#43 What to do When a Stockist Says ‘No’ or ‘No for Now’

You’ve spent a lot of time and effort honing your product, you’ve designed the packaging, done your market research, and are even making sales. You know you need to get into more stockists to increase your revenue but the thought of making cold-calls makes you anxious; it’s just not YOU, you’re a Foodpreneur, a maker, a creator, an innovator, but definitely not a salesperson…..

The truth is making sales calls to stockists strikes fear into the hearts of many foodpreneurs. As a self-confessed introvert, Claire MacDonald from Coast n Smoke - a range of delectable artisan spice blends and BBQ rubs - knows this feeling all too well; BUT with a sales goal of doubling her revenue in 12 months, Claire knew she had to not only get more comfortable with making sales calls if she wanted to succeed, but also know what to say if she encountered a ‘no’, or another kind of objection.

In this week’s podcast coaching session, I take Claire through how to approach sales, especially cold calls, and what to say to get around the difficult ‘no’ and ‘no for now’ comments from stockists.

Listen now to discover:

📞 What to do when the idea of sales and selling makes you anxious.

📞 How an evidence-based and storytelling approach to sales makes it easier for foodpreneurs to land more accounts and make more money.

📞 My sales formula for doubling your revenue in the next 12 months.

Links & Resources

• Waitlist for Foodpreneurs Formula®
• Coast n Smoke website
• Coast n Smoke Instagram

If you haven’t listened to episode 42 (17 mins), When Things Aren’t Good at Home and Your Business is at Risk. listen here.

This episode is brought to you by Foodpreneurs Formula®, my business acceleration program for packaged food and drink brand owners ready to scale and my Pricing for Distribution workshop to learn how to engage a distributor to help you sell more products and put more money in your pocket.

Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford is brought to you by Chelsea Ford Co., helping you land more accounts, get your product into more consumers’ hands, and put more money in your pocket.

Transcript

This is The Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford Podcast. Welcome foodpreneurs to episode number 43. Today I'm coaching Claire McDonald, co-founder of Coast n Smoke, an all natural barbecue rubs and seasonings business developed poster throwaway line from co-founder and Claire's husband Troy. After their trip to the US it was there in 2019. They ventured into the world of American barbecue and learned it was a way of life for many and a community, and that's what they both fell in love with. Since that time, they've been operational for the past 24 months and have a revenue of $70,000 with a goal to double that in 2023. In this episode, I coach Claire, who is also one of my amazing Foodpreneurs Formula® members, my accelerator program on how to approach sales, especially cold calls, and what to say to get around the difficult knows and know for now comments from stockers.

Listen to our chat and learn what to do when the idea of sales and selling brings up anxiety, the formula for doubling your revenue in the next 12 months, and how an evidence based and storytelling approach to sales makes it easier for foodpreneurs to land more accounts and get more product into more consumers hands. This episode of Food, which Chelsea Ford is brought to you by Foodpreneurs Formula®, my Business Acceleration program for packaged food and drink brand owners ready to scale, and my pricing for distribution workshop to learn how to engage a distributor to help you sell more product and put more money in your pocket.

Hi, I'm Chelsea Ford Award-winning food and drink business expert, head coach of the acclaimed program for Women Foodpreneurs Formula®, and your host for this, the Foodpreneur podcast. If you're a packaged food and drink business owner, tune in with me each week because I'm going to help you land more accounts, get in more consumer baskets, and help you put more money in your pocket for every product you sell. In each episode, I'm going to tap into my 30 years of experience leading sales, marketing, and finance teams for big and small food and drink brands to give you coaching tips that will help you take your packaged food or drink business to new heights. I know what works and I know what doesn't. So I'm going to share with you industry tools and insider knowledge that are next to impossible for small businesses to access.

And from time to time, I'll dive into my little black book to bring you interviews with hard to reach specialists who will help solve those pesky industry specific problems like distribution. But I know you've been losing way too much sleepover, so roll up your sleeves, food preneurs, because you, you are about to enter a no fluff zone. I'm bringing my A game so you can reach yours no matter where you are, whether it's in your kitchen, coordinating your deliveries, or on your way to a buyer meeting. Listen up because we're about to set the path for you to secure your next best stockers, increase your sales, and put more money in your pocket. This is the Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford podcast. Claire, I am so excited to have you here on this coaching session. You're very, very courageous. Welcome.

