Road Trips with People Building and Growing Emerging Brands.

In today's episode, we had the opportunity to interview Mr. Jamie Grace, a long time former Walmart buyer across multiple categories. In this episode, Jamie shares great advice for small and emerging brands: What is the mental checklist a brand should think through before going to retail in general and Walmart specifically? What does a brand have to get right before approaching a retailer and what mistakes have you repeatedly seen made by small/emerging brands? What is the best way to secure a meeting at Walmart? What moves have you seen small brands make that have done things right?

In today’s episode, we are going to discuss how to prepare for a retailer meeting. You have worked hard to secure this key meeting for your brand, now we are going to share with you how to make sure your presentation works virtually (Zoom) or in person. We will share with you how to prepare an agenda, make sure your meeting runs smoothly, and how to be clear what you want out of your meeting? Brevity, clarity, and concise communication to a retailer buyer is key: How is your brand different? How will you help drive their category performance?

Once you have narrowed down the ideal retailer to approach in an attempt to expand your business, how do you get a meeting with that buyer? Relationships matter! Do you have a key contact that can recommend you and your brand to the retailer? Is your product truly unique and different? Retailers want to grow their sales- not just divide the same pie into more pieces. Is your team credible- meaning do you know your category and have you worked with this retailer before? And lastly, can you fund your brand at a competitive level?

What do you need to consider before you attempt to approach a retailer seeking distribution for your small/emerging/challenger brand? Can you produce with consistency at scale? How confident are you in your manufacturing partner? Is your supply chain stress tested? Do you have a 'go to market strategy' developed? Do you understand the criteria for success the retailer will place on your brand? Do you understand the cost of failure?

The Road2Retail has been developed to help emerging and challenger brands best determine when and how to go about securing distribution in food, drug, mass, club and dollar brick and mortar classes of trade. Our insight is based upon years of experience, interviews with buyers at a dozen large retailers, and ongoing discussions with manufacturers and suppliers that support brands. After years of leading and managing these business building initiatives for companies we worked for directly, we now help emerging brands navigate this important, yet complex, process.