Category: Business Topics

Position Concept•Aid as a Mineral Program Not Just a Product

When it comes to nutrition, you don’t want your customers to cut any corners. Sure, everyone is trying to cut costs and reduce their inputs, but a quality nutrition program is an investment in health, and healthy animals lead to increased conception rates, more pounds of gain and more dollars at sale time.

Maximizing nutrition within the herd will maximize your customers’ bottom line. That is why it is important for you to market VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® as a program, not just a breeding time mineral.

You already know the benefits that Concept•Aid offers in addition to Amaferm®, which impacts intakes, feed digestibility and nutrient absorption for optimum health and performance:

  • 2.5X NRC for quicker impact
  • High levels of Vitamin E for reproductive tract repair
  • Organic trace minerals for more stability and higher bioavailability.

With nutritional advantages like those and a variety of formulas to meet a multitude of management styles and feed resources, it only makes sense to encourage VitaFerm Concept•Aid be part of a year-round mineral program.

Enter VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT® and VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT® with ClariFly®. Now, cattle producers can get the same high-quality mineral package they have come to know and expect during breeding season during the heat of the summer. There is no more trying to “guess” when they should switch from Concept•Aid to HEAT, especially for those breeding for spring calving herds.

“I was so excited when they came out with VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® because for us in the upper Midwest, you wanted to feed Concept•Aid and get your cows bred back up, so you couldn’t feed the HEAT mineral. It was like tugging strings, which one was going to be better for you? So, by being able to have the two in one, it really helped us out up here because we breed our cows in the heat in the summer. It is a very beneficial product. Concept•Aid 5/S is our staple mineral. I was pretty excited about the 5/S with the HEAT. We spent most of the summer months on the 5/S HEAT. You’re still going to have some flies, but it does reduce them drastically. It helps keep the cows spread out more and grazing more,” said Justin Maus, Maus Angus Ranch, North Dakota.

As Maus said, the primary advantages of the VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT and the new product with ClariFly is that producers will be confident that they are getting the best vitamins and minerals for their herds as a critical production time and still benefitting from the HEAT package. The new VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT with ClariFly should keep even more flies away from the cattle, with a four-fly claim, and keep those cattle more comfortable than ever before.

Take your marketing mindset from a product to a program. With the variety of Concept•Aid formulas including those with HEAT, your producers will be glad that they don’t have to make choices anymore when it comes to a summer grazing mineral. Sell them the mineral that helps get their cows bred, keeps them bred and keeps them cool while out in the summer heat. Then, watch your business grow.

Different Brand Name, Same Amaferm® Advantage

We’ve encouraged diversification because it does work.

Amaferm® is the key component that sets our products apart from other nutrition products and is found across all product lines The Amaferm advantage has been proven across all species. Are you trying to increase your conception rates or shorten your calving window? Amaferm in the VitaFerm works. Have a flock of ewes that you want to breed, have them carry those lambs to term and then once the lambs are born, make sure those lambs have more vigor? The Amaferm in the DuraFerm® works. Are you trying to keep high-dollar show animals on feed and water through times of stress? Amaferm in Sure Champ and Vita Charge works. How about giving your high-performance horses a good gut feeling? Amaferm in the Vitalize works!

In addition to the research that Amaferm has been a part of, livestock producers and horse and dog enthusiasts provide countless testimonials to our staff that prove that Amaferm is working – doing what it says it will do, in every animal across species. That’s diversification, and that is why it is important that our customers know that we offer products that fit the need across all animal species, especially if they are already familiar with the Amaferm advantage in one product line.

Vitalize® ambassador and 2019 world-champion tie-down roper Haven Meged, Miles City, Montana, and his family are a perfect example. The Meged family’s relationship with BioZyme ® began when their son, Haven, started using Vitalize and saw results.

Haven gives his horses Vitalize Alimend® twice a day to help ensure they maintain a good gut feeling to help keep them healthy and performing while he’s traveling up and down the road.

“These two-lanes roads are rough. The Vitalize® Alimend® is going to help keep my horses’ guts feeling good because when we are traveling day in and day out, getting in and out of the trailer, that is the hardest part on the horse. When they are in the trailer that is when they get ulcers the worst. I want my horses to stay slick and shiny and feeling their best. That is my number one priority out here; making sure my horses look good and feel good. If they don’t feel good, they aren’t going to perform to their best. It’s all about making them feel good,” he said.

