Category: Business Resources

EFFECTIVE ACTION: COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IS BEING PART OF THE TEAM

Summer is a great time to get involved in your community. It doesn’t matter if your community has more than 75,000 people like Saint Joseph, Missouri, where our corporate headquarters is located, or just a few more than 750 dwellers like Alexis, Illinois, where this article is written from, communities thrive in the summer, and people notice when businesses get involved.

From the summer softball leagues to small town festivals, county fairs and pageants, there are a myriad of ways for businesses to get involved in their community. They don’t all have to involve a lot of extra time, money or resources, but they will likely garner some type of appreciation. End users notice when businesses give back and often, that will gain your business a little extra revenue too. Here’s a look at a few ways businesses can get involved on the Local Team this summer.

Be a Mentor

There is often nothing more rewarding than mentoring a young person. Serve as a mentor to a young person who might be interested in pursuing a career in sales, marketing, nutrition or feed manufacturing. Offer your time to the person to come job shadow you at your company for a few days throughout the summer so they can see various aspects of your career, ask questions and get a feel for what you do. Be sure to follow any safety regulations,

Provide a Space

Perhaps there is a group of young people trying to raise money for an educational trip to Washington D.C., or some other place that wants to have a bake sale or sell fresh produce from their garden. Surely you have a place at your store front for an 8-foot table to allow these kids to sell their goodies. These young people won’t forget your kindness, neither will their relatives. And don’t forget to bring some cash that day; you’ll probably need some of Grandma Betty’s cookies or some fresh tomatoes.

Join the Parade

At least in the Midwest, it seems there is never a shortage of parades. Fourth of July. Let’s have a parade. The county fair. Let’s have a parade. A random Wednesday after wheat harvest. Let’s have a parade! Parades often have themes and are a fun, relatively inexpensive way to showcase your business. Showcase your company, your employees’ cute kids and throw out some candy, and get involved.

Support the Fair

One great way to give back to your customers is to support the local fair or livestock show. You can sponsor a show or purchase and an animal at the premium auction to show support for your customers or their kids or grandkids. Although this typically will have some financial cost, the rewards are worth it in thank you notes and customers that are happy to return the business back to you. This truly demonstrates care that comes full circle.

Having a business means being part of a greater community. Get involved in your local community this summer to show that your business is a team player.

CUSTOMERS ARE THE KEY PLAYER ON THE TEAM

How many times have you seen a football team win by a last-second field goal? That kicker has paced the sideline for most of the game practicing his kicks and keeping that leg ready to go, so we don’t always think about him. Although he might not have as much playing time as the quarterback, his participation on the team is of utmost importance.

The same can be said for your customers. You might not see them everyday or even communicate with them on a regular basis. Their “on-field” time might seem minimal in comparison with your employees and vendors, but without customers on your team, you’re not even in the game.

Oftentimes you only hear from a customer if he or she needs product or if the customer is disgruntled with a product or service – and that isn’t what you want to hear. It is important to follow up with every customer and ask for feedback, and let the customer know that positive or negative, the feedback they provide is important to your team.

The book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” states that “when people don’t unload their opinions and feel like they have been listened to, they won’t really get on board.” The first step is to begin the conversation, which you or your sales team can do in a follow up conversation after the sale. Here are three things that companies can do to bring customers into the conversation and engage them as part of the team:

  1. Always be receptive and responsive to feedback. Regardless of the timing or channel, organizations who are prepared to receive and acknowledge customer feedback will have more loyal and engaged customers. This includes phone calls, letters, emails and even social media. Learn more about using social media as a customer care tool on the next page.
  2. Create an environment built on trust. This means when asking for feedback, clearly state why you want the feedback and what you intend to do with it. In the agricultural world we are accustomed to working in, trust is the foundation of all we do. If your customers don’t trust you, they likely won’t be a part of your team for too long.
  3. Empower customer service teams to solve problems and seek feedback simultaneously. Since most dealers are not staffed by a sales team and a customer service team, training all employees about the products and how to work with people is more important than ever.