Thank you for having me,

Claire. You and Troy, your husband are the co-founders of Coast n Smoke. Tell me more about Coast n Smoke, who you serve, what you sell, where you sell it through.

So we are Coast n Smoke, um, a rub and seasoning business. We specialize in, um, barbecue cooking, so over the colds or even on your gas grill, but we're not limited to that. So our products can be used anywhere, um, in any kind of cooking. Um, in a nutshell, we like to say that we are all about bringing flavor to your lifestyle because it doesn't matter where you are or how you're cooking, you can use our products to increase or elevate the flavors of all your dishes. Um, so that's what our products are. We sell direct to consumer through our online store, but we're also in a number of stockers across Australia.

Fantastic. And, uh, I love your Instagram account. You know that I tell you that all the time. Yep. <laugh>, you use a lot of great visuals around barbecuing, don't you? And I appreciate you just said, look, it's not the only way that can, you can use your products, but it's a really big feature of, um, your, your branding, isn't it?

Yeah, it is. Um, probably because it's a way of cooking that we really love ourselves and it's also one that, uh, Troy has found real passion and, um, a lot of community in as well. It's become a bit of a hobby and a pastime as well as a means of feeding the family. So it is quite important to us.

And today where, you know, I'm coaching you on how to take your business to the next level. You've got a really great baseline and we'll talk about that in a moment. But tell me more. What's going on in your world for us to be having this conversation right now?

So we are at a point where we really need to increase our reach and the number of stockers that we have. Um, for our brand. We have kind of been, let me say, costing a little bit with's, maybe let's play more cost and smoke can, we've been

Costing

<laugh>, um, with sales because it is something that both of us put off. But me in particular, Troy works, uh, a full-time job, so he's only in the business when he can be, but this is my full-time role and I avoid sales. I actively avoid <laugh> <laugh>. Um,

Do you wanna say more about that? Cause we, I am privy to something you said before we started recording around your personality profile. So

Yeah, so my personality is much more analytical, data driven. I like instructions, I like writing instructions. Um, I'm very much about the written word, um, but I'm also quite empathetic. I have a lot of, um, you know, time for people, the reasons why they do things. So I don't have a great deal of the extrovert side. I'm much more of an introvert. So to me, sales is sits more in the extrovert side and I struggle with that. Like, I'm fine when people approach me, so at markets or in store tastings because I know they have an interest in my product and they want to be there. But I find it really difficult to cold call or to just go into a shop and ask if they would like to stock our product because that's the extrovert that doesn't exist in me.

<laugh>, <laugh>. What about Troy? I know he is got a full

Time, he's an extrovert. He's, he will talk to anyone about anything. Um, doesn't take things as personally as me. Um, yeah, he's much more of the extrovert. He, I would say if you were to put our personality side by side, they would be the total opposite of one another, which is probably why we work. So

<laugh> <laugh> is the archetypal CEO and C or Chief operating Officer, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. And why did you start your business?

We started our business, um, through pretty much a throwaway comment from Troy one day. Uh, we were, we'd gone to America in 2019 and we'd had a great trip over there and we'd gone to small cases and we'd seen American barbecue and we'd seen, like I said, sort of before that, that it wasn't just a way to cook. It was a whole community. It's a pastime. It was more than just just food, putting food on the plate. And when we came back, we started dabbling into ourselves and then obviously 2020 there was lots of lockdowns, so we had a lot more time at home and we were making all these blends ourselves. We were using them on the food that we were cooking. And one day TRO was just like, oh, you know, we could sell these. And I was like, yeah, guess we could.

And then it just snowballed from there, really. We started thinking about names. We suddenly got, um, a graphic designer to do our brand for us, and all of a sudden we had this product that looked really professional <laugh>. We thought, why can't we sell this? So we just started looking locally, um, and our forest stockers was the butcher here in Toki on the main street and just kind of went from there and we started selling to family and friends through our website. And then that expanded to, um, the barbecue community within, uh, Victoria and Australia. And yeah.

