10 Ways to Better Reach Breweries
Working in craft beer is cool. Plain and simple. But how can you make it profitable, scalable, and a long-term success? Craft beer today is not just about selling a service or product, but about building lasting relationships. Through my company Secret Hopper, I constantly preach the importance of a brewery educating and engaging with their guests. Representing a brand that works alongside craft beer is very similar. It should be your goal to not only provide a quality offering, but to create unique ways to educate your potential customers about the value. Here are 10 strategies to better reach breweries.
1. Don’t just show up. No one likes a door to door salesman. Unless a customer is specifically craving something, a sneak attack on a brewery is not a good idea. Brewery owners and managers wear countless hats. Respect their time and plan a meeting or call.
2. Don’t pitch, educate. While there are appropriate times for giving a 60 second rundown of your business, this isn’t the ideal situation to share your products and services. It should be your goal to explain in easy to understand terms what you offer and the value it provides.
3. Learn about craft beer. If you’re working in the industry, know the industry. Know the terminology, know the process, know the history. Make the investment in educating yourself in order to better understand your potential customers. Don’t just be a salesperson infiltrating craft beer, be part of the community.
4. Be passionate. Have you ever seen someone by the counter of your local fast food chain who looks absolutely miserable to be there? Of course, you have, and that person probably wasn’t there the next time you visited – if there was a next time. We like buying things from people who making them exciting. Passion is contagious. Show your enthusiasm for your own products and get your potential customers just as excited to experience them.
5. Know when to listen. We can talk all day about how fun and exciting our products are, but your customers’ needs are more important. Listen when they speak and show empathy. Understand their pain points and desires. When given the opportunity, then share your knowledge. We love to tell brewers that they may produce the best beer around, but if their tasting room staff can’t build relationships and educate guests, it doesn’t matter. The same applies to your company. You may have the best product in the world, but unless you’re easy and enjoyable to work with, it could be for naught.
The first half of the list took the tone of behavioral do’s and don’ts. The second half will discuss creative methods to subtly market your brand.
6. Be an expert. Everyone can be a salesperson, but do you have what it takes to be an educator? Look at your business model and select specific aspects to teach your audience about. Do you make some sort of new and improved brewing equipment? Write an article explaining how it came to be, what it does, and the value it provides. Common folk and brewery owners all like to save money and live a more stress-free life. Show them how you provide something that will ultimately save them money and make their lives easier. Positioning yourself as one of the most knowledgeable people with regard to what you do will help you build a great reputation, and ultimately lead to breweries reaching out to learn more. You can do this by either creating and promoting a blog on your website or partnering with craft beer content focused sites to publish your articles.
7. Join a Supplier Directory that actually offers value. No one likes searching a massive list of simply names and websites. Worse than just scrolling a list of company names, no one likes clicking aimlessly and wasting time researching the reputation of a business. The Craft Beer Professionals - Supplier Directory offers an easy to use platform where users can search by keyword. Users are also able to simply click a button to search all mentions of that company in the Craft Beer Professionals group to find firsthand information. If that company hasn't been mentioned that member can ask our captive community of 5000+ for advice. Peer recommendations are the best way for you to gain new clients. You can sign up here.
8. Sponsors things. Yes, sponsor things. Get your brand to appear in places where people who may be interested in your company spend time, whether physically or virtually. Does your business offer some sort of brewery consulting? Consider a sponsoring a site like Craft Brewing Business who is already attracting those interested in the business side of the industry. Also, there are a ton of quality craft beer newsletters with wide reaches also looking for companies like yours to sponsor their monthly emails. Are you a new craft maltster looking to share your product with brewers? Consider sponsoring an actual event where brewers will be present. Get your information in front of the right audience.
9. Interact. You can throw all the money you’d like at sponsorships, but some of the best relationships are built organically. Simply get to know those you wish to work with. Visit their breweries for a drink, participate in discussions on forums such as the Brewers Association or Craft Beer Professionals. Show a genuine interest in the industry. As you educate yourself, also realize that those on the brewery side also like to learn. Inject informational, not salesy, tidbits into conversation. Casual interaction is a fantastic way to build a name for yourself as a quality person to potentially work with.
10. Innovate. This one is up to you. When I launched Secret Hopper, it was my goal to provide a value for craft beer that no one else was offering. I knew that as growth in the industry continued to soar, breweries needed to dedicate resources to maximizing their guests’ experiences. Our motto has been, “World Class Beer Deserves a World Class Customer Experience.” By being unique and different, we’ve been lucky enough to build relationships with breweries coast to coast. Challenge yourself to not only fill the industry’s current needs, but to also be one step ahead and create solutions to future problems and desires. Craft beer is constantly evolving, and you should never stop asking yourself how you can better your company.