The Key to a Successful Farm Business - Customer Retention
In this episode of the Direct Farm Podcast, we're joined by Will and Amy Campbell from Old Rich Valley Farm. This week, they're discussing how they have retained and grown their customer base over the past few years, despite market uncertainty and increasing costs.
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Rory Loughran: Welcome to the Direct Farm Podcast. I'm Rory, your host for today's episode. We've got a great conversation for you today with some of our farm advisors, Amy and Will Campbell from Old Rich Valley Farm located in Virginia. Welcome Will and Amy. It's great to have you guys back on the podcast.
It's been a little while since you've been on, I think last time we were talking about subscriptions, right?
Amy Campbell: Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for having us. We're glad to be.
Rory Loughran: For folks that maybe haven't heard you guys on here before, could you tell us a little bit about your farm, where it's at, what you guys raise, kind of all the, the basics.[00:01:00]
Amy Campbell: Sure we are, um, in southwest Virginia, and Will grew up on a farm just, raising beef cattle. And so we got married I guess about 10 years ago. And so I moved out to the farm and, we raised, uh, well, when we first started he was just farming beef cattle. And so we switched to selling directly.
So now we sell, finished beef and pork and chicken. And it's all pasture raised. We use non GMO feed and we're just raising a bunch of animals and kids out here on the farm.
Rory Loughran: both sides of, yeah. Uh, yes. And so how long has the farm been in operation now?
Amy Campbell: We've been selling directly for about six years.
Rory Loughran: Awesome. And so, yeah, you mentioned, and will, when you were doing beef cattle, was that mostly kind of bulk beef to go into sale barns and things like that?
Will Campbell: It was, yep.
Yeah, I grew up on a beef cattle farm and, uh, we had mama cows and we would wean 'em and put tractor trailer loads [00:02:00] together.
And, uh, so that's what Amy and I started doing. We had a cow herd and, and so whenever we jumped in to the Cow Calf stuff, the, you know, beef, beef prices were at like all time highs. And so it was good. And the next thing you know, they dropped back off. And so we go from, selling a for $1,800 to half that, $800 or $900.
And, but our cost of producing that year stayed the same. And so was one of those things where we're trying to make a living, you know, farming, and the commodity market is just impacted by so many variables that are outside of our control.
And we were like, if we're gonna try to raise a family, we need to try to, we can't ride this rollercoaster for forever. And so, we decided, just for the margins reasons are controlling our margins. I mean, there are lots of reasons for the transition and want to diversify our farm.
And we just believe in the local model. So yeah, it's just been a transition, a a work in progress. But for a while we were sending, you know, tractor trailer loads of cattle and then whenever we switched to selling a couple pounds of ground beef and, selling it one [00:03:00] piece at a time, it was, uh, which we knew that was gonna be a big transition, but it was a lot more complicated than we, uh, than we thought. Yeah. So we're still learning, but I guess the beauty of, direct to consumer is that we can control our margins. That our prices don't have to fluctuate with whatever international trade policies or the drought in the Midwest or the price of corn. Like we, we can set our own prices.
But while we can control our margins, we can't control our market. Like, we can't force people to value what we produce. And so, there's risk in anything you do, but , I guess it's a trade off and so we're trying to control our margins, but hoping that there are people that value what we produce.
Rory Loughran: Yeah, yeah, definitely. And like you were saying too, it is nice being able to control those prices.
When you're doing like commodity beef and prices for feed and everything else goes up, but the price for beef goes down, you can't control that. So right now, I would assume it's probably nice to be able to, as I know, fuel prices, [00:04:00] and feed costs go up. You can raise your prices if need be.
Will Campbell: Yeah, we, we do. That's tricky too. Producing, everything is going up right now. Goes up, fuel goes up, and so we're, we're, you know, having to adjust our prices. And we know that the people we're selling meat to families like us that are just working families trying to, raise kids. And so they're kind of feeling the rising costs and everything, and their power bills and grocery bills. And, we are trying to do our best to keep our process as affordable as we can, but we do have make sure that we're adjusting prices to reflect the cost of producing it.
