Today we are going to talk about the checklist for entrepreneurial brands.
Here are some of the things we are going to talk about:
• how to maximize your relationship with brokers, distributors, and retailers,
• insider secrets, what the big brands know,
• how to tell or create compelling stories for retailers,
• how to identify key opportunities to expand your distribution and improve your merchandise
• why most brands fail and how to avoid the common pitfalls
• actionable insights and brand-building strategies to grow your brand
So, let’s get started. In the last episode, I talked about how natural organic brands are responsible for sustainable growth across every category. That’s important because, in the absence of natural products, most categories are flat or declining. This is the opportunity for natural organic brands to help sell the value of what consumers bring to the mainstream retailers. I also talked about how natural organic products are available across every channel. Mainstream brands rely heavily on Category Management to gross sales. These advanced strategies help them remain competitive, in fact, these advanced strategies and Category Management are responsible for helping them compete more effectively across any channel and across any category.
The opportunity for small natural brands is that big brands typically use a cookie-cutter approach to Category Management. This is their Achilles heel. This is where small, agile natural brands can take advantage of these important strategies to gain a significant competitive advantage in the category and with the retailer. This is how natural brands stand out on the self.
Working with brokers and distributors: In a perfect world, a brand would hire a bunch of enthusiastic, passionate ambassadors to help support and grow your brand and to make all of your sales calls. The challenge is, this is very expensive. So how do you maximize your relationship with your retailers and your brokers? Well, several years ago I wrote an article about just this subject. I found that after talking with several natural brands, they had a love-hate relationship with the retailers and brokers. The theme of the article was about how to maximize the relationship by holding them accountable and by using them or leveraging them as your external sales force. So, what does this mean? This means you need to identify who is going to be responsible for what. To not have unrealistic expectations of them. To communicate clearly with them and assume nothing. You need to support them with retail-ready presentations, promotional calendars, new item presentations and merchandising recommendations, etc.
Help your brokers and distributors succeed on your behalf. Remember their success is your success. One of the ways you can do this is by giving them expectations, by using smart goals, hold them accountable and then revisit these goals on frequent interviews and get their buy-in. Make sure they understand exactly what is expected of them. Working with your broker or a distributor can be a huge benefit to your brand’s growth, but only if you work with them in a strategic thoughtful way.
This episode's FREE downloadable guide
This short guide levels the playing field between small brands and their more sophisticated competitors. It highlights the advanced strategies the big brands use called Category Management - what retailers want.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE STRATEGIC GUIDE: Strategic Solutions To Grow Your Brand
CONFIDENTLY LAUNCH AND SCALE YOUR BRAND IN 2022 AND BEYOND!
Take The 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge To Master The Brand-Building Skills And Strategies Required To Give Your Brand A Substantial And Sustainable Competitive Edge. Stop Using The Same Cookie-Cutter Tactics Your Competitors Rely On And Give Your Retailer Partners What They REALLY Want; More Traffic In Their Stores, A Competitive Advantage In Their Market, And Predictable And Profitable Category Growth! RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge
FREE Trade Promotion ROI Calculator
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Download the show notes here:
RetailSolved.com/session3