Once you receive customer feedback and review it, follow up. Customers offer a fresh perspective, and perhaps their idea will help increase sales or bring in a new customer. At the very least, knowing that you acknowledged their feedback will help encourage a positive business relationship and should help your team keep a winning record.

INVESTING IN YOUR TEAM HELPS GROW YOUR BUSINESS

“You can’t win together if you don’t work together.” – Nick Saban

With a career record of 232-62-1, Saban obviously knows a little about building WINNING and WOWing teams. Recently, Bob Burkham, BioZyme® National Manager of Supplement Sales, offered his perspective on why it is vital to invest in your teams to grow your business.

“Investing in training is an investment in their success and ultimately the business’s success. You are making your employees more valuable by giving them the tools they need to be more successful in their jobs,”he said.

Those trainings can come in various models and forms, including external trainings like the BioZyme Master Dealer Training Program, a leadership growth program provided by the local chamber of commerce or other organization or a webinar about sales or other products you offer. Regardless of the trainings you offer, the most important resource to share with your team is communication.

Communications is key to building the team, according to Burkham. It is important to remember that communication doesn’t just take shape in reminders posted to a bulletin board or barking orders to workers before your morning cup of coffee.

“Bring everyone together for a roundtable discussion and listen to their ideas. You probably can’t incorporate all the ideas all of the time, but it will help figure out where there are chinks in the armor, and it helps make everyone feel part of the team,” he said.

Another important thing to consider when investing in your team, is time – both theirs and your customers. When investing in trainings, make sure they are the correct trainings for the correct people on the team, so those valuable team players don’t feel like you are wasting their time in another meeting. Ensure the trainings they receive will inspire, motivate and teach them to be better at whatever their role is to help grow your business.

“Everyone has a limited amount of time in this fast-paced world. It is paramount to show up and bring value,” Burkham said.

Finally, Burkham suggests that when sales staff have the proper training, their natural competitive spirit shows up to do better or sell more than their peers. A competitive rivalry is likely to occur if there is more than one salesperson. And even with a one-person sales staff, that person will likely want to outperform the month or quarter previous, due to the competitive nature of sales.

“Your sales team will be racing to the checkered flag, and at the end of the day, the entire company wins when you have taken time to invest in your team,” Burkham said.

Put forth the resources. Open the lines of two-ways communication. Know the value of time. Grow a successful team and watch your business grow!

Montana Veterinarian Shares the Amaferm® Advantage with her Clients

Seeing is believing. And that is exactly what happened in 2010, when Beth Blevins, DVM, and her daughter Michaela experienced their first BioZyme® products at the National Junior Angus Show in Denver. Michaela had hauled a steer and heifer two states south of her native Montana and as luck would have it, her steer decided to quit eating. 

“Dennis Delaney was working the BioZyme booth and gave us some Vita Charge® capsules to try on him. He went back on feed and started drinking. We saw some impressive results. That fall Dennis came to Montana for some meetings, and we decided to sign up as dealers,” Beth said. 

Beth and her husband own and operate a registered Angus ranch near Ronan, Montana, and Beth is also a veterinarian, owning All Creatures Mobile Veterinary Clinic. She specializes as a large animal veterinarian and says that the precision nutrition that BioZyme offers helps her help her clients. 

“VitaFerm ® Concept•Aid® is totally amazing at helping cows get bunched up at breeding time, and calves will start eating it when they are about a week old, so it helps prevent scours in them. I sell a lot of DuraFerm® to goat and sheep producers and am actually getting more meat goat breeders all the time. And the Vita Charge Clench gel is one of the best products to help with diarrhea,” she said. 

Although she specializes in large animals, she said her ranch clients have ranch dogs that have taken to the Vitalize® K9 products, and she has also helped a Husky owner whose pups suffered long-term diarrhea until she treated them and got their stomachs back to normal with the Vitalize Dog Gel. 

She said the litter of three pups had suffered from diarrhea for most of their first four months of life with no break. Beth treated them with a five-day fenbendazole deworming treatment accompanied with the Vitalize Dog Gel to restore the normal gut flora. She said that particular owner is now a Vitalize believer too.  