So it's tricky.
Rory Loughran: Yeah, certainly. I'm curious so has Old Rich Valley Farm, always done direct to consumer, or was there a time where you guys were doing anything else?
Amy Campbell: So, I guess when he was selling just on the commodity market, with just, you know, trailer loads of cows, then [00:05:00] we weren't old Rich Valley Farm.
Yeah. So yeah, it was just kinda under will, doing the farming and I was teaching at the time. But when we transitioned to becoming old Rich Valley Farm, then that is when we started selling just directly. But, it definitely just started a cow or two and let's hope we can sell it.
And then then at to grown to being able to take, beef and pork monthly.
Rory Loughran: Will, you mentioned like how it was a big difference, it was having to start selling things by the cut and stuff. Once your online store was set up, what were sales, like, what was that like kind of shifting into the, that new way of doing business?
Will Campbell: I guess as we started to transition to selling directly, it was a headache. Yeah. It was a steep learning curve. And we're not the most organized people. And so we were trying to keep up with stuff on legal pads and, you know, people want ordering me through text or email or a message or, you know, and we were just very, very unorganized.
And so to finally get that website and the farm store up and [00:06:00] to where we can point people to that and it. We love the farming part, it'll be hard for us to do what we're doing without you all, and, you know, putting the website in a farm store and, putting all that together for us.
So we're, we really appreciate everything you all do.
Amy Campbell: Yeah. Just as far as keeping organized and keeping the orders. Where they can pick a pickup location and the dates are already in there, set in advance. It just adds a whole lot more, predictability and organization to our hectic, chaotic life.
Will Campbell: it's not like having that website just made it, open the floodgates to where people started, you know, buying meat. Like we, we were establishing a customer ba base through farmer's markets and just word of mouth, and but that gave us, uh, you know, place to send them.
Yeah. A place to point 'em, right. We can point 'em to the website and that helped manage and organize everything as we kept growing.
Rory Loughran: Yeah. Yeah, that's a really great point and I think you guys gotta give yourselves [00:07:00] more credit. I think, for folks that the way you guys have your herd share set up is, I think it's super organized and I would encourage people to go back and look for that episode.
And I think people are always impressed when Amy breaks down how she has your guys' herd share program laid out in connect. And I think people are, Very impressed that how you guys have that all organized. So you gotta give yourselves more credit for your organization.
Amy Campbell: Well, I'm glad it comes across that way.
Thank you . I'm just kidding.
Rory Loughran: Well something that has come up a few times, Amy, I know in Connect is over the past few years, in part due to the pandemic and a lot of other things going on. Just the, the fluctuation of the market and all these different outside forces impacting what farmers do and, and how they're selling.
And a lot of times, in those last few years there's a lot of food uncertainty and people weren't able to get, meat especially, but food in general from grocery stores and a lot of these problems within our food system were kind of exposed during that time. But since then, you know, we've kind of returned to a little bit more of normalcy, I guess we could say.
[00:08:00] And I think sometimes, we'll get farmers in Connect or we'll talk to them and they feel like, customers are less inclined to continue seeking out local food. Certainly, this isn't something we've seen broadly at Barn2Door, but I was curious what that experience has been like for your farm.
Will Campbell: Yeah. Yeah, well, I'd say, obviously Covid opened people's eyes and because they were looking at empty shelves. COVID definitely boosted ourselves, and I guess since then, Amy and I, we've kept telling ourselves that eventually that bubble was gonna pop and things would get back to normal as the grocery stores and everything else got back to normal too.
I mean, obviously we were hoping that we would retain customers. But I guess every year we're kind of, surprised at not, not surprised we're just thankful to have the customer base that we do that has stuck with us and how we contribute that to answered prayers as much as anything.
I guess I do think that during Covid, it did just open people's eyes to the uncertainty in the food system. And, I don't think it's unrealistic to [00:09:00] think that the shelves might get, uh, slim pickings again.
And so, uh, that, that's one of the things that our customers understand is, we've been doing this for years and we are in it for the long haul. And I guess people are just more apt to put their trust in people that they know than in these big systems that they don't know or don't see, or don't, you know, understand.
