Tapped In Sales and Strategy for Beer Distributors

VXP Tech

Tapped In Podcast for Beverage Distributors that want to empower their sales team to drive business results. Hosted by Bud Dunn, Mikey Hall, and Ross Ackermann of VXP Tech.

  1. 1d ago

    125: Placements vs. Rebuys: Why Distribution Drives Keep Failing

    Your product is good for 270 days. Your distribution drive measures 90. A listener emailed us asking why we're still paying for placements on product that's already sitting on the shelf, and it turned into one of the more honest conversations we've had. Bud, Mike, Ross, and Alicia work through what a distribution drive actually costs a wholesaler. A placement that doesn't turn isn't business, it's activity. Ross puts on the supplier hat and says the quiet part out loud: he's measured on depletions and shipments, so whether it sells through the store isn't his problem. Bud runs the math on what happens when you pay ten bucks a POD against three bucks of net GP per CE, and then the finished product loss bill shows up six months later. The fix isn't refusing to run drives. It's changing what you count. A POD tells you a rep got in the door. A rebuy tells you the product belongs there. Alicia walks through how to bring a supplier a better program instead of just resistance, and why putting your foot down on late submissions protects your team's focus more than any tracker will. If you're building distribution programs or arguing about one right now, this one is for you.

  2. Sep 1

    124: Programmed Reps vs. Scout Reps: Are You Over-Programming Your Team?

    One client caps sales programs at six a month. Another runs 12 to 15, and the reps there can't name half of them. That's the mental load problem, and it's costing you execution you already paid for. Bud, Mike, and Ross dig into how many programs a rep can actually carry in a month, and what happens to your business when you blow past that number. Ross makes the hard argument that every objective and incentive you launch distorts the two things the job is really about, maximizing space and selling the relationship, so you had better be sure the distortion points where you want it to. Mike talks about being the filter, cleaning the clutter for your team, and the line between organizing reps and babying them. Bud shares the ride-with that produced 40 to-dos and why the cap became five. Then the story that lands it: a senior leader can't find his hottest brand at a top account, the rep says it isn't on PFP this month, and the rep doesn't think anything is wrong. That's a programmed rep. The reps who find what nobody put on the list are the scouts, and you need about 20% of them. Plus the vodka aid run, and whose volume it's taking. If you're building next month's programs right now, this one is for you.

  3. Aug 25

    123: Three Places to Find GP When Volume Falls Apart

    Worst week since April. Down 8.6% on volume, down 5% on dollars, and the industry's official answer is that it got too hot outside. Nobody needs another weather report. Here's what's really happening. We're sitting on mid-month client calls watching routes run down 10, 11, even 15, and a good number of those same operators are still flat or growing on GP. That gap is the whole episode. We walk through three places the dollars are still sitting when the cases aren't coming: the rest of the truck, since packaged beverage is growing 4 to 4.5% while bev alc bleeds; the influential accounts nobody has time for, including one client who took 160 under-serviced accounts, put three people on them, and projected 145% of target on the same market and the same products; and route coverage, where success happens at the margin. Then the warning. Volume is down, so everybody's first instinct is to cut routes. There's no accounting line on a P&L for the value of attention, and you only find out what it was worth after the volume follows it out the door. Plus the RTD run, Molson Coors giving up share, and a prediction Bud tries to change in August. Worth a listen if you're resetting goals right now.

  4. Aug 18

    122: Covering the Route vs. Selling the Route

    Two routes down 25% for the month means your whole company is down 5%. Most of us look at that number, say "Johnny was out," and move on. This week Ross brings a pattern he kept seeing across clients big and small: when a rep goes out on leave, the route gets covered haphazardly, the results tank, and everybody shrugs. Very few distributors have an actual plan for it. Mike has run those routes himself and walks through what really happens out there, from not knowing where the back stock sits to the fear of overselling an account the regular rep has to come back to. There's a real difference between covering a route and selling it, and most relief coverage is survival mode. We get into who should cover, whether burning a team lead is worth what stops getting done, and a more creative option: segment your impact accounts, build a sales rep in training tier, and slide everybody up the line so your best routes never get orphaned. Plus Diageo says it's rewiring distributor incentives toward rate of sale, and we have thoughts. Worth a listen if you're building coverage plans, training reps, or wondering where your points went last month.

