Setting Monthly Objectives for Pre-Sell Route Salesmen

When setting monthly sales objectives or goals for route salesmen remember first and foremost to keep it simple. You want the salesman to be able to use the objectives on a daily basis as a working document. Every salesman must understand how his route relates to the overall strategy of your company's business plan and sales objectives for each route should correspond directly to your plan. You have to develop objectives that drive sales and keep "score". Compensation must be coupled with attaining these objectives. Following are some rules to abide by when building monthly sales objectives:

• Use historical data with trends broken down by daily, weekly, and monthly sales figures. A rule of thumb is to use your top ten packages. A true salesman needs to know how many cases he needs to sell on a particular day to hit his goals.


• Always include a distribution drive on packages that need placement.


• A list of displayable accounts, the ones that have a display and the ones that need a display.


• A few gimmies. For example: a clean vehicle, participation in company directives, fraternizing with fellow employees, community service, and night calls.


• Build a pull up schedule and include it in the objectives.


• Tie in no more than two supplier incentives, one major and one minor, per month. And always include your largest supplier. Trust me.


• Target 10-20 accounts for needed POS merchandising and cleaning, broken down by class of trade or volume. Example: five large accounts, 10 medium, and 5 small.


• It is imperative that you tie a salesman's compensation to attaining monthly goals. This way the real salesman step up and you find out who the order takers are.


• Always, always, always give weekly projections to let them no how they stand and calculate the exact results to give to the salesman at the next monthly meeting.


• Repeat every month. Once you've made it through a year, you just refresh the sales data and make any needed changes.

Congratulations, you have a working document saturated with much needed information on sales trends, distribution, retail initiatives, and incentive quotas. It is the only way I know how to keep my score in this "game".

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Start a Beer Distributing Company

So you came up with a wonderful idea on how to get rich by starting a beer distributorship. Are you crazy? Are you drunk? Or.... do you have what it takes to work 16 hour days, seven days a week to be your own boss? Do you like pushing one of these things in the picture on the right? Do you enjoy setting your own goals, interacting and conducting business with many different people with multiple demeanors and diverse backgrounds, and analyzing progressive consumer trends and habits in the marketplace? I enjoy teasing the folks that think beer distributors just deliver beer and make tons of money. Nothing is further from the truth. Beer distributors are entreprenuers that evolve everyday. Change is eminent and constant. Believe me, the breweries change marketing focus and organizational structure every few months. To be a beer or beverage distributor, you have to be able to go with the flow and always do what you say you'll do.

Following is some basic information to see if you've got what it takes:

First you need a federal license to sell alcoholic beverages and a federal permit so you can store them.

Second you need a state permit for the counties you service. Once you get a state wholesaler permit you will receive a tax roll of all the accounts that hold a retail license for the area you service. This roll is important because it will be your universe to which you can sell alcoholic beverages. Its also where you will keep up with taxes collected from retailers.

Third you need an operational strategy. This means vehicles and warehouse space. You will also need a decent route accounting software system to keep up with your invoicing, distribution and sales reports.

Fourth you need products and customers. Call and email every supplier you can find...from alcohol to non-alcohol. Check the margins they offer, terms, pos, support, etc. A good starting point is BevNet.com.

Fifth you are going to work your tail off. Do you have a sales force? If you can do all this on your own...you are my hero. I consider owning and operating a beer distributorship with no employees to be the Holy Grail of the beer wholesaling profession. That is, if it could be done.

I hope that doesn't scare you off. I admire that you want to do this. It is a rewarding business and can be very fulfilling, but you have to know that it can also be excrutiatingly painful, depressing, and all-time and all-thought consuming. I know a lifetime of answers to any questions...feel free to email me at any time, my knowledge is at your disposal. For more information online, see how to start your own Beverage Distribution Business.

Now make a list of questions to ask yourself, your retailers, and prospective suppliers. Some examples:

• FOB's and laid in's for different brands and packages.
• Rising fuel, freight, insurance, taxes, and supplier demands and their effect on the beverage business.
• Your location and your competitors.
• Demographics of your territory.
• Service level expectations and payment procedures of various retailers.
• Laws affecting transportation and distributing alcoholic beverages in your area.
• Credit terms with suppliers and retailers.
  

And now a little cheat sheet to wet your appetite:

1. Contact all of the beverage distributors in your area. Don't tell them all of your plans, just say you are conducting research. Ask about the brands in their portfolios and see if they handle the full package line from some mid-major brewers. Start with the Pabst supplier. If the distributor is not carrying some Pabst packages you can request these brands. A few other breweries to contact are Gambrinus, Pittsburgh, Cold Spring, or any small regionals in your area. It will take time to build a product line. Also, you will have to be ready to order and deliver as soon as you start getting the product....remember beer is perishable.

