Big beer has a lot of resources to help boost their sales and keep the little guys down. But we have some tricks of our own and some aspects of being small that work in our favor. I cover some of those sales strategies that have helped us over the years. They might be pretty common sense but hey, they work! And that’s what matters. Let’s go!
MUSICAL INTERLUDE
Hello!!
Welcome to Courage and Other C Words! I’m your host, Jenn Root Martell. Thanks for joining me today! Since the last episode we have experienced a crazy rainstorm and atmospheric river over here in Northern California. It won’t completely save us from the drought but it helped a little with the epic wildfires we keep getting, and the general crispiness everywhere you look. It was definitely nice getting a little weather around here. It doesn’t happen very often.
And thanks for coming with me on that journey last episode. I did apparently need to get all that off my chest. Felt good afterward though I do really hate complaining about things like that. It’s so stupid and preventable, the way they tip the game in the market, but unavoidable these days. And though some of our regulatory agencies have tried to crack down on some of these bad actors, I have heard at least one big house distributor in the Bay Area has a separate bank account just to cover lawsuits and regulator penalties. And have several ongoing, all the time. Goes to show that they know exactly what they’re doing. They just don’t care how it impacts the rest of the market. Helps to have deep pockets I guess.
So since I spent all last episode bitching, I thought it would be helpful to share the other side of the playing field, by looking at how we are succeeding with sales as a small cider company. Because even with the scales so tilted not in our favor, we have been able to sell a lot of cider over the past six and a half years, foster some really amazing customer relationships, and help build up the cider market in the SF Bay Area. Our Dry Me a River dry cider in particular has been super successful and now has quite a following. We’re pretty proud of what we’ve done, and none of it was accomplished through free gifts, extra swipes of the card, or other special privileges. We’ve looked at what the big guys do and what they promise and then try to find the holes where our products can fit. There are things that they simply can’t do because they’re too big. All the while trying our hardest not to get on their radar so that they don’t come after our taps and all the hard work that we have done selling cider in the market. It’s all a game in the end and how you play it determines how successful you are or can be in sales. And for this episode I’m only focusing on outside sales since the taproom is a totally different monster. These strategies are what we continue to use out in the market, as we peddle our ciders to bars, restaurants, and grocery stores and continue to pick up new awesome customers around the Bay. So here we go.
I would say first and foremost, the most critical piece of leverage that we have selling our cider in the SF Bay Area is that we are LOCAL LOCAL LOCAL. I cannot stress to you enough how valuable the local element is to sales these days. Did I say that we lead with local? It is by far the easiest hole to fill and also the selling point for our ciders that has the most impact. That and the fact that we sell an actual dry cider but that’s getting too far ahead of myself.
So this “go local” or “buy local” or “support local” buying trend has been picking up steam for years now, probably decades. But it is a powerful selling point. Buy our cider because it’s made literally down the street, or across the Bay. Or even in California. It’s made by your neighbors, in your community. And supporting us supports your community. I love how Empire Creative put it when they wrote about this trend - When you shop local, not only are you helping grow your area’s economy, but you’re helping grow the dreams of your neighbor.
We set up the cidery in an urban space so that we could be close to the people we were making cider for. That was important to us and only now looking back, it was really important to our sales strategy as well. We wanted to be part of a community, and make a cider for that community. Who knew it would really be our biggest asset, besides making good cider of course. And from feedback from my sales guy, we are still winning accounts left and right because of that selling point. Either people are from South City, have some connection to it, or just like that we’re just a quick drive away and they can tell their customers “ yeah! This cider is from just down 101 or just across town, or just across the Bay”. And people really appreciate that it seems. Even in San Francisco, the hyper local aspect of being just south of the city has helped us win accounts from even larger California brands. And though I would prefer poaching cider taps from big big names, seeing the priority that our customers are putting toward local, even micro-local is very telling and validating.
But then it also annoys me when I see shelf tags at grocery stores where big distributors have been able to buy “local” signs for their ciders. And I just want to scream - bitch we are 10 minutes away from here! This “local” cider is 3 hours! But that comes down more to the fact that I don’t have money for shelf tags and I’m jealous. Because the big guys realize that that sells and do what they can to draw attention to it. I just wish I could create some tags that say “More Local” or something like that. But that’s just more motivation to be out in the market and educating people that we are small and scrappy and more around the corner than some of these other guys.
