1. Welcome Summit Attendees! Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies

2. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
In this session we’ll discuss:
A brief history of sales
Craft Beer – Here to stay & how to survive
Selling strategies
What does High end mean?
A glimpse at the future

3. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
Webster’s Defines as:
Sell
1. Give or hand (over) something in exchange for Money

4. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
Sales has evolved from the simple act of bartering to the emergence of sales methodologies and Tools.
At the end of the day, the customer is still confused. It’s the salesperson’s job to help them make sense of it all and it’s the Marketer’s job to get the word out.

5. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
Personal Selling a bit different. Something those of us who have done this for awhile understand – the relationship does indeed matter but ONLY if you’re a consultant. What?

6. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
Personal Selling:
Person to Person Communication
Process of
Developing Relationships
Discovering Needs
Matching Products with Needs
Communicating Features and Benefits
Viewed as a process that adds vlaue

7. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
But to be a Consultant, even to your best relationships is true value. Many sales people simply give up and do not use a strategy to “get over the hump.”
If you’re asking the right questions (Probing), and being a good listener, you will get answers. You have to be patient; 80% of sales are made on the 5th to 12th contact. work the problem and Prepare!
So how does this translate to the high end?

8. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
We all know companies that purposely work the mythical “high end.” They perpetually make the most expensive products and Price them accordingly. BUT, they don’t sell themselves. There’s a strategy behind it or there should be. Pricing a bit higher than your competition can not only increase brand awareness but help define the image of your store, brewery or brand. It may take time to develop this as lots of factors weigh in: location, demographics, price index, etc.

9. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
Premium pricing
A premium pricing strategy involves setting the price of a product higher than similar products. This strategy is sometimes also called skim pricing because it is an attempt to “skim the cream” off the top of the market. It is used to maximize profit in areas where customers are happy to pay more, where there are no substitutes for the product, where there are barriers to entering the market or when the seller cannot save on costs by producing at a high volume.
Source:

10. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
In some ways, this is the brand that started it all. An INTENTIONAL strategy to sell beer at a very high price. Of course the value HAS to be there for the consumer or they wouldn’t pick it up but most often, this can be expressed as “perceived value.” Perception is reality and if the consumer groups perceive something to be of high end, that’s just what it is.

11. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
Steps to take:
You must have a selling platform.
You must have a product with a unique selling position? Ask yourself that question. Ask your team that question. Good retailers do this – challenge your suppliers and distributors. Unique Beers have the best chance of commanding a premium price.
Understand the concept of “Price-Quality Signaling.” This can sometimes be used to tweak the perception of a brand. Can be difficult in beer but not impossible – may need brand overhaul as well.
You must build a strategy to then execute in the market, store or distributor. Right beer/right account, strategic partnerships, PR, location, PERCEPTION all play a role.
Can you accurately articulate the Features and the Benefits no matter what tier you’re in?

12. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
The Past as it relates to the future…
20 years ago: 750 breweries, most of the micro variety distributors.
Today: 5500 breweries, 2700 in planning. Less than 1500 distributors. 35 deals on distributor side alone were done in 2017 YTD.
Being Intentional and creative matters.
Brands matter
Positioning matters
Training matters
What does this mean to me?

13. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
It means.. That in this world of unprecedented choice, and that is not going the other way, knowing who you are and how to position your brand or store is going to be mandatory. Without this, you may get lucky and that will happen but luck is rare. Make your own luck and create your own energy. DO not sit on the sidelines. Define your future or it will be defined for you.

14. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
“You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.”
- Frank Zappa

15. Craft Beer and Top Shelf Sales Strategies
THANK YOU!