Category: Growth

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.

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.

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.

There are several traditional methods to grow your business. However, BioZyme® offers support to its dealer network for its marketing and outreach efforts and rewards dealers enrolled in the Dealer Rewards Program for their creativity and their efforts.

Area Sales Managers, the Outreach Support Center and the Marketing Team are all available to assist dealers in their marketing and promotion efforts. Brainstorming with these groups will help you find some creative and unique ways to grow your business. You will also find resources that are readily available for your use, like online posts using Promoboxx or mailers and print advertisements.

Some of the most inventive methods of promotion are the results of creative thinking on behalf of a dealer and his or her ASM. Digital billboards, signage at local livestock auctions and targeted producer meetings focused on specific audiences are all some “out of the box” methods to help promote your business.

Year-end Planning

As the end of the year approaches, you will want to think about ways to spur end-of-the-year sales and thank your customers. This might be with a customer open house, a newsletter to talk about calving preparedness or a producer meeting to talk about products. Remember planning these in advance is always a good idea, and the BioZyme staff is available to help.

In addition to growing your business, you can also earn dealer reward points. Dealer Reward points were created to motivate and reward dealers for their participation and efforts to educate and market the BioZyme products. Points can be accumulated through the year for many of the tasks already mentioned. They can also be earned for completing the Master Dealer Training Program, going on a sales call with your ASM, after-hours dealer trainings and much more. Once you have participated in an activity, work with the staff to make sure your points get calculated.

Use the information in the Online Dealer Center to see a complete list of activities that can earn reward points. But, don’t be afraid to propose an idea that isn’t on the list. We always love to hear your original ideas and get especially excited to share them with other dealers. Those new ideas will earn you points as well.

Once you have points, you can redeem them for a variety of items, from caps and jackets representing the various product lines to gift cards, an iPad and even a show box. Points accumulate during the year and need to be redeemed by Jan. 31 the following year or they are wiped out. The rewards make great gifts for customers, employees and even nice swag to keep for yourself to wear with pride as you promote your business.

Get creative with your promotion. Brainstorm with your staff, family members and the BioZyme team that is here to help you. Take action. Earn rewards. Watch your business grow

As the year winds down and you’re examining those sales figures, trying to decide how to best get over the hump and build some new business to reach your goals, one thing should come to mind: treat your potential customers like you would want to be treated. In other words, gone are the days of the hard-sell, and here are the days of thinking like your customer would think to solve their challenges.

John Jeffrey, BioZyme® Area Sales Manager (ASM) for Oklahoma and Eastern Kansas, said there are three points to consider when talking to potential customers and trying to develop new accounts. Thinking like a customer is key so you know what his or her challenges are and how the products can help, but first, you must build a relationship with the potential customer.

Perhaps statesman Abraham Lincoln would have been a great sales trainer back in his day. He once said, “When I get ready to talk to people, I spend two thirds of the time thinking what they want to hear and one third thinking about what I want to say.”

Potential customers are just like you. They value their time, want to have a relationship built on trust and understanding, and appreciate the follow-up that isn’t too bothersome. Put yourself in their shoes to start developing business.

1. Identify a need. Jeffrey said when a producer approaches him at a trade show, meeting or even calls him on the phone, the first thing he does is visit with the person to discover the gap in his or her program. This is the foundation for a relationship built on trust and further understanding their needs. Ask the questions: What are your goals? Are you meeting them? If not, what is missing? Discovering the challenge will help put you in that producer’s shoes and understand further what the frustrations are and what supplement can potentially fill the gap.
   “You won’t get anywhere if you just start providing them with a lot of information. First, you’ve got to make them realize they have a challenge and that they need something to fix that challenge,” Jeffrey said.
2. Consider their time. Jeffrey reminds all salespeople, that nobody owes you time, so make the most of their time when you are visiting with potential and current customers. One way to make the most of your time and theirs is to leave your phone in the car. The one exception is if you are expecting a very important call, such as receiving word on a family emergency, and then, silence your phone and explain to your client before your meeting that the only way you will take a call is if it is of the upmost urgency and that you are expecting that type of call.
3. Follow up. “Persistence pays, but don’t be annoying,” Jeffrey said.
   He said he likes to follow up with potential customers, and though he doesn’t have a set schedule, he does like to be persistent and available to answer further questions, especially in today’s competitive mineral market. Once again, he puts himself in his customers’ shoes, and thinks about how often he’d want the follow up or how he’d want his questions answered and makes sure he is available to answer questions.

