Category: Business Topics

Customer Testimonials Help Sell Products

Before Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and way before MySpace, there was a form of social media that cost nothing and took very little effort. Yet, some people still haven’t used it effectively. That medium is word of mouth marketing (WOMM). In one Nielsen survey, 92% of consumers believe in recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising. And according to another study, 64% of marketing executives indicated that they believe word of mouth is the most
effective form of marketing.

At BioZyme, we rely heavily on WOMM or testimonials to tell our product stories and help sell the products to other producers. Experienced Area Sales Manager Chris Kyle for Arkansas, Louisiana and northeast Texas, says the value in customer testimonials is that the person reviewing or talking about the specific product or experience has nothing to gain by doing so. He or she is merely bragging about
something positive that has happened on the farm or ranch and wants everyone else to know about it.

“The people who are talking about our products have achieved some sort of success in their area first and want others to know they have that feather in their cap,” Kyle said.

Most customers are glad to give a review or testimonial. You can ask for it written, take notes as it is given orally or even use the technology that you have on hand to
record a video.

“The customers don’t hold back. I ask them how a particular product is doing, and they will start talking and telling me about all the good things they have happen with their animals’ health,” Kyle said.

The value of a spoken testimonial increases when the person speaking can be captured on video. If possible, record a testimonial video. That way others can hear the emotion in the speaker’s voice and see the excitement on their faces. With today’s social media, one testimonial can reach much further than just the local coffee shop or feed mill. It can reach from coast-to-coast, and with dealers located
across the country, that WOMM is powerful.

Customers who have achieved success are passionate about the products they are talking about. It is important to remember those success stories when you have a producer meeting or customer appreciation event. If you know of customers who have had great success with the products, ask them to share their experiences with the crowd you have gathered. Their real-world stories and experiences that
their neighbors might also encounter will definitely help make a sale.

Finally, when sharing testimonials with customers, Kyle says he drop names of big-time, successful producers in the area. If he knows someone who runs a large herd and has had good results with a product, he might mention their name to someone down the road with fewer cows that is undecided about trying a BioZyme product.
He knows the first call that will be made when he leaves is to that neighbor, whose name Kyle mentioned.

Word of mouth marketing is the original social media and one that still works for marketing today! We are always looking for great customer testimonials to share in our advertising, in promotional materials and on social media. If you have a customer with a great testimonial, please reach out to your ASM or contact Shelia Grobosky at sgrobosky@biozymeinc.com.

Discovering A Passion Will Lead To Sales

During a recent Uber ride at the Cattlemen’s Convention in Houston, some of the BioZyme® staff was shuttled around by a former marketer who was excited to learn that we too were involved in marketing and sales. He rattled off the five Ps of marketing: product, price, place, promotion and people and offered to come to work for us if we needed a guy in Houston. I appreciate his enthusiasm and contend that we should all be so inquisitive to discover our customers’ passion.

What made Mr. Uber driver such a good salesperson? In less than 10 minutes, he found out about our passion. He discovered that we were in town for a convention about beef cattle and we were there to promote animal nutrition products. I would challenge each person who reads this article to really focus on that fifth p of marketing: the people. Get to know the passions of your customers so you can sell the products that they are looking to buy.

Yes, it is usually easy to sell the products that BioZyme offers when you are able to talk about all the research behind them, their mode of action and share testimonials from other customers. However, to make sure you are getting the right products to your customers, take at least 10 minutes to find out what your customers are truly passionate about. Do they want more live animals on the ground? Do they want their cows to breed back faster? Do they have horses or dogs that you don’t even

know about? Or perhaps they have children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews with show livestock that they want to see excel Just because you are visiting a cow-calf producer talking to them about the advantages of VitaFerm® Concept•Aid®, doesn’t mean they don’t have other interests or passions. Take this example from Justin O’Flaherty, Area Sales Manager in the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia. She was visiting a cow-calf operation to discuss the VitaFerm and Vita Charge® lines with the producer. While she was there, she also saw a barn full of his passion.

“I’m not a horse person. I went and met with an Angus breeder earlier in the week, but he had a barn full of horses. I’d much rather talk about cows, and I saw an opportunity. The more you talk about things you’re uncomfortable with, the more you become familiar. The same thing with HydraBoost®. We have so many pigs and chickens in my area. If you become more comfortable with the uncomfortable, you’ll be able to grow market share by expanding your product offering and getting out
of comfort zone,” O’Flaherty said.

