Know your Checkbook: Customer Retention is a Wise Investment

As a youngster, you might have heard, “make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other’s gold.” Substitute the word friend with customer, and the same rings true. Retaining customers is a very important part of business and a wise investment if you want to watch your business continue to grow.

Returning customers give you the opportunity to provide ongoing value, develop more personalized relationships, create brand advocates, gain referrals and earn positive word-of-mouth marketing. In addition, research shows that 68% of new customers come from current ones, making it a smart move for your customers and your bottom line to keep current customers coming back.

We’re not insinuating that growing new customers isn’t important. However, it is important to invest in the current customer base that typically will spend 67% more than new customers. And it costs 16 times more to drum up new customers than it does to keep a repeat customer. Here are four ways you can invest wisely in those golden repeat customers.

Customer Outreach
Regardless of if you use a quick phone call, text or email, be sure to communicate with your customers on a regular basis. Your time can be the lowest cost investment you make to retain a customer. Keep track of their orders, and if you notice it has been a while since they ordered a particular product, give them a call. Perhaps their daughter scored the winning basket at last Friday’s basketball game, so start the conversation with a congratulations, and then move into asking if they were running low on VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® since you know they are preparing for calving season. Customer outreach is vital to retaining customers; it lets them know you care and that you really are keeping up on their program.

Customer Appreciation
Everyone enjoys being shown some appreciation and that includes your valued repeat customers. If you are hosting a customer appreciation event like an open house or an anniversary sale, be sure your local customers are aware of any promotions or sales. Provide them with a chance to come into your store, visit, shop and take advantage of any appreciation that you are showing. It will make a difference in their return.

Customer Service
Retaining customers in not always about providing the best products at the best price. It might also be about providing the best services. Perhaps they can get the same products at a neighboring town, but you stay open later to serve those who have 8 to 5 jobs. Maybe the customer likes that you help load the product into their truck, whereas your competitor just expects the customer to load the product into
their own truck. Service, both large and small, adds up and means something to the customer.

Loyalty Programs
Now, it probably doesn’t make sense to have a “punch card” for a mineral program; however, if you have a customer who is buying large quantities of product from you, you might want to show some appreciation in some form. Perhaps with every pallet, they get some swag, or some Vita Charge® Gel or a percentage off their next pallet. For every customer they refer that purchases a certain amount, they could receive a new cap and pair of gloves. Loyalty matters and rewarding loyalty will keep your customers returning and spending money with you.

Yes, investing time and money in your golden or current customers will pay in the long-term. One online article said that 80% of future profits come from 20% of current customers. Retain your current customers, and watch your business grow.

Letters from Lisa

A new year means a fresh slate. Many people say it is a good idea to start the year with a fresh perspective and focus on how to put your best foot forward. 

There’s a Buddhist parable called The Second Arrow. The story explains that in life, things that don’t go the way we desire is inevitable. This is likened to being shot by an arrow – an instance which is outside of your personal control.  

The option of pulling out that arrow and then complaining about the event is entirely on you. This is referred to as the second arrow. Here are a few tips to help you with that second arrow so you start the year with a clean slate as opposed to leaving remnants of those first arrows. 

Practice Gratitude 

Being truly grateful assists you in fresh perspective and putting your best foot forward. 

Make a No “What Ifs” Rule 

Spinning on what might have been keeps you from moving forward. Your thoughts may seem to circle back again and again to the things you think you could, or should, have done differently. When you catch yourself thinking a “what if,” just recognize that you didn’t, and move forward. 

Get Physical 

Take a weightlifting or yoga class or give one-foot barn cleaning or ballroom dancing a go. When you choose an activity that requires your focus to balance or to learn a sequence of motions, your brain will be busy doing something other than ruminating on arrow one. I really need to get this incorporated into my life in 2023.  Stay tuned for how that goes. 

Make a To-Do List 

Having a plan for today keeps you from feeling ungrounded. If you fill your day with meaningful tasks, you will have something to keep you from focused forward and grounded. This takes time, but the payoff is seriously worth it. 

Remember, Happiness is a Choice 

In every moment, you have the choice to be happy. Victor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust and founded the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy, is said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” If you are choosing your old perspective as a pattern, consciously make the decision to replace it with a fresh perspective. 