After witnessing Haven’s experience with Vitalize and having known about the VitaFerm® brand for a while, his dad, Bart decided to try the VitaFerm mineral on his cow herd.

Bart has seen great results with his herd, feeding both VitaFerm Concept•Aid® and Conserve™.

“Bart said that he is glad that he had the nudge from his son, as he has heard and known of the quality of Amaferm and VitaFerm as being the best,” said John Tucker, Large Beef Account Specialist.

It is common for the younger generation to get the older generation involved in a new product line. That is often the case with the Sure Champ® line. Once young exhibitors use the Sure Champ or Vita Charge® products on their show livestock, regardless of species, it is easy to open up a conversation with their parents about the product lines that exist. This could be VitaFerm for the cow herd, DuraFerm for the flock or Vitalize for the horses.

Diversification is everywhere! And it is your success story just waiting to be written.

BioZyme Helps Dealers Achieve Success with Marketing Campaigns

Success doesn’t happen overnight. Success is a collaborative effort that takes time, effort, some failures along the way and an army of people working toward a common goal. Our goal is to help you position and market the products that we make so we all succeed.

When it comes to the Vitalize® equine line, we’ve spent time diversifying our efforts, both in the audiences we reach and the methods that we use to reach them. Vitalize is such a unique product because it can be used by such a variety of end-users: hobby riders, professional athletes in the English discipline and in rodeo and by those who use their horses for work like ranchers. We’ve partnered with relevant ambassadors across all disciplines to help promote the benefits of Vitalize and the #goodgutfeeling, regardless of if it is jumping, trying to be a tenth of a second faster around a barrel pattern or even keeping your horses fresh and healthy when on the open range.

During the recent National Finals Rodeo, the BioZyme team branched out to do more than ever before to get the Vitalize name in front of the rodeo audience. For the second year, two Vitalize ambassadors competed in the finals – barrel racer, Emily Miller-Beisel and 2019 world-champion tie-down roper Haven Meged. Much of the Vitalize social media content was focused on these two rodeo athletes.

In addition, a Vitalize television commercial aired every other night during the performance on the two channels that televised the NFR. On the Cowboy Channel and RFD websites and mobile apps during December, Vitalize had three banner ads, a feature story with a special pop up as one of the rotations highlighting our story on the website and mobile app, and a 10-second commercial spot on the Cowboy Channel official NFR Experience page and app.

We ran a sponsored carousel ad on Team Roping Journal social pages during the second week of the NFR. BioZyme participated in the NFR Blitz with National Roper Supply and did some doorbuster giveaways during the two weeks of the NFR, and also conducted numerous in-store displays and promos with dealers.

What does this mean to you?

With every advertisement commercial and story, there is a place for the viewer to click on the website and ultimately “find a dealer.” That is our goal. According to Hayley Keck, Marketing Brand Coordinator, in the month of December 2020, www.vitalizeeq.com had the most visitors in its history. 12,861 unique users in 14,396 total sessions visited the website, when the site typically get 4,000 to 6,000 visitors per month!

In addition to web traffic, social media sites were also busier than normal during December. Between the NFR promotions like “Greatness is in your Horse” and the ambassador stocking stuffer giveaways, social media proved to be another fantastic way to spread the Vitalize message in a timely manner. It also helps when you can show videos of Miller-Beisel and Meged winning rounds at the NFR wearing brand patches.

Once the potential customers find a dealer – you – we know that our marketing has been successful. Will all 12,000 plus reach out to a dealer? No. But some will. Will they reach out at once? No. But they will remember that they visited a website about a good gut feeling next time their horse is colicky or isn’t feeling its best. Will Emily’s and Haven’s rodeo friends ask them about how they keep their horses healthy hauling them all over the country? Yes, they will, and both the cowboy and cowgirl are believers in Vitalize Alimend and Vitalize Recovery Gel.

Success. It comes one day at a time. One collaboration at a time and one marketing strategy at a time.

Opening the Conversation to Diversification

In her letter this month, Lisa challenged every dealer to diversify to ensure their success. Sure, that might sound easy. And guess what? It is going to be easier than you think!

At BioZyme®, we offer a variety of supplement lines to cover a multitude of species from cattle, sheep and goats to swine, poultry and companion animals of horses, dogs and cats. Chances are that a majority of your customers own more than just one of those species. A recent statistic shows that 53% of American households own a dog. That’s more than half of your customers. Have you approached half of your customers about the Vitalize® canine line yet?