And our food system is not known to be, I guess that transparent, there's a big disconnect in food and people in general. And so one of the things that we've just done is just try to communicate what we're doing. Just try to be as transparent as possible and, yeah, I guess the more we just try to communicate our values as farmers, they are seeing the value in what we're producing, I guess. Mm-hmm.
Amy Campbell: I think one thing too is, I do feel like we have a pretty wide variety of customers. Where we are is very rural. We're like 30 minutes from anywhere, anything . And so we do have some people that come pick up on the farm, but obviously that's not gonna be the best fit for [00:10:00] everybody.
And so we have deliveries to other locations. And so we have some foodies that really just. A good quality food, a good quality meat, and so that's why they choose. We have people that, really care about the environment they choose. But honestly, the majority of our customers are just young families or, Older families or couples that just want to know where the food is coming from and want and are glad to know that they can get meat every single month no matter what.
We always are gonna have it um, Lord willing, and just like knowing who is raising their meat. And so that's where the transparency comes in. I think. I'm always shocked at our subscriptions is kind of one of the main, revenues for us on the farm. And every year it's a one year subscription, and every year I am just hoping and praying that people renew and for the most part they do.
We've got about, I think this year we had about 85 to 95, [00:11:00] 90%, renewal rate. And so, I just think that speaks volumes. The people in this community wanting to know where their meat comes from.
Rory Loughran: Mm-hmm.
Yeah, and I think you both made a really great point there that I think the, the thing that came out of the last few years was kind of that lesson learned of the fragility of the current system and how easily and quickly it can all go down. And I don't think that's something that people forget very easily when they're in a situation where they just can't get food.
So being able to turn to folks like you and rely on that for a more steady, source of food, but also then to know how these animals are being raised, what practices you're using, how you're actually maintaining and improving your land. All those things kind of then just make it an even easier decision.
Um, you mentioned like you've been at this amount of your subscription base that you've been able to keep rolling back in year over year. And I know that's oftentimes the biggest goal and one of the [00:12:00] biggest battles for a lot of farms is just not necessarily the finding new customers, but just making sure that those people that are on subscriptions that are doing those recurring purchases, that they're sticking around, cuz those are the everybody's favorite.
Uh, what does it like maintaining that audience of your customers? How, what are some of the things you've done to help keep them there?
Will Campbell: One of the benefits to the subscriptions in general. Is people that are, subscribing to a herd share or a year long, you know, supply of meat. They're committing to a year. And so these are committed people that are signing up to begin with instead of somebody that's just gonna pick up a, you know, a steak or pack of ground beef.
Every once in a while. And so I think just having the herd share subscription model kind of, if, if that's what we have and what we're, offering, people that sign up for that or the people that are committed I guess. And so just offering that I think has helped us a lot.
Amy Campbell: I think also just, making sure we have a consistent product. You know, like, , if they're getting sausage every [00:13:00] month or they're getting steaks every month, they're gonna know what a really good steak and a, a good pack of sausage steaks like, and so if it's not the next month, then they're gonna know that, they're not always consistent. I'm not sure that that is what we want. So trying our best to stay consistent.
And then one thing with the herd shares in particular. Um, but really just selling directly. We interact with every single customer. So just being able to build that relationship I think makes a huge difference. I'm typically the one that does of the deliveries.
Sometimes it's Will though. And so being able to connect with them because I see them when I mm-hmm hand over their meat, at the pickups. And just building those relationships, I think helps. They're more likely to stick around if they feel connected to you, you know?
Will Campbell: And and obviously she sees more people than I do, but I we'll make some deliveries and that is one of the big benefits doing what we're doing.
And we've, established some really great [00:14:00] relationships through herd shares and just getting meet to people. And, that, that's one of the things that we love the most about what we do is. Not just selling meat, but just building those relationships with people in our community.