So your business is really only about 24 months old at best.

Yeah.

You still got that stocker toy in the high street.

Yep. Yeah, he, and he got a favorite blend that he absolutely loves. And it's funny, when somebody's got a favorite blend, that's the one that you'll find sells the, the mostl the stock. So yeah, his favorite blend is the Bells Double shot, which is, uh, a coffee and chocolate rub, which is great on like beef and red meat really. And, um, yeah, and it's a bit controversial, that one, but because he loves it, he uh, promotes it, you know, I guess when people come in and ask for recommendation, he recommends that. So,

And it's a good story because coffee and chocolate rub is not what you see

Anywhere else. Not every day.

<laugh>, <laugh>, uh, what I'm fascinated about, which wasn't at all thought about before the show though, was, um, and you might have seen it too in, in our private members Facebook group, that men and women or partners, but mostly husband and wife have an idea. Sometimes it's the husband's idea, but then the woman ends up running it.

Yeah.

<laugh>. Is that what's happened to you? Cause there's somebody in our group, right? Pretty

Much. It is a bit like that. Um, especially I suppose because the cooking with Coles, and we've had this discussion before, I don't have the time or energy or interest to cook with Coles <laugh>. Mm. That's like Troy's domain. I love the end product, but I just, I don't know, I'm, I'm sort of like stuck in my own little lane. I want to learn in it, but I just have never had the time to sit down and learn in it. And he is, um, a YouTube, he'll just sit and he'll watch YouTube tutorials on anything and he will learn this new skill. And that's what he did with barbecuing and cooking with Coles. And we've talked about how we think it feeds this like primal energy. Yeah. And um, and like, well anyone, but it's this, it's just getting back to basics. And I think that's what he loves about it. He loves the fire management, he loves everything, but he does love putting a meal on the table and feeding his family too. So I can't complain about it. I get to eat, I get to eat the spoils. So <laugh>

And what we're gonna talk about today with sales, I think is talking, uh, acting to your strengths. But I, I do actually wanna share, and, and you know, we have talked about it, you, Troy and I, at trade shows before when we've seen each other in real life. But, uh, the Bob Star this week was cooking our hibachi, which I'm just trying to remember whether or not we bought that after we were in Japan at early 2020. Um, yeah, we had to race home from Japan because, um, you know, the Australian government was saying, come home now because of the pandemic. Uh, and some of my friends did think that we, uh, flew, excuse the expression in the face of, um, either being idiots or, or, or risk takers anyway, by going wasn't really that widely publicized when we left, but nonetheless it wrapped up very fast. But he got Cole in his eye this week and had Oh, really? Under the hos not hospital, but had to go to the seek medical attention. Yes.

Oh, right. Yes. It's, um, I have seen a few, um, people being quite badly burnt by things like Weber kettles falling, oh, probably shouldn't say Weber, should I <laugh> <laugh> barbecues falling over. Um, so yeah, definitely something that you have to think of, especially if you've got like young kids to that we've, we've got young kids and we're always saying to them, don't go near that barbecue. It's hot. Um, so yeah, it is definitely, there is a bit of a inherent danger in it, I think more so than you get with your gas.

But the taste, cuz I'm like you, like I, I mean I could do it. I do understand that we've researched a lot about not using, um, fuel, uh, like petroleum fuel or anything like that, you know, and we buy the Japanese charcoal from the special shop costs a bomb. But anyway, it is delicious <laugh> it is really delicious. But, uh, like Troy, the Bob, uh, YouTubed and Red and Googles Yeah. A lot. Yeah. And I get quite

Fascinating to watch. It

Is. It is. And I think, I think you're right around the primal, uh, maybe the primal masculine, let's call it that with, with fire. Um, and masculine doesn't necessarily mean that's men only, but

It's definitely

No. Yeah. All

Right. Actually, yeah, there's a huge, there is a huge women, um, contingent in law and law as well, um, which is really good. And there's, um, you know, Facebook groups and all the rest of it that, um, are specifically focused on women's law and law. And it's, it's nice because, um, you, you feel so much more open to asking questions and I'm part of that as well and it's, yeah, very supportive. And so there is that aspect of it as well, even though it is seen as a very male dominated, uh, zone.