Perhaps the easiest way to open the conversation about a new product line to an already existing customer is to talk about something you are both familiar with – Amaferm®. For instance, if you have a cow-calf producer, who is feeding the VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® mineral, they probably understand one of the primary benefits is Amaferm, and how it works in their herd’s diet. But now you find out they also have four or five horses. Wouldn’t it be great to get them on Amaferm too?

“Multiple product lines open up more opportunity that can lead to additional sales. We have to get comfortable with having those conversations even if they aren’t in our wheelhouse. One thing that we are all comfortable with, or should be, is Amaferm and that is really what our products are about. That should be the very first thing that we are talking about when discussing our products. If we understand how Amaferm works, the rest of the conversation will take care of itself. In addition, the Vitalize products are designed to make the dealer more money than some of our other brands,” said Justin O’Flaherty, Area Sales Manager for the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virgina.

Chris Kyle, ASM for Arkansas and Louisiana, agrees that once people are hooked Amaferm in a product like VitaFerm, it should be easier to open the conversation on another line of product that BioZyme offers.

“Ask them if they liked the products on their other animals (cattle, sheep, goat) then they might be interested in what Amaferm could do for their horses also,” Kyle suggests.

O’Flaherty said another way to open up a conversation about the Vitalize line with someone who feeds another product line is to offer a sample, like the Vitalize Equine Recovery Gel. This quick-response, product could be a great conversation starter that leads to a long-term diverse customer who now orders Vitalize in addition to his or her VitaFerm each month, and it offers a great ROI.

Next, ask specific questions about your customer’s horse’s current nutritional needs and what feed they are feeding.

“This can usually open up a dialogue about what each specific horse’s needs are and/or if they feel they are buying hay constantly, the Vitalize® Digest More® Plus pellets can help them cut back a little on that,” O’Flaherty said.

Her last piece of advice was to keep the process simple and relevant.

“Dip your toe into the discipline that is most prevalent where your dealership is located. It doesn’t make sense to try to target dressage riders if you have an arena down the road that has nightly ropings. Just don’t overcomplicate it and don’t be afraid to ask for help,” she encourages.

Kyle agrees that keeping things simple is the best step for product diversification and sales success.

“Our products work, they will see it, and they will be glad that you, the dealer recommended the product. You just need to believe, and you will look like a pro for recommending them,” he said.

Start the conversation. Ask questions. Recommend a new line. Diversify, and watch your business grow.

Help Us Share the News About Backyard Boost®

A new challenge is always full of emotions: fun, excitement and exhilaration! Sometimes new things can be a little intimidating. But there is safety in numbers. That’s why we are confident as a company and specifically as a sales and marketing team that Backyard Boost is going to be a smashing success with those who raise backyard poultry. Figures in 2019 show that more than 13 million households have taken to raising these feathery friends. That was before COVID-19 had everyone staying home last year and spiked interest in raising in raising backyard poultry.

In an effort to share our products with you and the end-users, we will have three platforms where we can share information: a website, Facebook and Instagram. Initially, we will rely heavily on you, our dealers, to help us generate customer testimonials and feedback from the end-users to add to these sites.

www.backyardboost.co

This website will be the portal for all educational and product information as it becomes available. As with all of our product lines, we want to become a place where our users and dealers can come for premium products and for education. We plan to include education about feeding and nutrition, flock health and stress, coops and housing, egg production and more. In addition, we look forward to posting customer testimonials here once backyard poultry enthusiasts start using the products.

BioZyme uses social media like Facebook and Instagram to keep our dealers and end-users updated regularly with the latest and greatest product information, education and testimonials. These platforms will be where we really need you to speak up and share your end-user results or encourage your customers to do so.

We also use social media to engage with our customers for promotions, contests, to find out what they like, what they would like to see more of in the future. Social media is a great way for us to interact with customers of all levels in all corners (and backyards) of the country.

Every challenge is exciting! And this one is no different. We are excited to launch Backyard Boost this month, and we’re excited to launch three new communication platforms where we can engage with customers. We hope you’ll come along with us on this journey!

How to Reach New Markets During Chick Days

Chick Days will be here before we know it. For many farm and home and feed stores, chick days turns into chick weeks or even months, as the stores order chicks in advance and carry inventory from March through May, or even longer. Some might have chicks in-stock while initial supplies last, and others, like Weiss Milling (see Dealer Spotlight), might custom order chicks. You can make chick days a way to reach new markets that you might not think of during other times of the year.