And this isn't like aimed at customer retention, but one of the things that Amy and I love doing is having on-farm cookouts and last year we just did one, but usually we try to do one in the spring and fall. And really it's just because we love cooking out we love having, you know, people over and, but a lot of people in our, herd shares or just customers will like to come out just to see the farm and just to see us. And, i, I don't know how much that contributes to our retention rate or not, but I know it's, gives them an opportunity to see the farm and it gives us a a good excuse to hang out.
Rory Loughran: Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's a successful kind of Strategy for a lot of folks and it almost feels insincere to just call it a strategy, but, I know a lot of people that they like to have people out at least once or twice a year and just kind of, especially for their customers to get to see in person. It's a [00:15:00] nice way, cuz I know sometimes farms like to have people pick up at the farm, but that can be a big trip for folks to be doing on a consistent basis to get their orders.
So, but still offering that, that time to come out and enjoy a meal or something, and see the farm, see the animals and how they're raised and how you're doing things is a really cool opportunity.
I was also curious too, you talked about, like making sure you have committed buyers, people that are in this for more than a one time purchase. When you guys set up your subscriptions and your herd share, is that a one-time purchase or do you guys do rolling purchases? How do you have that set up?
Will Campbell: So, so basically whenever people sign up for a subscription, it's one of our herd share options. And so it's, either a half a beef, quarter beef, whole hog, half hog, or a chicken herd share subscription. But basically they're committing to a year's worth of either beef, chicken, or pork or any combination of those.
And so if they sign up for a half beef subscription then that half of beef is gonna be divided up over the next 12 months. And then, we hope that after that 12 months they'll be happy with [00:16:00] the beef they've gotten and we wanna sign up for another half or a quarter or whatever they, you know.
Amy Campbell: And I do like the idea of, when we first started, We set it up this way cause there wasn't that continuous subscription option. And so that's, and the way ours is, it's not a monthly, like 50 20 pound box, it's a half a beef and so you're picking up a 12th of a half of a cow each month.
So it makes sense for us that it does last a year. But it is fingers crossed at the end of the year. Are they gonna do that renewal. So I do think the idea of a continual subscription is, is really smart.
Will Campbell: And that's something that we've kinda rolled around too, we kinda keep going back and forth on just because every year, prices, our costs are producing Meat has increased.
And so we're having to adjust our herd share prices. But whenever people, join the herd, they're signing up for, I guess whenever they sign up, they're locked in to those prices for the, for [00:17:00] 12 months. And so I guess we're trying to figure out what that would look like on our end if we were to do it continuous.
Um, just because we have people signing up at different times of the year and, we're not gonna up to price on somebody if we say that they've got 12 months at this price and then trying to figure out what that would look like. But anyway for us right now we'll set a price and we can readjust every time it's time for them to renew. And then they can either, join or, or not.
Rory Loughran: Yeah. Well, and that's probably another, that's another great benefit for your customers too, is not only locking into the certainty of getting the product, getting the meat every month, but also the certainty of that that price won't fluctuate. Um, kind of the, the benefit of that signing on for a longer amount of time.
Amy Campbell: I was just gonna say one other thing too is we do offer different size subscriptions. So we do have, the half a beef or the quarter beef and so, in different hog sizes and stuff. So I think that that also helps as far as we've had a lot of people, maybe their first year they signed up for a half a [00:18:00] beef and realize it was actually too much meat for their family, and so they've gone down to a quarter beef, but they're still a part of the herd shares.
So that's another option too, is to just make sure you have a variety that there's no one size fits all that's gonna fit every family. But just kind of have a variety of options that hopefully something will fit, most families.
Rory Loughran: Yeah. I feel like the overall kind of lesson I guess that I'm taking away here is finding the balance of like, flexibility for your customers.
And, you know, cuz some folks are doing a whole beef at one time like that, that's a very specific customer that's gonna want that product. And can store all that meat. So being able to. Over the course of a year and at different sizes, but also not, trying to accommodate every single little thing, that ends up creating more work for you, kind of being able to figure out what amount of flexibility you can handle and that is still appealing for your customers. And then operating within that. Seems like [00:19:00] what you guys have tried to go for, is it? Would you say that's true?