And highlighting that local-ness is something I don’t think you can do enough of. Last summer some of us cider ladies got together and made a Cider Pak for sale, a variety pack with one of our all of our ciders. Some you wouldn’t easily be able to find on the shelves. And we sold it through the cider bars in the Bay Area. And it was a huge hit! I think combining forces like that and bringing attention to other local businesses that complement your own only makes the statement even stronger that these are your neighbors and they are worth supporting because they’re doing or making really great things.
It seems like the pandemic has only expanded the popularity of shopping local as people were forced to stay within their community bubbles more so over the last eighteen months. The idea of shopping local to support the small businesses that were hit so hard by all the lockdowns was more in their faces and on their instagram feeds. Now that hopefully the brunt of this epidemic is past us, it looks like this trend of focusing close to home for your food and beverage need isn’t going away anytime soon.
From an article put together by the US Chamber of commerce:
Today, 56% of consumers are patronizing neighborhood stores or buying locally sourced products, according to Accenture’s findings on post-COVID purchasing behaviors that are poised to stick.
And - One of the “pivotal” shifts in spending habits since COVID-19 is a drift toward local shopping and a move away from malls, with 75% of consumers planning to shop more locally over the next year, according to a study by digital operations platform Brightpearl.
That all bodes well for the small producer, no matter the product. We know it is definitely a great way to start a sales pitch, breaking the ice as a neighbor in contrast to the big beer guys who pedal national brands that lack a sense of place. With the exception of Coors possibly.
So using the local card that has been a winner most of the time. And I believe I have gotten my point across on that one.
So moving on to the next point I would like to mention as I know I have in the past - and that is ingredients. I think that there is a lot that can get lost when companies have to scale. A loss of quality potentially when your cost of goods skyrockets with the increase in production size. One that that we have kept absolutely true as we have grown as a cider business is that we use 100% fresh pressed apple juice in our base must for all our ciders. Now don’t get me wrong, I think some cider companies are doing great things with concentrates, especially with bittersharp and bittersweet apple concentrates in areas where you can’t find those types of apples.
However, since we determined early on that crushing and pressing our own apples for our cider was time and cost prohibitive, we turned to a fresh juice provider and will not be changing that direction for anything. Even as freight gets ridiculously expensive and we have to work around grape harvest for our juice supply, bringing in that yummy juice once a month and having our base must be 100% apple juice is a point of pride. There is no water in our cider. There is no extra apple flavorings or other nonsense. It’s all apple, all day. And I make sure that anyone who is talking about our cider makes sure to mention that. It is definitely a strong selling point when we’re out there in the market.
The next question is of course - where do you get your apples from. And as much as I would love to continue that local conversation and source our apples from California, the lack of supply just made that impossible. So we source regionally from the pacific northwest. It’s not local, but it’s regional. And there’s some pride that comes with that as well. It is also pressed the week that we need it so there is no sitting around waiting for trucks and ferns. It gets put in a truck and is in a tank within 2 days. Not too shabby. And at some point we might want to dabble with other apples and other juices, that base must will always be fresh pressed juice and we’re sticking to that.
Another really important aspect of sales that small producers are able to pull off better than the big guys is customer service. When you get so big that all you have are distributors around the country peddling your products and pushing your beers onto shelves and taps, you lose that personal touch. The sales people in the market are distributor sales people who have a huge portfolio of other brands that they also need to sell. Hence all the cheating to keep your brand on the forefront of their minds.
Small guys on the other hand, with a self-distribution model, have designated sales people in the market who care deeply about the brand and are there as a resource for our customers. Sometimes these sales people are the owners of the companies themselves, bringing even more personal connection to the sales pitch and the relationship. They are locally situated so that they can call on accounts regularly, they are available to help troubleshoot if a keg is having problems, they are there to quickly supply additional product information if needed for a menu or a promotion at the store. And they constantly bring the new products rolling out, in real time, to customers so that they have the freshest, newest, yummiest options that they can get. These sales people make the whole thing work. They have their ear to the ground to figure out what the trends are in the market, and they build the relationships at a personal level so that they cultivate amazing loyalty among their customers. And this doesn’t need to be a slow roll type strategy. Spending hours and hours and hundreds of dollars at a bar does not ensure a loyal customer. Trust me, I’ve tried. Though you can pick up SOME sales that way, at least you could before COVID, all I got were a few orders and a couple more inches on my waist. It’s just all about deeply caring about what your customers need and want, bringing them new items that can help their sales, and treating accounts like partners, not just dollar signs.