Start with a Mantra or Affirmation 

If your day begins with a thought like, “Today is the first day of the rest of my life,” or “I’m excited for what today will bring,” it keeps your focus on the present and future. Choose a positive affirmation to start each day. One of my favorite gifts during the last year was a set of Daily Prayer cards given to me by a friend who lost her husband too early as well.  Each card is a very short Bible verse focused on the good God provides.  I would say those cards have helped my perspective each day more than anything. It does work. Try it! 

Perspective – yours, mine and others – are all equally important. Take the time to know them all so you can ensure yours is fresh. 

Changes Coming in January

AMAFERM® GETS REBRANDED
With the continued growth of BioZyme® and the expansion of AO-Biotics® on the additive side of the BioZyme family of products, Amaferm® will be rebranded starting in January as AO-Biotics® Amaferm®. The great product that everyone has depended on remains the same, only the name, logo design and packaging will change. This is a rolling change that will occur on packaging, literature and websites. Watch for the new look!
PRICING UPDATES
Starting January 1, 2023, new MAP pricing goes into effect. Separate communication with the updated pricing was sent by in late 2022. If you did not receive this information or have any questions, please contact Jennifer Miller at jenmiller@biozymeinc.com.
VITALIZE® ALIMEND® UPC CODES CHANGE TO COME
The UPC code on the label of both the Vitalize® Alimend® gallons and half gallons will begin changing later in January. This change will occur as inventory of the current stock is sold, likely the third week of the month.
SMALL PACK PRODUCTS DISCONTINUED
The following small pack items are being discontinued in the new year. Limited quantities are available, but once they are gone, they will no longer be manufactured.
Vita Charge® Neonatal
Vitalize® JumpStart
Backyard Boost® Defense 16oz
Vita Charge® HydraBoost™ AVX
Vita Charge® HydraBoost™ AVX RTU

Dealer Spotlight: Darlington Feed, LLC

Show us a dealer with ambition, a wide network of diverse producers and a willingness to use the tools provided, and we’ll show you Darlington Feed, LLC. Matt Weigel at Darlington, Wisconsin, has been a BioZyme dealer for nine years, and says the best thing about the BioZyme products is that they always do what they say they will.

“I’m not selling them anything. I feel like I am helping my customers,” he said. “Whenever I am talking to anyone – in the store or somewhere else, I ask them ‘how are things at the ranch?’. They will always tell you what is wrong, then you know what to offer them to help them. It’s a simple conversation starter to help them.”

Weigel and his staff are helping a diverse group of producers. He said his team does a great job and is always confident selling the BioZyme products, knowing the products will do what they are needed to do.

One of his most popular products is VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S; however, the Vita Charge® Clench Gel is also increasing in demand with the dairies in his area. Dairy producers like to keep 2-3 cases of Clench Gel on hand when calving.

Another event that has grown for Darlington Feed is Chick Days, and Weigel has seen the benefits of putting Backyard Boost® in his chicks’ water.

Not only does he recognize the diversity and quality of products that he gets from BioZyme, but he also appreciates the presence that the marketing and sales staff offers from the tools they provide from signage and training.

“Everything is there for you to use. You just have to use it,” he said.

In 2022, Weigel was able to build his own store, giving customers a brighter, neater shopping experience. He said the investment shows his customers there is security in his business, and he intends to be able to provide them service for the long haul.

In addition to building his own store front, he has partnered with Eastland Feed, who has the ability to manufacture feed for him and adds Amaferm® to rations when customers request it.

BioZyme is proud to have ambitious, young dealers who use the tools that are offered to them to provide care that comes full circle. Thanks, Darlington Feed, for being a BioZyme dealer!

We Aren’t Competing with Santa!

Due to the holidays, there will be no scheduled freight pickups or shipments from BioZyme today (Thursday, December 22) through Monday, December 26.

We will ship again next Tuesday & Wednesday,

To ensure you receive the freshest product, in the timeliest manner, there is also no shipping or pick-up the following days:

  • Thursday, December 29 to Monday, January 2, 2023

We will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

Know your Checkbook: It is more Blessed to Give than to Receive

In our household, the second grader regularly reminds her dad and me that “sharing is caring.” This bold statement can be applied to something small like sharing her apples with me while she eats her popcorn on Sunday night or agreeing to fill a few extra shoeboxes for boys and girls during Operation Christmas Child during the holidays. In other words, she enjoys sharing and knows the importance of it.

As we approach the holiday season, it seems like there are numerous opportunities to give. You can give your time, you can give gifts, you can give blood. You can give as an individual, a family or a business. Giving can be a spontaneous gesture like dropping a donation in the red kettle or it can be planned. Any way you give this season, and throughout the year, remember that it is indeed “more blessed to give than receive.”