Perhaps statesman Abraham Lincoln would have been a great sales trainer back in his day. He once said, “When I get ready to talk to people, I spend two thirds of the time thinking what they want to hear and one third thinking about what I want to say.”

Potential customers are just like you. They value their time, want to have a relationship built on trust and understanding, and appreciate the follow-up that isn’t too bothersome. Put yourself in their shoes to start developing business.

Meetings can be one of the best ways to work collaboratively to help grow your business and work ON your business, if you structure them correctly, involve the right people and ask the right questions. As Lisa referred to in this month’s letter, the best way to advance your business is in the dining room, looking toward the future, and not necessarily dwelling on the past.

Another way to look at working ON your business is through critical thinking sessions or brainstorming meetings. According to the website, www.barefootbrainstorming.com, there are several ways to make your next strategic planning session productive and move your business forward.

1. Have an agenda. Have a list of goals that you want to accomplish during the set time of the meeting. The agenda shouldn’t be too specific, but the end results should answer the questions of who will be responsible for achieving the assigned duties or tasks.
2. Value time. Make sure you have a start time and end time and keep track of time throughout the meeting. Time is a valuable asset, and if the participants know the meeting will start and end on time, with plenty of short breaks to check email and return calls, they will be more focused during the actual meeting time.
3. Put away the PowerPoint. Nothing is more boring than seeing a screen of numbers and charts flash before the attendees’ eyes, only for a brief amount of time. And, the focus is drawn away from what is being discussed and rather diverted onto copying the numbers onto a notebook. Instead, print out notes, provide colorful pens, markers and colored pencils for notetaking, as the colors are soothing, and help promote creative thinking.
4. Play. Some of the most productive meetings will include small toys or gadgets to engage all five of the senses because according to one blog site, “when we engage both our left and right hands simultaneously, we use 80% of our brain power!” The blog recommends the following for each of the senses:
   • Sight – colorful toys, pictures, and crayons.
   • Smell – Play-Doh, and Mr. Sketch scented markers.
   • Touch – tactile toys (slinkies, legos, pipe cleaners, and Play-Doh).
   • Sound – music.• Taste – candy bags including chocolate, caramels and gummy bears.
5. Encourage participant engagement. Invite people from various teams or departments to the meeting for a fresh perspective, but let your expectations be known. Everyone should participate. And, every idea has some merit, even ones that seem a little far-fetched, can be responded to like this, “yes, and then…” building on an idea to get a different, but positive outcome in the future.
6. Assign a recorder for all ideas. Every idea has some good merit, and it is important to keep those ideas flowing. Assign one or two people to write the ides on a big poster so everyone can see them, and when it is time to start critiquing ideas, start with positive feedback first.

Meetings can be productive, and they can be a way to start planning for growth in the future. Critical thinking is a tool that allows various perspectives to be shared, while hearing fresh ideas from different team members. Pull up a chair, make room for creativity and start planning the steps to grow your business.

Type in “effective marketing” or “exciting marketing” into your favorite online search browser and wait for the articles to start popping up with literally hundreds of suggestions from a simple business card to creating a blimp to fly over an event with your company name and logo on it. While these and others are all good suggestions, remember that if you put your customers as your focus, creating innovative, effective and exciting marketing strategies will become more simplified.

According to an article at www.entrepreneur.com, excited and engaged customers bring in 23 percent more profits. “Excitement is an emotion that fosters engagement. Positive experiences lead to increasing connections. Sports fans, for example, are so engaged they frequently describe their beloved team as part of their personality. This is the ultimate brand engagement,” the author writes.

What can you do to make your customers excited about the products and services you offer? Ashley Fitzsimmons, BioZyme® Inc. Regional Marketing Manager shares some of the initiatives she has helped Area Sales Managers and dealers create that have been successful.