2. Ask about their non-alcohol portfolios...there is more margin in soft drinks and you don't have to pay sales taxes in most states. The only drawback is some retailers will ask for credit terms (larger ones) and Coke and Pepsi control the cooler sets. But sometimes we get lucky with these new niche products..many did with Snapple, Red Bull, and Vitamin Water. Try to get a few of these beverages. A couple to look at are Cocio Chocolate Milk, Hat Trick Beverage's Pumped Fitness Water, and IrnBru. Go to BevNet and research some of these brands. Don't be afraid to call or email them. They will send you samples and pricing.

3. Contact the National Beer Wholesalers Association and ask about your State Association and who the local distributors are. You can also find a wealth of information about starting a beer distributorship on the NBWA website, as well as your state association's website.

4. Never pay for any franchise from anyone in the beverage business...you get the rights from a supplier based on the expectations of your performance at the levels agreed upon in the beginning of entering a contract with a supplier. Any payment to a supplier should only be for inventory and promotional items that help you sell more product. At least, that is my conviction.

5. It would be best to start off with some non alcohlic drinks first, unless your market is heavily skewed to the on premise. Many breweries nowadays let you order small pallet quantities to help with cash flow. So do the smaller soft drink companies.

6. You need to make at least 25% margin on beer and 30% plus on soft drinks.

7. Look in to adding beef jerky, cups, or salty snacks to your routes.

8.It is imperative that you have a superior understanding of computers, the internet, excel, word, and power point. You wouldn't be able to order or sell the first case without 'em.

Hope that helps a little, at least you have a starting point now. Anyway, feel free to email me with any questions. I believe that with consolidation of more and more beer distributorships, there will be breweries and beverage companies that will welcome smaller wholesalers. There is a niche for small, nimble wholesalers...you just have to patient, hardworking, and lucky. Just remember, the beverage business is about making friends...that is forgotten when you're trying to sell 500 sku's.

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Miller Coors JV: Great Taste for the Brewery, Less Filing for the Distributor

Let's face it boys and girls, any happy thoughts you have about the joint venture between Miller Brewing Company and Coors Brewing Company you can forget them. The only positive outcomes of this merger will be for the breweries involved and the large mega-wholesalers. Believe me, this new company will become "Millerized". That means less margins, no supplier supplemented POS (thanks to a wonderful program called Service 2000), higher freight, and more bureaucracy. That also means the supposed worst nightmare for small to medium sized wholesalers....consolidation. I say supposed because many think of consolidation as bad. It's not as bad as many may think. Anyway, I think the Justice Department should scrutinize every detail of the propsed merger/joint venture because it is anti-competitive and many small family-owned businesses will be pushed (read shoved) out. I would welcome that "shove" because I believe the valuations for smaller beer distributorships are as high as they will ever be. Think about it, margins are going to shrink even more, fuel, insurance, and salaries are escalating out of control, and the breweries are going to get more and more "influence" over your affairs. Just remember, as it says on our invoices, you are an independent business person free to conduct business as you see fit. If you believe that, I'd be willing to bet you think Miller/Coors is going to lower FOB's.

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Happy Holidays: Five New Beverage Distributor Opportunity Products

I would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays and pass on a few beverage distributor opportunity products. These companies are actively pursuing distributors and would make a welcome addition to a beer distributors bottom line:

1. Viso Beverages...Vitamin, mineral, and electrolyte enhanced beverages packaged in very sharp blue bottles designed to protect their precious contents.


2. Primer Energy Spray...Primer is a caffeinated breath spray that is sweeping the nation. The distributor margins are 33% plus and it has an eighteen month shelf life.


3. Hango...Get the minerals, vitamins and energy you need while fighting off alcohol's deadly byproducts. In addition, Hango makes a great mixer with an extra kick. What are you waiting for? Got a hangover? Grab a Hango.


4. Google Gulp...Think a DNA scanner embedded in the lip of your bottle reading all 3 gigabytes of your base pair genetic data in a fraction of a second, fine-tuning your individual hormonal cocktail in real time using our patented Auto-Drink™ technology, and slamming a truckload of electrolytic neurotransmitter smart-drug stimulants past the blood-brain barrier to achieve maximum optimization of your soon-to-be-grateful cerebral cortex. You can pick up your own supply of this "limited release" product simply by turning in a used Gulp Cap at your local grocery store. How to get a Gulp Cap? Well, if you know someone who's already been "gulped," they can give you one. And if you don't know anyone who can give you one, don't worry – that just means you aren't cool. But very, very soon, you will be. I have 50 Google Gulp caps to give away to the first 50 people leaving a comment below!


5. Suck and Blow...The Suck and Blow concept is solely based on the popularity of alcohol shot sales worldwide. Suck and Blow offers this new and exciting concept in ready-made packaging to consume and play.

Thanks and enjoy! Hopefully, your company will benefit, profitably of course, from these brands.

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How to Develop Your Own Energy Drink or Start a New Age Beverage Company.

