How Events Help us get to Know our Customers

We started producing rape Seed Oil at Duchess Farms in 2012, when our owner, Oscar, decided he wanted to use his family farm to produce food which was healthy, wholesome and didn’t damage the ecology of his land.

For centuries, rapeseed has been used to replenish nutrients in the soil and reduce the growth of weeds in fields during fallow years. In the past it was seen as a worthless crop that did an important job for the long term viability of farmers’ land. But recently it has become a very valuable crop indeed.

Rape seed oil is healthier than olive oil, being higher in antioxidants, and is better for cooking, as it has a higher smoke point. High quality oil is in demand from the best chefs, so we decided we needed to get to know them, and begin to understand them and their needs.

The natural way to get to know people is to meet them face to face.

This is how we started on the journey to using events to create relationships.

Old School is New School

From our perspective, farming is a little oldschool, and it doesn’t seem right to market through emails or catalogues. We sell to people, and so the key is to build relationships with the people you want to sell to.

So we began to invite chefs out to our farm for meet and greets.  We’re lucky as our farm is just outside London, but still as tranquil and beautiful as the most distant rural idyll, so they were delighted to come out and get away from the grind and pressure of their day to day jobs. 

We would give them a tour of the farm, our production apparatus and then get down to some tasting and chat. We discovered what drove our customers, and, perhaps just as importantly, they got to know us too.

What we Both Discovered

Chefs don’t work in kitchens for 18 or 20 hours a day because they hate daylight, they do it because they love food, and spreading a little happiness through fantastic food and service. 

And we don’t work year round because we like being out in the rain and the mud! We want to produce the best rape seed oil that chefs want to use. 

It was through this process that we began to understand the needs of our customers and they began to see how we put our heart and soul into our product. This building of relationships has been invaluable to our business growth and it was only possible through face to face meetings.

Building on that Base

We have a holistic view of business . We want to make a positive impact in everything we do. We aim to work with the weather, with the land, and with our customers to produce the best results. We love being part of both the farming and the hospitality communities, and want to facilitate better understanding between these connected worlds.

So when we found out about the plans for the PX+ festival, we realised it was the perfect opportunity to bring people together here at the farm. The aim of the festival was to give hospitality professionals, producers, chefs, sommeliers, restaurant owners and more a space and platform to discuss their industry, celebrate its strengths and collaborate to change it for the better.

Oscar didn’t have to think twice about volunteering the farm and its space and resources for the festival.

We couldn’t have foreseen the consequences for our business, or how it would change our attitude to events, but it has really opened our eyes to how much more events can do for your connections and business relationships.

It was transformative for us to be involved in a festival that created connections between a vast array of industries and personalities.

The festival was a massive step change from the small, personal events we had been organising up to then. The large groups of people, and the natural way they were encouraged to mix and meet, resulted in lots of positive cross-pollination with producers, chefs and restaurant owners learning about each other and realising they could build new products, relationships and ways of working that benefited everyone.

It was inspiring to see the way people operate at the festival and how we’ve all benefited in tangible, real world ways, without the need to “sell” to achieve it. We loved the weekend and made connections with a wide range of potential customers on a personal level.

Our Philosophy – Why we do Events

Since PX+, we’ve been working on our events to bring more people to the farm and create more connections with the people we want to sell to, not to sell per se, but to understand them, and let them understand us. 

The idea of ‘selling’ is rather alien to us. Building long term relationships is much more important and much more successful! 

The reason it works better than some tired sales spiel is simple – in a relationship you have to develop understanding and understanding fosters trust. Basically, you begin to understand your customers’ drives, needs and problems.

In addition, your customers begin to understand you and your process, and appreciate your product (in our case, but we believe this is true for any business, service, whatever you do).

Events are a personal, fun, relaxed way to begin a relationship and also a great way to take existing relationships to the next level.

They transform your relationships with your customers, build links to potential new customers, and also, as is the case with PX+, create a community that allow you to become part of a bigger network.

Being part of a network, in our experience, helps to grow your business through innovation, as you are exposed to new ideas and are open to using these new applications of what you do, all thanks to the knowledge you gain about your customers and peers.

But above all else, we love to have events here at the farm because they are fun. If you can’t have fun in your working life, we believe you’re missing a massive opportunity all on its own – enjoy yourself!

Conclusion

We use events to do many things, which is why they are an increasingly important part of all that we do.

Events can:

• Help us get to know our customers
• Build relationships within our industry
• Find new opportunities
• Become part of a larger community, with all the benefits that brings
• Have fun!

So if you aren’t using events in your business, think about the impact they can make to your bottom line, but also to help you improve the way you do business by connecting more meaningfully with your customer.

By Max Ruddle, Operations Director at Duchess Farm