Additionally, Beth said that although dog is often man or woman’s best friend, their nutritional needs are often neglected. Ranch dogs are notorious for munching on the placentas after calving, which can cause stomach upset, and she often suggests Vitalize Dog Gel for ranch dogs who aren’t feeling their best. She also said many of her equine clients have seen amazing results with the Vitalize Alimend® and have also tried the Vitalize Alimed K9 for their dogs. She has personally experienced great results with the dog food with Amaferm®. 

“We have two pugs, and when I switched their feed, gave them the same amount that I was giving them before. They gained five pounds in three weeks! I had to cut their portions down by one-third. I have a friend with labs, and she said with the larger dogs, to cut their food down in half to prevent weight gain,” Beth said. “Their coats are shinier. The coats are the window to what is going on inside of the body.” 

Regardless of if Beth is selling VitaFerm mineral for cows, Sure Champ ® for a show customer or Vitalize Dog Gel to a small animal that has had too much afterbirth, she said word of mouth is often her best marketing tool. She said the products generally sell themselves once people see the results, just like they did for her and Michaela more than a decade ago. 

“You sell the first bag of mineral, and the cows will sell the rest,” she said. 

She has taken advantage of other marketing tools BioZyme offers and encourages others dealers to as well. She has had clients buy products after receiving the quarterly post card in the mail. She also shares the Promoboxx content and likes that it is available for her to use on her own social media. 

As a vet, she said a quality nutrition program and a good vaccination program go a long way in keeping animals healthy and being proactive is best. 

Thanks Beth for being a long-time dealer and sharing care that comes full circle!  

Letters From Lisa – June/July 2022

It has been said, your business is only as great as your people. Having the right people, in the right seats, doing the right things plays a huge role in the overall success of any business operation.

The right people are employees who share your company’s core values and help to support a culture based on those values. The right seat means that an employee is operating within their area of greatest skill and passion within an organization, says Jim Collins in his book, “Good to Great.”

To take that a step further, we don’t just want to be great. We want to WOW!

At BioZyme, we have invested heavily in our team over the last few years to be committed to excellence or more simply put, to be WOWing. We take a simplified approach that is built on the below hierarchy:

Know You

One cannot be WOWing until one looks in the mirror. At BioZyme, we use a cool tool called the Culture Index to help our team know who they and those around them are. The Culture Index is a scientific approach to the “right people, right seats” concept. Culture Index allows leaders to understand the unique needs of each employee in the organization, communicate effectively and inspire peak performance. It allows people to flourish by leveraging their strengths rather than mitigating their weaknesses.

Know Us

Much has been written about shared understanding, a state of organizational nirvana where every person has clarity on the big picture, knows how his or her own puzzle piece fits in and acts accordingly. At BioZyme, we work hard at this using B4 (an internal website focused on the big picture), Yammer (a business version of Facebook for puzzle piece sharing), monthly “big picture” snack & learns, the B4 quarterly newsletter (yes, it is in print), quarterly President “big picture” updates and regular documented team huddles for constant puzzle working. These communication tools help share information from all corners of the company. While the center of the puzzle is often the focus, corners and borders are essential.

Know the Job

Knowing one’s job is an important part of the BioZyme hierarchy. In short, a job description is a written statement that describes the duties, responsibilities and reporting relationships of a particular job. Job descriptions are useful communication tools to tell employees exactly what tasks you expect them to perform. Without such clear communication, employees may not perform to expectation, and then everyone is disappointed. At BioZyme, we review job descriptions regularly. It is a huge task, but it has been well worth it. We have found that most of the challenges we run into on a personnel level come back to the job description being unclear or the person being unsure of what the bullets in their job description mean.

