321 How to Engage Customers While They Wait — Improving the Bulk Meat Buying Experience

Summary

My Digital Farmer Podcast - Episode 321 Summary

Title: How to Engage Customers While They Wait — Improving the Bulk Meat Buying Experience
Host: Corinna Bench
Guest: Brianne Detweiler, Chesapeake Valley Farm
Release Date: July 16, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 321 of the My Digital Farmer Podcast, host Corinna Bench delves into the challenges faced by bulk meat producers in maintaining customer engagement during extended waiting periods. Featuring a candid one-on-one coaching session with Brianne Detweiler of Chesapeake Valley Farm, Corinna offers actionable strategies to keep customers warm and excited while they anticipate their bulk meat orders over a six-month timeframe.

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Brianne's Challenges in Bulk Meat Sales

Brianne Detweiler opens the discussion by outlining the core issue her farm faces: customers are eager to purchase bulk beef, but there’s typically a six-month wait before delivery. This extended period poses a risk of losing new customers who haven't yet committed with a down payment.

Brianne Detweiler [07:55]:
"A lot of the issue is that the customer is like super ready to buy and they sign up and it's typically almost a six-month wait until they actually receive their quarter beef, half beef, whole."

Despite a relatively low customer loss rate, Brianne is concerned about the new clientele slipping through the cracks due to inadequate engagement during the waiting period.

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Crafting the Customer Success Path

Corinna introduces the concept of the "excite phase" within the customer value journey, emphasizing the importance of nurturing relationships post-purchase but pre-delivery to ensure customer retention and satisfaction.

Corinna Bench [10:38]:
"This conversation sounds like you want it to be more about what kind of content or assets communication can I build once they've already said I want to do this to keep them to excite the customer."

The goal is to create a structured success path that keeps customers informed, excited, and engaged from the moment of purchase until they receive their product.

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Strategies to Engage Customers During the Wait Time

1. Educational Content and Email Drips

Corinna and Brianne discuss the implementation of a staggered email strategy to deliver valuable content periodically. This approach ensures customers remain engaged and informed about their upcoming purchase.

Corinna Bench [14:22]:
"I kind of see this being mostly done through email."

Suggested content includes:

• How-To Videos: Brief tutorials explaining the bulk meat ordering process, cut selections, and preparation tips.
• Cut Lists and Guides: Providing detailed information on different meat cuts to educate customers and reduce decision fatigue.
• Freezer Preparation Tips: Guides on organizing and preparing freezers to accommodate bulk meat deliveries.

2. Visual Timelines and Roadmaps

Creating a visual representation of the entire bulk meat process helps manage customer expectations and provides clarity on each step from purchase to delivery.

Corinna Bench [24:22]:
"A visual timeline of the process. I could just do that quick in canva."

Brianne agrees that a visual timeline on the bulk buying page could enhance customer understanding and reassurance.

3. Practical Tips and Tutorials

Providing practical advice and resources ensures customers feel supported throughout the waiting period.

• Freezer Organization: Tips on maintaining an organized freezer to manage bulk meat effectively.
• Cooking Guides: Detailed recipes and cooking techniques tailored to various meat cuts, helping customers make the most of their purchases.

Corinna Bench [22:58]:
"Offering a beginner's guide to cooking lean beef. Include two to three favorite recipes."

4. Utilizing Videos and Testimonials

Incorporating multimedia content such as unboxing videos and customer testimonials can significantly boost engagement and trust.

Corinna Bench [34:06]:
"What about like a video unboxing. Does that make sense? Like here's, I just picked it up, here's where it is."

Brianne highlights the value of using customer selfies and unboxing experiences to create relatable and authentic content.

5. Incentives and Contests

Encouraging customers to participate in photo contests or share their experiences can foster a sense of community and promote the farm organically.

Corinna Bench [38:20]:
"If you turned it into a contest... they chose one person out of whoever had done this every week and they got a prize."

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Leveraging Technology Tools

Corinna recommends utilizing tools like ChatGPT for content generation and Mailchimp for email automation to streamline the engagement process.

Corinna Bench [35:52]:
"You could Build them over on your YouTube channel in a playlist... link the graphic. So if they click on the graphic, it takes them right to the YouTube video."

Brianne expresses concerns about the technical aspects of setting up email automations but is encouraged to learn and implement them with Corinna's guidance.

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Addressing Common Issues and FAQs

Brianne identifies frequent customer inquiries, such as:

• Cooking Specific Cuts: Customers often seek guidance on preparing particular cuts like brisket.
• Freezer Capacity: Concerns about having adequate freezer space for bulk meat.
• Invoice Transparency: Clarifying cost breakdowns and payment schedules to alleviate financial apprehensions.

Brianne Detweiler [22:49]:
"One of the biggest ones is how to cook a brisket. Someone like drove to the farm after they bought it and I'm like, I don't know how to cook this."

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Actionable Takeaways

By integrating the strategies discussed, farmers can enhance customer retention and satisfaction during long wait periods. Key actions include:

1. Implementing a Structured Email Sequence: Utilize educational content, timelines, and cooking guides to keep customers informed and engaged.
2. Creating Visual and Multimedia Content: Develop videos, unboxing experiences, and testimonial compilations to build trust and excitement.
3. Engaging Customers Through Incentives: Launch contests and encourage customer-generated content to foster community and promote the farm.
4. Leveraging Automation Tools: Use platforms like ChatGPT and Mailchimp to streamline content creation and email marketing efforts.

