Trade spend and promotions. You want your product to have a shiny sale tag at the store and help people discover it, but how do we get there? It’s a topic that can get expensive and messy really quick, so I wanted to bring back one of our favorite podcast guests and community sales experts, Jake Huber, for a 101 level episode. Jake is the US Sales Director of St Pierre, Americas #1 brioche brand, and has previously been on the show to talk through brokers and first sales hires. Today we dig into how to set yourself up for success when creating promotional calendars, calculating trade spend, and tracking results - all with the goal of driving velocity.

Listen in as Jake shares about:

• How trade spend and promotions are defined, including common types like off-invoice, MCB or manufacturer charge backs, and scan-backs
• When trade spend and promotions are planned and how to make sure the promotions you plan actually happen in the store
• Tips for navigating free fills and BOGOs and how emerging brands fit in a system built for big CPG
• How to navigate distributor promo calendars versus retailer promo calendars
• Ways to keep track of promotions you’ve authorized and evaluate results
• Tips for utilizing shippers, getting display opportunities, and building rapport at the store-level
• And more!

And, stay tuned at the end for a bonus segment - today featuring Startup CPG Shelfie Award winner, Niramaya - Jake and I will share our reviews mid-episode and then at the end of the episode, you can catch a mini-interview with Niramaya’s founder, Mehek Khera, to learn more (at 53:16)!

Episode Links:

• Jake's LinkedIn
• St Pierre Groupe's website
• Link to trade spend planning resources
• Link to another episode with Jake: First Hire Series: Sales
• Niramaya’s Links 
  • Niramaya website & IG @niramayafoods
  • Mehek’s LinkedIn

Show Links:

• Join the Startup CPG Slack community (11K+ members and growing!)
• Follow @startupcpg
• Visit host Jessi's Linkedin or website
• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Jessi at [email protected]