ABP doesn't stand for Another Beer Party

Hello Quarter 4 - I know you, you sneaky SOB

Happy post-GABF everyone...first, congrats to all the winners, and not to be a buzzkill or detract from your celebrations, but I'm here to remind you that it's October, and October not only means the assault of pumpkin or other gourd-centric brews, but it also means it's time to think about planning for 2020.

You can't run and you can't hide.

Q4 marks the end and the beginning of all sorts of fun activities. The end of your patio season for your taproom and the beginning of porter and stout runs. The end of festival season and the beginning of holiday beers. The end of your consistent interaction with your distributor sales team, and the beginning of "I can't work with you in the market, it's Q4, we don't do anything with suppliers in Q4." 

I know the feeling, but chin up, we can get through this together.  

Here are some tips to remember when navigating Q4 with a wholesaler.

First, stop yelling at your distributor personnel, it's not going to get you anywhere. Muscle is not the answer to getting more attention from your distribution partner. This is a catch more flies with honey situation. Put yourself in their business shoes and start treating them how you would like to be treated.

Second, remember they're your customer, too. Gone are the days that distributors acquired new brands and made a celebration out of it - you got the red carpet treatment, a launch party, laser focus from their sales team, and distributor personnel attended all your kick-off events. That's a thing of the past unless you're a large scale production facility, and since you're on my email list, I don't think that's the case. Just like selling to accounts in your market, you have to consistently "sell" your brands to your distributor to garner their focus.

And finally, be prepared for every interaction, whether it's with management or their sales team or even their fleet drivers. Just as you would prepare for a sales call, you should always be prepared for an interaction with your distributor personnel. This communicates respect and trust, plus it's just plain nice. It shows them that you have a purpose, an expectation and a clear vision of what needs to be done to yield success in every situation.

So in addition to all these fun fall changes, you're going to have to face the beast of Q4 - your ABP meeting.

Oh the ABP, once a revered face-to-face parade of management on both supplier side and distributor side, it was a couple hours of Powerpoint bliss with handshakes and promises of synergistic brand focus, and where the data flowed like wine (er beer). Today, things have gone to shit. I once had to conduct an ABP meeting for my brands right after another ABP meeting from a local brewery supplier rep where he walked out in jorts and flip flops, and the room smelled like a dirty dive bar. It's bad folks. 

ABP stands for Annual Brand Planning, not Another Beer Party.

Your ABP is valuable one-on-one time with your distributor personnel where you will set the tone for your upcoming year. You're not guaranteed any more extended meetings with your wholesaler, so this is the time to take advantage of their undivided attention. There are key takeaways that you should be gaining in this meeting, and if you're not checking all these boxes, you need to rethink your strategies.

So I've put together a FREE guide for you that will help you make sure you're ticking off all the right points during your upcoming ABP.

Get "6 Things You Should be Accomplishing During Your ABP" --->>> HERE

And if you're interested in learning more about how you can improve your relationship with your distributor partner, here's an amazing article series (yes there's 2) from Kary Shumway over at Beer Business Finance. If you aren't on his email list, get on there today, it's a wealth of invaluable knowledge.

https://beerbusinessfinance.com/keys-to-successful-craft-brewery-distributor-relationships-2/

If you're a brewery who's currently self-distributing, but curious about what it looks like to partner with a distributor, you would be wise to buy a copy of "Distribution Insight for the Craft Brewer" by Laura Lodge, you can score a copy on Amazon. Best $20 you will spend in Q4, guaranteed.

https://www.amazon.com/Distribution-Insight-Craft-Brewer-Laura-ebook/dp/B01A5ZBBWK

PLUS - keep an eye out on my website and social channels, I'm currently building an online course for how to better manage your distributor partnership that will go live in November 2019, just in time to help you with that ABP meeting.