Mm. Now chicks can do anything if they want to, right? Oh

Yeah.

<laugh>. But sometimes we just have headwinds. Yes. And that's why we have these women's groups to support us to break through. So back to the super business side, top line revenue, what's that right now for this, um, for this year, and what do you want it to be?

So this year, um, as you said, we're only, uh, this is our second year of operating. So we're at, uh, probably be about 70,000 this year. Um, we would obviously like to double that for next year mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, or at least grow 50%. Um, but to do that we just need more s stockists. Okay. So that's our plan goal.

And do you think there's something specifically broken, missing, or not working for you in that realm at the moment?

Uh, just me, <laugh>

<laugh> your personality type that you were talking about before. Yeah. You think that's the, that's the s issue.

Yeah. I've started to realize that even the thought of it just brings up this anxiety like slash not in, I know I can do it, I know that I can do the sales calls, but as soon as I start to think about it, I just find something else to do. Like, suddenly I need to send out a marketing email, suddenly I need to update the website, <laugh>

Clean the bathroom.

I need to put on a lot of washing. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So it is something that I've been avoiding and I know that I can't let Troy carry it all, especially when I'm full time in the business. I know that I need to dedicate at least a day a week to doing this. Mm. But I'm just scared or I'm scared of when somebody says, no, we don't want that, or No, not now. No, we've got that on the shelf already. We, or yeah, yeah, maybe in a few months, but we've got this other product and we want to sell through that. I don't know what to say after that.

Okay. I have an idea for you. Are you ready? Yes.

I know how difficult it can be making money and food and drink, especially right now. Foodpreneurs say to me, Chelsea, why should I pay a broker and a distributor? They also ask, if I engage a distributor, there's no money left over for me. What should I do? These are other questions are fundamental to scaling a packaged food and drink business. Engaging a distributor to help you sell more product and put more money in your pocket only accelerates when you start understanding margins. Promotions and sale support. Three fundamental aspects of doing business successfully with a distributor as your sales partner. Getting your product into more consumers hands isn't as easy as clicking your fingers. But it is easier when you understand a distributor's business model and how they make money. You can use hope as your sales strategy or pray a distributor will take you on only then to be disappointed because they didn't live up to your expectations of delivering incredible sales results, but they didn't because you weren't prepared to work with them in the way that gets the most from them.

I know because I've engaged and managed distributors for years, and I know how frustrating it is dealing with them, and that's why I invited Hasen Bja, founder of boutique food and beverage brand partnership and distribution company Cartel and Co to teach with me and help you price correctly for distribution. The workshop took place live in July, and I'm now offering you the replay and the 11 page workbook with the pricing formulas to keep so you can refer to them in your own time. And finally take your business next level by following our tried and tested formulas. They will help you know what margins you should have and how to create a bigger impact and sell more product. Find the link to the distribution pricing workshop in the show notes, or go to females in food.com and find it under the resources tab on the menu bar. And just so you know, this offer is only available until the end of 2022. And I'm doing it to help you access food and drink business expertise at a fraction of the investment you'd ordinarily have to make cause of how tough it is in the market economically. Speaking right now,

Claire, we're back. Thank you for giving us some context and um, I could really just chat to you for ages, but let's dive into doubling your revenue in the next financial year. Uh, I think that's the milestone that's, or that's the stake in the ground really that we're talking about. Yeah. Uh, and also the other part of it that is really important to get honest about, which, which you are is personality profile, not necessarily suiting sales. Yeah. So I think if I perhaps let, let's do the mathematical data side first around selling. So I happen to know that your average transaction value per stock is give or take $600 and they order say every couple of months. Because the challenge with your category is that people don't use the seasonings and robs, uh, frequently. It's not like, um, a bottle of milk or, or bread, you know, staples.