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Conclusion

Episode 321 provides invaluable insights into maintaining customer engagement for bulk meat producers. By adopting a comprehensive customer success path that includes regular, informative communication and interactive content, farmers like Brianne can ensure their customers remain excited and loyal throughout the waiting period. Corinna Bench’s expertise offers a roadmap for transforming potential customer drop-offs into sustained, profitable relationships.

For more detailed strategies and resources discussed in this episode, visit MyDigitalFarmer.com and explore Episode 321’s show notes.

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Notable Quotes:

• Brianne Detweiler [07:55]:
  "A lot of the issue is that the customer is like super ready to buy and they sign up and it's typically almost a six-month wait until they actually receive their quarter beef, half beef, whole."

• Corinna Bench [10:38]:
  "This is almost like a success path."

• Corinna Bench [14:22]:
  "I kind of see this being mostly done through email."

• Corinna Bench [34:06]:
  "What about like a video unboxing. Does that make sense?"

• Corinna Bench [35:52]:
  "You could Build them over on your YouTube channel in a playlist... link the graphic."

• Brianne Detweiler [22:49]:
  "One of the biggest ones is how to cook a brisket."

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Prepared by Corinna Bench of My Digital Farmer Podcast.

Transcript

[Corinna Bench]

What do you do when a customer says yes to your product but the delivery is still six months away? This week I'm sharing a one to one coaching call with one of my farm marketing school students, a pastured meat producer, and we workshop how to build a customer success path that will keep your buyers warm and excited before they ever get the product. Let's dive in. Hey there, this is Corinna Bay. Hi, I'm Bench and welcome to the My Digital Farmer Podcast. In today's market, it's not enough to just grow your product, you've got to know how to sell it too. Welcome to the My Digital Farmer Podcast where we reveal online marketing strategies and tips to help farmers like you get better and more confident at marketing, learn how to find more customers, increase your sales, and build a strong brand for your farm. Let's start the show well. Welcome to episode 321 of the My Digital Farmer Podcast. I'm your host Corinna Bench, one of the farmers at Shared Legacy Farms out in Elmore, Ohio. I'm also the founder of mydigitalfarmer.com which is all about trying to help other farmers like you get more confident in your marketing and sales strategy so that you can grow a profitable business. How's everyone doing today? Welcome back to the show. A big shout out to all of my regular listeners. If you're new to the show, I'm really glad you're here today. This is going to be a good one. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast and go check out my first 10 episodes, especially if you are new to the marketing lingo because they were designed to be an on ramp into the marketing space. Another great place to go and learn the ropes is by getting onto my email list. It's free and go to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe and I will send you something to your inbox roughly every four or five days for like three months. And it's basically going to walk you through the key principles you need to to know. I'm going to point you to some podcast episodes that are really good and foundational. I'll share some links with you, some influencers you should be following. Resources, swipe files, examples, templates, actual things you can copy and paste for your own business. Really good stuff so you can subscribe again by going to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe Today's podcast is sponsored by my friends @localline. If managing orders, customers and inventory feels chaotic this season, it might be time for a better System. Local Line is the all in one sales platform built for farms and food hubs. Whether you're selling direct to consumer or managing wholesale buyers, or running a CSA with tools like E commerce, automated inventory management, subscriptions, barcode scanning, box builder and pos, localline helps you simplify operations and grow your sales. In fact, farmers using localline increase their annual sales by 23% and boost their average order size by 9.5%. Switching is easy. No setup fees, no sales commissions, and your onboarding manager will migrate your storefront for free. No joke, so that you can get started without missing a beat. As a podcast listener, you'll also get one premium feature for free for a full year when you use my code MDF2025 at checkout. So head to mydigitalfarmer.com localline use that coupon code and you'll be on your way. Start selling smarter this season with localline. And now back to the show. Well, today's going to be a great episode because I'm interviewing one of the members of farm Marketing school, Brianne Detweiler, and she has a farm called Chesapeake Valley Farm and it's located in northeastern Pennsylvania. They do premium beef, pork, chicken, bulk ordering on farm pickup, local delivery. And one of the things that I offer in Farm Marketing school, after you've been in there a certain number of months, is a free one to one bonus. Call with me for 30 minutes where you can talk about anything you want. And we brainstorm together or sometimes it's just coaching or inspiration. And so Brianne reached out and we had one of these one to one calls and the topic that we discussed is what you're going to hear in today's episode. When we got to the end of it, I thought it was so good. I was so energized. I felt like it was helpful and it had unlocked her and given her some very specific things to do. So I reached out to her and I asked her, would it be okay if I shared that recording with my podcast audience? Some of you who are meat producers especially, I think are going to get a lot of practical ideas from this call because what she wanted to discuss was what is called the excite phase. This is the, the phase in the customer value journey. Excuse me, after somebody buys, how do you take good care of them? How do you make sure they know how to use your product? How do you get them ready and how do you basically deliver a success path for them? Now she's facing a little bit of a dilemma because she has customers who want to buy a side of beef from her, but she often doesn't have the product ready for them for six months. And so what do you do with these customers? In some cases, they haven't even put down a down payment. How do you keep them warm? How do you keep them interested and reel them in so that when it's time and you have the product ready, they are, they're, they're ready to go, they're ready to put their money down and they're feeling really excited and confident about the process. So she wanted some help with what is it that I could be doing in this six month time period where they're waiting? How could I warm some of them up? How could I make sure they stay with me with some of the content we could be sharing and teaching what's, what are the roadblocks that they're facing. And so this was a very specific conversation around what I call the success path for a customer in that kind of a sales funnel. Now, you might not be a meat producer. That's okay. I still think that listening to this episode will be instructional because you'll hear the principles that are going on. Every now and then we drop a little bombshell of a principle that I think is applicable to any kind of agriculture business. And I want you to look through with this, this episode through the lens of your business. Like, what am I learning from Brianne's story? And how does this apply to my own version of creating a success path for my customer? What could that look like? What are some of the questions that I could be asking to help me figure out the things that I could be saying to a person either after they've purchased to make sure they keep coming back, or before they purchase to make them want to purchase. Okay. So I think this is a really good conversation and I hope that you get a lot out of it. I'll jump in at the very end to share my final thoughts. So here we go. Cool. So what are we talking about today? You have about 30 minutes and I'm here to serve.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Thanks. Yeah, I was going to show you. So part of our business, we do like bulk bulk purchasing. So that's like bulk beef freezer orders, like a whole half or a quarter.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah.