Be a one-stop Shop

You’ve got the chicks. Make sure you’re stocked with all the necessary items that a first-time or even a repeat chick-buyer is going to need. Do you have the bedding? Feeders and waterers? Feed and health supplements? Coops and fencing? By making it convenient for the buyer, that shows you’re there to provide service, which could lead to a repeat customer for other products, even those not chick-related, in the future.

Provide Education

Consumers are hungry for education. They want to know the best way to care for their chicks to the best of their ability, and they want information in an easy-to-read format. They want to know about feed, water, housing, egg laying and general flock health. Since chicks don’t come with a label that contains all this information it is your job to provide the label information. Create a handy FAQ Sheet that is easy to follow, has all the information you would want to know about raising backyard birds and your business contact information. You might even provide a website with further flock information like www. backyardboost.co.

Educate your Employees

Part of providing customer education starts with educated employees. Before coming to work at BioZyme, I worked as a part-time farm store vendor and set up chick drinkers and feeders in chick days displays in the Chicago suburbs. I remember two college-aged girls oohing and aahhing over some baby chicks, who asked one of the farm store employees if she thought the chicks would be ok in the apartment as they got older. The employee replied “definitely.” I don’t know that I’d want five or six grown chickens in my apartment or if they would actually thrive without fresh air and sunlight, let alone what the landlord would think! Be sure you and your employees know the city ordinances for surrounding towns – do they allow chickens in backyards or not? Know how much space an adult bird needs, know about waste management protocols and provide good, sound advice.

Use Social Media

Social media is a great way to create excitement about your chick days event, especially if you have dedicated an opening weekend or first few days to launch your event. Use your various social media platforms to get the word out that you have chicks or announce their arrival dates. Photos and videos of baby animals are great attention grabbers and will catch the eyes of those scrolling through their news feed. Use a Facebook Live for in-store promotions or even for educational snippets during and after chick days to keep in front of your customers. Keep the excitement of backyard birds going long after chick days through social media with user engagement: have your customers post photos of their grown chickens, share their success stories or other funny stories of raising chickens.

Chick days are almost here. With people still staying home and looking for hobbies and ways to feed their families, you can use chick days to gain traction in your business, provide another service to your community and market your business to an audience that you might not traditionally reach. Once you reach this chick day audience, remember to ask if they have other animals that you might be able to help them with like dogs, cats or horses. Animals lovers regardless of species will appreciate doing business with a company that shows care that comes full circle and can supply them products for all their animals’ needs.

Upselling, Cross-selling Adds Value to your Business and Customer

Upselling and cross-selling are two terms you likely have heard before. They are often confused or used interchangeably; however, they are two distinct ways of marketing products that not only will help your business see more growth but will help your customers achieve more long-term success.

Upselling is the practice of encouraging customers to purchase a comparable higher-end product than the one they might be originally considering. Cross-selling urges customers to buy related or complementary items. These two practices are most effective when they are used synergistically, and the end result for you, the dealer, is increased sales and hopefully a customer who sees better results.

Cross-selling is a practice that should be used in business nearly every time you make a sale. Products in the new Backyard Boost® line like Backyard Boost Daily Essentials and Backyard Boost Defense were created for cross-selling opportunities. Most people won’t immediately think of nutritional supplements for their backyard birds. However, they will think of other essentials like coops, heat lamps, bedding and feed. When they go pick out their feed or have questions about bird health, these are some ideal times for some cross-selling statements:

  • Have you thought about how you’re going to keep your chicks healthy?
  • Would you like to add a supplement to your chick feed to keep them feeling healthy and keep them happy?
  • Did you know that a product like Daily Essentials will help your chickens get the most nutrient supply from their feed?
  • How are you going to treat your chicks when they stress out and get sick? Have you thought about Defense?

Cross-selling allows you to add on an essential product that will benefit the customer in his or her endeavor. Often times when you cross-sell, the customer hasn’t thought about that additional need yet, but when you mention it, it becomes an “ah-ha” moment for them, and a cross-sell suggestion often saves the customer a trip back to the store in the future, while helping you create a sale.

Upselling is a tool that should be used anytime you have a product that contains Amaferm®. With a precision prebiotic like Amaferm, products like Backyard Boost Daily Essentials and Defenses are already more beneficial than other supplements that exist on the market. The Amaferm advantage and other natural ingredients in these supplements will:

  • Support performance and health of the birds by supporting the digestion and absorption of nutrients.
  • Reduce digestive upset, therefore improving the overall health and wellbeing of the birds.
  • Increase egg production, while improving eggshell and yolk quality.
  • Support growth and feather quality.
  • Boost immune response and combat negative effects of stress.

