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It's been said many times, many ways, but good business is ultimately about relationships, said Mark Buonomo of Global Partners at this week's Craft Brewers Convention. Mark, a buyer for c-stores in the Northeast, was joined by Lawson's Finest Liquids' Matt Roth and Seth Talmon and New Trail's Paul Gephart for a panel entitled "Getting on the Shelf: How To Approach Chain Buyers," during which Mark held court for a rare unfiltered look at exactly what he and his ilk are looking for when doling out valuable shelf space. "I want to do business with you, as an individual, and that's where we build long-term success," Mark said. "If you're going left and I'm going right, we're not going to meet up." Step 1: Build Your Brand Your Way The broadest point Mark made was Shakespearean: To thine own self be true. "There's a beer for everyone," he said. "You do not have to be the cheapest. Do what you all do best. If you make the best beer in the world, do not cut corners. You will lose your customer base." But making great beer alone won't get you into 7-Eleven. It takes work, honesty and patience; Matt said that Lawson's knew it wasn't ready to jump into c-stores in its early days, having yet to become a regional standout brand. In fact, "chain was not necessarily part of the strategy" until the co's success forced the issue, he said. "You have to be bigger than your taproom," Mark added. "You need to be able to be carried by your community&hellip; When you get large in your own geo[graphical area], you force me to carry your product." But that bit of brand-building is just the first step of many in the war for shelf space, especially at c-stores, where it's at a considerable premium.Step 2: Get the Meeting "We're looking at items that can check boxes for us," Mark said, as he's continuously asking "are you able to provide something different?" The more specific your niche, and the more prepared you are to present an oppy to exploit it, the better off you'll be, he added. New Trail's Paul said he created a digital presentation for one of co's first pitch meetings and found the buyer floored by the effort, despite its ease of creation. And both Matt and Mark cautioned against trying to go large in initial pitches; the breadth of distribution follows success and not the other way around. First purchases are critical. "Knowing which deck to present" is also key, Mark said, to "help keep a lower barrier of entry to our customer. Let's get liquid to lips."The focus on approachability is why it's best to start small, Matt said. "When you hear 'I have 300 stores' who wouldn't be excited about something like that?" he asked, but you need to "have a bit of discipline while you're out there," he added, recommending that cos pick 10 specific stores (for example) where they're likely to move product rather than try to shoot the moon from the get-go. That approach "can be multiplied across all chain conversations we're having with our buyers," Matt said, which if done well would leave cos "not having to overperform for the sake of overperforming."Step 3: Farm Your Own Land No matter how friendly or convincing a pitchperson you are, sales are king, Mark reminded. He uses a combination rank of dollar and unit sales to judge SKUs, which "gives us a better idea" of how a product is performing" holistically. When judging beer sales, he asks, "what else is in that basket? If Sip of Sunshine is bringing in a customer that's also bringing xyz in a basket, that becomes a more valuable customer to me than ones who have a lighter basket." To that end, he stressed that promotion work (including QR codes and rebate programs) was incumbent on the producer to make their shelf space pop, which he called "farming your own land," a process in which packaging is paramount. "Once you get a placement, it is yours to make happen," he said.But how do you make it happen? "Make sure every facet of your packaging screams what is," Mark added. "Tell me if it's high-ABV. Tell me if it's gluten free." Matt doubled down, noting that "being able to merchandise from all sides is an important thing," i.e., if the pack is on its side, it should still be readable. That's less important to brands playing in the dominant 19.2oz can area - "the sweet spot for me right now," per Mark - but can become crucial if you grow placements, the next-most-valuable of which is 12oz 12pks, he added. And critically, those could "be a priority" in larger chain retailers, said New Trail's Paul, but ultimately pack size "goes back to the identity of who you are and what works for your brand."Step 4: Aggressively Avoid Complacency Selling into a store is just the beginning. To paraphrase Seinfeld, it's not enough to simply take the placement, you have to keep it as well. Mark works on an 18-month lead time, and said the best cos keep him abreast of their expected progress if there's any potential deviation, good or bad. If a producer gets access to a retailer's planogram, it's important to use it because "it's something chains live or die by," he said. "It's only gonna help you," Matt said. "You can see if you're going to be at the bottom of the shelf. You can see if you have the right packaging." Or, as his colleague Seth added, "You don't want to find yourself in a position where you did nothing." And while you might only get a chance to talk to your buyer twice a year, "don't let that get you down," Matt said. To which Mark added, "A lot of times it's a good thing. If I'm not calling you, you're doing something right."When you're not, the problems start when a co's products fall into the bottom 20%, what Mark called the "Mendoza Line" for SKUs, echoing baseball terminology for a .200 hitter. "If you're in the bottom 20% you can consider yourself on the chopping block," he said. Even if there were extenuating circumstances, "we can go through Murphy's law and find the million things that could have went wrong, but the bottom line is that if you're in that 20%... I'm not going to take a 10-case drop. It's a self-fulfulling prophecy that we may not make it much further."Step 5: Repeat And profit! Ideally.

"How to Approach Chain Buyers" at CBC: Brand-Building, Preparation and Maintenance 18 Mos Out are Key; Don't Get Complacent

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