COMING TOGETHER IN SPIRITS

Synergy. I was out to dinner with one of our distributors this week, and she spoke of this world empathically. When you talk about spirits wholesalers, they talk usually meanders into a negative realm, where the middle-tier of the three-tier system acts as a dam, plugging up the natural flow for the sake of a small collective’s benefit. Hiding behind the shields of underage drinking and effective tax collection, the hackles of many a consumer and retailer have been raised at the mere mention of these powerful distribution companies. Yet moving beyond the ongoing political fracas, you can easier come to grips with the realization that the employees of these big companies – managers, salespersons, drivers, etc. – they are flesh-and-bone folks who are just doing their best to serve their customers. You would really have to be a moron to think that just because you are one of perhaps two or three venues to supply retailers and restaurants in your area, if you treat your customers like shit, you are going to stay in business?

We got to talk of synergy, amongst shop talk, the wines we were drinking, movies and books, and whatever else that seemed to come up in conversation, and it got me thinking about several things I’ve learned over the years about sales and service.

I’ve often seen the deplorable side of wholesalers – whether it is knowingly shipping out the wrong product, misrepresenting a product, forgetting to send in orders, getting drunk during an appointment, drivers backing into the side of the store, errors in billing, insulting our staff – the list goes on and on. Speaking for myself, it is knowledge and passion that go farther with me than any incentive a distributor could offer. Certainly if you hit the magic price point, you’re in, but the last thing I want to hear about a particular wine is what its score was in Spectator et.al. I can find that on my own, thank you very much. Tell me WHY this wine deserves a spot in my store. I have A LOT of high-scoring wines on the shelves already.

And that’s when it hit me – synergy. Wholesalers should always work in tandem with retailers/restaurateurs in order to help them achieve a symbiotic, productive and profitable relationship, one that benefits both parties. Wholesalers should be solution-oriented, and expeditious in their execution. Retailers/restaurateurs should be receptive to new products and ideas, and the two should figure out how each one can make the other’s future brighter and better.

The rosiness of this philosophy doesn’t always meet with reality, however, as some distributors aren’t willing to meet their customers half-way, for one reason or another. Speaking for myself, it’s at those times when a distributor ceases to be of any use to me. Brands get closed-out, portfolios get ignored, and emails get relegated to the junk mail folder. A salesperson should always know the nuances of their accounts, and not have to ply a buyer with favors and swag.

Reading somewhere online, a writer spoke of smaller distributors working accounts for their customers, holding tastings, and making the business of selling wine more interactive, and easier on all parties. These smaller distributors - of which I currently deal with several – are well-informed, well-wine-educated, and interested in connecting with their customer’s clientele. They work effortlessly to build brands, and build relationships, unlike some of the megacorp distributors that CAN amass a portfolio so dense and repetitive that retailers and restaurateurs alike will have to draw lines in the proverbial sand, and say to them, “we can’t sell only YOUR product.” With one particular distributor here in Kentucky, I am getting the sense that as they find their bearings, their many divisions will inevitably work more autonomously beneath their one corporate umbrella, with a looser bureaucracy and a more focused specialty, like becoming a “boutique” wine house, or a “small-production winery house.” I approach the subject with some trepidation knowing that the rumor Fosters Wine America plans to consolidate their distribution network here in the U.S., much like Constellation Brands has, which may lead to the wholesaler I have been referencing creating a “sixth” sales division. The problem with Fosters is that they have enormous repetition in both their Australian and California portfolios, making shelf placement potentially problematic, and sales quotas for their sales forces even more difficult. I do believe that we are at the tail end of all of this consolidation effort, and that the pendulum will have to swing the other way – back to more smaller distribution companies, more focused and less mired in overwhelming inventory – in order to make the necessary corrections I believe this industry needs. The big companies cannot represent all the wine that is produced in this country. It is logistically impossible. This is one of the many arguments I make when railing for direct-to-consumer and direct-to-retailer wine sales.

Work with me, and we will both be successful. A fairly easy concept to grasp, I believe, and one that can be easily incorporated into even a “megacorp” mindset, because after all, we are all trying to make money and be successful, right?