How Can Your Business Stay Relevant?

The business world is ever-changing, and that change can happen in the blink of an eye. Regardless if you sell animal nutrition products or the latest technology, there is likely someone in the same industry as you are working to create the “next great thing.” So, how do you keep your business pertinent in today’s fast-paced world? Author Andrew Griffiths offers seven tips to stay in the lead and keep your business relevant.

  1. Be present. Being connected to your customers and building those relationships can’t happen if you are not present. Determine the best way to connect and communicate with them. Perhaps for a younger customer, they prefer to get their information from a text or from social media. Maybe you have customers that still like doing business face-to-face, with a handshake. Wherever your customers are, you need to be available to them. Even, if that means stopping by the livestock auction market or the local coffee shop. “As soon as we are disconnected from our audience in any way, our relevance starts to diminish,” Griffiths writes.
  2. Select your communication method(s) wisely. With technology, there are many ways to connect with your customers and stay top of their mind. However, the challenge is staying relevant with the communication tool that your customers prefer. Just because you like to use one social media platform to promote your business, doesn’t mean that is the one the younger generation prefers. Maybe you need to use a variety of platforms to reach all audiences, and remember that personal interaction is always a good way to connect, too. You need to make yourself adaptable and be able to reach all your customers, at whatever level they feel most comfortable.
  3. Engage your customers. It is crucial to engage with your customers and not just talk at them, having a one-sided conversation. To keep relevant in business, you need to listen to their needs and ideas. A true two-way conversation allows for real engagement with your customers and allows them to share their thoughts, ideas, needs, all especially important for sales and new product and service development to remain viable in business.

  4. Be in the know about your competition. Just like anything in business, you need to be aware of what your competition is doing, but don’t be alarmed by their actions. By knowing what the competition offers, you can explain your competitive advantage in your products, so your customers know that you are aware that you do offer the best there is available.

  5. Know the trends coming your way and be ready to take advantage of them. By staying current in the industry or industries you serve, you will be able to better help your customer. Read newsletters, listen to podcasts or talk to others to stay current on timely topics so you can better help your customers. For example, is another drought forecast in your region? How about suggesting an investment in the Amaferm® advantage, so producers can get more nutrients out of the resources they do have available.

  6. Create great marketing content that solves problems. Since there are more ways than ever before to engage with customers, the content made available to them needs to remain relevant. Answer their questions, solve their problems and help them stay informed with the industry. Not every dealer has time to create this content, so the BioZyme® Marketing Team has created relevant content for you to share via Promoboxx. Log in at www. biozymedealermktg.com to share timely tips each month for various species and use the resources that are available to you.

  7. Continually develop new products. Businesses don’t stay relevant without creating new products, and new products don’t just happen overnight. By engaging with customers and knowing their needs you can create new products that can help them succeed in their endeavors. Remember, not every new product will be an overnight success; however, your customers will appreciate the effort you put forth in trying to make something new. You might have some failures, but according to Griffiths, “Our customers will no longer crucify us for not getting things right, they will crucify us for not coming up with ‘NEW’.”

Staying relevant in business all starts with your relationships with your customers. Be aware of their needs and wants. Connect with them and help them solve their problems. As we start a new year, make plans to be here for future years, and that all starts with keeping relevant in the industry. And then, watch your business grow.

 

Letters From Lisa – January 2020

Today one of the greatest challenges we face in business is staying relevant. Consumers have far more distractions, cautions, choices, opportunities and ways to study and communicate than ever before.

I was recently presenting at the GMDC, a big conference where all the big box store retailers come to find new products. One of the key speakers was the head of Microsoft’s Business Innovation Department. Learning how they “track” consumers to get relevant intelligence about them was fascinating, actually a bit scary. However, the one thing he said that I found most amazing was that today, “data that is more than two weeks old is not relevant, so don’t study it.” With this new two week parameter, most of us will not be good at being relevant.

That definition of relevance is difficult to implement, but with an open mind, I think we can do it! Of course, the question is how. I think if we focus on the below and then have the open mind needed to change appropriately, we will get there. Yes, WE MIGHT HAVE to CHANGE. Yes, WE CAN DO IT!