Billboards. Many might think of billboards as “old school” however, Fitzsimmons said they are an affordable way to reach a big audience. She said that currently dealers in six states have placed billboards near the state’s largest livestock auction or buying facilities. And other dealers are embracing technology with digital billboards that are easy to change the message during specific seasons.

“The dealers are putting personal messages inviting their end-users in to learn more about a specific product that is in demand for the season or production cycle,” she said.

Fitzsimmons reminds dealers that BioZyme will provide full design work for your marketing materials, including billboards. Contact your ASM to learn more.

Radio advertising. Fitzsimmons said more dealers have been requesting scripts for radio advertising on their local stations. It’s widely accepted that most of our end-user audience spends a majority of their time in a pick-up or tractor, and therefore get their news from the radio instead of reading a newspaper. She has been pleasantly surprised at the amount of dealer requests for a radio script and has had positive feedback on the return on investment from those advertising on the local radio stations as a way to drive traffic into their dealership.

Local involvement. Although BioZyme has been supporting youth at livestock shows at the national level through its Sure Champ® line and involvement in junior nationals, majors and state fairs, more and more dealers have been promoting their businesses and giving time and support to the county fairs and shows.

“It is not a new concept that our dealers are supporting the local fairs, but it has been refreshed in recent years with creating nice awards, especially for showmanship, and providing some product for the winners. This is just another way to build brand awareness while creating excitement with a young, potential customer,” Fitzsimmons said.

PromoBoxx. PromoBoxx is the social media tool available to all dealers that contains ready-made content for them to share on their social channels. The content is aligned with BioZyme’s current marketing initiatives and is simple to post and share. Fitzsimmons says participation in PromoBoxx has nearly quadrupled since the company started offering it.

Other ideas. In addition to the four ideas that Fitzsimmons shared, you might consider a social media contest to engage your followers see the engagement on Sure Champ’s judging contests. If you have a new product, you might have a giveaway for some product or samples. Whatever you choose, keep your customers’ interests top of mind.

Getting customers engaged and excited doesn’t take a big bank account, a full-time marketing employee or a personalized blimp flying over your store. It does take some planning, collaboration with your ASM and some time to decide your strategy. The BioZyme marketing team is here to help!

All work and no play might make Jack a dull boy, but did you know that if your employees are engaged with some friendly entertainment with their colleagues, their morale is likely to increase, which means happier employees and ultimately better service passed onto the customers?

There are a number of things that can impact the mood of your employees, and not for the better: a down-turn in the economy, employee lay-offs, closed-door meetings, uncertainty and just a lack of engagement with the leadership and other employees. That decrease in morale can leave employees performing at a minimal level and providing less-than-ideal customer service.

That is why having some fun, employee engagement activities is important to boosting employee morale and keeping positive attitudes, which transmits to the customers. Customers can tell if employees are happy, and if the business treats its employees right, it will treat its customers right too.

Let’s look at some tips to put fun back into the workplace and derail any worries that your employees might have.