[Brianne Detweiler]

And I did a, like the funnel, the ideal journey for the bulk buyer. And I think I just would like some time to brainstorm about it. So a lot of the issue is that, you know, the customer is like super ready to buy and they sign up and it's typically almost a Six month, month wait until they actually receive their quarter beef, half beef, whole. And we don't lose a lot of customers, but we have some that slip through the cracks because I'm not engaging with them through that wait time. Like, they're excited, they want to do it, they find us and then it's like, oh, well, it's going to take us some time to, to get that to you. And how we have it, which, I mean, ultimately we'd like to kind of change how we do it. I'd rather just have like a huge launch period and fill all the spots. But we have it open year round because we finish all year round. And I don't, we don't want to cap it quite yet in our business and how many we can. Can raise a year. So we're usually doing about 50 animals in bulk for bulk beef. So, yeah, I guess I can share with you my, my sales funnel. I was thinking earlier this morning when I was doing chores, like, we've lost one customer once because their freezer wasn't ready. And if there was like a challenge where throughout that time frame that they're waiting, that maybe there's like, clean out your freezer challenge, like get your freezer prepped for this or a lot of people have a roadblock because they don't know what size freezer they need and maybe they need some time to prep or get ready for it. So maybe it looks like that I send them in emails throughout the process to keep them engaged and excited and like moving forward with it or. Yeah, I just don't know how to keep people excited for that long period of time. I mean, we have a lot of repeat people who are just like, yeah, I always do this, like this month. So. But the new customers, which is really building our business is what I want to keep engaged so that I don't. They don't fall off the trail.

[Corinna Bench]

Okay, so this conversation, it sounds like you want it to be more about what kind of content or assets communication can I build once they've already said I want to do this to keep them to excite the customer. This is more like the excite phase a little bit. Right. And get them ready so that by the time they get the product, they're successful with it. So this is almost like a success path.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Unless there's, I mean, I think there's definitely some holes in the beginning of the path for sure. But at this point we can't really keep up with the demand that we have. So I'M okay with the holes. I'm just more concerned about the people who say, yeah, they want it, that when it's time for them to get it, that they actually.

[Corinna Bench]

Now they do pay you like a deposit before this or is this part. Is part of this. You need to keep them warm because you don't collect payment until.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, so I need to keep them warm because we don't collect a down payment. And I've mentioned it to my husband that we should, but I think he's a little bit. I think the risk behind it if something were to happen to the animals that I don't think we're quite there yet. And he feels enough confident that he would take down payments, which is probably just his over a block, that he feels that he would. Doesn't want to do that.

[Corinna Bench]

Could you. I mean, do you have the capacity if something were to happen to the animal that you could refund the person? Or is that part of the issue too?

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Yeah.

[Corinna Bench]

Is it a cash flow thing?

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, I think it would be better even if we had better cash flow if they had to put a deposit down, but we have so many repeat people. I would have to redo that whole system and I can't do that right now in the middle of the summer. So I think it's in the game towards. For sure.

[Corinna Bench]

Even if you move towards, like, let's not talk about that today, but maybe in the fall or whenever, like you're. Anybody who comes in new, comes into the new system and you could beta test. Beta test it. That's a thought too. Just work out the kinks before you roll it out to all these people. And then there's something broken about it. You only.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah.

[Corinna Bench]

Work on it with a few people. Okay.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Well.

[Corinna Bench]

Congratulations on being the kind of product that you don't have trouble selling it. That's first of all pretty awesome. So.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, well, yeah, thanks.

[Corinna Bench]

I mean, I mean, let's focus on that. There are a lot of people, farmers who just can't even find demand. Right. Can't even find people to buy. So. All right, so you want to brainstorm things that you could be doing during the wait period. Is that what you want to use this time for?

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yes.

[Corinna Bench]

Did you want to. You want to show me something actually on the screen or.

[Brianne Detweiler]

I will share my screen next up. Okay. Share. The highlighted areas are the things that I would like to improve on. So some of my ideas were, you know, another roadblock that they have or something that they have to do and complete is their custom cut sheet and we do consultation calls. So they usually will schedule a call with us before they actually call the butcher and I will know, give them recommendations. I have like a handout. They get all this stuff, but I could be engaging with them about it beforehand.

[Corinna Bench]

Yes.