And having someone on your team who can keep all the accounts straight and know what they order, and can help predict the trends of sales as you go is critical. Being seriously engaged in selling your products can also allow you to take advantage when others drop the ball. Sometimes the supply chain for the big guys fails or they mess up in some way so as to infuriate the buyer. Who knows what could happen if your team member is there with a smile and a willingness to help. It could mean a bigger order potentially, or a specialty keg promotion down the line. It never hurts to be there and be involved.
Again, this can of course be an owner to start. But at some point you will want to offload this huge task on to someone else, and hand off your precious accounts to someone who has more time and more energy to keep them happy. It’s a great sign of growth, when you as an owner no longer have the capacity to drive around and check in on everyone because there are just too many of them and not enough hours in the week. Training someone to really know the products, care about the products, and understand the importance of service with a smile and all that is a key step in expanding your market share and increasing the visibility of your brand.
Pivoting is also something small producers can do SO much easier. Pivoting and adapting. This could be as easy as during COVID some of the huge cider companies couldn’t keg some of their fruited ciders because they had so much going out in cans or bottles to fulfill the increase in off-premise sales. Well, we could keg more of our fruited seasonals for sure! And voila! More sales. Filling a hole that the big guys left open. Along that same vein, being so engaged with customers can reveal trends in the market for a particular flavor profile or interest in special ciders for accounts. Small producers can roll out small batches to test the market easier than the big guys. We can do a 200 or 300 gallon batch, put it only in kegs, and see how it sells around the Bay without a huge hit to the bottom line if it doesn’t take off right away. That flexibility can be a boon when bars ask for new or specific thing and we can make it happen faster and with less disruption to the larger production process. It’s an interesting angle when you’re out in the market and want to distinguish yourself, or expand your partnership with a specific bar or grocery store. Collaborations are so fun and who knows what new ciders might come out of customer suggestions. That’s how our seasonal honey and lavender came about and we’ve been making it now for more than four years.
And sales is really half of that battle. Once you get the order, you have to get the product to the account. And yes, self-distribution is a TON of work. But it’s a great place to start as a small brand. You need a truck or five, you need drivers for those trucks, those drivers should be awesome and committed or excited about the brand as well as they are the outward face of the company, physically bringing the products to the market. This is one resource you can provide that the big guys can’t. This is the service with a smile concept. The driver is not a cog in a machine, they are a critical part of the sales team and process. They are another sales touch that allows you to get feedback about the market, information about how your product is being stored at different places, and another face of your company that your accounts can see. So many positives. And at least in the beginning, definitely worth the overhead.
A couple of years into cider we did sign with a wholesale distributor to help cover more territory for us. We specifically chose a small craft distributor who actively avoided the illegal strategies that I mentioned in my last episode. We even had a chat in the beginning of the relationship about providing monetary incentives for their sales people and they refused, saying that that wasn’t what drove their team and opportunities that have been offered in the past like that don’t actually help with sales and motivating their team. That was great news for sure. They are super committed to craft and small producers and it’s a portfolio that we are proud to be part of.
Especially during COVID, there were some times that, because we were small, we were capable to supporting our wholesaler outside the usual marketing documents and fulfilling orders. We did a few trips around the territory, checking in with customers, introducing our new sales person, and making sure everyone was doing OK. There were a good amount that had to close during the pandemic, but for those that stayed open we tried to be available to assist in any way we could. By providing more canned product than usual or brainstorming different ciders and events that could help move product during the lockdowns. For the distributor we also made sure they got the products when they needed them. Usually this means arranging a time for them to come by and pick up pallets of product when their delivery truck is on the peninsula. But during COVID all the routes were crazy and timing didn’t always pan out. Drivers were let go or just straight up left. So there were a handful of times when I loaded up the van and did multiple trips to Stockton to get our cider in their hands. It was a huge time suck but definitely worth it.