Amy Campbell: Yeah, and I think, we definitely still, like you said, we offer a half cow or something at one time. Because that's definitely the easiest. If somebody comes and picks up a half a cow, it's, that's the best.
But then the herd shares are also, again, bringing people back each month. And right now we definitely prioritize our herd shares over just individual sales, so, mm-hmm. um, we do still sell at one Farmer's. And then we also just have delivery sites once a month and so people can go on. We don't just do subscriptions.
People can go on and, and order by the cut or order bulk boxes and stuff, but we always fill our herd shares first. And I think that they know that, and so they feel like they are the priority. And so that's another way to just kinda, if we have people say, oh, we want steaks, and you're always filled out of stakes, and we're like, join the herd and you'll get your steaks every month.
so just being able to, to [00:20:00] communicate the importance of subscriptions and, how it's a good thing both ways. It's good for us, it's good for you. And communicating that as you're telling the customer about it, I guess is also a good.
Rory Loughran: Yeah. Do you guys refer to your, your subscription or your herd share customers as the herd?
Amy Campbell: Oh, yes.
Rory Loughran: That's awesome. That's great. I'm sure they love that too. That probably really makes feel like they're part of the farm. Yeah. That's really cool. Well, I'm also curious too, so I think we've touched on how great, like things like subscriptions and being able to lock people in long term.
But on top of that, I know you guys have done a really great job of still making sure you're adding new customers too. So I was curious, how have you done that, especially in the past few years, when it might be a little bit harder to find those customers, when meat might be back on grocery shelves.
But people are still interested in getting local food. You just might have to do a little extra work to find them. What is that work that you guys are doing? How are [00:21:00] you bringing in new customers?
Amy Campbell: One way is, just at the farmer's market, I have a sign that says, like, ask me about the monthly herd shares.
And so people, a lot of times will say, what is this? And so their, their contact and send them the email, you know, so just continually talking about it or a lot of our posts not, maybe once every two weeks we'll say, filling her chart orders. , are you a part of the herd? Stuff like that, just trying to encourage people to join.
But also word of mouth is just, I mean, you can't put a price tag on that. It people, if people enjoy what they're getting, and they think that. Easy enough to pick up and they think it's a good pro product, then they're gonna tell their friends. And so sometimes it's like, I don't know, I don't.
Say, Hey, go tell your friends about us, probably as much as we should. Cause it feels salesy to do [00:22:00] that. But we've just had a lot of people that call and say, Hey, my cousin does this subscription, and I just wanna more information about it. And, and usually they'll join if it's a good fit for them.
And not just the subscriptions, but yeah, just individual cuts and stuff. I think, Word of mouth is huge.
Rory Loughran: Mm-hmm. Uh, yeah, I think that's great. People have different ways of incentivizing that sometimes people will do like, uh refer a friend type of promo code and things like that.
But I think if you're able to, to just have the product speak for itself and do that, I guess it kind of depends on where you're at with your business and how aggressively you're trying to folks. But, yeah, I think having a referral is the best way to market to a new person.
Nobody's gonna be able to advertise you better than one of their best friends or family members or something.
Amy Campbell: Yeah. Yeah. Sure.
Rory Loughran: So I was curious too, I think getting people to the online store can be like the big challenge. I guess sometimes it's just because, that's where they gotta go to make the purchase.
What are some of the ways that you guys are making [00:23:00] that easy for your customers to do? Whether in just in getting 'em that link, making sure they're going and interacting with your store regularly. Like, how are you guys getting folks there online and, and making purchase?
Amy Campbell: I think about over a year ago we started, we committed to sending a regular weekly email. And that was not easy and it's still not easy sometimes cause things just get, you know, it's sometimes it's very last minute. But we committed that we are gonna send this weekly email and Will does the majority of like content.
But that is a way that we have found, people really can connect to the farm because they can see what's going on. What have we done this week? What are we reading, what are we listening to? Um, you know, stuff that's sometimes more personal, not just farm. And so we try to put that, but then there's also, always links to products in the store or Christmas bundle or whatever is going on at the time.