[Brianne Detweiler]

I just don't know how that would look. Maybe some like how to videos. Like if you were going to buy beef in bulk, what would you want to know?

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah. So I kind of see this being mostly done through email.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

And then each email is. Could link off to a video. Right. That. That lives on YouTube or something. For sure. If I were in their shoes, I would want to see an example of a recommended cut. I'd want to see what the cut list even looks like. So even just sending that and explaining to. To me like, hey, there's this thing called a cut list. This is what we're going to talk through on a call and I'm sending it to you right now so you can look at it. And a quick, very short video about like how we would. How what we're going to talk about how we would fill this out so that, that would be the kind of like I don't want that to be a long video, but just something so that I'm not seeing it for the first time when I'm talking with you so I have a chance to educate my. Oh, that this is how it's even organized by the different primal cuts. I don't even like, I actually don't know how they're. How they're put together on your list. But if I see a word on the list and I don't recognize it, then I have a chance to look that up before I call with you so I don't look stupid.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah. So even just delivering the cut list, if you want a little bonus would be to include a video link in that email. It says, here's where I explain, you know, how it's structured and how to fill it out. Maybe in another email, the one after that, you could say, you could even tease it in the PS of the first one. You could say, I'm going to send you a recommended first timer cut list and how I think you should fill it out. Like just take, take away my decision fatigue and say start here. And then I at least have a baseline that I can tweak it a little bit. But I know that, oh, most people usually get this much of ground beef because I have no idea.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, this is good. Yeah. Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

I would also want to know I think it would be helpful to see an actual freezer, like a photo of a freezer with or, or a giant like Rubbermaid tote that is holding all the stuff. So I can visually see how much is £100 or whatever. Like, I don't have a good gauge of that initially. And then I'm gonna, what I'm gonna do is try to imagine that in my freezer and I'm gonna go, oh, my freezer's not big enough. Right. So just giving them some kind of a picture and then connecting the dots for them and saying, hey, make sure you're. That you have enough room. Here's a common problem that our first time customers have. They don't have enough space in their freezer and we want to make sure that you do. So you might need to, you might need to get a new freezer and then you can even like send them off to links. They could be affiliate links even where you make some money off them if they choose one of those options.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, my, one of my biggest lead magnets is actually our freezer storage guide, which I have pictures of all of our meat, like on the table. What a quarter is a half or a whole. But some people don't pick that.

[Corinna Bench]

I was gonna say they don't always read it. So I would still make it its own thing.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah. Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

You can repeat content. That's okay.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

You could also have, I mean, you got, you got up to six months. You could be dripping stuff out every couple weeks. Right. Just to keep them into it. But like, you could be doing individual emails about individual cuts that are going to be in the cut list that are maybe a little bit unusual. So that if you educate them in advance about how cool they are and what you can do with them, they might keep them on the cut list and not just turn it into ground beef. Even the very fact that you can turn just about everything into ground beef was not something I knew.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

Like, that was very freeing to be like, oh, okay, well, I can just. If I don't want a brisket, like I could just go, you know, or, or sauce, you know, I could sausage pretty much any. Like you just, just that little gem could be its own email. Like, hey, in case you didn't know.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

And you could kind of give the downside to that. Like, hey, you're getting rid of a. I really don't want to grind up a T bone steak, but you know, I could.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

I'm looking at your list here. Yeah.

[Brianne Detweiler]

All the retail cuts, sending them Something in the mail. I thought about that like. But that also I would like to do as a gift when they come to purchase. Like give them a freezers. I want to make a. A freezer sticker to put on their freezer that has our QR code to rebuy. I'd like that to be a gift and then maybe like, I don't know, an apron or like increase the gift value as they continue to rebuy is an idea.

[Corinna Bench]

Yes. So what about this is more expensive but I wonder if you could build it into the price of the product. A freezer thermometer.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

Like a. Or an alarm I guess because I've had that happen where I purchased and then I lost the entire freezer.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

And I, I want to say they're like 20 to 30 bucks but. Or you could offer it as a upsell where they have to purchase it through you.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

And maybe you make a little bit of money on it too. But that might even be a tip that you. That you put in there that wouldn't it suck if you lost it all? If you lost it all. And here's what almost everybody does. They have a freezer alarm for this purpose. So maybe not a freezer thermometer, but more like the freezer alarm. That's what actually. What. What I actually meant other gifts. So I've had this top conversation before with farmers and they've talked about.

[Brianne Detweiler]

What.

[Corinna Bench]

Are those called the. The mitts.

[Brianne Detweiler]

The oven mitts.

[Corinna Bench]

Oven mitts. Or just because if they're grilling or like the warmer. The warm pot warmers. Like something that they might use if they were grilling a cutting board that has their. The brand on it somehow. I'm just sharing ideas that I've heard from other people. Seasoning packets. So grilling that's kind of. That would be cheap too I think for you to give them some season barbecue seasoning or I would be excited to get a. A seasoned salts or something. And that's only costing you a few bucks in my first package. Maybe like how to marinade just marinade recipe. I'm just brainstorming marinade recipes. Or for chicken or this is just beef. Right.

[Brianne Detweiler]

We do bulk and it all but beef is probably the more.

[Corinna Bench]

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Because if you're getting big cuts, some of those are tougher cuts and you might want to have someone tell you this is how you make those taste really good. And sometimes you have to marinate them. So here's a guide of three recipe my go to recipes for marinating or whatever. Or maybe there's just one. Go to recipe. What else, what else does. Where. When you have people ask you questions, what are the questions they're bringing up to you?