Upselling allows you to share experiences of a high-quality product with your customer and those benefits that a premium product will provide. Remember, a premium product doesn’t always have to be the one with the highest price tag; it is the one that is backed by research and has the most high-quality ingredients included in it.

Both upselling and cross-selling are marketing tools that will allow you to help your customer and yourself. They help your customers succeed in their feeding and production endeavors and they help you meet your sales goals. When you combine the two and work them together, your business will experience even more growth.

Take the time to practice upselling and cross-selling across all species and products. There is always a product that will add value to another product. Try these marketing techniques and watch your business grow!

Sharing Knowledge Helps Grow Business

In today’s world, you aren’t just a feed dealer, mineral supplier or farm and home store. You are more than a business. You and your sales staff become industry experts. Experts that your customers rely on for their nutritional advice as it relates to their herd, flock, show stock, horses and dogs. That’s why it is more important than ever before to have knowledge available and ready to share.

According to Shep Hyken, New York Times and Wall Street Journal best selling author and customer engagement expert, 96% of customers will leave a business because of one bad experience. These experiences could range from poor customer interaction, untimely responses, lack of response, rude personnel, consistently being out of stock on a product or never showing appreciation.

In a recent presentation, Hyken offered several tips to help create customer amazement. The central idea to creating customer amazement is to be better than average. When it comes to customer service, no one wants just “fine” service, they want excellent service. Hyken said fine is an acronym that stands for: Fake smile, Insincere feedback, Never coming back, Emotionless (business is dead to the customer). Let’s explore the five ways he recommends providing customer amazement.

  1. Create moments of magic. Make sure that you provide the information and education that the customer is looking for. If they ask a specific question, answer that question directly, not five other questions and don’t beat around the bush. Share another customer testimonial or if you have used the product, share about that positive experience too. Customers want to hear about why something will work for them and their program.
  2. Embrace feedback. Both negative and positive feedback can be good things to help your business grow and share information with others. For example, BioZyme® heard your feedback about the paper mineral bags. A positive change was made due to that feedback. If you hear positive feedback about a product, you can use that to your advantage when talking to others about that specific product.
  3. Communication is key. When providing your customers with valuable information, remember communication is a two-way process. Provide information. Ask the extra questions. Listen for their concerns or challenges. Address their specific needs. Don’t talk circles around them, and don’t do all the talking, but always make sure to be sincere and listen to what they need.
  4. Offer convenient solutions. Perhaps you have all your product information on your website, but not all your customers have internet access. One of the best ways to lay out the information is in a FAQ document. What frequent questions do your customers have? Create the answers for those and answer them in one document and have them readily available to distribute when talking about a product or time in the production cycle.
  5. Show appreciation. You rely on your customers for your success just as much as they rely on you. Be sure to thank them for their patronage and for believing in you and your products.

Providing information is an ongoing process, and mastering the process is ongoing as well. Be sure you and your employees understand the above steps and the importance of providing education and information. Customer amazement is an important step to customer retention. Continue to educate your customers and watch your business grow!

Look to BioZyme Resources for Education and Information

As a feed and supplement dealer, your customers look to you as an expert in animal feeding and nutrition when it comes to helping them achieve their goals. Do you feel like you are armed with the proper information and knowledge you need to help the producers who ask you questions? Do you have the answers to the questions they seek? Are there existing resources to help you when you need them?

If you answered “no” to any of those questions, or if you are just curious on how to be more informed and prepared to answer your customer questions, read on.

BioZyme® understands how important its Dealer Network is. That’s why we have prepared the tools to help you succeed when it comes to providing the best and most accurate information to your customers. The more information you can provide and in a timely manner, the more your customers will value you, and be more likely to return.

VISION

If you are reading this, you know that we care about getting timely information to dealers each month. We strive to provide you relevant product information and tips on how to position those products, give you sales and marketing tips, general business development guides and update you on company happenings.

Dealer Facebook Page

The BioZyme Dealer Facebook is a great space to share ideas with other dealers, see information about product launches, and keep current with happenings. Regular posts make this a great place to see information about live educational events and other news from the company.

Master Dealer Program

The Master Dealer Program was created to provide you and your employees the opportunity to learn more about BioZyme products, how to use them, how to market them, and how they can help the customer succeed. Multiple people from a dealership can complete the program to each learn about the products. Sign in to the Online Dealer Center to complete these quick learning tools today!

