Wherever you work in consumer goods, you know how important the retailer is to your success. Whether you are in marketing, sales, shopper marketing or trade marketing or category: progress and results will be limited without support from our retail partners. We need their support: but when I speak with retailers I hear similar frustrations about how their vendors waste their time. And one of the biggest frustrations is about presentations. In this post I’d like to share a few of the biggest frustrations retailers have with your retail sales presentations, and what you can do about it.
My business partner, Toby Desforges, recently shared an insightful interview with Michael Freeman from Kimberly Clark (you can check out the interview here). Among the many interesting insights shared, Michael observed that retail meetings are getting shorter, and that vendors have to get better at using this time more effectively. I’ve surveyed a number of people and see the same thing. Retail decision makers are scheduling rapid meetings, often online, with little chance of an over-run.
So given how important these retail decision makers are, and how limited our time is with them, why do I hear frustration from those decision makers that sales and marketing teams just ‘waste their time’ (their words not mine!) So here are the top seven frustrations that retail decision makers have with your sales presentations.
Retail Sales Presentation Mistake #1: “Sharing data that has no purpose”
Number one on the list of retailer complaints is the tendency to share everything we know about the brand, the category and, well, pretty much anything else we can jam into the presentation. When it comes to retail sales presentations, the adage that ‘less is more’ seems to have got lost along the way! Retailers are busy people. Just because something you know is interesting to the brand manager, doesn’t mean its interesting to anyone else. We love our brands, but our retailers? Not always. Stick to the point, and make sure it’s clear WHY you are sharing the data. Make it clear on each slide what the purpose and key-takeout is (this has the added benefit of encouraging the audience to focus on the takeout that you want them to focus on). If there isn’t a key takeout – cut the slide.
Retail Sales Presentation Mistake #2 “Wasting time telling me something I already know”
Retailers are (in most cases) data rich. So, sharing data that they already have is (unless it has a key part to play in the story you are telling) a waste of time. If a retailer has the data but hasn’t looked at it, it’s because it isn’t interesting enough for them. So unless you can make it interesting, don’t show them.
Retail Sales Presentation Mistake #3 “Not using the data I have given you”
I know that I’ve already suggested that we shouldn’t share data the retailer already knows. By that I mean, don’t real off twenty slides of share data or loyalty card data as part of a lengthy and dull business review. But we can still use data the retailer has. Indeed we should, but only if it is important to the situation. But one of the big frustrations retailers have (and the main reason they won’t share their data with you) is that you don’t make use of the data that they do share. If they’ve given you data, make sure you use it, or reference it – if it is relevant! And even if you’ve decided not to present it, make sure you at least know it. You might get asked questions, and it will be pretty embarrassing to have to admit you didn’t bother referring to the data that they gave you the previous month.
Retail Sales Presentations Mistake #4 “A plan that is disconnected from the data”
To quote the head of one retail team I spoke with recently, on business plan presentations: “It’s like two separate presentations. The first is a load of data that I already have, and the second is a plan that looks like it was created completely separately”. Which is often because that’s exactly how the plans are created!
Build your plan out of the insight, then go back and only share the data that supports the plan, that builds the story. You can use data at two points in your presentation. Once to demonstrate that there is an opportunity. And the second time to explain why your plan realizes that opportunity. Anything else is just window dressing. Take care and consider stripping it out.
Everything in the review part of your presentation should ideally build into the rationale for your plan. Likewise, everything in your plan should flow from the data you shared in the ‘review’.
Retail Sales Presentations Mistake #5 “Not having a category story”
Many if not most professionals in the consumer goods industry recognize that retail decision makers will be far more interested in a category selling story than a brand-growth story. After all, the retailer probably has a KPI linked to growing the total sales – so it stands to reason that they’ll be more interested. Yet far too many sales presentations still don’t recognize this. Too many presentations are ‘brand brand brand’ (another direct quote!) and make no attempt to demonstrate that this will have a positive impact on the retailer’s business. Quick hint: If you don’t allow for substitution with competitor products, the retailer will assume 100% substitution, i.e. zero incremental sales. Just saying!
Retail Sales Presentations Mistake #6 “Faking the category story”
Possibly even worse than mistake #5. As I’ve just mentioned it, many managers realize that they need a ‘category story’ to engage their retailers better. Unfortunately, this has led to a lot of ‘faking it’. By that I mean presentations that dress up what is largely a brand plan as a category opportunity. A few slides at the front of the business plan that talk about category opportunities, then a whole bundle of brand activity, without any explanation as to how this is going to grow the category. Let me tell you a secret. Retailers aren’t stupid. They can see through that. You’re kidding no-one. You might be frustrating or irritating, but you aren’t fooling anyone. Stop it.
Retail Sales Presentations Mistake #7 “Not talking about my shoppers/business”
Retailers don’t care about your brand (unless it can help them). What is going on outside the store is only relevant if it affects their shoppers and their business. Sharing general data will only get you so far. What retailers want to know is why this opportunity is relevant to them, and how you will positively change the behavior of their shoppers, to positively impact their business and help them achieve their KPIs. Likewise, a size of prize should be relevant to the customer. How much benefit will they get?
To be clear, I’m not saying don’t share data. What I am saying is to use it sparingly to tell a story. We can legitimately use data to support our core value proposition. Here we can use consumer, shopper and retail data to build our three-part value proposition.
There is no perfect recipe for a sales presentation, or a customer business plan presentation. Different situations call for different approaches. Some buyers like more data, most really want you to get to the punchline.
And no, we shouldn’t be rushed. Taking your time to build the story, to demonstrate the opportunity, is a critical part of any pitch. But by being respectful of your counterpart’s time will, in most cases, make the entire process go much smoother. If you’d like to know more about building powerful sales presentations, using shopper insight to sell, building category visions, plans or selling stories, or just sharpening your selling skills, check out our training programs now, or get in touch to discuss your specific situation
Maybe one of your best blogs, Mike. Both the need for a category story and the need to be brief and to the point really resonate.