1. Set some ground rules. Make sure that your employee engagement doesn’t offend anyone, and make sure that your people know it is voluntary. There is nothing worse than being “forced to have fun.”
2. Have a healthy attitude. Your employees will be able to tell if the leadership is not positive about the engagement activity. Make sure you have scheduled time for it so you can be focused and present in the moment.
3. Make it a team effort. Survey your employees and find out what they are interested in. They might have an original idea that you would have never thought of. Even if you aren’t totally sold on their idea of “fun,” remember this is about them, not you, so go along with them, and try something new.
4. Do an office makeover. A splash of color and some green plants can help brighten moods, especially in areas that employees spend a lot of time in. Or maybe you can skip the donuts one Friday and offer yogurt and granola parfait bar with fresh fruit instead. Subtle changes make a big difference.
5. Celebrate. Don’t overlook an employee’s birthday or work anniversary. BioZyme works hard to recognize employee’s birthdays on its internal website for the entire staff to see as well as providing a card. Little things make a big difference.
6. Have a contest. At BioZyme, contests are conducted throughout the year when it’s appropriate – celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day and Independence Day – you’ve never seen so much green or red, white and blue! A contest doesn’t always mean prizes, but it is fun to engage with one another in the friendly spirit of competition.
7. Get together after hours. Do you really know your employees? In most small companies you likely do. But do you know their families, what they like to talk about, what their hobbies are? Why not host a family-friendly company picnic or a night at the movies (if you have a conference room big enough)? Invite the families and get to know each other. Remember the ground rules though, nothing offensive, and don’t talk work.
8. Get involved. Perhaps you could choose one community organization to help with as a company. Maybe it’s serving at the soup kitchen one day a month or sponsoring a food drive at the holidays. At BioZyme, we made a food drive into a friendly competition of teams and had a great time providing to others in St. Joseph, and even in other communities where remote employees live and work.
9. Get active. Another fun group activity that some of the BioZyme employees participated in this spring is a sand volleyball tournament. Some employees played, while others cheered, and all were anxiously awaiting photos on Monday.
10. Change the scenery. You always have your meetings in the conference room. Perhaps it is time to move smaller group meetings to a local coffee shop, the diner or even a museum just for a change of scenery. If nothing else, the fresh air while getting to the alternate destination will be welcome.

Employee fun shouldn’t be work, and it should not distract from what your employees are doing. However, it is a great way to build morale, engage with one another and build deeper relationships with one another. Happy employees lead to happy customers, and a happy customer is hard to replace.

There is nothing more powerful in sales and marketing than the customer testimonial. Yes, sales reps can share all the key benefits of a good or service with a potential customer, but do they know how the product in question really works? BioZyme understands the importance of these customer advocates and uses them to share their stories and target specific demographics and brands.

Sure Champ® Ring Leaders

In an effort to further support the next generation and promote the Sure Champ line of products, seven Sure Champ Ring Leaders were selected this spring. The young people who represent various regions of the U.S. and show various species received product and social media training in St. Joseph over Memorial Day Weekend.

“We really wanted to come up with an ambassador for Sure Champ, and we thought what better way than to target the demographic we want to support through the Sure Champ brand. If we can stay top of mind and create that brand loyalty with the young people who use Sure Champ, as they get older and get more involved with the livestock industry they will think of Sure Champ in a positive light and return to the Brand or start using other brands like VitaFerm® or Vita Charge®,” said Jessica Judge, Marketing Brand Manager.

The goal of the Ring Leader program is for these seven ambassadors to support the Sure Champ brand and advocate for youth education and outreach. According to Judge, the results have been beneficial. She’s tracked more organic interaction on the Sure Champ social media platforms and answered more questions from potential customers. Each Ring Leader was also given a code to share with others interested in ordering product. In the first six weeks, those codes generated more than $1,500 in additional sales.

“Our Sure Champ Ring Leaders are all very different, but they share one commonality; they share a passion for agriculture and livestock,” Judge said.

Progressive Cattlemen In an effort to recognize seedstock and commercial cattle producers who are progressive in their animal health and nutrition programs, the Marketing Team created the “Progressive Cattlemen” marketing and advertising campaign earlier this year. These producers own and operate all sizes of operations but have one thing in common – they use the VitaFerm line of products successfully. Blog posts have been written and shared on social media and sent to news sources. Several stories of Hereford and Angus breeders have been converted to one-page testimonial ads for the Hereford World and Angus Journal.

“Celebrating the success of our customers creates opportunities for shared learning through customer experiences. That is the best way we know to both recognize and educate our audience,” Judge said.

Vitalize® Ambassadors The Vitalize Ambassador program is in its second year of existence, and currently has 22 equine enthusiasts who use the product and are promoting it to their peers. The Vitalize Ambassadors represent a variety of disciplines from jumping to eventing, barrel racing, roping and ranch horse use, just to name a few. They promote the brand on social media, through product signage on trailers and at shows and through educational clinics they conduct.

There’s no doubt that customer testimonials are effective. As a dealer, you might find that having a loyal customer that is well-respected in the community will pay dividends. Consider a banner in your store that celebrates a familiar face with a testimonial or run a local radio ad to tout the product benefits from a respected customer.