Category: What’s New

Nathan Gillespie was looking for a more convenient source of the BioZyme® products to use on his family’s operation, Gillespie Farms. His brother suggested that he become a dealer so the products they had relied on for their farm would be right outside their back door. With a little convincing and after visiting with his Area Sales Manager at the time, Nathan decided to become a dealer, and in the three years since, he has grown his business substantially each year. He is also teaching his 16-year-old son, Morgan, about the business. The high school sophomore helps his dad with the warehouse when he can and has learned about the products at the same time.

Although Nathan says that he doesn’t spend many advertising dollars, he attributes his growth as a dealer to two key areas – a familiarity of the products from using them on his family’s farm and using the resources that BioZyme offers him.

“We try to use everything we sell in some aspect. It helps being able to talk about the products, especially the VitaFerm® Gain Smart® lines and the Vita Charge® Stress Tubs,” Nathan said. “We’ve had some tough sales to some people around here, trying to convince them that certain products work, if you give them more than 60 days. That’s been a challenge. People feed their mineral for 60 or 90 days while they get their cows bred, and then we don’t ever see them again until the next year when it’s time to breed again. I don’t know how it works for them, but it doesn’t work for us. That’s been the biggest challenge, convincing people they need to stick the course to see the true results.”

The Gillespie family has experience with most of the product lines, except Vitalize®, as they don’t have horses. However, they run purebred Hereford cows, and Nathan’s dad backgrounds calves. Nathan and his brother feed out freezer beef. He also raises Boer goats – both show wethers and commercial does.

In addition to believing in the products, which helps him spread the word to others in the area, Nathan is an advocate for the programs and services that the company offers its dealer network. He credits his relationship with his Area Salas Manager Ty McGuire for some of his new sales growth.

“Ty has taken me into some areas where I didn’t know many people and introduced me to some new customers. We can make sales calls together, which helps. We communicate 3-4 times a week, either by text or phone call. He is always available and willing to help out,” Nathan said.

The ties to his ASM have helped him meet people, but other programs have helped Nathan build his product knowledge. He completed the Master Dealer Training Program this spring and said that has helped him learn more in-depth about each product line, and how each might help specific customers with their needs. He also conducts producer meetings to introduce other producers in the area to the products, with the goal of starting more targeted meetings, perhaps one for feeders and one more focused on the cow-calf producer.

“Take time to know your customers,” Nathan advises. “Find out what their needs are and then suggest the right products for them so they will get the biggest bang for their bucks.”

Nathan Gillespie became a dealer to fulfill his needs of having a product he relies on readily available to him. In the meantime, he’s been helping others in his area meet their needs too. With continual growth, Nathan understands thinking like his customers and using all the resources available to him.

Balancing their Business is a Labor of Love

When you can whole-heartedly see the results of a product and can believe in that product and the company that makes it, it is easy to say “yes” to becoming a dealer, even if it means balancing that with full-time careers and a herd of cattle.

That’s exactly what the mother-daughter duo at Foxfire Feed LLC, Pinetown, N.C., has done, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. Mother, Sandra Boyd, works as a secretary for their 5,000-acre row crop farming operation; her oldest daughter, Melinda, is an agronomist, and her youngest daughter and resident-showman, Madison, is away at school at Oklahoma State University. Together, they all work to promote and market feed and mineral and manage the cow herd.

“We just do this on the side, on the weekends, in the afternoons, whenever we get a chance, It’s a fun ‘little hobby’,” Melinda chuckles.

Their little hobby of being BioZyme® dealers started about four years ago. They are dealers for Roy Umbarger & Sons Show Feed and had been purchasing the Sure Champ® products from Umbarger for their own use and having great results with them. Once they started using the products, they were eager to start selling the products. The rest is, as they say, history.

“That worked out really well for us, and now we are selling more than we ever imagined! We just really trusted the products that we purchased, and we wanted to share them with everyone in our area. We first were using the Vita Charge® Cattle Drench and the Sure Champ Cattle.” Melinda said.

She adds that the products speak for themselves, and their success combined with that of their customers has been the best marketing tool that Foxfire Feed has used. She said when they travel to shows, people will often ask them what they do to keep their cattle looking so good.

“We don’t tell them all of our secrets, but we do tell them about the BioZyme products. The Sure Champ keeps them on feed, the green cattle drench, Vita Charge, is really a miracle worker when they do go off feed or are in stressful situations. We use the drench before every show, and we use Vita Charge Climate Control before every show because the heat and humidity are really big factors here in Eastern North Carolina. People notice our livestock and our customers’ livestock. They like what they see, and they buy it from us,” Melinda said.

Not only are they involved in showing their own livestock, but the Boyd family also provides sponsorship to some of the shows in the state. Melinda said the show industry is rapidly growing in Eastern North Carolina. Providing sponsorship to some of the shows not only puts the Foxfire Feed name out there, but it lets their customers know that they believe in them, as much as they believe in the products that the Boyds sell.

She does suggest that anyone that is interested in being a dealer should use the products first, as it helped her family have a greater understanding of how and why they work. However, if that isn’t always possible, she said the resources that BioZyme offers the dealers make being a dealer easy, especially with a busy schedule.

She said the Master Dealer Training Program is great at further explaining products, and the entire staff has been willing to help their dealership during their busy times. Their ASM Justin O’Flaherty always is willing to help them when they have a question.

“The whole company is very helpful if we need something. And with the time management that we have to figure out, it is a juggling act for all of us, that’s for sure,” Melinda said.

Being an outstanding BioZyme dealer is one thing that the Boyds of Foxfire Feed have definitely figured out. They give back to those who trust and use their products and rely on the many resources offered to the dealer network. They are passionate about the products and excited to share them with others. They truly are dealers that exemplify “care that comes full circle.”