The energy drink and new age beverage category is delivering phenonemal growth year in, year out. Especially the growth of New Age Beverages like Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, Vitaminwater, Fuze, Sobe and others. As a beverage distributor, I constantly look for new opportunities that compete across the entire beverage spectrum. I need to constantly update my portfolio with new high margin beverages in order to drive consistent, profitable growth to sustain my investment in manpower, infrastructure, inventory, and technology. I keep detailed files of new beverages, beverage distributors, pricing, marketplace trends, development, merchandising, marketing, positioning, and promotion. I get calls and emails daily on how to start a beverage company or who to contact with a new beverage idea. Learn the secrets to starting your very own beverage company today.

The Total Beverage Package includes the following and more:

• 38 Pages of Articles and Case Studies about Energy Drinks and New Age Beverages.



• How To Get Started in the Beverage Business and Distributor Business Plans.



• Beverage Production and Bottling Costs.



• How to Sell to Beverage Distributors.



• Bonus - Free 15 minute Beverage Company Consultation.

Now you can benefit from experience and sales to learn about the New Age Beverage business. Get the advice you need about how to go into the business, get more market share, more sales, more distributors and lower production costs. This package will save you money and months of research on the internet and calling distributors and bottling plants.

Click here to get all the information you need to start your own Energy Drink Company or New Age Beverage Business.

Now you can begin the rewarding challenge of starting your own beverage business. Let a beverage industry veteran give you the advice and intellect you need in starting a beverage company.

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Miller Brewing Company’s new Anti – Man Laws

Let’s face it Miller Brewing Company has a problem with identity in its message to consumers. The underlying core of advertising is to find the distinctive traits of a product and promote its unique characteristics. That’s simple for most, not for Miller. Let me explain:

The wrong people are making the decisions for the direction of the company. Career longevity is not a word that can be used to describe Miller’s corporate sales force or advertising department. We even have a name to distinguish our Miller reps…Fast Larry. Some examples, “Why didn’t Fast Larry go out in the market today?” or “What did Fast Larry want on the phone?” We see a revolving door of Larry’s and I forget their names nowadays. Miller reps have become telemarketers with an in and out attitude. A quick call or a drive by the warehouse is what I get. This attitude will not sell more product, period. To increase sales and build product awareness you must learn the intricacies of the distributor’s business, understand market or territorial differences and habits, and build relationships with customers. I guess a short stint at Miller looks good on a resume. Let me clarify that I am not talking about the people that actually make the beer and work in the breweries. The brewery employees that work in Miller’s numerous plants are the backbone of the company. The longtime, career brewery employees should make the decisions or have a say in initiatives that comprise or affect the brewery’s core values and beliefs in regard to the message of the product in advertising. Finally, the Miller Distributors who have a long term, vested interest in Miller and the message that Miller delivers to the consumer should be allowed to voice their opinions about the advertising. I mean, what distributor in his right mind would have shelved "Taste great, Less filling" for "It's it and that's that" or the "Dick" fiasco.

As far as the direction of the new advertising of Miller Lite, I think we’ve missed badly with the More Taste League. Though I personally like his acting, John C. McGinley can’t stand up to manly men George Clooney's Bud voiceover commercials and Sam Elliot’s Coors voiceovers. When I think of McGinley, I think of his roles in Platoon, Office Space, and Wild Hogs. These were great character roles, but not ones that should be associated with Miller Lite, especially after Man Laws. Also, watch for A/B to start gaining share again. The new Bud Light creative "Dude" is hilarious and delivers its message simply, with one word that resonates perfectly in the lifestyle of our faithful, beercentric consumers.

Look for another downward spiral in Miller sales while the marketing and adverising geniuses search for a "new" identity and hit and miss philosphy of provoking Anheuser-Busch. Why not use the time-tested justification of the virtues of the product....Miller Lite has less calories than regular beer and it tastes wonderful. The distributors and brewers will make sure the product is in the hands of the consumer and the quality is exceptional.

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New Product Opportunities for Beverage Distributors

This is a hot list of new brands that will add value and revenue to your beverage distributorship business. Who knows, the next Red Bull or Vitaminwater could be one of them. These companies are actively pursuing distributors and the territories may be available in your area. Hopefully, this list will give you some ideas to help grow your business.

1. Ayala Herbal Water -- No artificial sweeteners, no preservatives, and no additives of any kind. Ayala is infused culinary herbs in pure water.


2. Cocio -- My favorite chocolate milk. Two year shelf life is wonderful.


3. Mix 1 -- A balance of complete nutrition, great flavor, and convenience. Nine month shelf life and gluten-free.


4. Syzmo -- Organic energy drink with vitamins and antioxidants.


5. Pumped Fitness Water -- Pumped Fitness Water is an all-natural fitness beverage, packaged in unique 15 and 30 oz bottles shaped like a dumbbells.


6. Crayons -- Less sugar than other fruit drinks and no high fructose corn syrup.

These are viable brands with nice margins, good luck on the streets.

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