And never discount the popularity of man’s best friend. Remember, dogs are family so marketing the Vitalize dog products should become second nature because if there’s a dog present, there’s someone in the household passionate about that four-legged friend!

Vita Charge® Products Ideal During Stress And Recovery

Just like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, biscuits and gravy, and chips with salsa, some things are just meant to go together. Another pair that goes together is Vita Charge and antibiotics. Vita Charge is a fast-acting, multi-species livestock supplement for use during stressful times when livestock need protection or assistance in recovery.

“Some people think about giving Vita Charge Cattle Drench when getting in sale barn cattle, and that is a great protocol, but anytime you are giving an antibiotic, be sure to give a Vita Charge product along with it. It’s like peanut butter and jelly, the two things just need to go together,” said Chris Kyle, BioZyme®Inc. Area Sales Manager for east Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Amaferm® is the key ingredient in the Vita Charge line. Amaferm is a precision prebiotic designed to enhance digestibility by amplifying the nutrient supply for maximum performance. It is research-proven to combat stress by supporting the animal’s own immune system, significantly increasing intake and nutrient utilization. The Vita Charge product line offers versatility in many forms making application easy depending on what is best for your animal.

Kyle offers some tips to position each of the Vita Charge products.

As mentioned, the Vita Charge Cattle Drench is the first step in a three-step weaning or receiving program for stockers. The Cattle Drench supports digestive health and promotes feed and water intake during times of stress and recovery. According to Kyle, the Amaferm and added enzymes in the Vita Charge Cattle Drench work together to regenerate any of the healthy bacteria that the antibiotics didn’t kill. Vita Charge Cattle Drench simply helps jump start the digestive system to protect cattle during stress. Like all Vita Charge products, it does not interfere with antibiotics.

Another product that can be used when giving antibiotics to all species and is perhaps a little more portable is the Vita Charge Gel. This easy-to-use gel comes in 60- and 300-mL tubes. Kyle said he knows of several cattle producers who will carry this horseback or in their ATV when they are in bigger pastures and need to treat an animal. The Vita Charge Gel also helps build back bacteria, and contains MOS to trap and expel pathogens, limiting their ability to do harm.

“If you aren’t darting them to treat them, there is a way to get Vita Charge into them,” Kyle said.

Two more Vita Charge products are available to producers that can be used with antibiotics, though they are often used with bigger groups of livestock.

The Vita Charge Stress Tub is the second step in the weaning and receiving protocol. Available in 50- and 200-pound tubs, it is the convenient way for cattle to get their daily dose of Vita Charge without extra handling. The cooked tub for beef cattle now includes a heat-tolerant probiotic to work synergistically with Amaferm to replenish and stimulate gut bacteria. In addition to adding these to your pens when getting in new cattle or at weaning, Kyle also recommends the Vita Charge Stress Tubs for any operations that have a “sick pen.

“If you have a designated sick pen on your place, it should always have something orange (the color of the Stress Tubs) in it. You know those calves are stressed and their immunity is compromised, and they need the Amaferm and MOS more than ever in that situation when they are also getting treated,” he said.

The Vita Charge Stress Tub with HEAT® is ideal to help prevent heat stress during temperatures of 70 degrees and hotter. The Vita Charge Stress Tub with HEAT contains capsaicin to help maintain circulation to support animal performance and gain in heat stress situations. Capsaicin is research-proven to support animal’s ability to maintain normal body temperature. It also includes garlic, considered a natural insect deterrent.

Finally, Vita Charge Liquid Boost® is another versatile, multi-species product that can be fed multiple ways, though most usually administered in water. It can be administered via a medicator, mixed with water, used as a drench or top-dressed on feed. Kyle said for those cattle that have been trucked multiple hours, across time zones and climates, this is a great tool to help them drink once they have reached their new destination.

“If cattle have had a long haul on a semi, and their new owner wants to give them a day or so to get settled before they process them, they could add some Liquid Boost in their water, to help their gut get right. Regardless of if they are ready to eat yet or lick a tub, they are going to have to drink at some point,” Kyle said.

Liquid Boost is also great for any species, and its palatable flavoring helps create consistency in taste of any water source.

Vita Charge offers something for all species with multiple applications. It is designed to help build up the bacteria in the digestive system, something necessary when antibiotics are used. Antibiotics and Vita Charge – they just go together like peas and carrots.

Know Your Checkbook: Leadership Skills Help Make the Sale

Leadership is not a one-size-fits all approach. Some leaders are quiet, more in the background workers and some are more aggressive. However, to succeed in sales and have growth in your company it takes leaders with particular skills.

