Looking for insight on hand selling craft beer

[qugah11]

Hello, we are a new brewery about to enter the craft beer market. We have some sales experience and a lot of business, customer service and brewing experience. Any do's or don'ts regarding sales for this industry? Or comments/suggestions regarding self distributing and hand selling? For example, would anyone recommend a sales consultant? Any help, comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks much!

[Brewtopian]

You'll want to check with your individual state codes to see what the restrictions are on self distribution. That is going to determine how you proceed to some degree.

As far as sales in general go the more the accounts see someone the more beer they will buy assuming quality and price point are equivalent to other comparable beers. Either hire a sales person if you're the brewer or if you're not the brewer then spend all of your time in the field with your accounts.

[qugah11]

Thanks for your reply! We have checked state codes and are ok to self distribute. We currently have 2 employees that will distribute and sell and 1 brewmaster. Still searching for any insight to selling in this market besides frequently direct contact with customers which is true for any type of sales. Is there specifically different tactics to use when calling on restaurants/bars than liquor stores?

[GlacierBrewing]

Is there specifically different tactics to use when calling on restaurants/bars than liquor stores?

Yeah, don't go during the lunch or dinner rush!

[Brewtopian]

Sample, Sample, Sample! Either bottle some product or lug a growler or a keg around with you so you can let your prospects taste the beer. There are a lot of people that will refuse to put on a keg without tasting it first.

Train your people. Obviously your sales people need to know what they are selling but they also need to know what they're selling against. If you're going to go after Bud/MillerCoors handles then be prepared to defend your price point and have an argument for the objection. You're keg is going to cost at least $50 more than that same keg of Bud. You need to explain to the prospect how they can make more money with a keg of craft beer than light lager.

Get involved. Put together a detailed marketing and events plan and work it. A plan like this doesn't have to include big ad buys or anything like that. You just need to have a presence in the community with fun activities that attract people in your target demographic. Things like tastings, dinners, festivals and cooperative pub crawls with other local brewers are all great and raise your profile. The higher your profile the less selling you'll have to do because will start to seek you out.

Most importantly, make good beer. Good beer doesn't guarantee success but bad beer can almost certainly guarantee failure. If you're coming out of the gates and you're beers not ready then you just made your job a whole lot tougher and potentially damaged your reputation beyond repair. If your capacity isn't enough to fill all the accounts you think you need don't rush the beer out and send product that isn't ready. You're much better off selling a little bit of good beer than a bunch of bad.

[qugah11]

Thank you so much for the detailed feedback! Very much appreciated!