We are frequently asked two questions: “why do you limit yourselves by only selling to practitioners and independent stores?” and “why don’t you just promote and advertise your products to the enormous consumer market via the web and get a larger piece of that $39 billion pie?” (PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO CONTINUE READING.)
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In response, I could use the lame excuse – that’s the way we’ve always done it. Or offer the legalistic one - as a distributor we are obligated to the manufacturers we represent to promote and sell products for resale to qualified or licensed customers. Or the business excuse - we won’t sabotage our customers by going after their clients directly. Or a purely emotional one, admittedly based on a gross generalization, that the broad consumer market, when left to its own devices, doesn’t really know what they need, is fickle and irrational, and is too quick to respond reflexively to what they hear or read, whether or not it’s true. Oh and by and large they have been trained by the efficiency of search engines to only superficially research issues before they settle on a cause and a cure, which of course is exploited by web technologies that immediately begin to pop up paid ads with recommended products based on certain initial search terms, trying to grab their attention and offer a ready solution. The web’s promise was to make us all better educated about, well… about almost everything. And, it’s a great tool for doing so. We certainly applaud those whose intake of information helps them actually gain knowledge and understanding, enabling them to make better decisions, whether about wellness or health or anything else. But, increased awareness from seeing an ad for a certain product multiple times or reading on several social media platforms the name of a hot new product that promises to cure generic symptoms is not becoming “more educated”; it’s really a case only of becoming more saturated. Of course, this observation does not apply to everyone, but it accurately describes a lot of folks so therefore has some element of truth in it. OK, now the honest answer as to why we focus our business on alternative health care professionals and practitioners and independent stores is that we believe in our products and we want those who use them to come to believe in them, too. We further believe without any doubt that wellness and healing are both achieved systemically or holistically. Each is the consequence of committing to changes in lifestyle and/or habits that include supplements, and not relying on an approach where supplements are a standalone or independent remedy. There is no one ‘magic pill’; sorry. When supplements work in this way for people and they feel healthier and see positive changes, they are far less likely to be swayed by current headlines, posts, tweets, friend recommendations or random pop-up ads. We believe that consumers are far more likely to have a favorable experience with supplements when they are recommended by someone who is knowledgeable about the products, someone whom they can trust, and someone knowledgeable about the specific condition or health issues challenging them. Certainly this is better than a potentially misinformed self- diagnoses. And, that’s why the health professionals, practitioners and independent stores we support are so valuable and essential, and why we want to continue to be important to them. Our mission statement is today as vital as it’s ever been – helping people heal people. |