We always have links[00:24:00] into the store. And so I think that's one way that definitely helps. And we do try to send that out on Friday. And so sometimes we'll get orders, for the upcoming week or the farmer's market the next day, and stuff like that. So I think that's huge. Um, we we're not great at remembering to link our store in our social media posts all that much. So maybe every couple of weeks, I'll actually remember to put a box or something new or something that we have a lot of, but we have.
Um, like if we do put something on sale our ground beef box is on sale or something I'll definitely put the link and it makes a huge difference.
Especially if it's a sale or something like that, then people are gonna go to your store and not only are they gonna see, hey, I'm, I want that ground beef box, but they're gonna see, oh wow, they have all these other things for sale that I can also purchase. And so yeah, that helps.
Rory Loughran: Uh, with the emails, do you feel like, you mentioned you always try and send those on Fridays.
Do you feel like the consistency [00:25:00] of doing it on a certain day, like do you feel like your customers are kind of used to that Friday email now, or do, is that something you play with and move around?
Amy Campbell: Well, I started on like a Monday. And we missed that Monday once, so it went to a Tuesday and we missed the Tuesday went
That's how we ended up on a Friday. But we've been consistently on a Friday for like a year now, so I think so. And it's usually, hopefully before noon on Friday. Not always, but we do try to, like I said, we're still working on. Getting it. I would love to have it like ready to go, sent out at eight o'clock on the morning Friday.
But usually that doesn't happen. Yeah. But I do think, yeah, they know it's coming. And we have a pretty decent amount, an open rate. And ours is probably, I don't know. If you look at marketing things, it always says to keep it short. And Will's not good at that. He's very long so they're not very short,[00:26:00] most of the time, but, There's just quite a few people that read 'em, so maybe we're onto something. I dunno.
Rory Loughran: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think authenticity is always the biggest thing, is if it's real, if it's from you guys, then I think that's what people always appreciate the most.
Will Campbell: We don't really, we're not really looking for any outcome. We're just trying to be transparent about who we're and what we're doing.
And if people will read it, fine. If they don't, that's fine. If people like it. If we don't, that's fine too.
Amy Campbell: Some people might just scroll to the bottom and see what's on sale. , but that's fine too.
Rory Loughran: Yeah. As long as they're gonna make a purchase. Uh, well I feel like, actually as you were saying that I feel like the psychology of a Friday could actually kind of work. Cause a lot of folks shop on the weekend, so you might be kind of actually hitting them right before they might be going to a grocery store and they might think, oh, actually I can get my meat from Old Rich Valley instead, and not have to worry about picking that up over the weekend or something. So you might be right on with the timing of that.
Amy Campbell: I dunno, I probably wouldn't look at the email on Friday. So.[00:27:00]
Will Campbell: Well, it's easier for us to reflect and recap the week on a Friday, I guess. Yeah.
Rory Loughran: That was kind of my next question. Amy mentioned, will you usually write that email? What kind of content do you usually put in there?
Will Campbell: So it's usually just like a summary of some of the things that we accomplish, through the week. What we do changes from season to season and so we can just explain what we're doing with the cows, pigs, chickens on this week.
And, some of the struggles that, things that, that went good, things that didn't, there's always, expectations and, uh, expectations that are, uh, disappointed. And usually Amy and I, we're, we're together a lot, but we're also working by ourselves a lot.
So whenever I'm by myself, on the tractor or I'm just moving pigs or chickens, whatever, I'm listening to audiobooks or podcasts or something. And so usually I'll just put a little blurb about whatever I've been listening to, that, that week as.
Rory Loughran: Yeah, no, that's all really great content. And I know people are always asking like, what do I put in these emails? So there's some great advice [00:28:00] there, in terms of things to what you're working on. And I know that does change every week and so that's really good stuff to be able to throw in there.
Amy Campbell: Um, we always put a couple pictures too. But we do have kids that farm with us, that are with us all the time. And then just pictures of the animals. But yeah, I think majority of people do not know, what goes on on the farm and so anything is interesting to them.
