The 9th Day of Christmas
9th DAY of CHRISTMAS
On the ninth day of Christmas, we dig into the data.??
As wholesalers continue to shed salespeople they will exponentially increase their merchandising ranks. These merchandisers will be deployed throughout the supermarket chains with a visit frequency between 5-7 days per week. Often I see them run roughshod over competing products, particularly those that don’t maintain the same visit frequency. This results in temporary loss of space which may include the discarding of competitor price tags. Pulling these tags results in incremental (albeit temporary) real estate for their brands.
To combat the real estate space war, smaller suppliers are urged to hire their own merchandisers. These positions, as mentioned previously, are often a hybrid sales/merchandiser mix which quickly results in employee burnout and turnover. The merchandiser position needs to be elevated in status and compensation and must be devoted strictly to this critical task. Lack of training at the merchandiser level is something I see often. Focus on this critical aspect of your business and you will see results.
As wholesalers shy away from large sales teams, sales emphasis will be squarely on the small to medium suppliers’ shoulders. To succeed in 2022, these suppliers (craft beer, cider, wine, spirits, etc.) will need a tenacious, seasoned, educated and motivated sales team. These teams will need to visit “A level” accounts (i.e., top volume sellers) TWICE per week. For example they can visit A accounts on Mondays and Thursdays while B accounts can be visited on Tuesdays. C accounts can be called on Wednesdays and new, “non-buy” accounts on Fridays.
THE SCORECARD
If you are unsure about which are your “A, B, Cs” then ask your wholesaler for VIP or Idig data access. Once into this rich data base, compile a master list of relevant competitors, what I call, the “Craft (or Competitive) Cluster.” If you’re not allowed access to the wholesaler’s data bank then request this from the brand or sales manager. Have him/her run a report by individual On and Off Premise channel using at least 24 months’ worth of current data to ensure reliability and validity. Have them compare these case volume figures to the prior year.
Next, have them run the same report for your brands. Compare the two by manually loading the cluster data into an excel spread sheet (export into excel). Include percentage up or down between the two years, percentage of total business and both years’ actual volume in cases. This results in four columns for the Craft Cluster next to yours for a total of eight on the page. (See scorecard example above).
Once all the numbers have been loaded, you’ll quickly see what channels are growing for your competitors and where they are succeeding. You can then compare how your brand performs relative to your competition. Be sure that your brand’s data is NOT included in the competitive cluster’s.
领英推荐
You’ll find several channels that represent volume potential (double digit growth, for example) for your brand – and that are up for your competitors. An example is Chains (Off Premise) and Bars (On Premise). Next, run a “drill down” report BY ACCOUNT within each of these channels. This list will represent new business prospects (or Non Buy accounts) OR it will show you where your brand should be performing at a higher level, given your competitor’s success. Armed with these results, deploy your sales team into the Buying Accounts, tasking them to learn why your brand is not performing relative to the Cluster. Request buyer quotes in their weekly follow up reports. You’ll be amazed at the findings and how easy it is to get these accounts producing again. ?If the account is a Non-Buy, then be sure that the salesperson is trained on how you want the brand presented and armed with samples.
Next up are the experiential or “special” events!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Colburn has over 25 years of marketing, experiential event, sales, distribution and merchandising experience in the beverage industry, is the pod cast host and creator of, “The Shinerunner Show,” the author of, “Craft Beer Marketing & Distribution – Brace for SKUmeggedon,” was the United Kingdom’s lead post on the US food and beverage industry and has a Master’s degree in Marketing.