Your customers are not your sales & marketing manager
If you want to be successful in the food and beverage industry you need a proactive sales and marketing plan to sell your products. Yes, you need a great product, but it is no guarantee of success. Part of your job is to get the product on the shelf and into the shopping cart.
You cannot depend on your customers to bring opportunities to you and figure out how to generate the sales you need. We see so many food and beverage businesses that do not maximize the opportunity because they are not proactive about sales and marketing.
Overall, we see 3 reasons why businesses rely on their customers:
1) They don’t want to bother the retailer,
2) They are waiting for the retailer to bring opportunities to them,
3) They really don’t know what to do.
Here are some reasons to take action and what to do…
You don’t want to bother the retailer
It is part of your job to build a relationship with each of your customers. Trust me, they will tell you if you are bothering them. If you consider a relationship that means you both need to contribute and you both need to get something out of it.
In the initial stages you will need to over contribute. Retailers are busy. You are focused on your product and your category. Find opportunities to share information about the category or the industry. You will probably not get a reply but if you keep it short and to the point and there is value for them they will read it.
Ask them how they like to receive information. You have a much better chance of getting their attention if you provide communication in the format they want. The people that do these jobs are changing. Make sure you ask them the best way to communicate. Might be different than your preferred method.
Yes, they are busy but if you can save them some time or make them look good you will take another step forward in the relationship. When you can, get to know them. Understand what they are interested in. Some are very focused on sustainability so find things to share in this area. Others are much more interested in making a name for themselves in the organization and want to share how they reduced shrink in the category. This can include outside work too. They are all people.
Get to know the other people in the department. Your issue for a regional product might not warrant the attention of the category manager but the assistant can handle it. You never know when these people will have the opportunity to write an ad or perhaps be promoted.
If you are providing value you are not bothering them. If you are just trying to talk about your product it will fall on deaf ears and if you do it over and over you will be bothering them and they will tell you or ignore you.
You are waiting for retailers to bring opportunities to you
Wrong.
So wrong.
Retailers are like water (and my kids), they will take the path of least resistance. If they are writing a theme ad they will look at the items they had last year and if it delivered results they will do it again. You will never have a chance because the ad will be written before you even knew about it.
Retailers work a long way out. Understand how far out for each customer and get further out.
Retailer’s job is to run stores. Yes sales are the #1 priority for most but that is the overall sales, not the sales of your particular item. You need to be the advocate for your products and focus on how it will help the retailer.
Talk about incremental sales, growing the category, bringing a certain type of consumer to the store they want. Do not talk about how great your product is. Use their language to resonate with them.
It is true retailers do not always understand your product or the opportunity you both have when consumers pick up the item. Although they might make more cents per unit profit on your item, they are not always thinking about that. It takes time and relentless work on your behalf to help them see this and then the opportunities will come.
You need a 12 month plan. Propose ideas and help them see the incremental sales you will deliver. Ask them for the category sales increase budget and build a plan to exceed this number. You will probably not get everything you want but you need to prove them you are committed to delivering sales and doing your part.
You don’t know what to do
It is true if you are an expert at producing a product you might not be an expert at selling it. You do need to learn or get some help.
You can watch the category and track what competitors are doing. They might have more money to spend than you, but they are doing it for a reason. Look for patterns in terms of when they invest, how much and which tactics they use. Large consumer packaged goods companies invest a lot of dollars in temporary price reductions, but they also invest a lot to figure out what works. You can learn from them.
There are only so many tactics you can employ. You might just have to try some and see what delivers the best return. Any time we talk about trade spend we use the word investment. When you make an investment, you expect a return. Every time you invest in trade spend you should have a forecast and then measure the results. This can be a challenge, but it is so important. You have to learn every time you do something.
When you do have a win share the results with your customer. If they know you exceeded the sales projection they will be more likely to offer an opportunity again.
There are very few, if any products, that are successful sitting on the shelf at every day price for 52 weeks. They usually get delisted.
Watch the category, watch other categories with similar consumers, learn from what you see in other stores and build a plan. Measure the results and alter the plan based on performance. It might not be as much fun as product development but it will deliver results.
Prove to your customers you want to sell your products
Selling your products is not just getting it on the shelf and the PO from the retailer. It is getting it in the shopping cart so you get the next PO.
Peter
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 delighted to sit down with Carly, a culinary innovator on a mission to elevate kitchen experiences through the power of mustard. As she embarked on her journey towards obtaining her Red Seal Certification, Carly discovered the transformative potential of mustard as a culinary secret weapon. With a simple spoonful, she realized how mustard could effortlessly elevate familiar dishes to new heights of flavor and complexity.
Drawing on her expertise as a trained chef, Carly has embarked on an entrepreneurial venture, carving out a niche in the local food market for high-quality mustard. Her creations not only cater to seasoned chefs but also invite enthusiasts of all cooking levels to experiment and explore the culinary magic of mustard. Join us as Carly shares her insights, experiences, and the delicious journey she's undertaken to fill the mustard gap in the food market, inspiring us all to embrace the simple yet profound impact of this versatile ingredient in our kitchens.
6 product ingredients could be banned in California
If the governor of California signs a bill passed in the state legislature 6 food dye ingredients could be banned from products in California schools. Given the state has the population close to all of Canada this will get the attention from food processors.
Often we see trends start in the west and we do believe producers and processors have a responsibility to ensure the ingredients they use are not harmful to people consuming their products.
Take note if you are using any of these or in development stages for a product. If this does become law it could impact formulations and also be something implemented closer to home.
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.