Also as we continue to deal with a market that is unpredictable, I have offered to buy back seasonal product that is not moving for them. I don’t think it’s fair to pile product on them if it’s something that their customers don’t really want. And now with the taproom, we have another avenue of sharing ciders that are not as restricted to specific seasons. I can have a couple taps of different seasonals and provide more options to the people who walk through our doors. The distributor doesn’t have this flexibility. So we did just buy back a handful of Yerba Buena cases and kegs that weren’t moving as well so that they didn’t die in a warehouse. And then they’re not out of the dollars that it cost them to have that product sitting in a warehouse. It’s all about partnership and flexibility and reminding them that we have their back. It goes a long way.
So lastly I would say, the thing that small businesses can do to set themselves apart from the big guys is just not be assholes. It’s not hard. I wrote a little bit about this in episode 7 about the cutthroat competition in the cider industry. But it’s pretty true against the big beer guys as well. It doesn’t help any of us to bash the big guys in front of buyers, or draw attention to their bad actions, or spread negative information between accounts. Bringing to light all of the nonsense isn’t going to help reduce any of it and it only makes you look bad for calling people out. Either move on and just don’t service those accounts, or, do what the big guys can’t do and kill them with kindness. It’s amazing the loyalty you can cultivate by just being real, being yourself, and selling quality products. As an owner there is a pride and knowledge that you can bring to the sales pitch that cannot be matched. No one can be as good of a salesperson as the person who makes the product. But it’s possible to come close if you follow these strategies above. Staying positive and keeping yourself out of sales drama can be especially powerful when you’re around others who take part in the bad mouthing. Setting yourself apart from all that shows class and integrity. Keep smiling, even if it’s really hard to do sometimes.
OK, so I know what you’re thinking - Jenn, that’s super obvious, I wouldn’t dream of being a dick to a customer. I thought you were going to tell me something I didn’t know. Well, you’re right. A lot of these things really do sound like common sense. But you know what they say - common sense is not so common. And a little positive energy really does go a long way with customers. They’re frequently overwhelmed, bogged down by samples and product sheets, constantly barraged with new products and discounts and requests for space. Approaching them gently and then always being there for when they need you is worth its weight. It really is.
And based on some of these sales trends that I mentioned, it looks like the little guy is having his day right now. Focusing on local, quality products, and not undercutting your prices or cheapening your sales pitch will most likely lead to some great sales and some great customer relationships. Setting yourself apart as the neighborhood product can be a huge selling point and it’s a super easy point to make.
So that’s my two cents on sales for now. I’m sure I can add to this episode later on as we get past the impacts of COVID and see what the new normal looks like on the other side. And the taproom will also yield a whole new world of sales and learning experiences that I hope I can pass on at some point. In the meantime, I hope some of these points can be helpful to other small producers. Or at least validating if you’re already doing all or some of these things. I’m pretty proud with how we’ve grown over the years and I will be the last person to say that it’s been easy. It’s been fucking hard. But now that we’re getting cold calls from places wanting our cider, I feel we’ve finally hit the momentum that we’ve been working toward and have created the visibility that this brand needs to succeed. There can always be more done, but there are also so many hours in the week when we’re a small team. We’re doing our best and won’t stop smiling.
And that’s a wrap! Have any particular sales strategies worked in your favor? Any sales victories you’d like to share? I’d love to hear all about it! Email me at info@othercwords.com.
In the meantime, please subscribe, rate, and review to help out this podcast! 5 stars goes a long long way and I so appreciate your support. I know it says write a review and that can be daunting but apparently Apple isn’t asking for a novel. A simple Hey! What’s up? Would be more than fine! And for more information about me and this podcast visit us online at othercwords.com or on social media @othercwords. Talk to you soon! And thanks for joining me today!
Sources:
"Hyper Local Commerce and Smaller Brands Benefit from Post-Pandemic Consumer Trends" Barbara Thau, US Chamber of Commerce. 1 July 2021
"What is the 'Shop Local' Trend?" Empire Creative website.