[Brianne Detweiler]

One of the biggest one is how to cook a brisket. Someone like drove to the farm after they bought it and we're like, I don't know how to cook this. So we. That would be a good one.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Or they messed up and then they came back and they're like, oh, I did this wrong. What did I do wrong? And I told them so, like, don't mess it up. This was a high cost cut. This is how you don't mess it up. A lot of people, even just like a lot of people get confused on. Okay, so where do I pick up the meat and do I go to the butcher and pick it up? Or do I go to the fridge farm, which I send a very detailed email, like when the animal leaves the farm. But I could probably do a better job of prepping them and getting them like all that like nervous jitters, like, I never did this and where do I go? And instead of them waiting till like the last minute almost.

[Corinna Bench]

Yes, that's good. So you're talking about the timing of.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Some of this information, like dates and timings.

[Corinna Bench]

Because they're already like four months out and they're just wondering when is she even going to tell me?

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, like which on our end, sometimes that's a little hairy. And that's kind of why I waited out. But do you have a point in.

[Corinna Bench]

The process where you show them basically a visual map? Like, here's. I'm about to start barraging you with emails over the next few months, but here is an overview of what happens over the next five months. Like, do you have something like that that kind of breaks it down and says step one and then so that they see a timeline? No, I'm just wondering if that would be a helpful.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, visual. A visual timeline. I could even do that on our bulk buying page. Like our bulk page where they sign up.

[Corinna Bench]

Time, because then that becomes the first time they see that information. And then when you reiterate it after they purchase it, it's the second time they hear it. And it creates more reassurance that you're holding their hand. And then you know, the week or two before it's actually going to happen, you're. You're there in the inbox saying, okay, now we're coming up on this milestone just like in the picture.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, okay, that's a good idea. Like A visual picture of the process. Like, the animal leaves, it goes to the slaughterhouse, it goes to the butcher. Your cut sheet has to get done.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah. Where does the cut sheet happen by?

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, that's a great idea. A visual timeline of it happening. I can just do that quick in canva.

[Corinna Bench]

And yeah, I know there are questions about hanging weight or just how are you? I would want to know, like, at what point am I going to know roughly how much this is going to cost me? And that's all based on the actual weight of the animal. Right. Y so there is enormous confusion around and fear around that the first time you buy having experienced that, because there it's just like this big unknown. And I'm like, oh, my God, what did I just get myself into? And they don't even know what the. What does that mean? Hanging weight versus, like, what you know, you're just like, yeah, it's going to be thousands of dollars. Right? So maybe even helping someone see a typical order from last year. Do you do that at some point where you're like, hey, here was Renee's order last year. It was da da da da. And we found out at this point that it was this big or this heavy, whatever the weight. And then this is what she ended up paying.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, I do that the first time that they. It's like in the sign up process, it's pretty well laid out. And then they're okay. They get from me, like, I received your order. Like, this is what, like I put in the transportation cost, the average weight of the animal, what it would come out. I'd give like the actual what it would cost and then an average amount. So people know like your price point pretty much before they even sign up for it.

[Corinna Bench]

Okay.

[Brianne Detweiler]

But I could also send like in. In this, a picture of an actual invoice that I invoice someone and like block it out in certain areas so it's not like their name and whatnot to see. Like, yeah, how I like. Actually.

[Corinna Bench]

Today'S podcast is sponsored by Farm Marketing School. All right, farmer, let me ask you something. Is marketing your farm something you actually enjoy or does it feel like a constant struggle? If you are like most farmers that I talk to, you are wearing all the hats and marketing always seems to slip through the cracks. Can I get an amen? That's exactly why I created Farm Marketing School. It's an online membership designed to help farmers like you build a simple, repeatable marketing system that actually works inside. You'll get bite sized, step by step projects that make marketing easier. Each month you pick what to work on, like writing better sales emails or improving your website copy or setting up your online store. And I walk you through exactly how you should be doing it. And you're not doing this alone. Every month we have a live Zoom meetup where you can ask me questions, meet other members of Farm Marketing School, get coaching, and hear what's working for other farmers. It's like having a farm marketing mentor in your back pocket. This isn't some long, overwhelming course. The projects are designed to be completed in under 30 days, so you're making steady progress without it taking over your life. So if you're ready to stop winging it and finally build a marketing system that brings in steady sales, come join Farm Marketing School today. Sign up for your first month and see what a difference it makes. Go to mydigitalfarmer.com fms to get started. And now back to the show. I am typing something into ChatGPT right now to try and. Have you tried this yet to try and get some ideas?

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yes, I have. I have started really using Chat GBT now. I was a little unsure about it at first, but it's been actually really helpful. I haven't used it for ideas as much as I've come up with the idea, but I don't know how to put it into words. So then I put it in and they kind of like help me articulate what I'm trying to jeep say.

[Corinna Bench]

Feel like I could flesh this out a little bit more. But here's a few things that are coming up. How how the butchering process works. We kind of worked that out already. Outlined a timeline from harvest to butcher to hanging, aging to packaging. Demystify the process.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Right.

[Corinna Bench]

Talk about the humane practices and why it takes time. What if I don't want all the organs? Okay, an email around organs.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, people get weird about organs or they want to make sure they can get their organs and they're fat or they.