Rory Loughran: Well, I'm curious, what would be your guys' advice to farmers that are maybe struggling to retain customers, month over month or year over year.
They just have a lot of folks that might come in and make one purchase, but then don't come back. What would be your advice to, to help retain some of those customers and keep 'em around?
Amy Campbell: I would say the biggest one would just be, hopefully making that connection with the people. So at the farmer's market just being friendly and trying your best to remember their names. I'm so bad at that, but trying to remember names and faces and and remember what they like. So I have a customer that, [00:29:00] actually was vegan for ever and ever and she decided to eat some meat.
So she bought a roast and she said it was delicious. I gave her a recipe and now she comes every week and I'm like, oh, you ready for your chuck roast? And so just remembering what they like, and making those connections, I think is going to definitely bring them back and like right now we're handwriting Christmas cards.
And they're not even Christmas card. They're on like card stock . Cause Christmas card are expensive. Yeah but our handwriting, Christmas cards for every single herdshare member and so we're gonna hand those out in December when they pick up their, her shares. So just little things like that, that to let them know, Hey, we really do appreciate you. We could not be selling directly if it weren't for you.
And so making sure that they know how important they are in this whole, we couldn't farm without the customers, and trying to express that, that we're not the most important people here that you are.
Rory Loughran: Yeah, no, that's so cool. And I love that you guys are doing like Christmas cards and things like that, just really [00:30:00] personalizing that experience. And I like that that's something that you're really pushing for with those hard share customers, the people that are coming back month over month, cuz those are the people that are obviously helping your business the most.
And so being able to thank them for that is really cool. But then also just to make that an even better experience for them so that they keep coming back. Obviously that's the goal that's really cool.
So I guess just to wrap things up, what do you guys have next on the horizon over at Old Rich Valley Farm?
Amy Campbell: We're just trying to keep our head above water right now. No, right now it's winter and so as far as sales, they do slow down a little bit in the winter. Will's busy feeding cows and still doing the day-to-day farming.
But yeah, we don't really have huge aspirations of growing much larger than we are. It is just because we don't have any help. So if we did grow larger, we would most definitely need help. And so, as of now, we're just really trying to maintain. And, so that's why just keeping those customers is so important to us right now.
Will Campbell: So we, we have one, rental cabin that we have on airbnb. [00:31:00] And has stayed booked a lot more than we thought it would to be honest with you. And so we're breaking ground on another one. So we're gonna try to hopefully by spring we'll have another Airbnb rental.
Rory Loughran: Wow.
Will Campbell: So we'll see if that, see, yeah. See what happens there. But that's a big winter project we have going on.
Amy Campbell: Yeah. We live in a beautiful place, but we are in the middle of nowhere, so we didn't know if people would actually come out here, but they do. And it's really neat to, that's another way that we get to, see other people, out here and and a lot of times they buy meat to to eat either at the cabin, so that's good too.
But yeah, another cabin we're really excited.
Rory Loughran: That's awesome. Yeah. People are always trying to get out to where the types of places where you guys live.
Will Campbell: Yeah. Yeah. And it is beautiful out here. We wake up every day thankful for this valley that we're living in, and glad that other people can come get a taste of it.
Rory Loughran: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. That's awesome. Well, I'm excited to keep tracking that on Instagram. I'm sure you guys will post about it as the project continues.
Thanks [00:32:00] so much for coming on the podcast today. It was really great talking with you both about how you guys have been navigating this and keeping your customers around and making their purchasing experience and working with your farm, a really positive experience for all those customers.
So thanks for joining.
Amy Campbell: Well, thank you. We appreciate it.
Rory Loughran: Awesome. I want to extend my thanks to Will and Amy for joining us on this week's podcast episode here at Barn2Door we're humbled to support thousands of farms across the country, including Old Rich Valley Farm.
If you would like to connect with Amy and other farm advisors, you can attend Barn2door Connect. You can register for those weekly sessions at barn2door.com/connect. And for more information on Old Rich Valley Farm, you can follow them on their Instagram. Their handle is just at Old Rich Valley Farm.
Thank you for tuning in, and we'll see you next week.
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