People

Each dealer should feel good knowing he or she has an Area Sales Manager and an Outreach Support Dealer Coordinator that they can contact for help. These people are a phone call or email away to help you with your needs. These staff members can also put you and your customers in touch with nutritionists to answer questions and help with hay testing services.

Online Dealer Center

Perhaps one of the most comprehensive places you can find the information you need to help you and your customers succeed 24/7 is the Online Dealer Center. Once inside the ODC, there are multiple tools and resources for you to use. You can ask questions and search for answers on the message board, place and track orders, learn more about the products in the Product Center, calculate LTL shipping costs, order swag and literature and download and print literature. Let’s explore some of the great resources available when you log in.

Product Center

The product center contains all the information you need about each product including selling points, feeding directions, ingredients, spec sheets and much more. It can be searched many ways to easily find the products your customers need. To access the Product Center, go to Products > View Products.

Message Board

Ask questions and receive feedback directly from the BioZyme staff on a variety of topics including nutrition, product information and more. To access the message board, visit Training > Message Board.

LTL Freight Quote

Receive an estimated freight quote for your order by filling out the LTL Freight Calculator located under Products > LTL Freight Calculator.

Literature and SWAG

All of our literature along with branded apparel and merchandise is available through the ODC. Literature is available to download in PDF format at Marketing > Marketing & Sales Aides. To have printed literature shipped to you or to order any of the swag, fill out the Literature Request or the Merchandise Request under Marketing > Marketing Requests.

Information is power. The more information you can provide your customers, the more they will rely on you to help them succeed. Good, reliable information builds trust. Trust builds relationships, and relationships are the foundation of a successful business.

Your Inventory Calendar Can Help Create A Marketing Plan

Developing an inventory calendar can be useful for more than just inventory management. It can serve as the framework and guide for your marketing schedule as well. It makes sense to align marketing and promotion with the inventory you’re housing at the time and to be prepared to turn seasonal stock as quickly as possible.

You know you have the inventory, so why do you need the marketing plan? You surely don’t want to set on the inventory you have for long, and you don’t want to be short on inventory for specific seasons of high demand like breeding, weaning or calving, for example. That is why it is vital to have a marketing plan, which often is synergistic with the inventory you maintain.

Create a Marketing Strategy
Before you create a marketing calendar, it’s important to decide on an overall marketing strategy. Some questions to ask yourself include:

• What is your estimated marketing budget for the entire year?

• Who is your target audience?

• How frequently will you promote your company?

• When is your peak demand? Factor in different times of the year, such as weaning, calving or fairs.

• What kind of media will you use? See the list below.

Once you have answered some of the above questions and have started thinking about your strategy, you can star planning your marketing calendar. Consistency is often one of the biggest struggles for dealers and establishing a marketing plan can give you a guide to follow to help you stay on course and in front of your customers in the most effective way possible.

First, establish the list of marketing tools you plan to use to reach your customers. That list may look something like this:

• Radio Ads

• Social Media – Promoboxx, Facebook, Twitter

• Email Marketing

• BioZyme Quarterly Mailers

• Print advertisements

Next, reference your inventory calendar to know what items you should be promoting for that respective month. Promotions need to be done in advance of your selling season to prepare customers, so it’s always good to set your marketing plans in advance. A general rule of thumb is to begin talking about products six weeks to a month before that buying season really starts to take off. Your customers and prospective customers are studying and researching the next product they’re going to use well in advance of making a purchase.

An inventory calendar will help paint a visual picture of the opportunities you have to focus on, what promotional efforts could be combined or if it is necessary to run multiple campaigns simultaneously. Obviously, margin and/or volume will factor into your focus each month, but don’t leave out ‘door-opener’ products that could generate traffic or interest as well. And don’t forget to have inventory for any cross promotion or upselling opportunities that you plan to promote.

Once you’ve established your product focus for the month, detail your marketing plan to include specific tactics, contacts you need to reach out to, deadlines, etc. If you haven’t, be sure to sign up for Promoboxx to get the most updated BioZyme content. In addition, coordinate with your ASM to have any custom materials designed to help you spread your specific message.

At the end of the month, you should revisit each marketing medium used and analyze its effectiveness so you can make any necessary adjustments for coming months. As you review your marketing calendar, be sure to also revisit your inventory schedule to make sure you have everything on hand so you can meet the demands of your future marketing plans.