“I believe that leadership is genetic, people are born with those skills, but they can hone them in, grow their skills over time,” said Jackson Umbarger, owner of Roy Umbarger & Sons in Bargersville, Indiana. Umbarger shared what he feels makes a sales team successful when it comes to leadership traits.

Communications

Communication is vital to sales. “Answer your phone when someone calls, and if you don’t answer, call them back,”
Umbarger said.

Although that might seem like pretty simple advice, it is sometimes overlooked, especially in an era of so many ways to communicate and with so many calls coming in. Keeping a call log in a notebook is an effective way to make sure you’ve got all your phone calls, text messages, Snap chats responded to, and orders processed without forgetting that one missed call that came in between your last customer stop and your kid’s basketball game. Because Umbarger’s sales team consists of two very unique individuals who communicate differently and are in separate phases of life – one is an early riser who doesn’t mind making calls at 6 a.m., and one would like to talk to customers after the kids’ bedtime – Umbarger at one time developed an app for customers to reach out to the sales team whenever they needed to, and in turn, the sales team could return the communication to the customers on their timelines.

Collaboration

Since leaders look different and have different skills, collaboration is a must. As Umbarger points out they might have sales reps divided by areas or species, but when the heavy hitter needs to be called in for a particular species or product, it is best to work with that person to make the sale.

“Leaders work together. They work for what is best for the team,” he said.

Their team also works together, especially when introducing a new product, to develop the talking points they will discuss, talk about what they don’t want to say and make sure the sales team is on the same page, so every customer and potential customer hears the same thing.

Product Knowledge

Product knowledge is imperative for any successful salesperson. That is why Umbarger makes sure his sales team is properly trained on any new products that they introduce to customers. Training the sales team is of upmost importance. That is when they develop talking points and share those with the rest of the company that might need to talk about the products, so everyone has accurate, consistent product information.

For BioZyme products, make sure you use the information available to you on the Online Dealer Center and online to familiarize yourself with the products.

Belief in Product

“We are not order takers. We sell products we believe in and don’t offer multiple products lines. We want to have a story to tell every time,” Umbarger said.

He said leaders need to have a conviction for the products they are representing. While his sales team might not have direct, personal experience with every product, they have relationships with customers who have had positive experiences and have shared those so the salespeople can share those experiences.

Finally, Umbarger said skilled leaders should not need to be micromanaged. “They know I have their back, and they have mine. The customers will let you know if you someone isn’t doing their job,” he said. Leadership. It doesn’t look the same for everyone, but it is a good combination of communication, collaboration, product knowledge and believing in the goods or services you are selling. Combine those traits, and your leadership skills will shine.

Asking Questions Shows You Care

Are we in the nutrition business or the people business? The question
might be best answered with “both.” We won’t sell much nutrition if we don’t first know about the people or customers who are taking care of the animals who need it. We need to know our customers’ needs and understand exactly what they are trying to achieve.

The best way to get to know your customer or a potential customer is to have a conversation with him or her. Discover what goals they have set forth and listen. You will likely need to lead this conversation because most people, especially in agriculture, don’t like to talk about themselves or share too much information. Form your questions more like a conversation than an interview, seeming more natural than just a list of predetermined questions you have with hopes to make a sale. People don’t always know what they want. However, they usually know what they don’t want. Use these 10 questions to help you start a conversation to attract new customers to your business.

  1. When it comes to (segment of industry person is in) what is your
    biggest challenge or hurdle you face when trying to meet your
    goals?
  2. Which of your needs are not currently being met?
  3. What products/services do you value the most?
  4. How can the products/services you use be improved?
  5. What is one area of your business you need to improve on? And how can I help you make those improvements?
  6. What features of a product/service make you annoyed?
  7. Would you be willing to invest more in a product/service if you knew the ROI would be greater than what you are currently experiencing?
  8. What opportunities or benefits are you willing to pay more for?
  9. At what price does my product or service provide great value to you?
  10. Have you ever thought, “if only a company like ours could do [BLANK] for me, life would be so much easier?” …Tell me about BLANK and how you would find it useful.

Once you have a conversation started, genuinely listen to the potential
customer’s answers. Does it sound like you have a product or service
that is needed by this person at this time? Great! Then it is time to
start talking about your products or services to make a sale. Don’t
talk about products or services that aren’t relevant but show that you
sincerely care and respect the person’s needs and desires by telling
them how you can help their operation. The number one thing that
attracts new customers is showing respect and that you truly care about
the customer, their goals and their animals.