But the staples are commoditized. And like you said earlier, you've built a brand that's really professional and beautiful and you have a very strong visual presence on social media and you're building a tribe and people feel like they're part of the, of a barbecue community, but specifically the Coast n Smoke community. So I love that from a pull through perspective that people are part of the Coast n Smoke tribe. Uh, but effectively we need to double the amount of new stockers that you've got to reach that 140,000 turnover, um, that you desire and I guess ultimately makes it just more comfortable for your business. Uh, and what is important in doing that is looking at which customers are the best suited to you or what stockers and how do they behave. So how often do they order, what do they order, um, and do they have a champion like your butcher in the high street who recommends the coffee and chocolate rub?

So I always, I know that in small business that you can't be all things to all people. And I actually think it's fantastic, but yet I do see a lot of foodpreneurs. I don't see this necessarily with you, but I do, I say this for the benefit of all those listening, trying to be in the early stages, so that first 36 months particularly try and throw spaghetti on the wall and just hope some of it sticks because, you know, we're desperate for money and we're desperate to see what works. And I understand that. But the problem is that with that is that there's just not the resourcing mostly time and money to be able to be everywhere. So the sooner that you can really understand your ideal stockers and understand their consumer and educate them on what to say to their consumer, like your butcher, it was a butcher, wasn't it?

Yeah. Like he, now he's not going to be, he sounds like a really great guy and he totally is brought into the story and he has his personal favorite, but I would be case studying that both in within your business and dissecting it as much as possible to then go to market and look for more of Hs, that kind of person. Uh, and also he would have a consumer base that likes that and shops in his shop. And that's why your productive butchery are so, so good better than, you know, other, um, uh, places. Obviously plant based, pure plant based places I imagine is not an ideal stockers for you.

Yeah. Well it's funny that you should say that because obviously our products are plant based, but then our messages is that you put them on a hunk of meat. So <laugh> and our branding has little icons of pigs and steaks on it. So whilst the product itself is plant based, our message is not that it's Yeah, yeah.

Good. To be clear, you know, good to be clear, uh, that that's again something that, uh, really is part of my council to foodpreneurs. That the, the, and I'm not saying this about you at all, but the lack of clarity, you know, the clearer that one is around one's marketing messages and who you talk to and why you talk to them and what you can do for them, the more the universe just rallies around you, um, and other people rally around you, um, to, um, support what you're doing. It may happen organically and you, you don't necessarily feel it's deliberate. But, um, I think any time, you know how, how often have, we had a friend who's say in the doldrums constantly, but doesn't really know how to get themself out of it, and it's because of the lack of clarity that you hear them talking to you about and you're just like, wow. You can see it clearly because, but, but the other can't, you know, they're in, they've got that blind spot. Um, and it's the same in business. So from a mathematical perspective, uh, I would like you to look at how many sales calls it takes to somebody to a stockers before they convert. Do you have that number in your mind right now in terms of how long it's taken people to say yes to range you?

Um, I would say like you can get the ones that straight off the bat, but on average three,

Three calls mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. So if we're looking at, um, and I didn't do the maths off air, so if we're looking at somebody that if we need $70,000 more a year, let's assume we're gonna keep that baseline. And on average people do, um, 600 worth of, um, invoice value. So that's a hundred. Let's round it up. It's 120 new customers next year in addition to what you've already got, if I've got my maths right. So that's, and we time's that by three, it's obviously 360, so that's how many sales calls really you need to be making in a full year. Um, and that's assuming there's a hundred percent conversion, uh, let's, let's just divide 360 by 48 weeks of the year. I know that's 52, but we need to take holidays,

Need to have a holiday Yeah,

Exactly. And spend time with the family. So it's seven and a half new business hot leads per week. Yeah. Yeah. How does that feel?

That feels a lot more comforting than what I'd made up in my head, <laugh>, because yeah, seven and a half calls is, well obviously let's just write it up to eight, um, say eight calls a week. That's, it's only one. That's only one day out of your week that it was not even a day. Mm. So yeah. Much more comforting. I'd sort of built up this thing that I would need to be doing this, you know, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for three months. Mm.

