10 Questions Suppliers Must be Able to Answer

1. What is your most important sales initiative this year? Do you have measurable goals in place that indicate your success and how are you doing against those goals?
2. Which are the most important accounts for your brands? “Fine dining” doesn’t cut it. Do you have a list of specific target accounts?
3. Has your brand been presented to the buyers in these accounts?  When?  By whom?  What was the response from the buyer?
4. What is the buyers name and email address in these accounts? Does she/he have current and relevant information about your brand and what you have to offer?
5. Is your brand in distribution in these accounts?  When was the last time they bought?  Are your sales up or down versus last year or last quarter?
6. Is your brand featured on the menu in these accounts?  Have you surveyed the account to inspect your presence, pricing, visibility and that of your competition?
7. Has the staff of these accounts been educated about your brand and are they motivated to sell it?  When was the last account visit?
8. What are the names of the distributor sales reps in these accounts and do they know about your latest promotions, accolades, tasting notes, available POS, pricing, advertising, cocktail recipes, food pairings and other information that will help them sell the brand?
9. Have you spent money to promote your brand in these accounts, what are the results and what is the ROI?
10. What are the most effective activities your sales team can implement to drive your success against this initiative?  What are the key learnings, best practices and success stories?

If you cannot answer these questions, then you do not have enough control of the execution of your most strategic initiatives. A plan is only as good as the execution. Greatvines helps you execute with excellence.