Beer Reps Unite!

This story is for all of my brothers in craft beer arms, the road warriors who are out and about in their patches of turf spreading the word of the craft beer gospel.

I bet many of theses guys and girls, maybe all of them, at some stage have walked into a local bottle-o with a fresh new product they are very excited about, and before they can run through their pitch, the manager says “Is it in Dan’s?”…instant deflation.

I have heard this story so many times before, but in talking to a few friends still in the business, it got me thinking about the issue from both sides, and compelled me to write this article. I know that in writing this, I may frustrate and piss of a few people, but it may also open up some good debate on the topic, which I think is good for the beer community.

Before I go on, I am writing this from an Australian point of view, talking about the Australian beer market. I am sure that some of my readers involved in the business in the Northern Hemisphere will have similar challenges, but I don’t have any real knowledge of your market conditions and don’t have any insights to share. However, if you read this and have similar stories to tell, please shoot me an email, leave a comment, or hit me up on Twitter…I would love to hear from you.

The issue that I want to talk about it Big vs Small, David vs Goliath, and the attitudes of some (not all) in the business of letting the big guy win, instead of finding another way to compete with him. History is littered with accounts of the little guys finding a way to succeed…in the NBA today, we have Steph Curry, who won the MVP of the league last year at just 6” 3’, the smallest player to do so in 10+ years. What about a challenger brand such as Uber taking on the decades old tradition of Taxi transport services, or back in the day when Napster forced an archaic music industry to change it’s ways. These little guys have taken it up the big fella and won, which isn’t easy and there will be more losers than winners…but for the few that are strong and give a big “F##k you” to the man, victory is sweet!

Where am I going with all of this, you say? Well the liquor industry in this country is dominated in the off premise world (bottle-o’s, take away’s, retail outlets…not bars) by two of the country’s largest corporations…Woolworths and Wesfarmers (Coles). Yep, those guys that run departments stores, petrol stations, hardware stores, banking & insurance services and supermarkets filled to the brim with their own private label products also control 60%+ of the off premise liquor market between them.

Look I am not here to bash the big guys, I am sure that they make their shareholders very happy, and obviously run a very good business model. What I am here to do is to challenge the mindset of the other guys, the small independent guys battling against the Goliaths to make an honest living. The bottle shop Manager who, when presented with a new beer from one of the independent breweries, is very quick to ask THAT question “Is it in <insert large liquor store name here>?”. Not only do they ask that question, the answer is usually the determinate of the decisions to give the new product a run…and not the quality of the product, or the potential interest their customers may have in it.

In this situation, if the answer to the above question is a “yes”, they can turn quite negative and start to complain about the help the big guys get with discounts and how they always undercut the little guys prices, how the small guy can never win, and how we may as well just be dead. Well okay, that’s going a little bit too far, but it is fair to say that this conversation is shut down fairly quickly if the answer to that poignant question is a yes.

For the brewery, this is a really delicate balancing act. The larger chains have a big footprint in the market, and the brutal truth is that if you have aspirations as a brewery of being a national brand, at some stage you probably need to get into the mix with them. However, the smaller local bottle shops are where the real engagement between brand and consumer, facilitated by the staff, happens. Somewhere there is a balance between the two, ranging in the small guy and driving distribution in the big guy,

I understand that the local Bottleshop Managers don’t really care about the aspirations of a small brewery, at the end of the day they have their own business to keep afloat, which is only fair, but do the aspirations of both have to be mutually exclusive? I get it, the little guys don’t want to play the price war, and small businesses that run on skinny margins can’t afford to take risks with new products if they are going to see their customers head up the road to buy it next time it’s on special. But is that what really happens? I would like to challenge the mindset of the small business owner here and open up the conversation about working together, small brewery and small business, to take on the big guys.

Now, I am going to let you in on some secrets of the trade (that probably aren’t that secret) that I was exposed to in my previous working life. There are actually some other things that consumers take into consideration when making a purchase decisions, and it’s not just the price

Convenience

Humans are inherently lazy, this writer included. I am forever thinking of easier ways to do things & faster ways to get stuff done, it means I have more time to myself! Sometimes the plans I come up with take longer to come to fruition than actually doing the task, but I love challenging myself to find a better way!

Think about it…do I want to stop in at my local on the way home on a Friday night and pick up that six pack of craft beer at normal price, or do I want to drive 10 minutes out of my way and save $2 on that same six pack?

You are damn right that I will go to my local, it will cost me more than 2 bucks to make the detour! Plus, if I go to the local I will have my strides off, sitting on the couch in my undies, ready for Friday night footy 20 minutes earlier than if I went to the the big box option! Remember, its 10 minutes both ways, and you probably will have to navigate a busy car park and stand in line as well!

We love places that are close to home, where we can park easily, and get in and out with our purchases quickly!