<laugh> and the sales planning, uh, document that's in the hub for Foodpreneurs Formula®, as you know, would it steps you through, this is the list of people I'm gonna call, this is the core message that I'm gonna talk to them about, but these are also the resources that I am gonna send them. And those resources are gonna be the same virtually every single time. It's gonna be your spec sheets or your cell sheets or, you know, you are gonna have those PDFs ready to go. But I do wanna pivot the conversation to something that's probably harder to nail, but it is the elephant in the room and I reckon it's the elephant in the room for many, many, many people listening. And that is the personality profile misalignment, let's call it. Because you didn't start your business to sell,

Did you? No. And like even, you know, thinking about my, you know, career history, just in preparation for talking to you, I've realized that I used to actively avoid a job if I had a sales component,

<laugh> <laugh>.

And now I've created a job for myself that has a sales component.

Mm. Yeah. You're not alone. Most foodpreneurs don't get into it to sell and it's an afterthought and it's a Oh, afterthought, <laugh>. Yeah. It's make or break for your family too, right? Definitely.

You have to this, um, sort of unicorn dream that the people will come to you, that you won't have to go to the people

<laugh>. Yeah. Yes. And with your personality profile, that's doesn't sit comfortably with you, you've told me. No, you know that. So it's one thing being in a markets or a, a festival where you know that people are there for that reason, particularly say a barbecue festival and that they come up to you because you are, it's a, it's a bit like a trade show. That's what I love about trade shows is because the contract's been written, you're all in agreement. You're there to do business, please buy my stuff. You don't have that kind of beggars bowl out that a lot of foodpreneurs feel that they have. But one thing I want to tell you that's going to make your life easier is you need to find a way to separate you out from the product. And the way to do that is to, is to solution sell.

So at the end of the day, depending on who you are talking with, but they have a problem. So again, this is, um, a, a model that I've developed and is in that negotiation strategies module. And if you imagine across on a piece of paper, and so there's, uh, north to south line and, and a west, east line or east to west, and you wanna move people, uh, in your conversation and you do this naturally and organically, ultimately, but from the western hemisphere or the left to the right. So it's effectively from pain to solution, from fear to hope, from despair to hope is probably a better example. Um, and because that top left quadrant, um, and maybe I'll work out a way to drop this in the show notes as well, and, um, so it, so people can follow it better, um, that top left quadrant is about the here and the now and the, um, the thing that they're avoiding.

Yeah. Bottom left is the fear of the in the future. So an example of that would be, you know, um, I, with a stockist, let's just talk sales. Um, I don't want another foodpreneur just dropping in unannounced, annoying. Um, I, um, and the, and the fear, which is future based on the bottom left is around, well, I'm busy and I'm, my job's on a nice edge. People are being laid off. I'm worried. Like that's the kind of thing that you are never gonna know. But, um, we are not gonna know for a fact. But you can read it over time about people. Um, and you don't need to get it right. This is not about being a therapist, this is just about how your, how your pitch can move them then to the right hand side. Yeah. Which I'll finish explaining the model and then we'll talk specifically about what you can say and not say with Coast n Smoke.

And so then on the top right hand side, it's about, uh, what they do want right now. And the bottom right is really what they aspire to. So what they want right now is a solution perhaps for the seasoning category. Um, maybe the gross margin for that category is not working or they want something new to tell their customers, like coffee and chocolate rub because yeah. People get excited about innovation. It really, uh, helps with sales and salesmanship cause it people with sales, whether you're a salesperson or not, want something new to say. Um, so finding newness in your story and elements of your story is just a really kind of easy thing to think about. And it doesn't need to be new, new when I, when, when I, the mistake I see people make around that is that they think they need to create new products all the time, but it might just be an, an element that already exists, told in a new way or surfaced in a new way because you're not talk, you've not been talking about it.

Um, and, and that's also true for limited time offers, which I'll come back to because sometimes when people hear about LTOs, they think they need to develop something from scratch just for like a 12 week period and it's like bloody hell, that's a lot of resourcing up and <laugh>. Yeah. Or such little return. Um, but it's sometimes just rebadging a product. Yeah. Or repackaging it or doing a collaboration. Yeah. Anyway, just to finish off that model, bottom right is that aspiration, you know, so the aspiration from the stockist or the butcher, um, the shop owner might be, I just want more time off, I just need more money in my pocket. And it's that, that you are contributing to. So one of the challenges that you tell me that you had was effectively dealing with the objections when you've got to when people, when you feel like you've gotta sell to them.

