What numbers should matter the most to your brewery’s sales staff? Many entering the retail space have to ask themselves those questions and come to realize what are the best indicators of success for their company.
Beyond looking at 2019 as a fair comparison, MadTree Sales Director Steve McGlone said that they have begun to really take market share seriously.
“In a world where trends are fluctuating and consumer habits are thrown out the window, the best indicator of our success is how we’re doing versus our competition,” he told Brewer. “Tracking our growth in market share has helped us build confidence with key retailers and that’s led to measurable growth.”
The numbers that are most important to AleSmith are sales and points of distribution, both of which give the San Diego brewery a rate of sale and performance metrics for the brewery.
“If you start to get into the P&L, for us, margin is the priority,” pointed out president Brandon Richards.
Coming from the perspective of a distribution-focused brewery, volume is always the name of the game said Urban Artifact co-founder Scotty Hunter.
“Does volume cure all ills? Absolutely not, but if you have structured your margins correctly from the get-go, that should be the focus,” he said. “The question then becomes how do you achieve that volume.
“We focus on customer count, total CE volume, and then velocity per account. No single number will tell you the whole story and if you only look at one, you could be doing so to the detriment of your brand.“
Rate of sale is something that Short’s has started to look at more than ever before.
“Volume was often the driver behind how we monitored a brand,” said Pauline Knighton-Prueter, Sales Director. “And it is important, but if we notice there is a brand with a high ROS and we are not focusing on it, then we are missing an opportunity.”
The software can help in tracking all this information and although AleSmith is still “pretty basic as a sales organization,” Richard said that they use VIP tools along with Orchestra Beer for software.
“We utilize grocery data when we can get it to help us with our selling story in national accounts,” he said.
READ MORE: Making Software Work for Your Brewery
Armadillo Insights give MadTree its IRI data analysis.
“This has been helpful in targeting new sales channels, new distribution and promotional opportunities, and for tracking our market share,” McGlone said. “The team at Armadillo has been pretty helpful in answering questions and helping us to find new ways to utilize the wealth of data available.“
Short’s sales team uses an internal CRM that is very similar to VIP’s KARMA.
“This software is very important because it provides live updates on the accounts the sales team are visiting and what they are attempting to sell,” Knighton-Prueter said.
The team can note what they tried to sell into an account, and then if VIP notes that the product was sent into the account, the CRM registers it as a ‘sale.’
“It is difficult being a supplier rep since you cannot place orders ourselves,” she added. “This type of program at least provides insight into daily activities and what the team is focusing on.“
VIP is also important to watch sales trends Knighton-Prueter added, saying it is a tool that is used daily by the Short’s team to see what is going on in the market, but it also helps with forecasting future brand needs.
Photo courtesy Urban Artifact
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