Who Needs a Sales Force?

The question is not rhetoric but rather a real question that we get asked all the time.

Real questions asked by real people, suppliers, and importers. Questions like, “how can you have a business here, when the distributor has this covered.” Or the one that I also enjoy is, “SWS has my back! We just started with them and they love us!” Well, 10 years and counting and 100 SKU’s in market, we are scraping by 🙂

NEWS FLASH-

No one has your back and everyone needs a sales team that works for their brands. To traditional distributors like the Big 5, makers that are <50,000 cases are just background noise that is needed to support the deep deals given away by the top 300 brands.

Our whole business model has existed for nearly a decade in various forms because distributors will not build your brands. Suppliers are expected to put ambassadors on the ground to help the distributor sell cases, and press the flesh. It is sad really.

We get calls all day, especially now and especially as the year draws down, from suppliers and makers that are desperate to hit EOY numbers and the distributor has left them for dead because a bigger brand needs EOY cases. If that has not happened to you, my glorious reader, it surely will in the coming 120 days. The pressure for big distribution to hit EOY numbers as to not pay a maker penalty will eventually trickle down to my readers in the form of a lack of attention on your brands. In talking to my distributor friends, the next 6 months is summed up in two parts.

• Months 9-12 , Focus on selling key accounts and key brands in order to hit EOY goals
• Months 1-3, Apologizing to small brands about why the brands did not perform that well in the key selling period. (But remember, they value your business)!

So with all that said, and heard, and understood, is why you need your own selling force.

We built a thriving business on this premise. We have created sales teams in 22 states that focus on the void left by distributors dumping small brands for big. We built a whole business on the fact that small brands need support, cannot afford national sales teams and basically someone, anyone, needs to show them some love.

Finally- the WHO of “Who needs a sales force” is YOU.

You need support! If you read my articles on a regular basis, you know I always speak my truth and often that is met with head nods and affirmation. I say it, you think it, but the message is the same.

Today alone, I received 3 calls from brands, that I have never heard of, that started with the sentence, “Our distributor screwed us! Can you help?”

Yes I can, because you need a a sales force!

Happy Holiday Weekend!  When we get back at it, selling season will be here.