How Can an Inventory Calendar Assist in Marketing Plans?

Developing an inventory calendar can be useful for more than just inventory management. Although managing your inventory is its primary purpose, it can also provide the framework and guide for your marketing plan. It seems practical to align marketing and promotion with the inventory you’re housing and to be prepared to turn seasonal stock as quickly as possible.

Why do you need the marketing plan, anyway? 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. 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 consider 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 start planning your marketing calendar. Consistency is often one of the biggest hurdles 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:

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.

First, establish the list of marketing tools you plan to use to reach your customers.

Next, reference your inventory calendar to see 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.

Know Your Customers: Discover Their Needs

Customer service is what will set you apart from your competitor. Sure, you might know your customers’ names, their kids’ positions on the high school basketball teams and what kind of horses they have. But do you really understand their animal health and nutrition needs? There is only one way to find out; ask.

Customer service is more than loading products in the back of someone’s pickup or even delivering to their ranch. It has to start with knowing what their needs are. The simplest way to discover their needs is to merely ask. Ask them what they are needing in a breeding mineral for their cows. Find out what their weaning protocol is and suggest including Vita Charge® in their program. Ask them what they need for their sheep or goats. Find out if they have horses and dogs. The key to knowing is to simply ask.

With the logistics of transportation issues causing some added strife in getting some ingredients and moving products to their destination in a timely manner, we suggest that it is never too early to start thinking about finding out about your customers’ needs.

Although BioZyme has significantly reduced its turnaround time on processing orders, we can’t always assume that transportation will

remain as efficient as it has been. Especially with winter weather and the challenges that gives to haulers, it is best to have the products your customer will need in stock.

Planning ahead is always a good idea. If a person isn’t 100% sure
on the products they need or want, it gives you time to explain the differences. It gives the customer time to get their hay samples tested, if that is their desire, and it gives them time to get a ration developed, if that best fits their need.

Providing your customer the tools they need like hay testing, ration development or even basic education is the best way to get to know your customers and offer them with some up-front service from the beginning of your business relationship.

Don’t let your customer service slip from the start of a new partnership. Find out what products they need, how much they need and when they need them by. Follow through with ordering the products to have them in hand before the customer needs them. A happy customer is one who will tell others about the great products and services he or she received, and you will be able to watch your business grow.

Master Dealer Program Offers Product Info and Marketing

Knowledge is power. At BioZyme®, we want you to have as much knowledge as possible about the products that we offer. That is why we have created the Master Dealer Training Program. The Master Dealer Program is a series of online training modules that allow individuals within your company to learn about each product line and ways to use different products to cross sell and upsell.

In addition to the basic Master Dealer Training Program, there is a Year Two program for those who have completed the first step. In Year Two, dealers will learn about some newer products that have been introduced, as well marketing techniques such as Promoboxx.

“I feel that in the last three days of going through all the training courses, I have learned so much that as a rancher myself, I was not aware of. I look forward to using your products as well. I appreciate the opportunity to learn all this information,” said Missy Rerich, BWI Inside Sales, Schulenburg, Texas.

The Master Dealer program is open to all dealers and is available under “Training” in the Online Dealer Center. Multiple people per dealership can participate in the Mater Dealer program and can work at their own pace to watch the short educational videos and take the quizzes to pass the program. Once all qualifications are met, your dealership will be designated as a Master Dealer on the Dealer Locator map and receive special signage for the store. Each person who finishes the program will receive special BioZyme Master Dealer apparel so customers can easily identify those who have gone the extra mile to provide excellent knowledge and service. Additional awards are given to those who also complete the Year Two program.

The Master Dealer Program is simple. It is a free way to grow your business by providing you with the product knowledge you and your employees need to help sell the BioZyme lines of products. Engage in the Master Dealer Program today. Knowledge is power. Power is watching your business grow.

Steps Dealers Can Take to Grow Their Sales

If you want to grow your business, you have to move forward and upward, sometimes doing things outside of your comfort zone. Abraham Lincoln once said, “I may be a slow walker, but I never walk back.” It’s ok to grow slowly, but it’s not ok to go backwards in your growth!

At BioZyme, we want to see our dealers succeed and grow. That’s why we’ve provided the tools and programs to help you grow. Let’s review.

