Visiting your facility is a win

Visiting your facility is a win

Make the most of this valuable time

Every supplier wants their customer to visit their production facility, farm or greenhouse. It is a great opportunity for you to showcase what you are doing and how it impacts your customer.

Retailers are busy. It takes a lot of time to get out and visit their suppliers. If your customers agree to visit you this is a very positive sign in your relationship. They see it is worth making the effort to see what you are doing and get to know you and your business better. As we continue our series on building relationships this is one of the big ones you can put in the positive column. All of these comments are assuming they are not coming because of an issue. That is a different type of visit.

The invitation

We hear so often, ‘it would be great if the category manager would come to visit us’. We agree, but why do you want this to happen?

Do you want to show them a new piece of equipment that allows you to pack for export markets?

Have you finally finished that renovation to your production facility that has cost more than you expected and taken longer to complete?

You have just replaced an old piece of equipment that was causing your employees grief?

Not to be too blunt here but they don’t care…

When you invite them to your place make sure you include some reasons for them to visit that will impact their business. That is what they are interested in and gives you a much better chance of getting them to take the time to see you.

Perhaps they had asked you to explore a new type of packaging they saw on a visit to another market. If you have made the investment and been working with them on the new launch, then make that the focal point of the visit.

Think about their priorities:

• Driving sales
• Reducing shrink
• More effective use of labour
• Compliance at warehouse and stores
• Reducing or at least maintaining cost of goods

When you invite them, tie the purpose of the visit to what they are looking for.

A generic ‘it would be great if you could visit us’ does not usually get the results you want. Consider asking them like this, ‘we have been able to offset an ingredient cost increase with a new process in our facility. It also ensures your pallets are built conforming to your warehouse standards. We would like you to visit and see what we have done to keep costs in line’. These are the stories they are looking to take back to their boss.

When they visit

Most category managers do not understand much about production. Often, they do want to learn which is where a visit is valuable. They also like to have the chance to talk to people other than sales people. Talk to all of your employees in advance and make sure they know your customer is coming to visit. Your employees should understand who these people are and what they should and perhaps should not say to them.

It was years ago but I remember visiting Sheriden Nurseries in Ontario as we were working on our lawn and garden program. They had a sign at the front door that said, “Welcome Peter Cantley and Peter Chapman from Loblaw. We value our partnership”. Not a huge deal and did not cost them anything, but it set the tone. Did we buy more because of it, probably not but it just made a statement that indicated they appreciated us visiting them and the business we did together. Figure out how to make them feel welcome.

Focus the tour on their priorities. What is happening in your business that will have a positive impact on their business. Walking around looking at big stainless-steel vats or a line that is not working is not really very valuable. Plan for the visit and make sure you can show them the exciting things that enticed them to visit.

Respect their time. Can’t tell you how many times I had the opportunity to visit a supplier, and it went over time. It felt like once they had you it was tough to leave. Be realistic about what you can show them and remember this is a journey. Focus on the priorities this visit and tell them when they come back, you will show them 2-3 more things. You have a much better chance of making an impact if you restrict the tour to the priorities.

Take some pictures. You might be able to use them sometime in a presentation or in your own business history.

This is a time to talk about some topics other than selling more product. Get a sense from them about trends, changes coming to store merchandising etc. Often, they will bring their boss or other people from the organization. If they bring a food safety person make sure your food safety person is there to talk to them.

Anticipate questions. Retailers are not experts at production, but some get a chance to see different facilities. They are also focused on getting a better cost so be prepared for them to be looking for opportunities to challenge you about part of your process that adds costs.

A visit to your facility is a great step in your relationship

When your customers come to visit you should celebrate this as a win. Make sure everyone in your business understands how important it is and that it is a good indication of the relationship you have. They have a lot of suppliers and not many get visits. It can be a bit nerve wracking to have them walking around asking questions, so the better prepared you are the better the visit will go. The best visits are about them, not you.

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.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

If you would like to be a guest send us a note. We are always working on the upcoming episodes.

Changes at US FDA can impact your business

We have all read about the sweeping changes to the operation of the U.S. government. Many Canadian producers and processors rely on ingredients or other components from the U.S. If there are issues with inspections and the safety of food this could have an impact in Canada.

Your customers will expect you to be doing the due diligence required to keep your food safe. We did hear at SIAL where a number of companies were looking for suppliers in other markets to avoid the risk of tariffs and the even bigger risk of less oversight.

Struggling with rising packaging costs or pressure to go green?

Discover how sustainable food and beverage packaging isn’t just good for the planet—it’s good for business. Join us for a practical session that will demystify the transition to eco-friendly packaging, help you navigate compliance, and show you how smart packaging choices can drive sales, attract retailers, and meet evolving consumer expectations.

Learn how to:

• Measure the impact of your packaging changes and communicate them effectively
• Follow a step-by-step process to reduce waste and increase circularity
• Identify cost-effective, sustainable packaging opportunities
• Strengthen your decision-making with tools and real-world resources
• Align with best practices to meet consumer and retailer expectations

Where is Peter speaking?

I do have travel coming up to Toronto, Saskatoon and Calgary so if you want to connect or have an event in any of these locations give me a call or send me an email.