[Corinna Bench]

Or they want them. Yes, exactly. So customizing cuts, liver, kidney options, bones, packaging. Invite more questions via reply I like that actually. To make sure you're asking them to share their questions with you because that will help you make that nurture sequence better and better over time. Will it all fit? How to prep your freezer? Include a printable checklist or freezer inventory sheet and recommend a good chest freezer model checklist.

[Brianne Detweiler]

How to keep your freezer organized.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah, that's a good idea too. Or that they will need to.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah.

[Corinna Bench]

Because as things come out to you Begin to lose track.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah.

[Corinna Bench]

Of what you still have left. And all you see is white butcher paper.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yes.

[Corinna Bench]

And they may even want to write some additional things on the packaging. I don't know. Are they usually. I mean, I know that we specify how many pieces we want per package, but is that something that everyone does?

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, that's like, like if you want 1 pound pack or 2 pound packs of hamburger ground beef. Yeah. So there's some specs in that.

[Corinna Bench]

Okay.

[Brianne Detweiler]

I could, I could give them a layout of like your family size. If you're. If your Family size is 6, 6 people, we recommend getting a pack of like your pack size.

[Corinna Bench]

Okay. I'm just continuing to read through stuff here. Let's talk pricing. It says break down the cost per pound versus the grocery store. Emphasize premium quality plus ethical sourcing, and remind them they've already locked in their price. What you could do since some people haven't actually put a down payment down. You could say if you. If this is true. You could say, I lock in your price once you give me your down payment. Just a thought. Unless you're not comfortable making that promise. Okay. Meet your farmer. Mini interview or video. While we started raising grass fed beef. Include a photo or a short video. Reinforce their purchase. Supports a real family farm. Our c. Our cow's diet, what our cows eat and what they don't. That's a suggestion here. Talk about pasture rotation, mineral supplements, no antibiotics or hormones. Reassure quality and ethics. How to cook grass fed beef. Your grass fed beef will taste better. Here's how to cook it. Right. Offer a beginner's guide to cooking lean beef. Include two to three favorite recipes. And what if I don't like every cut? Address meal planning, how to use unfamiliar cuts. Maybe mention a cut swap. If you offer one, recommend a slow cooker or instant pot if they don't have one yet. And then prep them for the butcher call. You'll get a call soon. Here's what to say. Offer a script, a cheat sheet or a downloadable cut sheet with explanations. And then the last one was, it's almost beef day. Provide pickup or delivery instructions. Remind them what to bring, how to pack and store. Encourage a freezer clearing day and invite them to share a photo when they unpack. That's a good idea.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Oh yeah, I can definitely do better after, like they've taken it home, unpacked it.

[Corinna Bench]

What about like a video? A video unboxing. Sort of like a unboxing video. Sorry, where you're unboxing.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah.

[Corinna Bench]

Does that make sense? Like a Here's, I just picked it up, here's where it is. And if they want, they can watch the whole thing. That would be great on your YouTube channel because it becomes like an evergreen piece of content that people could watch and see exactly what they're getting. Well, you know, mostly like, oh, that's what a brisket cut looks like. Or that's what a what the soup, you know, the soup bones are coming packaged like that. I know it'll, it'll basically look like a bunch of freezer butcher paper going across the screen. But I still think it's helpful because it helps, it helps them see like how, how many packages there are of that and what the sizing is like. Oh, it's. Is it a long package or more like. I don't, I just think it's helpful. Yeah. Okay. So that's all that chat came up with on the first round. But I could, I could probably pull some more out. But all I did, all I did when I talked to chat was I said, I want to come up with content. I'm a bulk, I'm a farmer who sells bulk beef. I want to come up with content I can drip out to my customers while they are waiting for the cow to go to the butcher. My goal is to speak to first time buyers who have a lot of questions about the process. I don't want them to lose interest or change their mind. What are some things. I could be emailing them every few weeks over the six month time period. And then it just gave me all that.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Pretty good.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah, pretty good, right? And it even gives you email. Like you could then say, write me the emails. I'm not even kidding. Like it will do. It will write the emails for you. Yeah, write me the email for email number one. And then you just tweak it so it sounds more like you. It's a huge time saver. That's a lot. I feel like that's already. You easily have enough to do every two weeks that you could send them something. Remember, when you're writing, when you're writing emails, it's okay. Ideally it should just be about one thing. You can splinter something off of a larger concept and just talk about that one thing in the email and then tease like part two is coming, you know, in the next email. Make sure you open it. They're more likely to read something that isn't really, really, really long.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay. Yeah. Short and sweet for these, I think.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah. And if you want to build these emails, I'm sorry, these videos, you could Build them over on your YouTube channel in a playlist. Set them up as a playlist so somebody could stumble upon them that way and binge through the content. Make sure you're putting links in those videos for how to get on your email list or how to sign up for this product should they now be ready to buy. And then you can redirect people to those videos in your email. So you could take a screenshot of the video itself, put that as the graphic. Right. And then link the graphic. So if they click on the graphic, it takes them right to the. The YouTube video to watch it. What about a testimonial video?

[Brianne Detweiler]

We have a ton of people.

[Corinna Bench]

Or email.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, Feel.

[Corinna Bench]

So one of the emails is like, here's what some of our customers have said.

