Business Development

Streamlining Your B2B Sales Cycle

Business Development

In today’s eCommerce landscape, shoppers expect quick, seamless transactions. However, the traditional model of B2B selling relies heavily on Sales Reps operating in the field.

While this approach is an important element in achieving success, it doesn’t have to apply to every sale. Most B2B organizations now rely on a healthy mix of products sold by their team in the field along with additional products available to customers for purchase online.

Streamlining your sales models can free up valuable business resources with friction-less e-commerce channels for selling products directly to your customers in the following ways:
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How Peet’s Keeps Up And Stays Ahead

Business Development,

When you pioneer an industry, how can you continue to stay disruptive for generations to come? Just ask Peet’s Coffee, the over 50-year-old coffee company fighting to stay relevant and appeal to craft coffee-chugging Millennials.

Over fifty years ago, Alfred Peet opened the very first Peet’s Coffee shop. The year was 1966, when coffee from a can was the norm. From his shop in Berkeley, Calif., the Dutch immigrant began hand-roasting coffee beans in small batches, creating bold and complex blends that were unlike anything in the American market.

That was the beginning of the specialty coffee movement.

Today, the question at Peet’s Coffee is how to keep ahead of that movement while staying true to its brand. As demand for specialty coffee has exploded, so has the competition.

Here are 5 key lessons from Peet’s entrepreneurs can use as they look to grow their business. Continue reading →

Drive Sales Through Channel Partner Marketing

Business Development, ,

A lot of specialty coffee industry companies use distributors and reseller partners to deliver their message and their goods to the end-customer in various B2B channels: Cafe, OCS, grocery, gourmet, restaurant, vending, c-stores, club stores, online resellers. However, many find that their partners are often lacking in driving new business and that they’re just handling that which is given to them.

At SOS, we work with clients to increase distributor sell through. Here are some useful tips we have learned. Continue reading →

Why Your Trade Ads Don’t Work

Business Development, Marketing Plan, Specialty Coffee Industry Business Development Marketing, ,

It has nothing to do with the magazine or Facebook or Google, or any other form of media.

It has to do with what you have to say and how you say it.

Here are a few samples of headlines from recent coffee industry ads: “The Finest Coffee On Earth”, ”Absolutely Brilliant Coffee Brewers”, or my favorite “Create The Ultimate Vanilla Latte”. Continue reading →