  5. Aug 11

    121: Budget vs Goal: Which Number Should Move Mid-Year?

    July did not give anybody a soft landing. You either made your number or you got crushed, and almost nobody landed in between. We dig into what actually happened last month, why A-B houses slipped off their June trends while MC clients picked up a point, and why Florida and California grew while most of the country did not. Then it gets worse before it gets better. Gas prices bounced back up, and a new one showed up on client calls this month: electricity. One warm market saw prices double, and the numbers coming at us for a 1,200 square foot house sounded like a mortgage payment. There is even a point where it gets too hot to drink beer, and we have watched consumption nosedive in real time to prove it. August has a selling day missing and last year's Labor Day load week has moved into September, so we talk through how to set a goal reps will still reach for. Three clients already threw out their annual budget. Set the budget as a guide, not gospel. We also get into the hemp ban going down to the wire, 35 state attorneys general writing Congress, Kratom bans spreading, flavor carrying the whole category, and the final read on World Cup volume. Worth a listen if you are building sales plans, incentives, or goals right now.

  6. Aug 4

    120: They Told Us It Was 8 Super Bowls. The Scots Drank Boston Dry

    AB told Northern Eagle the World Cup would be like eight Super Bowls in their market. It was. Up in Boston, the Scots went through a full container of Tennent's in four days and Burke Distributing had to bring in a second one. This is a two part episode. First we sit down with Beverly Freitas, sales manager at Northern Eagle in northern New Jersey, which hosted eight matches including the final at MetLife. Then we talk with Kristen Burke, fourth generation president at Burke Distributing in metro Boston, which had seven games at Gillette and the Tartan Army parked in Faneuil Hall. Same questions to both. How do you forecast something you have no comp for? What do you staff up, and when? Which brands surprised you? And what would you do differently if you got the chance again? What comes out is a real operator playbook. Twelve months of planning and daily inventory calls. Six delivery days a week with no Sunday drops allowed. Non buy accounts that finally opened up. On premise up 75% week on week while off premise barely moved. And two teams that decided early that nobody was going to say "not my job." If a big event is ever coming to your market, this is the one to save. Listen, learn, and enjoy what you do.

  7. Jul 28

    119: Just Enough to Get Invited Back Tomorrow

    Five clients came to us in the last 60 days with the same word on their lips: complacency. Reps showing up just enough to get invited back to work tomorrow. But here's the uncomfortable question: is it laziness, or are your reps rationally optimizing their lives around the comp plan you built? Bud, Ross, and Mike work through where complacency really comes from, why pay curves are steepening across the client base, and how to audit your own program before it quietly costs you 5% volume a year. In this episode, we break down… 😴 What complacency actually looks like on the ground: order takers instead of sales professionals, and the bare minimum to stay employed 🏆 The seasoned vet trap: 15 years on the route, great relationships, hits most of his numbers, and hasn't noticed the market changing around him 💰 Johnny hits every supplier incentive and sits at the bottom of the profit leaderboard. Where is his mindset? Wherever the easy money is. 🔍 The self-audit: when was the last time you changed your comp programming, and how many of your PFPs are recycled month after month? 📈 Why customers are asking to steepen the pay curve, and why the optimal starting point may have moved from 70-75 to 75-80 ⏳ Return on effort: reps trading incremental dollars for a simpler life, and why that math has changed as the value of a dollar shrinks 🍺 News: Reyes closes the 11 RNDC territories, Southern Glazer's buys Eagle Rock, Sazerac lands with Reyes, and the Teamsters push a 75% tariff on Mexican beer Key takeaways: It's not laziness. Reps are optimizing their time and pay toward their own equilibrium. If they're optimizing away from your outcomes, your structure is the problem, not the rep. Show me the incentives and I'll show you the outcome. If 80% of rep pay is tied to supplier-funded programs, don't be surprised when your strategic priorities get ignored. The fix isn't more money. One client used the exact same dollars, changed how reps earn them, and went on a 16-month streak hitting GP and GP per CE budgets. Steeper curves fit performance cultures. Shallower curves fit relationship cultures. Neither works if it isn't authentic to who you actually are. If complacency is sitting in your gut, it's probably sitting in your sales team's lap. Put it on the agenda at your next management meeting and talk about it openly. This is a roundtable episode, no guest, no script. Bud, Ross, and Mike working through what five clients brought to the table in real time, including some hard reflection on the complacency Bud created himself back at Atlas Sales. If you're heading into budget and planning season wondering whether your comp plan is driving effort or entitlement, this one is for you. Listen, learn, and enjoy what you do. Catch the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Want to look at your own data and benchmarking, no sales pitch included? Email us at info@vxptech.com. Share with a friend if you love it.