[Brianne Detweiler]

We have a ton of people. When they come and pick up their beef and they like put it in their truck, they always take like a selfie with it. Yeah, I could just do like even a testimonial email. Email that has like all those pictures in it because a lot of people will send them to me and then we give them like a sticker and they always put it in their car, like in their track bed. It's like this whole. So, yeah, I could definitely do that, you know.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah. And I wonder too, if you could even. It sounds like they're sending the picture to you already, but if you turned it into a contest. I've seen this done when I went to a zipline and Hocking Hills zipline or whatever, and they asked us to take a picture and then post, like tag them somehow that day or that week. And then they chose one person out of whoever had done this every week and they, they got a prize or every. It could be every month, it could be whatever. But that, that might be a way to encourage people to do it. Make sure that they post it. Not just send it to you, but post it. Because now they're helping you promote. Yeah, that would definitely be something they would want to do a selfie for.

[Brianne Detweiler]

This is good.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah, you got my mind spinning. I'm like, oh, there's got to be more. But I feel like that's a really good start. And I would encourage you to use ChatGPT to just get the draft written so that you don't make that be your, like, oh, it's going to take a long time to write 12 emails. Just put them out there, the chat GPT versions, and then start. Maybe once a week you're going in and you're personalizing it. You're making each one, one at a time, a little bit better. That's more in your voice, but at least then you have something that's working for you now and the, you know, the perfect version can, can come to pass. Slowly over time, you may discover that ChatGPT's version is just fine and does the job and you don't have to make a whole lot of work for yourself. Do you plan on emailing them after they get the product too, or is this just okay?

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, because a lot of them, like, they're picking it up and they're saying, okay, yeah, and put me back on the list, like, we want this again. And then that piece of information gets put on an invoice that gets like thrown over. Then he tells, yes, yes, okay. Because the way for when people are like, yeah, or some assume that because they got it once, it just keeps happening like, oh, I got this. Like, they don't understand that they have to re sign up or re engage with us in a way. So that is where I'm definitely dropping the ball to that there's no, like, how did your first date go? Like, how is it? Like, did everything go well? Did the butcher mess up at all? Because sometimes like they will mess up and forget things and I always keep like a back stash if I need to, you know, give, give some, give some things away because of some issues. So yeah, I could definitely send like a week after they pick it up. Like, how was your first take? How's it going? Did you have any issues?

[Corinna Bench]

Ask for a picture.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah, picture and continue. Would you like to do this again with us? If so, click this button.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah. And you don't be afraid to ask that question again a month later or two months later. Yeah, you almost, you almost would benefit from some kind of a time trigger within your email provider. Or maybe it's however you set up your system so that from the time the person you fulfill on the order and they pick it up, the timer starts ticking. And you know that in six weeks from now you're gonna automatically send out an email based on that day, that remind that invites them to sign up again. Or maybe it's three months out, I don't know. But you'll wanna issue that ask several times because the first time they might just ignore it because they're like, I've still got a ton of beef in my freezer about this. But when is the. When is it? When is the typical time that a person starts to run out where they're starting to think about it. You need to kind of know when that is. And that's probably the ideal time to send that email and maybe send like two or three in a row over the course of that month so that they know this is, you know, this is it. I'm, I'm available, I'm open. You may also benefit from tossing in an email, I don't know, at like month three or four, where he sort of tongue in cheek, kind of say, like, what's still in your freezer? Like, do you have a, you know, I bet I know which cuts are still in there. And you offer some support for, for how to get rid of that weird thing that, I don't know, that you get a lot of and that the first time around and you, you realize you have to slow cook it and you just didn't. Yeah, you, you still have a lot of it.

[Brianne Detweiler]

The quicker they get rid of it, the quicker they need it again.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah, exactly.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

Because we don't want them thinking, oh, I, I never used half the, you know, half this stuff I never even used. And then they're going to be like, I don't want to do this again. So you want to help support them probably even more after they get the animal in their freezer so that they quickly start eating it.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yes.

[Corinna Bench]

And that's probably where you're spending more time doing the recipes of the education for how to cook it. I mean, I think you can have one or two emails before just to kind of get them excited, but. And like, the first time that they, when they go home and pull that first cut out of the freezer, what, what is the thing that they're eating first?

[Brianne Detweiler]

If it was me and I just spent all that money, I would eat a steak. But I, Yeah, I, I would agree. Don't know. I don't know if they're. And sometimes that's what it is. Or sometimes it's a family and they're like, okay, thank you. We have like, ground beef. Like, I'm gonna make.

[Corinna Bench]

It might be ground beef. Yeah.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Like, finally I can just make a quick meal with some good stuff and eat all my. Yeah, I don't, I don't know. I would, I would definitely eat a steak.

[Corinna Bench]

But that might be a fun, like, engagement email to send out after the first week to just ask what, like, what did you make? What was the very first thing. I'm taking a poll. Was the very first thing that you ate or that you plan to eat? What's the first cut? Just so that you learn that. And that might actually help inform, I don't know, you could build some content around that in some way. I think eventually. If you know what are the first, what, what are people just crazy about and they can't wait. The first thing they're going to eat is this. Do you do any kind of value added stuff like sausage?

[Brianne Detweiler]

So depends which butcher they, they get. So okay, which is which also kind of jumbles this whole system because our current guy just can't do all of our animals. So we have like three guys that are doing all now. So some, some have like the option of hot dogs and, and kielbasi and other things and, and then they vac seal and then another guy doesn't do that stuff. But everyone across the board does like pre made hamburger patties and chip steak. Those are like, that's like you definitely. So I can you know, tell people, hey, if you're not going to eat a London broil, like chip it and make chip steak because it's a quick easy meal and the London broil is harder to make and chip steak sandwiches are great. So that would be like a quick tip. And pre made hamburger patties are quick and easy, especially in the summertime. Like people usually will make almost half their ground beef. Not occasionally. So.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah, that's, yeah, even that tip right there is super helpful for a first time buyer.

