AboutEric Hofer Expertise Over 27 years experience, with 17 in international FMCG in back office operations and in field sales and data collection, including design, development and deployment of Handhelds, Marketing Equipment (Service, Tracking and Return on Investment), reporting and Vending management. Have participated on the launch of operations in new markets, and re-engineered the back office in several countries.
Experience Designed and led the development and deployment internal ERP system for Pepsi used in On-Premise/Vending in 13 markets.
Designed 2 handheld systems, the latest is now deployed in 4 markets internationally.
Re-engineered the back office functions (settlements, despatch, invoicing, credit control, etc) for over 20 snack, confectionary and beverage operators.
Developing software: Progress, VB, Access, C, Sybase, SA
Organizations Innovative-Selling Solutions
Publications BudapestSun
Education/Credentials State University of New York - BA Economics
NYU - Courant - Graduate work - Computing
Past/Present clients PepsiAmericas
PepsiCola International
PepsiCola Company
British Steel
British Telecom
Britvic (Pepsi's bottler in the UK)
AT&T
BellSouth
Mars Overseas Bottling
Pepsi France
Matutano (Frito-Lay Spain)
Frito-Lay
Pepsi Foods International
Chase Manhattan Bank
Kidder Peabody
National Power
SmithKline Beecham
Mars Overseas Bottling (Pepsi Azerbaijan)
A&P Bottling (Pepsi Serbia & Montenegro)
Iberia Bottlers (Pepsi Georgia)
Question I have started process to become liquor/beer dist. How do I go about getting labels/brand to supply me with their product?
Answer Kevin,
Usually before starting up, you would have identified suppliers, possible terms and modelled the costs and likely income for your business. What were your assumptions here?
Approaching manufacturers can take a number paths. You need to have an idea as to how the various manufacturers You want to attract currently go to market in your area. They may:-
- have exclusive deals
- do their own delivery
- piggy-back off another major
Depending upon your area, you'll have a number a of items that you'll need to satisfy:-
- liquor licensing
- recycling laws
- in-field equipment, service, sanitation (certification, capabilities)
Manufacturers will want to know that you've aligned and resolved the various geographic issues; and further, they'll also want to know:-
- whether you're carrying competitive brands
- capitalization
- ability to service
- delivery turn around
- ability to return sales volume data
- capability in house to manage inventory, stock levels, reorders, stales, damage
They'll also want to know (for some of the higher end brands) that your staff are presentable, courteous, etc. (as they won't want to be associated with what they might think tarnishes their image).
You'll be asked to prove your credit worthiness. This might require you to provide a letter of credit (promissory note(s)), bank guarantees, etc. it's probable that starting out, you'll have to pay cash in advance.
They'll want to know that you have your sales systems in place; that you have incentives and means to police accounts. And will be interested in extra capabilities you might have such the ability to police chain agreements, report discrepancies, etc.
They'll also want to know how big your staff and customer base are.
Likely too, they'll be impressed if you've got skills and are developing your team and processes.
Much of this can cost money; but they will be more impressed with a startup if you've got advice from people with experience and have implemented back end processes. You can get some information here from the team at www.salessuite.net.