Know Your Work

Performance reviews are awkward. They’re biased. Performance reviews are old fashioned, but they are still one of the most important tasks for an organization to be WOWing. To be effective, performance reviews must be done regularly to recognize and reward. At BioZyme, our Know Your Work initiative translates back to our performance review process. Our reviews are a direct tie back to the job description in an approach we have titled CONNECT. To connect means to join together to provide communication. These communications are held as a conversation that each employee has at least quarterly with their manager. In the process, each role grades themselves on their job description bullets. Their manager does the same and then the two sit down together, review and discuss any scoring differences. In the end, either the job description is updated to be more accurate or there is a discussion to outline what improvements need to be made.

Bottom line – to be WOWing one must know. To know means having the right people, in the right seats, doing the right things so they can play a huge role in the overall success of the business.

Meet the BioZyme Family

Team: Marketing Team

Leaders: Jodi Eineichner and Macall Compton

Number of people currently on your team: 11

Key Responsibilities: To create awareness and customer demand for BioZyme brands and drive those new and existing customers to dealers and distributors in their area to buy the products that help their animals perform.

List of each team members and the role they play at BioZyme:

Jodi Eineichner – Interim Director of Strategic Marketing

The Director of Strategic Marketing is responsible for overall strategy, planning and development for all BioZyme marketing activities. Jodi works directly with the marketing and sales teams to create a unified message across all brands and expand BioZyme’s market exposure and brand reputation and recognition by identifying, evaluating, recommending and implementing new strategies and initiatives.

Macall Compton – Senior Manager of Marketing Operations

Macall is responsible for the daily operation of the marketing team as it relates to all marketing activities, including organization, planning, execution, monitoring and delivery on time and within budget.

Jamie Beatty – Marketing Design Coordinator

Jamie creates graphics for print and digital content for the company and across all brands. From the VISION newsletter to banners, postcards and web graphics, Jamie is the creative mind behind a majority of the design work.

Mackinze Gray – Website & Digital Marketing Manager & assists with Vitalize K9

Mackinze helps manage the websites across all brands. From uploading content to making sure the content that is on the site is current, she is your point of contact for all things digital. She is also a member of the Merchandise Team and helps coordinate with the brand managers to create fun, new merch to help promote our brands. On top of that, she has recently started helping our Vitalize Brand Manager create content for our Vitalize K9 brand.

Shelia Grobosky – Marketing Brand Manager – Dealers & Public Relations Coordinator

Shelia wears two hats–marketing our products and services directly to the dealers as well as serving as the Public Relations Coordinator. She is responsible for writing a majority of the content on the website, writes and distributes press release to the media and edits content for the entire team.

Wyatt Marshall – Event Manager & Texas Sales Specialist

Wyatt helps our Brand Managers at events promote the brand and projects we have while attending the event. He is also tasked with helping promote our Vitalize brand in Texas and creating opportunities there to grow our sales.

Brand Managers

Brand Managers listen to customers and followers to create content and deliverables to drive engagement. Through strategic content creation, the Marketing Brand Manager will engage brand followers in-person, through strategic relationships and across social media channels to increase brand awareness and ultimately sales. The Marketing Brand Manager will know how to implement strategies (both paid and organic) for events, key relationships and on the appropriate social platforms, and work with the Digital Marketing Coordinator to utilize analytics to understand performance to optimize and adjust moving forward.Brand Managers are passionate and familiar with their species and/or area of expertise. They also work closely with their counterpart in Business Development and Sales.

Samantha Albers – Marketing Brand Manager-Small Livestock (DuraFerm and Backyard Boost)

Hayley Keck – Marketing Brand Manager – Companion

Kylie Patterson – Marketing Brand Manager – Show

Ellie Sennett – Marketing Brand Manager – Vita Charge

Katelyn Williams – Marketing Brand Manager – Beef

How does your team deliver “care that comes full circle” for BioZyme Customers:

The Marketing Team helps with “care that comes full circle” in a few ways. The largest being with our Sure Champ brand. We have our internship program that helps our Marketing Brand Manager for Show attend several events and run our booths as well as come up with content to share on social and our websites, our leadership program that helps train students to become better leaders before they enter the workforce, and the Sure Champ in the Classroom program that offers content for 4-H and FFA leaders to use to help educate the youth. On top of that we want to bring that “care that comes full circle” message to all of the brands and start creating new opportunities to really help especially in these times of need. If you have any ideas of projects, we could implement to help promote this BioZyme, message please reach out to mmaddox@biozymeinc.com.