Not only will you be blessed as you give, giving is healthy. Studies have shown there are several health benefits to giving. They include lower blood pressure, less anxiety and depression and increased self-esteem. Anytime you can do something good for others and improve your own health, that seems like a win-win.

Giving also makes us happy. Research shows that giving both money and time provides humans an emotional surge because feeling good is a product of doing good. It’s built into our neurochemistry. Giving triggers feel-good chemicals like endorphins, dopamine and oxytocin. And it’s true across cultural and economic lines, too, according to a Harvard Business School study.

Who doesn’t want to reduce their stress levels? It turns out that giving also lowers your stress. When we are overall happier, we are less stressed. Studies also show that volunteering and giving to others can help us with improved self-esteem and can reduce cases of depression.

Giving is contagious. Have you heard of paying it forward? It is a real phenomenon. It feels pretty amazing to be in the fast food or coffee line, and when you get to the window to pay, the clerk announces that the car in front of you has paid for your order. Because of your happiness, and the fact that giving is contagious, you will likely pay for the person behind you. It is a true chain reaction.

Giving builds relationships. If you give your money, time or material gifts, you must have a connection to an individual or an organization that you believe in. That contact is someone you can build a relationship with. You never know where that relationship can lead. It could lead to further relationships, a future employee or customer.

As you can see, the benefits of giving are many. Not only are you helping others, but you are also reaping the rewards, too, in terms of better health, less stress and more happiness. It truly is better to give than receive. There are numerous opportunities to give around the holidays. Give where you can.

Know your Customer: Help your Customer Set Goals for the New Year

As we start thinking about closing out this year and preparing for a new one, there isn’t much time to reflect on the past. We need to start looking ahead to what we want to achieve in 2023, and our customers are not any different. They are likely going to rely on you – their feed and supplement dealer – for some good nutrition advice. You know about their program and understand their challenges.

Once you do understand the overarching goals for their program, it is a good idea to ask them if they have planned out their year to see how they can best make progress. A good method to establishing goals

is to make sure that they are S.M.A.R.T. Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. Let’s explore how you can help your customers set goals that match this set of criteria.

SPECIFIC

Help your customers define as many details for their goals as possible. Who is involved? Is there a deadline? Where and when will these goals be achieved? For instance, maybe you have a customer who is planning their first production sale. A very specific goal could be to host a production sale in March to sell 40 yearling bulls and average $4,000.

MEASURABLE

Every goal that is set should have a unit of measurement to indicate success. For example, your customer doesn’t just want to breed a majority of his or her cows. The measurable goal would be to have 95% conception rate.

ATTAINABLE

It is great to dream big; however, goals should be set that can be reached. Remember, Rome was not built in a day, and goals likely won’t be achieved overnight either.

RELEVANT

The goals defined should align with the overall goals of the operation. If the operation wants to raise bulls that produce high-performance calves for the feedlot, the owner or manager probably wants to focus on sires that have desirable growth and carcass traits. A goal to have 100% conception rates isn’t relevant if your customer puts one 2-year-old bull out with 50 cows.

TIME-BOUND

Make sure every goal set has a deadline and work ambitiously to meet those deadlines. Take that one step further and expand your goals to include short-term and long-term goals. Perhaps a short-term goal for the operation is to purchase a new a ram before breeding season (within two months). A long-term goal might be to host an on-farm club lamb sale in the spring (within the next year).

Now is a great time to work with your customers to help them set S.M.A.R.T. goals for their next production year. It’s always good to encourage writing down the goals where they will see them on a regular basis and posting deadlines that they can measure on a calendar that they also see regularly. Make sure their goals include a quality nutrition program. They will thank you, and you can watch your business grow.

#MasterDealerMonday

Congratulations to the following for completing advanced levels of the Master Dealer Program in November:

Master Dealer Chapter 3

  • Boyce Feed & Grain Corp
  • Lazy JB Cattle Works

Master Dealer Chapter 4

  • 5 F Feed
  • Circle Z Farms
  • Foxfire Feed LLC
  • Straightway Farm Services
  • Falling Timber Farm LLC
  • Diamond H Land & Cattle
  • Boyce Feed & Grain
  • Renew Ag Supply
  • Sayre Farmers Cooperative Gin Association
  • All Creatures Mobile Clinic
  • Gillespie Feed & Farm Supply