  8. Jul 21

    118: Equal Opportunity, Not Equal Outcome

    We're at the midway point of the year, which means comp planning season is here. If you're thinking about moving off commission, restructuring routes, or changing how your reps get paid, this is the episode to start with. Bud, Ross, and Mike get into why commission structures quietly work against your business and what to do instead. In this episode, we break down: 💸 Why your comp plan should serve the business, not the other way around 📊 The hidden cost of commission: endless rerouting and punished top performers 🎯 Equal opportunity vs. equal outcome, and where pay disparity really belongs 🗺️ Why your biggest accounts aren't always your highest impact 🪜 Bands and buckets: a transparent roadmap reps can grow into 🩹 Rip the band-aid off: why you make all the changes at once 🗣️ How to roll out a pay change without losing the room Key takeaways: Volume can hide bad decisions. Align reps to impact, not case count. Reshuffling routes to feed commission kills the reason to grow a route. Put seniority in the base. Keep at-risk dollars equal opportunity for everyone. Reps assume a comp change means less money. Lead with the why. Train your middle managers first. They get the questions reps won't ask you. Chapters: 00:24 Challenges in commission structures 10:05 Transitioning to quota systems 20:14 Real-world applications and case studies 21:05 Equal opportunity vs. equal outcome 29:06 Implementing transparent pay structures 37:47 Effective rollout strategies for compensation changes Listen, learn, and enjoy what you do. If you're trying to make your sales plan clearer, this one is for you. Questions? Send them to info@vxptech.com. =============== YouTube: Watch on YouTube: Tapped In Sales Spotify Podcast: Listen & Watch on Spotify Podcasts Tapped In Sales Apple Podcasts: Listen on Apple Podcast Tapped In Sales =============== Connect with Us:   Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest episodes, industry news, and insights from the beer distribution world. About Tapped In Sales:   Tapped In Sales is a podcast dedicated to beer distributors and beverage industry professionals who are looking to elevate their sales strategies and drive profitability. Hosted by industry experts Bud Dunn and Mike Hall, we dive deep into real-world stories, actionable insights, and the latest trends to help sales teams and managers unlock their full potential. Each episode blends data, strategy, and motivation, making complex topics easy to understand and implement. This podcast is powered by VXP Tech – the leading Sales Strategy Management system designed for beer distributors. VXP simplifies the complexities of goal setting, variable compensation, and sales team performance, helping you master your market and grow profits, case by case. Stay tuned for expert advice, fresh perspectives, and tools to sharpen your sales approach! If you enjoyed the episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend!

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5
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11 Ratings

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Tapped In Podcast for Beverage Distributors that want to empower their sales team to drive business results. Hosted by Bud Dunn, Mikey Hall, and Ross Ackermann of VXP Tech.

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