SUPERIOR GENETICS DESERVE SUPERIOR NUTRITION

Genetics are just part of the equation. Your sheep and goat customers have likely studied long and hard to make breeding decisions, but you will want to help them ensure those decisions stick with nutrition from DuraFerm®. DuraFerm is a line of vitamin and mineral supplements for small ruminants with the Amaferm® advantage to increase fertility and conception rates resulting in more live lambs and kids, and ultimately more profit potential. When used at least 30 days prior to parturition through breeding, the formula supports quick repair of the reproductive tract, faster breed back and increased milk production for lamb and kid vigor and growth potential.

Get ‘em Bred, Keep ‘em Bred

With summer temperatures flaring up, you’ll want to be sure to promote DuraFerm Sheep Concept•Aid® HEAT®, which is especially beneficial to combat the challenges of getting ewes bred in the summer. The combination of Amaferm, the HEAT package and garlic, considered a natural insect deterrent should make this product an easy sell, especially as mosquitoes are carriers of the Cache Valley Virus. Many producers experienced detrimental effects of CVV in their 2022 lamb crop due to the excessive mosquito exposure during breeding and gestation.

Aborted fetuses, stillborn or abnormally formed lambs are all signs of CVV. The loss of a healthy lamb or kid is a financial loss for producers. Preventing mosquitoes through breeding and the first 60 days of gestation is the most effective way to prevent CVV. The garlic in the HEAT mineral is one way to prevent mosquito bites. Also encourage your producers to spray for mosquitoes and keep standing water away from their females as much as possible.

DURAFERM FOR GOATS

In addition to the three products for sheep, DuraFerm comes specially formulated in two products for goats as well. Both the DuraFerm Goat Concept•Aid and DuraFerm Goat Concept•Aid Protein Tub offer the same breeding support and Amaferm advantage as all Concept•Aid products. The Protein Tub adds 20% natural protein, especially beneficial for A.I. and E.T. programs.

ALBERS NAMED MARKETING BRAND MANAGER – SMALL LIVESTOCK

Samantha “Sam” Albers is the new Marketing Brand Manager – Small Livestock. In her role, she will focus her efforts on specifically marketing the brands of DuraFerm and Backyard Boost to sheep, goat and poultry producers nationwide.

Albers brings a strategic and creative mindset to BioZyme, as well as a well-rounded livestock background. She most recently worked at Hereford Publications Inc., for nearly four years where she collaborated with breeders to plan their marketing campaigns and sale books. She also coordinated the HPI social media accounts. She is a graduate of Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Communications and Journalism with a minor in Animal Science. She also attended Allen County Community College and was on the livestock judging team there. She was active in 4-H and FFA, and she showed sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, dogs and rabbits. Albers, a Kansas native, works from her home office in Lawson, Missouri. She enjoys photography as a hobby. She also likes cooking and creating recipes, just another creative outlet for her.

Nutrition Company Gives Back to its Customers

Working in agriculture is a natural gamble. Producers take a chance every day with the markets, weather, breeding and feeding decisions. Since we know that livestock producers are natural risk takers, BioZyme® Inc., makers of Vita Ferm® and Gain Smart® nutrition products, want to reward that risk this summer with a Lucky 7 Promotion. 

This promotion is one way to show livestock producers that we understand the challenges they are facing during these unprecedented times, and we care. For each of 7 weeks this summer, 77 winning tokens will randomly be placed into bags of product manufactured in the Saint Joseph, Missouri-plant. The “lucky” winners will receive prizes that range from caps to gift cards to $777 cash. Seven weeks x 77 tokens each week means 539 prizes.  

“Our company motto is ‘care that comes full circle,’ and this is 100% the reason we are doing this for our customers,” said Lisa Norton, BioZyme President and COO. “It’s a way to give back to producers who are feeling the effects of market volatility and supply chain instability.”  

