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sales staff vs. marketing staff

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  • sales staff vs. marketing staff

    We are a smaller brewery around 3000 bbl and in our state we have the 3 tier system. We currently have 2 sales people that call on accounts and on occasion will go with the distributor making sales calls. There has been some discussion amongst us of possibly changing from sales people to marketing people. These folks would have more experience with bar staff and perhaps have been bar tenders before. I believe they could better talk face to face with bar staff discussing things such as food/beer pairings,selecting the right beer,ways to increase staff sales and thus servers tips on and on.

    I would of course want to train or hire someone with a strong beer knowledge and that might not be making beer but how to work with those that work on the "front lines". I think it would be a great way to promote our brands with bar staff. The bar staff likes us and thus buys our products. I want to let the distributor be the sales person/order taker. Any thoughts on this idea ie brand ambassador

    Cheers
    Mike Eme
    Brewmaster

  • #2
    Your sales staff should already be "brand ambassadors." I don't think they necessarily need to be former bar tenders. A good salesperson knows the product and customer. When you say they call on accounts, what does that mean?

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    • #3
      Sales people should be better at talking to the accounts than marketing people. That's why they are sales people. In my view, which may be old these days, marketing is carried out in an office. The point of them is to draw up the "marketing" stuff such as logos, advertising, brand extensions etc. 2 people sounds like a lot for one distributor and 3000 b in sales, but props for making the investment.

      I am happy to provide you with a thorough description of what your 2 salespeople should be doing on a regular basis. You can email me and please provide pertinent information such as which market you are in, who your distributor is, what packages you have in the market, a quick synopsis of your main competition in your distributor and in the other distributors. Also some info about your beers or a link to your website if I can read about it there. It would help if you can provide some brief info about the background of your two salesmen.

      In return, I may ask you some questions about your operation for my own benefit. I have another brewery in planning and would like to verify or confirm some information such as your utility cost etc...

      I have worked in some 16 states as a sales type guy with marketing and operational experience but mostly distribution management

      Jonathan
      lsbbrew@gmail

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      • #4
        Everything you do in the course of day should involve some element of marketing. Posting pictures of the brewing that day on Facebook is marketing. Know that your sales people are marketing people. If they can't do both then they really suck at their jobs.

        If you're with a distributor then ditching your own sales people to have marketers working the market for you, planning events then its great. If you're self distributing then having sales people that can also manage events and convey your message is more valuable than just marketing.
        Owner
        Grind Modern Burger
        PostModern Brewers
        Boise, ID

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