Ep. 379 Steve Raye U.S. Market-Ready | Rookie Mistakes

Thanks for tuning in. I'm Steve Ray, author of How To Get US Market Ready. And in this podcast, I'm going to share with you some of the lessons I've learned from thirty years in the wine and spirits business, helping brands enter and grow in the US market. I've heard it said that experience is what you get when you don't get what you want. My goal with the book and this podcast is to share my experience and the lessons learned from it with you so you can apply those lessons and be successful in America. So let's get into it. Hello, and welcome back. Okay. Today, we'll start with, the chapter titled rookie mistakes. Importer versus distributor. What's the difference? An importer is defined as an entity that buys wines and spirits from an export producer, aka a supplier, and is federally licensed to bring it into the country and resell it to distributors. The import license is national, and issued by the TTB, and it's called a basic permit. A distributor buys product from a licensed importer for resale to on and off premise accounts. A distributor is licensed by each individual state, not the federal government. And we use the phrase distributor and wholesaler as synonymous in the US. And a broker is an independent contractor who acts as the agent to facilitate a sale. Normally, brokers are paid on a commission and do not buy or own inventory. And I'd like to talk a little bit about hallway bunks. It's something I believe real strongly in. The W SWA, wine and spirits wholesalers of America, annual convention is where the movers and shakers and the supplier and wholesale tiers gather. And that's where the similarity to international trade shows, such as Ven Italy, provine, and Vinexpo, and like ends. All the action takes place in the suites which are reserved by suppliers. So as a tip, the smart strategy is to park yourself in the hallway between the host hotels. Pretty much everyone you wanna talk to will walk by you in the course of the convention. Your job should you choose to accept it, mister Hunt? Is to be there with your US market guide who knows these folks personally and can flag down your targets and initiate a belly to belly or person to person introduction and conversation. And I'll note a case history here of something that happened, just the last WSWA convention before COVID nineteen. We had closed a deal for distribution with a friend of ours, at W SW He just happened to be the GM of our targeted distributor in, in the southeast and was striding down the hall like MacArthur waiting ashore in the Philippines with a phalanx of people behind him. We called out a hello, and can we get together? And got back, just call Mary back at my office, and she'll set up the paperwork for you. Didn't even get a meeting. Didn't even need one. Pay to play. Here's a thought. There are several companies operating services to match suppliers with importers. Some such as worldwide meetings and world's leading wines run importer supplier matchmaking meetings, So be aware that they charge premium prices for the privilege of participating. Trust me, people will buy this. Well, pre sell your product to a friendly or receptive sommelier or retailer. Establish a track record of retail velocity. And all of a sudden, you've preempted the question. How do I know it will sell? As an example, I got a trial program with Southern Glazers wine and spirits for one of our products by doing just that. Once again, we preempted an objection and got the order by demonstrating Hussle. Do your homework. This has always been a head scratcher to me. Why suppliers generally don't invest the time to read up on prospective importers. So if you wanna stand out from the crowd, invest the time to read through the importer's website, every page. And do a Google search to see if they've been in the news, given speeches, written things or been quoted in the trades. That way, when you actually do get to have a conversation, you'll come across as informed, engaged, and prepared. Something that ninety nine of the other hundred brands clamoring for that importer's attention clearly demonstrate they aren't doing. It doesn't take much to stand out, do your homework. What's the point? Simply stated scores matter in the US. The first question a prospective importer will probably ask is, do you have scores? And there's only one answer to that question, and that's yes. So your strategy is to enter your best SKUs, and let me make that point your best skew is not necessarily the ones that you're looking to generate the most volume with. You wanna enter the ones that have the best chance of getting high score into as many US award competitions as you can. You can find a list, an updated list of them on my website at w w w dot bevologyinc dot com, click through to blogs, and it'll be about the third or fourth one down. I usually keep that updated with deadlines. Course, with COVID nineteen, a lot of those things have been delayed, but many of them are back in form and, with different deadlines. But here's the point, if you don't have scores, your chances of making it to the next question just dropped to zero. It's common to hear many older folks, yes, older folks say that the only scores that matter are wine spectator and Parker. However, the market is evolving. I'd say actually the market has evolved to recognize that the number is more important than the source, meaning ninety plus. And while some in the US may not be as familiar with Decantor, for example, there is recognition that high scores can note high quality. So even if you get a score from a competition that's not widely recognized, nobody can refute the fact that you got that score. And using that score as a reference, particularly on the bottle itself with the sticker is a great marketing tool. And it's especially true, also on premise via Samoyais where ratings from references that are important to them, such as Decantor, Janice Robinson or Gamero Russo, in the case of Italian wines, are critically important to making choices about what brands they're going to bring into their accounts. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. I love that line. And I believe what it means is have a POD that m a d, a point of difference that makes a difference. Everyone has a unique story. Even if you're a supermarket wine and produced by a coop. The challenge is to craft it in a way that has value to your perspective importer. Here's one example. One of the wineries we import Mosella, a demeter certified biodynamic producer. In fact, they're the only one of two in their whole Appalachian. In any case, even though many people in the industry and certainly most consumers won't know what that means specifically, bidonomic or demeter certified, it practically screams organic and sustainable in a way that puts that winery on their own list, not at the top of a list of competitors. So find a way to stand out to be different to have a point of difference that makes a difference to your audience. X y z is American speak for check your zipper. Make sure to do a Google search of your brand and check out if and how you are presented in key websites such as Vivino and wine searcher. Is probably the first thing a prospect will do. Your job is to make sure that there are no glaring errors, misstatements, missing data, or broken links. Bottom line, look at the situation from the importer's point of view. They're busy running their existing business, being responsive to their current supplier base and strategic customers and making sure that they're making their numbers, managing personnel and all the things that are important to them. They're not waiting around for your call or interested in hearing how wonderful your product is. It's simply not germane to their interests at this specific point in time. So what is germane to their interests? What the product can do for them? And that could include increasing their overall margins, expanding their portfolio to strategic new brands, styles, categories or countries in which they're interested. The key point being very little of their initial interest is related to the quality of the brand. It's more about the business proposition. And temper that creativity with the recognition that arrogance is deadly in beginning a relationship. Demonstrating a little humility. It's your market. You understand it far better than me, and we recognize we need your help in shaping our plans. Statements like that will get you farther than even, a hint of arrogance. Love the one you're with. Singer Stephen stills had it right. If you have an importer in the US, even one that you think is not doing the job for you, it still makes sense to invest the time and resources to fix something that exists rather than to seek out someone else. This is really worth stressing. Try absolutely everything you can do to fix the relationship before making the move to another importer. And one last recommendation. Be different. It's not enough for your product to be unique. You also need to be unique in the way you present yourself, and that's because the words you say matter less than the chemistry that you create. And here's another case history I think you'll find interesting. It turns out one of our winery clients from the Iberian Peninsula had an importer which hadn't paid for a container purchased over a year ago and wasn't returning phone calls. Well, it just so happens I was scheduled to have lunch with that importer the day after I returned from the strategy session with the export winery in Europe. I was able to really understand the root problem, provide a creative solution, and turn the whole relationship around. So by the end of February, the winery had done four times the volume they had in the entire year, and most importantly, they got paid on time. Well, that's it for today. I don't want to take up any more of your time. See you next week on how to get US market ready presented by the Italian wine podcast. Hi. This is Steve Ray. Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.