VitaFerm are successful in gaining the trust of those customers. These success stories then attribute to the growth of PSS by word of mouth, in and beyond the community. All of this, however, could not have been accomplished if it hadn’t been for a great product and a BioZyme® team to back up the product and its dealers.”

Hunter Morris, Twin Rivers Vet Supply, DeKalb, Texas

“Getting out there and hustling. Seeing what the customers’ problems are and how you can help solve those problems with a great product and great customer service. Without customers, there’s no business.”

According to these five dealers, building strong customer relationships is the key to staying relevant and prospering in their businesses. Stay in front of your customers, learn the best way to engage with them, and offer some swag in the form of shirts, caps, jackets and gloves to stay top of mind, too. Communicate with them – use radio, social media and get out and interact with them at industry and community events. Staying relevant is vital to your growth this year and in the years to come.