Building relationships is part of your job every week
Developing relationships with customers is challenging work. There is not always a lot of satisfaction or tangible benefits to look at. When you produce something you can look at the pallet of product and feel a sense of accomplishment. When you leave a voice mail (for the 10th time) with a retailer you can check it off your to do list but it just isn’t the same.
For many reasons building relationships gets pushed to the side and other more pressing or apparent tasks get accomplished. Unfortunately this makes it worse and probably means you will have to call 15 times to get an answer.
You should think about what you are doing every week to improve the relationship.
Meetings are great but…
So many people we work with see the in person or virtual meeting with the customer as the key time on the year. It is true they are important and you need to put your best foot forward. They are not the only opportunity for you to build your relationship and accomplish objectives with a customer.
If you are working on the relationship throughout the year and meeting or exceeding expectations meetings are much more productive. You really cannot cram everything into a 30 minute or 1 hour meeting. You end up covering too much and perhaps missing the key components.
Meetings are a bit like demos. When I ask people about the marketing strategy for their products almost everyone says “I am doing demos”. To be honest, we believe there are other things that can be more effective and deliver a better return on your investment. Meetings are the same. When we ask about relationships many people respond, “we are trying to get a meeting” or “we have a meeting in 2 months”. Agree they are important, but there are many things you can do outside these meetings.
Personal interaction
You have a lot of different tactics you can use to interact with your customers on a personal level. You should plan your work to include different forms of personal interactions and mix up the communications. For example, you can plan to send 6 emails through the year with industry information or insights from some store visits you have done. Another option for email communication could be brief summaries of visits you have done to their stores. Now you are up to 1 personal interaction per month.
You can keep building on this. If you are connected to this category manager on Linkedin you can comment on a post they make 4 times per year. If you see them at 4 trade shows through the year and you work on a special logistics project for a month you now have 12 more interactions to add to your plan. We are up to twice per month.
When you think about the options and build a plan you will be impressed with the relationship you are able to build. It takes time and you need to be persistent. They will not always, respond but when you are consistent and add value it makes a difference.
Although negative issues are never what we want it is another personal interaction. If you do have an issue with inventory or quality you need to be proactive and communicate with them personally.
Passive interaction
There are many opportunities for retailers to interact with your business and you will not even know they are doing it. You should remember they might be looking so make sure the LinkedIn post or your website will be a positive interaction for them.
Many food and beverage businesses focus communication on consumers, which is important. Category managers are consumers too so they might interact with your message as a consumer or they might seek it out to see what you are saying.
Build a plan
You are busy so you want a return on investment for the work you do. You also need a solid relationship with each customer. You need to work on these relationships every week. You can use our SKUFood customer touchpoint calendar to build a plan. Be strategic and this will also give you a better sense of accomplishment to build and execute the plan.
Peter
Are you in Alberta?
If you are in Alberta and want to see us in person, we will be there Sept 26 and 27. Sue Oguchi and I are doing two sessions:
Let’s talk numbers where we discuss how to price your products and the impact of discounting your price.
Perfect your Pitch where we help you build a presentation deck and work on your presentation skills to make that next meeting amazing.Producers and Processors – Enroll now in the FREE Sept 26 and/or Sept 27 workshops credited with helping food and beverage companies like you grow sales to retailers.
Thank you to LearnSphere for their excellent workshops... Shortly after attending the training, I had a meeting with a large corporation to get my product into their stores. Thanks to the training, I felt very prepared to pitch, speaking confidently about the 50% margin their stores would make, and the benefits of incremental sales and purchases. And it paid off! I was able to get into all of their 22 stores! These workshop were truly vital in helping me seal the deal.
Michelle Khatib, CEO, Sky West Suppliers,
Participated in Let’s Talk Numbers Perfect your Pitch workshops in Calgary, June 2023
SKUFood Recipes for Success Podcast
The response to our SKUFood Recipe for Success podcast has been great. We want to thank everyone who has been with us as a guest. So many interesting conversations about our industry.
In this episode, we're privileged to sit down with Eric, a seasoned leader with four decades of experience in the food and beverage industry.
With thirty-three years on the retail side, Eric has honed his skills in distribution center operations, health and safety, process improvement, and more. His diverse expertise spans from quality assurance to procurement, bringing a wealth of knowledge to the table.
But Eric's journey doesn't stop there. For seven years, he's lent his talents to the supplier side, excelling in sales and marketing roles. His contributions extend beyond individual companies, as he's actively involved in industry organizations like the CPMA and CFIA advisory board, where he's made a lasting impact.
Currently the Director of Sales and Business Development at Algoma Orchards, Canada's largest independent apple grower, Eric continues to shape the future of the produce industry.
Join us as Eric shares his insights, lessons learned, and the secrets to cultivating success in this ever-evolving field. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, this episode is sure to leave you with a recipe for success.
Just when you think you have packaging figured out
Packaging is one of the most complicated parts of a successful food and beverage business. It must be functional, deliver your sales and marketing message, entice consumers to buy, deliver on sustainability and so much more.
You should be aware of the media articles that discuss the impact packaging is having on consumer’s bodies. Interesting to note the issue regarding recycled paper and how it might not be the ultimate answer.
I do have travel coming up to Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Lethbridge so if you want to connect or have an even in any of these locations give me a call or send me an email.