Engage in Promoboxx

Remember that we said a majority of farmers, 94%, have a smart phone or cell phone. A big share of them also have access to social media. For those who are not active on social media, they probably have a spouse or kid who is on social media, whose accounts they “creep” or scroll through periodically. Because we know not everyone has time to create social media posts, BioZyme has created social media posts that align with its national marketing messages and put those into Promoboxx, and easy-to-use platform to help you create awareness of your company with BioZyme information on your social channels.

Promoboxx is free to BioZyme dealers to use, and provides you access to various pre-created posts to share on your social media accounts. As a dealer, you can use the entire post or various assets of it like the copy or just the photo. Content is updated regularly to keep it fresh for you. To learn more or get started with Promoboxx, visit www. biozymedealermktg.com.

Quarterly Dealer Mailers

Direct mail is a great way to get a message in front of customers. Each quarter, BioZyme creates a message with a focus on one product that is timely for that particular production cycle/time of year. If the dealer sends its customer mailing list to BioZyme, via an excel spreadsheet, it will prepare the mailer to send to those customers, free of charge. And, if you have your customer mailing list split by species or product lines, that is even better. That way when it comes time to send a Vitalize mailer, those with sheep or goats won’t get the mail.

Watch your email and the Dealer Facebook Group for sign up information for this program.

Product Educational Opportunities

In addition to having a product focus for the customer mailer during each quarter, the BioZyme Team also provides a live training for dealers each quarter around that same topic. These trainings take place on the Dealer Facebook Group. These sessions are also recorded, to allow more dealers to watch on their own time.

In addition to dealer trainings, any time a new product is released, a training is conducted and a new product video is put into the Online Dealer center (ODC).

Of course, the Master Dealer, is always a great way to learn about the products and selling techniques. Look for some enhancements to his program in the coming year!

Get Your Store Ready

Nothing is more discouraging than going to a store, looking for a product, and not being able to find it because there is no signage, or it is buried behind some other irrelevant product. If it is weaning time, get your Vita Charge® products on an end cap with signage that promotes stress recovery.

Upselling and cross selling are great techniques. Keep gel products on the sales counter and when a customer buys Vitalize® Equine Digest More Plus, be sure to suggest they might also like the Vitalize Equine Gel.

Signage and product placement will help you sell products in your store more often than you think. You can’t sell what the customers can’t see.

We’ve provided you four simple steps to help you market your business. Follow these steps and watch your business grow!

Product Knowledge Helps Build Trust

When your customers come to you looking for a product, they are typically also looking for a solution. Solutions are answers to their challenges, so if you want to make the sale, you must be prepared with the answers, or the information they need about a product. The number one way to make a sale is by building trust. The best way to build trust is to provide reliable, accurate information about the products you are offering.

One recent online survey of consumers showed that the number one expectation of the stores they visit was knowledge of the products sold in the store. If you and your staff are knowledgeable about the products, that is meeting the customers’ expectations and the first step needed to build trust. At BioZyme, we know how important that trust is to making the sale; that is why we have created multiple ways to ensure the product information is available to you when and how you want it so you can share it with your customers.

Online Dealer Center

All product information is available at your fingertips at the Online Dealer Center (ODC). Find key selling points, ingredients, feeding rates and ordering information for any of the BioZyme products your customer might be looking for. Even if they are not sure the exact name of a product, you can search by species, program or product line, and a variety of products will appear from your search.

Literature

The Marketing Team creates a wide variety of brochures and educational materials across all brands. From one-page sell sheets to tri-fold brochures to extensive product guides that give specific details about every product, these colorful, easy-to-use pieces are available to you to have at your dealership. They can be sourced two ways. First, you can print them yourself from the ODC by selecting the Marketing menu and dragging down to “Marketing & Sales Aids.” Or, if you would like to request hard copies of these brochures, drag down to “Marketing Requests” under the Marketing menu and follow the steps outlined to make a request.

Product Videos

Some people learn better through video or hearing a presentation. For that purpose, a quick promotional video has been created for each product to share the highlights of the uses and benefits. These product videos can be found on the product pages on any of the brand websites or by viewing a product in the Product Center found in the ODC. These are great to be able to play in-store for your customers and each video is 30-seconds to less than two minutes in length.

Master Dealer Program

The Master Dealer Training Program is an online comprehensive training program that provides all employees at a dealership with the information that they need to talk about the products with potential customers.

At BioZyme we want to be proactive in providing you the answers you need so you can build trust and provide your customers solutions. What other ways would you find it helpful to receive information to educate customers and potential end-users about our products? Let us know! You can always reach out to the Outreach Support Center or your ASM to let them know what other methods you would like to see used for providing education and information to you about products.