Everything I Know About Sales,
I Learned in Kindergarten, Part Two

By Janis Dalessandro

Editor's Note: As part of our continuing commitment to industry education at the Fiery-Foods & Barbecue SuperSite, we are pleased to present a new, three-part article for our College of Chile Knowledge e-zine. Here are the techniques that a former newbie to the industry used to put her gourmet products into stores all over the country.

Learn to Share

Networking just makes good business sense. Having someone to talk to who understands the industry, its challenges, and its rewards is both therapeutic and can often be profitable in ways that neither party ever expected. Because other companies were so helpful to us when we were just starting out, we feel it’s our duty to return the favor by sharing the knowledge we’ve gained with others who are new to the industry. At industry trade shows and contests, we seek out people and products we’ve read about and have profiled them on SauceMall.com, the first portal featuring gourmet and heated sauces. We’ve partnered with other companies to minimize shipping costs, gain entry into key markets, and strategize ways to address industry-wide challenges and opportunities. We’ve collaborated on the production of gift baskets and initiated discussions about other ways to maximize exposure while minimizing costs, such as sharing booth space at key industry events and co-marketing complementary products.

On a strictly personal level, it’s also great to know you will be bumping into familiar faces when business takes you into unfamiliar places. Over the years, we’ve had some terrific times hanging out with our industry friends at the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show and other events. And as with all of our friendships, we apply the Golden Rule to our business relationships, too. We treat others as we would like to be treated. We never speak badly of another company or their products. We offer support to others when needed and celebrate others’ successes as if they were our own. We recognize that the industry is made up of thousands of different products because consumers seek a variety of different tastes. We’re part of an exciting, growing industry, and that means there is plenty of opportunity for all of us who seek it.

Know Who the Bullies Are

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, not everyone is going to be your friend. Every playground has its bullies, and it’s better to figure out ways to navigate around them than spend wasted hours trying to get them to look at life from your point of view. This rings especially true when you’re trying to get your products into very targeted retail environments. Some of you may not see placement or slotting fees as a hurdle, but our small company has to be very careful about how it manages its financial resources during this growth phase. We have to really think about whether paying marketing fees to our retailers of choice is going to have the impact we’re looking for as we try to grow our business within our market segment. And sometimes, that means making some hard choices about where our marketing budgets should be allocated. Like all of you, we want our business to grow. But sometimes, we have to face the reality that we can’t make it grow as quickly as we’d like.

The other thing we hate to think about (but know we have to address) is the fact that bullies aren’t known for playing by the rules. We’ve all had experience with deadbeat accounts, who show plenty of excitement about our products and their ability to move them at the time they place their orders, but drag their feet and don’t return our calls when it comes time to pay the bills. And because most of us are nice people, we don’t like having to be the bad guy and go chasing after them. But it’s something we need to make time for amidst all the other things we do to keep our companies moving forward.

We want to be accommodating. We want to understand. We want to be flexible. But we also want to be profitable, and we can’t be if we don’t collect on accounts receivable.

We also need to realize that time is money, and sometimes the smartest thing to do is give up the chase. If you’ve been calling the same distributor once a week for six months and he still hasn’t agreed to handle your product, maybe it’s time to give it a rest and spend that time on your best customers. It’s just a sad fact of our business life that some prospects aren’t ever going to give you the chance to make the sale. And the smartest kids know that the wise thing to do in such cases is look for a different challenge with a greater potential for success.

Clean Your Room

Many of our companies are home-based. But even if you’re operating from a spare bedroom-turned corporate office, it’s important to be as organized as possible. Small business is still business and as management gurus will tell you, the most efficient companies have defined roles, responsibilities, and systems in place at all times.

The time and money spent to implement operating systems for your company will more than justify itself in the end. And believe it or not, it’ll help keep you focused and motivated if you know exactly what you need to do and how you need to do it. There are lots of great computer programs that will help you to get and stay organized. Being a bit of a computer geek myself, I’ve saved our company lots of money by learning how to use graphic and website design programs, databases and financial management software to full efficiency.

Because I’m able to manage all these key business functions myself, I don’t ever have to relinquish control of them to others, which allows me to hit my company’s deadlines and deliver the highest quality services possible to my customers.

In the same vein, I can’t stress enough the importance of maintaining up-to-date records about your prospects and accounts. Notetaking and filing may seem like the last thing you want to do when you have ten million other things to do, but careful recordkeeping delivers the kind of historic data that will see your company through your customers’ corporate mergers and acquisitions, personnel changes, new pricing structures, etc. And as your company grows, and you’re able to hire others to take some tasks off your plate, you’ll be able to provide your employees with tangible materials that will help them help you to take your company to the next level. The goal is to work smarter rather than harder. And organization makes that truly possible. The bottom line is this: our corporate operations and systems should reflect the same level of quality as the products we produce.

Sing your ABCs

Some people feel funny bragging about their products. I’m not one of them. If I didn’t believe d’Oni’s line was something special, I’d have never gone into business in the first place. But winning that first contest ignited my passion about fiery and heated foods and it’s still burning bright. I’m proud of our products and I’m proud of what our company has accomplished and

I’m not afraid to shout it out to the masses. None of us should expect others to believe in our products unless we clearly demonstrate our own belief in them.

Every time we win another award, we work to make our prospects and customers aware of it. We've placed the most marketable award logos on our letterhead and tagged our website with logos identifying us as contest winners. Our own post-contest publicity efforts piggybacked upon those of the contest organizers create synergy within the marketplace and more than justify the time and expense. Plus every contest win provides a new hook to cast to prospective and existing buyers. And marketplace recognition certainly can provide a worn-out sauce mogul with a well-needed shot in the arm when the market is flat and motivation is in short supply.

We have to be comfortable with singing our own praises. If we do a good job of it, others are sure to join the chorus.

Contact: janisd@d-oni.com

Web: www.d-oni.com

Part Three

Online College of Chile Knowledge

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