[Brianne Detweiler]

The chip stick tip?

[Corinna Bench]

No, well, that one too. But even to know most people make half their animal ground beef. Yeah would I would, I would not have guessed that. So it's almost like you're, you're, it's almost like you're telling them the dosage on the medicine, right? It's like you're going to take this much per day in hamburger, you know, whatever hamburger patties. And you're like, oh, I am okay. Sometimes just by you know, recommending what most people do, you almost like coach your future buyer to become that as well. So just be thinking that's a, that's a powerful sentence and maybe you can make some more powerful recommendations like that too. That would cause the behavior to happen. So what behavior do you want?

[Brianne Detweiler]

I want them. I do coach them on getting bone in. I coach a lot of them. They want, they want everything boned out. And I said you're just, you're paying for the bone. There's loss when you trim it, like keep it bone in. And a lot of people are like, oh, I never even thought about that. And I'm like, yes. Like this is how you maximize your cuts.

[Corinna Bench]

Like do that and you're talking about things like bone broth, right?

[Brianne Detweiler]

No, like steaks, like Tebow and Porterhouse. They want. Okay, they want bone out. They want strip sticks, boneless.

[Corinna Bench]

I gotcha.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Everything they want. Instead of rib steaks, they want rib eyes. And I mean, the only difference is that the bone is out, which some people are picky about, but the trimming of it is taking away from. Is taking out of your pocket, essentially. So I try to tell them, like, if you're buying in bulk, get as much as you can bone in.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah.

[Brianne Detweiler]

To save. To get more out of the. Your purchase. So I could really do an email on that. Like, how to match.

[Corinna Bench]

That's a whole. Yep, that's a whole email right there. I bet you have some other little gems like that that you don't.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah.

[Corinna Bench]

You don't know would be so helpful to a person like me who doesn't have a clue. So try to figure out what are those things that when I say them, people are like, mic drop. What? Yeah, Each one of those is its own email. And, you know, you don't have to get this all perfect the first time. Just build. Build something. And then you'll continue to add things to this email nurture over the next few years. I'm. I'm constantly doing that. All right. Okay, I'm going to wrap this up. I feel like this is really good, though. When are you going to have this? When are you going to have this done by. What was your goal? This part?

[Brianne Detweiler]

July 1st. I was gonna give myself a month.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah. I think that's realistic. I'm gonna touch base with you on July 1st, maybe 2nd, and I'm gonna.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Ask how far you got after the Fourth of July, actually.

[Corinna Bench]

All right, we'll say July. July 6th.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Yeah.

[Corinna Bench]

Okay. I'm making a note. Put it on my calendar, and that's going to give some accountability. I really want you to at least throw it into ChatGPT.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

You can, you can. I'll send the. The link to this recording.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay.

[Corinna Bench]

And you can go back and see, like, listen to what I typed in again. If you want to type in the exact same thing that I said I typed in and then just see what it spits out and then use that. Because sometimes that's what I'll do. I'll be like, okay, I'll focus on the answer for email number one, and I'll kind of then respond to the AI bot and say, let's work on this section now. Write me this email. And then we just slowly move through it. And then you just copy and paste it over into your email provider. That could seriously be done, Brianne. And like you could do this whole thing in two and under two hours if you use ChatGPT.

[Brianne Detweiler]

I feel like the writing of emails isn't what scares me. It's. It's mailchimp and making the automations that scares me the most.

[Corinna Bench]

Oh, gotcha.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Like the tech stuff like telling mailchimp to do what I wanted to do and not like messing up the path. Yes, that's the heart. Like I, that's what I always struggle with. Said I don't know mailchimp like I should. Should.

[Corinna Bench]

Yeah. Well, this will make you learn it.

[Brianne Detweiler]

This will make me learn it. That's why I'm giving myself a good bit to learn it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Corinna Bench]

Okay, well, good luck.

[Brianne Detweiler]

Okay, thank you.

[Corinna Bench]

Let me know how it goes. You're welcome. Have a good one. See you later. Bye Bye.

[Brianne Detweiler]

See you.

[Corinna Bench]

Well, thank you so much, Brienne. If you're listening for letting me take this behind the scenes moment and make it public for. For thousands of people to listen to, I think there was a lot of wisdom shared in that conversation and I could tell that you walked away with a to do list and that's always really empowering. Today's show notes can be [e-mail] 321 and I will make sure that I link up Chesapeake Valley Farms website there in case you want to go learn more about Brianne. If you liked today's episode, please go. Leave me a rating or a review or I encourage you to check out Farm marketing school so that you can see what all the fuss is about by going to mydigitalfarmer.com FMS Remember, if you want to get onto my email list, I have some free stuff to send your way to make your marketing even stronger. You can go to mydigitalfarmer.com subscribe I'm also on Instagram ydigitalfarmer and if you are interested in getting onto the show or you know someone who would be a great podcast guest because they have some wisdom to share in the area of marketing, please reach out to me. I'm always looking for great guests. You can email me at mydigitalfarmersomail.com and I'll get back to you and we can see if we're a match. Thank you so much for joining me today everyone. Have an amazing week. Remember, I believe in you, Sam.