Captain Obvious.

While at the NBWA convention, wholesalers are offered the opportunity to attend a multitude of seminars on Monday and Tuesday mornings from 8 to 9:30.   Distributors can sign up to go to the seminar of their choice, unfortunately however, due to time constraints; it is possible that one cannot attend all the desired discussions. This year’s convention was no exception. 

One workshop offered was led by Joe Verno, one of the founders of The Denver Management consulting group. Denver Management has been in existence for a long time and in the 70s and 80s, their focus was on converting wholesaler driver sales to pre-sales for many distributors. At this year’s NBWA Joe and his son, now consultants in the family business, Verno Consulting, discussed what they believe are 40 things wholesalers should stop doing. Last week Beer Business Daily highlighted these same 40 issues outlined by the Vernos. The subject matter covered all segments of a wholesaler’s operation including, but not limited to: training, delivering, sales, talent, and vendor relations.  The top 40 areas that wholesalers should avoid outlined by the Vernos should be eye- opening to many wholesalers, although many may bypass these important points saying, “It’s not my operation, we are a step ahead of all of these points, my business is doing very well.” 

The wholesalers who are fortunate to have White Claw, Truly, Constellation, or Ultra in their house only have to look at their bottom line and smile. Using technology, almost all wholesalers have improved their overall operations and logistics while adding a number of new vendors and now, many carry non-alcoholic products.

It is clear that the Vernos are saying to wholesalers: While you are growing, are you sacrificing the long-term for the short-term? It was also clear that the Vernos see obvious wholesaler short comings including: internal structure, lack of talent, bench depth, and training. There are good odds that when questioned, almost all vendors would agree with that position.

On the reverse, wholesalers see the same issues with many new or recent vendors. Both parts of the industry hire to fill a void, not for leadership, experience, and growth. Both sides will make a point of not being able to find the right talent which is only an excuse. Talent is out there, but to obtain the best, both parties have to step up. The talent gap between wine and spirit companies and beer companies can be eye-awaking, especially when dealing with mid-management areas.

Expect to see more on the 40 key metrics outlined by the Vernos in the coming weeks. Or, one can always contact the Vernos directly for more information on this topic, for a fee, or course. 

Thank you, Captain Obvious.