Business Development

SOS Coffee CEO Advisor: What Coffee CEOs Worry About

Business Development

SOS Coffee CEO AdvisorHere are the top 6 current concerns of specialty coffee industry CEOs we advise:

1. Cash Flow
SOS Advice: “Add more sales channels to increase cash flow. For example, along with normal or higher margin items, consider higher volume, lower margin B2B channels such as private label working with distributor/retail partners. Rebrand these higher volume items if necessary to avoid sales channel conflicts, which are normal in a multichannel sales ecosystem. Insisting on ‘full boat’ margins on everything will sink your ship (unless you are Apple Computer – and even they are developing lower cost items)”. Don’t know anybody to partner with? Walk the trade shows. No time or your sales people too busy at the shows or in the field? Hire an industry expert business development expert to do it.

2. Create Growth
SOS Advice: “Stick with your core business and look for your hidden product and service assets that can be applied to new sales channels. These assets may include those that can be rebranded and reformulated. Do not use in-house marketing resources for this, work with an outside industry expert and branding/product specialist to move a project like this along so that it does not get pushed to the ‘back burner’ due to day-to-day pressures”.

3. Stay Competitive
SOS Advice: “Rather than relying only on your sales people and staffers for their opinions, get market research done from an industry expert on your competitors including SWOT analyses. The data will reveal what you will need to do next”. Continue reading →

Coffee CEO Advisor: Why Your Email Campaigns Are Not Working

Business Development, Email Marketing,

SOS Coffee CEO AdvisorIf you are in the coffee business and send out emails, I probably get your email marketing campaigns; I subscribe to literally hundreds of coffee-related emails. From roasters, cafes, equipment companies, and online retailers, to allied products including syrups and cup sleeves. It’s good business to keep up and see what’s going on in the industry. The problem, however, is all the emails are “self centered”, as if the creators of these emails are in a bubble. Continue reading →

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:
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 →