Yeah.

Um, they're not at the festival, you are actually walking into their shop and you're selling. So first and foremost, I think it's good to identify that you don't love it mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but it's what you've got. It is what it is, right. Yep. But I

Want, I don't want to ever love it, but I just want to be, be able to do it and be good at it.

<laugh>. So what kinda objections have you had?

The main, you know, nobody ever, nobody's ever turned around and said, no, we don't want your product because we don't think it's good. So people have, people will say, we love you to look at your product. Or we, we've tried, you know, we send out samples and they'll be like, we've tried your product, we love it, but we've got a range already. Um, and we're happy with that. Or we have something similar, it doesn't really sell here, so we don't think your product will sell here. Um, those sorts of things. Yeah. That's the main, main sort of, or it's, uh, yeah. Not now we need to sell. Yeah. Yeah. Basically that's it.

Very common. Do you know the range before you go in there?

Uh, sometimes we do. Sometimes we think we do and we've got it wrong. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but we try to pick, we've realized that our product, if you go, doesn't sit well in a store that has a thousand robs in it. So you'll get shops that are very barbecue based and there are lots of, there are lots and lots of competition. There's lots and some shops they specialize in barbecue and they'll have a wall of Robs for whatever reason, our product doesn't do well in those shops. And that's fine. We are aware of that. And if we see that that's a shop with a thousand rubs, we, we won't even bother because it's not where we want to sit. Put it that way because we don't, we don't get the sell through. So we try to target shops that have either none or just have one or two bits and pieces. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> because we find that probably because our brand is quite young, it, there isn't that brand awareness yet. So we are still working on that and we're still, and and we're doing well with that. We think. So it's, that's not so much of an issue.

So you come to the market and to the stockers with an opportunity to create a new category. And what does that equal, that equals money in their pocket Because you can talk about the category growth and the margins that they can make. So if you are not competing in a crowded shelf and your, you've got a standalone offer that would complement other aspects that would go into the basket of the consumer, then you are making them more money and you are driving the new story for them. I think it's absolutely brilliant that you are positioned as the educator of that category. You know, it, you've been in it for um, you know, professionally for a couple of years. This is what the category's about. This is what consumers want, this is what we do. Um, this, here's the social proof, this is the price point. Our suggested retail sell is X. This is the kind of margins that you can make. And we find the typical basket of a consumer in a store like yours based on our experienced at x yz, stockist, non-compete, maybe in another town or another city. They buy it with this, this and this product. And so typically the basket increase is blah, blah, blah percentage.

Yeah.

And I've got this customer in the high street of toy whose personal favorite is the coffee and chocolate rub. And since bringing on that particular unusual uh, flavor profile, his sales have gone up and maybe don't wanna specify who it is, you know, obviously up to you. But, um, his sales have gone up by X percent and the mix of the basket of his typical customer now looks like this. So can you see what I've really done then is that I've talked to them in story with case study, with social proof, positioned you as authority, which you are, and helped them make more sales. Cause they're a business person too, and you are actually not even selling

Yeah, yeah.

Educating and you are taking them from left. The pain of Oh wow. They're missing opportunities to the right of, wow, I'm gonna get to spend the weekend with my family.

Yeah. It's the approach that I think I'm overthinking and I, I I think I'm thinking I have to approach it from that real sales level, but what you're saying with the evidence based and sort of storytelling approach is much more sit much more comfortably with me because I'm not so much selling them a product. Like you say I'm, I'm selling them or I'm giving them a solution or a value add. Yeah,

That's right. And if they're at the small end of town, like a high street butcher, they're probably gonna be really open to that storytelling and how you are driving in a geo-specific way, consumers foot traffic into their store. As you go further up the scale into bigger retailers, you'll talk more in category talk Yeah. In terms of what the category represents to the market, how it's changing, what's trending. And the way that you are gonna get that information is through your own sales data, through conversations with others in Foodpreneurs Formula® and other networks that you are in. Uh, and any, um, googling, um, and industry mags.