Starting June 1, the 7 products below will have a special “Lucky 7” sticker on the outside of the bag. These specially-marked bags may contain a winning token:  

  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® 
  • VitaFerm® HEAT® 
  • VitaFerm Conserve® Garlic 
  • Gain Smart® Stocker HEAT® 
  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S with ClariFly® 
  • VitaFerm® HEAT® CTC 3G 
  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® with ClariFly® 

The tokens are biodegradable and will not hurt the livestock if ingested or the environment if not found when pouring out the mineral.  

Winning tokens must be claimed via the Lucky 7 website https://biozymeinc.com/lucky7 to receive a prize. Each winning token depicts the specific prize won and the corresponding prize number.  All prizes must be redeemed by Dec. 30, 2022. 

“My late husband Bob always loved to give back. As we continue to give back, we honor Bob, honor the company he loved and the customers he cared so much for,” she said. Bob Norton, CEO, unexpectedly passed away in April.  

For a full list of rules and eligibility for the BioZyme Lucky 7 promotion, visit: https://biozymeinc.com/lucky7.  

TELL EVERYONE: 4 WAYS TO SUPPORT YOUTH THIS SUMMER

Summer is just around the corner. For young people involved in livestock projects, summer is a busy time of the year through many parts of the country. Jackpots, county and state fairs, along with junior nationals make summer an active time for young livestock enthusiast.

Since youth make up the future of the industry and future spokes people for the livestock industry, it is important to support them and their endeavors as much as we can. Here are four simple ways to support the youth in your community this summer.

Show and Nutrition Clinic

Getting both the animals and exhibitors prepared for the showring and hopefully the backdrop doesn’t happen overnight. Many young people look to their local feed store or nutrition source as an expert for all things. So, with this in mind, why not host a fitting, showing and nutrition clinic. If you are not comfortable talking about all subjects, collaborate with others in your community. You can provide information about feed, water and overall health. Someone else can detail the fine points of skin and hair care and halter breaking. Finally, another person can demonstrate proper show-day prep with fitting and showmanship techniques.

Sponsor a Show

You probably get multiple calls through the year asking for show support. The best advice we can offer is to set some boundaries or you could be sponsoring literally every event in a six-county area. Your parameters can be driven by location, customer base, financial need or anything you choose. If you have one location in one county, perhaps you only sponsor shows in that county. If you have customers in multiple locations, maybe you choose to sponsor events where your customers are. Or perhaps you are the type of person that decides you will sponsor an event only if a young person solicits the sponsorship. Once you’ve decided what level you will serve as a sponsor at, decide how you will be a sponsor.

Will you give monetary support for prizes? Do you want a trade show booth? Do you want to sponsor back tags with your dealership name or Sure Champ® on them? Perhaps you want a banner in the showring. Maybe there is an advertisement opportunity or a combination of more than one available. Whatever you decide, be sure you get some company recognition.

Be a Buyer

Much like sponsoring a show or event, there are always ample opportunities to support livestock shows. First, you must know what your budget is and how you will divide it. Some sales want the buyer to actually purchase the animal; some offer just the premium, where you are buying the ribbon and recognition. Other sales ask for a donation and clump together people into buyers’ groups to support young people. One thing is certain. Most young people will always remember who purchased their animals, and their family is often going to support that business or group of businesses, so this is a great investment in youth with a rewarding ROI.

Be a Mentor

Every young person needs at least one solid mentor in his or her life. This chance to give back to a young person is an investment in time and will typically be the most rewarding. Is there someone in the area that is interested in sales or marketing? Do you raise a particular species and share that passion with some young 4-H or FFA member that could use some guidance? Reach out and offer your time and direction. Nothing is more valuable than having a respected figure in the community reach out to serve as a mentor. Who knows where this relationship could lead.

Supporting youth is a great marketing tool because they are the future. They are going to give you the recognition you deserve, and often the young people and their parents will turn into customers if they are not already. The support you give is just one way to show that you care, and that care does not go unnoticed.