Tips for making it more convenient for your customers

We are Lazy! Play up to that and make sure that everything you do in store is about convenience! Clear pricing, neat displays, products in the right places etc. Use social media to your advantage. When are we thinking about our beer purchases for the night (all day I hear some say!)? Around the mid-afternoon, when we hit that slump and slurp a cup of dodgy instant coffee while checking out Facebook. Tell us that you are open, tell us that you are convenient and tell us about something new in store. Shit…tell us that we can jump the line if we show you your post on our phone, if that’s what it takes! Help us! Be active, be eager to help, share your knowledge of the products, make us appreciate your help and we will be back.

Availability & Range

You know what pisses me off the most…when I go to the big box and can get a great range of beer, but then decide to support the local guy in the scenario above and find a fridge full of me-too lagers, some uninteresting international premium beers and a few token craft beers.

What about adding a few items that are a little different…the cool stuff like the local brews, or the beers that scream out “try me, I’m different!” If you want me to stop shopping at the big guy, you have to give me a compelling reason to switch.

The Tips

You don’t have to stock all and sundry, but at least have something that is a little bit different. Take small, calculated, risks with the new products…just trial it. One carton of a new brew won’t break the bank…we all know that if you sell two six packs out of it, you will have covered your cost! Talk to your customers that might be interested in that small independent brewery’s new product and ask them what they think. Give them one of those samples that your beer rep will be only too happy to supply, and ask them for their feedback. If they feel part of the decision, that drives loyalty, and they may even spread the word! Tell people about the new and different stuff you have…either via social media, face to face, or on external signage. Break through the clutter and stand out from the crowd. Keep an eye on stock…consumers hate it when their favourite beer at their local is in stock one week, and then not the next. Keep an eye on best before dates too…no one likes buying an out of date beer.

Staff

I love it when I walk into my local and can have a chat with the guy behind the counter, and he actually knows what he is talking about! There is nothing worse than asking for assistance and getting a blank look, or a generic “the beer is over there” response from the person behind the counter. Or, even worse, you get some young kid who is more interested in hooking up with a girl on Tinder, or posting their latest “bored at work” selfie on Snapchat.

When I walk into the bottle-o, I want to be treated like a local, be engaged with, maybe have a conversation about what my choices are, and feel good about my purchase decisions. To facilitate this, you must have good, knowledgeable staff that are enthusiastic and helpful.

The Tips

Sounds stupid, but get good staff! Train your staff, make sure they know what’s going on. That beer rep that you just told to shove his new product where the sun don’t shine, he is probably a wealth of knowledge and only too willing to help. Ask him to help train your staff…he will only ask for a regular pallet display in return, but hey, give and take! Get your friends to mystery shop your store to find out what’s really going on. Ban staff phones at the counter! Get your staff out from behind the counter to have conversations at the point of purchase. If they are really good, they may even help drive the sales of full margin products!

So there you have it, my gripe, and some tips to help open the conversation with the naysayers that are only too quick to roll over and play dead when the big boys flex their pricing muscles. If you are reading this and work in a bottle shop, next time you have a beer rep come in to your store that represents one of the companies that don’t have massive budgets, at least give them the time to explain their new product and what it might provide your customers, instead of leading with “Is it Dan’s?”.

At least make sure they give you some decent samples before you say no to them…you have to be sure that the beer tastes good, don’t you…a six pack should do the trick!

If you think about it, smaller operators and smaller breweries are kind of in this together. You are both trying to survive in a very crowded business world dominated by a few big players, so why not try and help each other out? I am tipping that your local and loyal customers will thank you for it, and may even think twice about jumping in the car to visit the beer supermarket next time. Instead of spending those few extra dollars on petrol to get to the beer supermarket, they will put it in your till!

In doing some research for this article, I contacted a bunch of like minded craft beer lovers around Australia to find out some of their favourite smaller bottle shops that tick all the boxes mentioned above, or are at least taking it up to the big guys. The response was overwhelming, so it seems there are some great smaller businesses out there doing the right thing for the greater good of both the industry and the consumer. I encourage you to seek out these places below if you want great service, great knowledge, great beer and above all, a great shopping experience. Oh yeah, and if you have other places you like to visit, why not leave a comment about them.

Victoria

Carwyn Cellars & Slow Beer

Tasmania

Cool Wine & Crown Cellars

Queensland

Craft, Grand Central Cellars & Archive Beer

New South Wales

Beer Cartel, Camperdown Cellars & Oak Barrel

South Australia

Belair Fine Wines & Parade Cellars

Western Australia

Mane Liquor & International Beer Shop

Thanks for reading my rant this week, it was done so with the best of intentions.

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If you have any feedback for me, I would love to hear it, please leave me a comment or shoot me an email.

BTW, did you see my review of Willie The Boatman Corn Ale, or check out my 8 Beers I Wish I Had Brewed from last week?

Until Wednesday, when I share my new video beer review format!

Cheers to Great Beer Reps!