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  • samples

    When your sales prospect requests samples, do you give it away, or do you charge a nominal price for it? Like a buck a bottle, just to defray packaging costs.

    Waddaya think, dumb idea? Suicidal? Brilliant wave of the future?

    Steffan
    Steffan's Aldergrove Brewery

  • #2
    We give it away.
    Cheers & I'm out!
    David R. Pierce
    NABC & Bank Street Brewhouse
    POB 343
    New Albany, IN 47151

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    • #3
      this is one of those times you have to give to get. =)

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      • #4
        give it away

        We give it away, although we still write up an invoice for $0.00 as a way of tracking our samples down.

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        • #5
          We give it away. I've always felt in the sometimes cut-throat, handle-stealing world of account chasing, if we ever tried to charge a potential account to taste our products, that'd be the last thing we'd probably ever sell that account.
          Glacier Brewing Company
          406-883-2595
          info@glacierbrewing.com

          "who said what now?"

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          • #6
            Hell, I don't even go into a potential account without a free sample of each of our beers. Of course, we're only brewing two kinds right now. Anyway, we're self-distributing in our area, so I need to get a leg up on the other distributors any way I can. Definitely stick to free samples.
            Mike Hiller, Head Brewer
            Strangeways Brewing
            2277-A Dabney Road
            Richmond, VA 23230
            804-303-4336
            www.strangewaysbrewing.com

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            • #7
              No getting around this one.

              Look at it this way: be happy that you work in a business in which you can so easily provide samples for your potential customers. People selling houses, PCs, cars, general services, etc. have a lot tougher time getting people to try their products at least once.

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              • #8
                I know this is an old thread, but for you guys that are draft only, how do you provide samples? We have a bottle gun, but that seems somewhat labor intensive, we don't have a ton of bottles lying around, and since we don't bottle regularly we're concerned with label-less bottles looking too "amateur".

                We're currently using 32 oz growlers, but I'd rather not a)have to give them the whole thing or b)keep re-sealing the growler and risk a less than perfect example of our beer. We were looking into getting a couple of these from Schaeffer: http://www.schaeferkegs.com/fresh_keg.php What are you guys doing?

                Cheers!

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                • #9
                  I'm keg only. Bottling samples sucks, but you gotta do it. I use a beer gun. At the end of the keg run you almost always end up with a partial fill keg. I keep a few of those laying around for samples and "QC testing". I try to save up and bottle several cases at a time if I can. I just buy new 12 oz bottles from the local homebrew store and fill with said beer gun. I make small Avery labels that have the company name on them and say "Sample only, not for resale". I've never had an issue with people thinking it was unprofessional. If anything they are excited because the bottles look like something rare and special since they have "pre-production" looking labels on them. If they ask or look confused, just tell them you hand bottled these so that they would have something to taste..sometimes that makes them feel special....

                  Having to do samples this way is an absolute PITA. However, if you go out on sales calls without samples, your chances of making that sale are going to be pretty low.
                  Scott LaFollette
                  Fifty West Brewing Company
                  Cincinnati, Ohio

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