  1. Spend time where your customer spends time every day.  To stay relevant, we need to make sure we are getting the right information about needs, wants, expectations etc. from our targeted audience. This means spending time with them face-to-face, spending time with them virtually, spending time with them however we can. As soon as we are disconnected from our customer in any way, our relevance starts to diminish.
  2. Connect how your customer wants to connect. There are tons of ways to communicate, the challenge when it comes to staying relevant is ensuring that we are communicating in a fashion that is relevant to our customers. If they are embracing a new social media platform and we are not, clearly there are issues ahead. We need to be nimble and flexible and connect how our customers want to connect, not how it suits us or is easy for our business’s current staff.
  3. Two way = more effective communication. If you want to be relevant, communication needs to be much more about engagement as opposed to a one-sided stream of information. We need to find a way to communicate that builds a meaningful flow of information, and that means a two-way flow. At BioZyme® we call this type of communication crosstalk. The term came to us from a 16-year-old German customer within the context of improving our social media strategies globally.
  4. Welcome critical thinking. We all know that resisting change is deadly. A culture that embraces and encourages innovative thinking to keep the business relevant is a must. We need to be aware of the signs that might suggest our culture is not as welcoming of critical thinking as we need it to be (resistance to change, lack of creative problem solving, negativity toward anything new, etc.).
  5. Embrace industry innovation. All too often we look for innovation within our own business or own industry. From my experience, we are far more likely to find innovative ideas that we can adapt and use in our own business from outside our industry. We need to become students of other industries and innovative communities (online and offline). With Google this is possible from your home late at night, so we have no excuse to not getting it done.

In simple terms, relevance provides meaning in our lives. Relevance is the full experience of a product, brand or cause that we can relate to; it’s an experience that not only changes minds, but, more importantly, changes behavior – and sustains that change.

Staying relevant has got to be one of the hardest tasks in business. Relevance focuses on results. Relevance is about the ultimate goal – triggering the desired behavior. People are awash in choices about where to spend their money and place their loyalty. If you aren’t relevant, they will go somewhere else. Please don’t let that happen.

 

Dealer Spotlight: Heritage Farm Supply

BioZyme Dealer Puts Focus on Future

With a name like Heritage Farm Supply, you’d think the business has a focus on its past, its heritage. However, just the opposite is true.

The Weaverville, N.C., farm and feed store is dedicated to helping its customers thrive and survive and ensuring there is a future in agriculture for today’s young people as well.

Store co-owner and manager Anna English said that Heritage Farm Supply first became a BioZyme® dealer because it was looking for a premium product to offer its customers. She had heard about BioZyme and its product lines, did some research, and decided their products were the right fit for her customer base. Then, once her own family started using the products, sales really started to take off.

“We use the product ourselves, so it is easy to sell the customer on a product we believe in. The biggest selling point for us is using it in our own operation, and it is easier to sell products when you use them and believe in them,” English said.

She and her family run about 100 mama cows and have started using embryo transfer and A.I. extensively. She said the VitaFerm® line has helped them achieve their goals with their cow herd, and in return, she has started reaching out to other purebred producers in the area.

English uses the assistance of her Area Sales Manager Justin O’Flaherty to help share the BioZyme message, including hosting producer meetings for cow-calf producers. She said that since the BioZyme lines are rather new to her area, the producers are willing to come learn and ask questions about them.

Another audience she is working with that will have a major impact on the future of agriculture and the future of Heritage Farm Supply is the youth in her area. English said that urban sprawl is taking over and moving toward them, away from Asheville; and it is important to continue educating youth about agriculture and its impact.

“As rocky as agriculture is right now, it is important for us to know there is a future out there, that people are getting educated in what agriculture is and what we do as an industry. If we can get kids involved, at least they will be an advocate for agriculture in the future,” she said.

Because the future is so important to English and Heritage Farm Supply, they support several youth livestock shows in the area. Since English and her family also show livestock, that was an easy outlet for them to get involved with the kids showing livestock. They are also involved in the FFA program at the local high school and do a lot with its alumni program so they can support the kids through agriculture in as many ways as possible.

Selling a premium product and supporting superior youth are both tasks that English takes to heart. She encourages new dealers and those considering selling BioZyme products not to get hung up on the price. “Don’t let the price stand in your way. It can be kind of a sticker shock, but it is a premium product and your customers will use it. The price is what sets it apart,” she said.

When you’re advocating for the future and promoting a product that helps animals succeed in life, you’re doing great things. Thanks, Anna English for displaying “care that comes full circle.”

Haul ‘Em and Charge ‘Em with Vita Charge®!

The busy winter show season is upon us, which means it is time to talk about STRESS.