Yep.

So yeah,

No, that's good.

How does that sit with you?

Yeah, it's much, I can see a way through with that. Um, for me, I will still need to sit down and I will still need to get all that bits of information and I will have to sort of, um, not that I would speak from a script, but I would like to have it written down so that I know what I'm going to say. I don't like to be caught off guard and not, so Yeah. But if I do that, then I will feel much more confident either going into a shop or speaking to someone on the phone if I've got all that information there that, you know, I can talk about and explain.

Yeah. And being the analytical person that you are, I think that systemization approach will, uh, is, is is wise and professional and I want you to do it from an ideal or, or customer type. So the High Street person, they need X, Y, Z and then the um, the bigger grocers need, um, a B X, you know, there's gonna be some crossover. Yeah. But, and, and, and the reason I want you to systemize it like that is because there are patterns within business all the time and that the more that you feel comfortable with those elements, it will just come really naturally. But those elements and patterns a hundred percent do exist. And you would know it already. You and Troy would see it in the market. Yeah. In terms of the way people behave. Yeah. Um, and, and the thing with the smaller end of town too is that they don't, they don't get access to a lot of insights and data and, and, and, and it helps them.

Yeah. That's probably something I'd never really thought of. Um, because I guess I assume that, um, because they're, they're selling that they would have that, but yeah, you're right. Like it's probably not something that, especially in our category, yes, they would have information in their own what they're selling, but our products kind of that value add to them and they, they wouldn't have the same insights that we have. So Yeah. I've never actually really thought of that.

Yay. So there's a win-win for your personality profile.

Yes.

<laugh> and you know, some of the most successful sales people are are not extroverted, you know, um, I mean I'm very extroverted as you know, but um, if you are adding value and providing a great service for somebody who has inverted commerce a problem, yeah. It's a win-win

<laugh>. Yeah, definitely.

So thank you. You're welcome. What are the next three things that you're gonna do to finish off 2022 in prep for those eight new business calls for 48 weeks of the year next year, Claire?

Well, I'm probably pretty lucky because we have got a lot of, um, events and markets coming up, so I'm gonna be able to get quite a lot of insight from our, um, consumers about what they're after and what they're wanting, which I think will be quite valuable. Um, and I'm also going to have a look at that data of orders where we're selling, how we're selling, um, and get that information and put together, um, a bit of a, um, sales plan, uh, from what sales plan, sales script for myself, I'll call it that, but that's not really what it is. But just with the information that you've talked about, the, the trends, the solution that we're providing, um, the margins, how we can increase the overall in-store buy, and then I should be able to hit the ground running and yeah. Get my, get my sales calls up.

And I would add to that to get an accountability buddy, because you are naturally gonna do that in insights and data analytics and prepare <laugh>. So I need you to take it to

Procrastination. Is my little name <laugh>

<laugh>? Well, it's where you're comfortable and it's where you've been trained, you know, in your corporate career and I totally understand it, but it won't make you those eight new business calls, uh, for 48 weeks of the year next year. And that's what I want for you. Yeah. Yes.

Yeah, totally

Right.

I will do it.

Good. I will be following and cheering you on from the side. You know that. Thank

You. I'm sure I will be telling you all about it.

<laugh>. Good. Thanks Claire.

No worries. Thank you, Chelsea.

Okay, that's it for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you found today's insights valuable and learn something that you will implement in your food and drink business right away. I'd like to ask you now to help me help more female foodpreneurs, put more money in their pocket by giving me an honest rating. Five Stars would be lovely, but that's up to you. Write a review and subscribe to this podcast on your platform of choice. The more you tell me what you like and the more momentum builds for Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford, the easier it will be for me to help women with packaged food and drink brands have more choice on how they can invest in their business, freedom to spend more time with their loved ones and joy as they help even more people on their food journey. So thank you for taking a moment to do that and see you next week for another episode of Foodpreneur with Chelsea Ford.