Sales Representation Strategies (Internal and External Resources)
Summary: We are available to discuss all of the sales options relating to the launch of a brand into the American Market. Depending on the funding of the group there are many options to look at when choosing those who will be representing the brand (either internally hired personnel, outside brokers, repping groups or a mix of any of these).
Internal Resources
We advise client brands on what type of internal coverage is appropriate do a number of factors such as funding, current customer base, the number of products, how many regions they are in and so forth. If a brand is currently working through a commercial kitchen then a direct sales hire would normally be unusual and expensive. Brands that are doing over $1 million in business usually can support 1-2 full-time hires (regionals are best). Brands doing over $3 million could usually afford a full-time director of sales and a couple supporting regionals. There are times when a mix of direct sales and outside resources are used (for any sized established brand group).
External Resources (Brokers and Repping Groups)
The Lemonaders Team educates clients on how to hire sales brokers and sales repping groups. We help prepare coverage plans that hire sales broker partners in a number of key ways (to have a complete coverage plan but also to avoid duplications. We do plans by region of the country, by retail format and sometimes by account. If interested we do avail internal sales group assets (and relationships) to clients depending on the needs.
Territory Development
The Lemonaders Team specializes in creating territory plans for clients. Our strategies include the creation of a team structure with a VP or Director of Sales, two Regional Managers and a roster of field marketing managers (27 total) who color all of the US Market.
Our Regions
We create sales, territory and distribution plans by region and by the country in total. Since the US market is very large we break it into seven key regions. Each region is unique to itself.
The US Market
1.) South West: Important for Sprout’s, Trader Joe’s, Smith’s and others
2.) North West: Important for Amazon.com, Costco, Fred Meyer and others
3.) South Central: Important for Whole Foods, HEB, Love’s Truck Stops and others
4.) North Central: Important for Target, Cub’s/Byerly’s, Hy-Vee and others
5.) South East: Important for Publix, Winn-Dixie, Racetrac, Paradies and others
6.) North East: Important for Ahold, Stop and Shop, Wegman’s and others
7.) The Ohio Valley: Important for Meijer, Spartan Nash, Kroger HQ
The Canadian Market
We have a partnering group that cover most formats in Canada with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. They cover the majority of the core accounts (Loblaw’s, Jean Coutu, etc).
The Caribbean Market
We do have in applications in most of the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Domenican Republic, Bahamas, etc) for US based products and cruise lines.