Stress is a MAJOR factor that causes shifts in the gut environment, leading to digestive upset and a decrease in appetite. Show livestock are no doubt the most susceptible to stress as we haul them to and from shows, introduce them to new environments and weather changes, surround them with unfamiliar livestock and change their daily routines and feed on show day. Combat the challenges of the show environment with the quick response of Vita Charge®.

Vita Charge is a fast-acting, multi-specie livestock supplement for use during stressful times when livestock need protection or assistance in recovery. The Vita Charge product line offers versatility in many forms making application easy depending on what is best for your animal. The products’ powerful dose of vitamins, B vitamins and the Amaferm® advantage makes it the perfect fit when your livestock need protection or assistance in recovery.

When To Use: 

  • Vita Charge Gel or Liquid Boost®
    • Start administering Vita Charge Gel or Liquid Boost® 5-7 days prior to leaving for the show through the duration of the show.
  • Vita Charge Climate Control Gel
    • Even though it is cold outside, animals can still experience heat stress and changes in regular body temps as we take them in and out of temperature-controlled barns and areas.
    • Help maintain a normal body temperature with Vita Charge Climate Control Gel!
  • Vita Charge Clench
    • As the weather changes or we begin making nutritional shifts to get animals show day ready, they run a high risk for SCOURS. Help your animal recover QUICKLY from show day scours with Vita Charge Clench, a gel for all species of livestock ideal for use during diarrhea and scours treatments to support recovery, hydration and nutrient absorption.

Your Role In The Industry Matters

Too often we let our jobs define us. It is easy to do since we spend at least eight hours a day at our workplace. Many of us are guilty of introducing ourselves in an adult setting with our name, title and the place where we work. But you are more than just a worker. You are more than a salesperson, marketer, truck driver or person who works in a feed store. You are involved in agriculture, the occupation that ultimately feeds the world, and believe it or not, you are serving as a role model for others in our industry.

Young people naturally are attracted to people in their respective field. And those who are growing up on a farm or ranch or who show livestock undoubtedly interact with you on a somewhat regular basis. Believe it or not, there is somebody out there who is watching you, listening to you and maybe evening dreaming of the day they can be in your position. It is important to remember these things to set the best example possible.

You, yes you, are making an impact as a mentor and role model. Think about that. Your role and identity are much greater than just your occupation, but because of your occupation and your role in agriculture, you can impact someone else’s life. And because you are involved in the animal health and nutrition business, you have likely helped a young person or his or her parent get on the right track with a nutrition program.

Sure Champ® Ring Leader Whitney Walker from Prairie Grove, Ark., shared her positive experience with leadership opportunities on the Sure Champ blog in November.

“It’s been a really fun experience so far. I’ve had a lot more kids interact on my social media more curious than I expected about the Sure Champ line and the Sure Champ products. You’d think a lot of the times the parents make feeding decisions and what to buy, but these kids are actually invested and want to know about what their animals are eating. I’ve had a lot of them ask me what Amaferm is, and now I can actually explain to them what it is and back up how Sure Champ products work,” said the Ring Leader who is a freshman at Oklahoma State University.

No doubt that those young people got their first feeding information from those of you that this newsletter is targeted to.

And even when it doesn’t encompass livestock health and nutrition, you are still making a difference. You encourage young people to get involved with youth programs like 4-H, FFA or other junior breed associations. You support the youth by being a sports booster, buying their project animal at the fair or sponsoring awards. Sometimes it is even as simple as listening to reasons for a livestock judging team or a presentation for a national competition.

Catherine Stangl, a member of the Kingfisher FFA Chapter recalls how local businesses in her community help support the local chapter, on a regular basis, in addition to when they are preparing for big competitions.

“Our FFA chapter is very well-known, and we come from a really good community that is there for us,” Stangl said. “When we were preparing for nationals, we would go to several companies and organizations whether it was an oil company or Rotary, and we presented our skit, and they helped us make it better.”

Stangl was a member of the seven-person Ag Issues Forum team that won in Oklahoma and claimed the 2018 National Championship last October that presented a skit set to resemble a courtroom. The issue they presented was over the temporary water lines and the oil industry, an ongoing controversial topic in their home county. Stangl said she and her peers spent countless hours practicing and had wonderful community support.

“This industry is a really good industry to grow up in, and I think we all become better people toward other people, whether it’s being nice or just being there for them,” Stangl said.

Never forget your role is more than your job title. You are a role model, a supporter, a voice in the industry. You are an advocate, educator and a hero. Someone is watching you. Your job doesn’t define you, but how you treat others and serve your community does. Remember people want to know about you, your story and what you do on a daily basis, and not just your title.