MarketMaker Pub 0034

8/14/2019 MarketMaker Pub 0034

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Marketing Aquaculture Products 1


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2 Marketing Aquaculture Products

Table of ContentsReality Check: Why Businesses Fail ............................................................................................ 3

Marketing Your Product ............................................................................................................... 6

Marketing Yoursel ......................................................................................................................20

Packages, Labeling & Point-o-Purchase Communications ..................................................27

Dealing with Brokers & Distributors ........................................................................................29

Dealing Directly with Grocery Stores .......................................................................................33

Quality Product/Quality Service ...............................................................................................36

Lets Use MarketMaker ...............................................................................................................40

Creating a Marketing Plan .........................................................................................................48

Marketing Plan Outline ..............................................................................................................53

Glossary o erms ........................................................................................................................56

Reerences & Resources ..............................................................................................................58


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Jay Gotz who owns five small, very successulbusinesses in Chicago and is the author o TeStreet Smart Entrepreneurhad this contribu-tion in the New York imes on Wednesday, 05January 2011:

One o the least understood aspects o entre-preneurship is why small businesses ail, andtheres a simple reason or the conusion: Mosto the evidence comes rom the entrepreneursthemselves.

I have had a close-up view o numerous busi-ness ailures including a ew start-ups o myown. And rom my observation, the reasonsor ailure cited by the owners are requentlyoff-point, which kind o makes sense whenyou think about it. I the owners really knewwhat they were doing wrong, they might havebeen able to fix the problem. Ofen, its simply

a matter o denial or o not knowing what youdont know.

In many cases, the customers or, I shouldsay, ex-customers have a better understand-ing than the owners o what wasnt working.Te usual suspects that the owners tend toblame are the bank, the government, or theidiot partner. Rarely does the owners fingerpoint at the owner. O course, there are caseswhere something out o the owners controlhas gone terribly wrong, but I have ound thoseinstances to be in the minority. What ollows based on my own experiences and observa-tions are my top 10 reasons small businessesail. Te list is not pretty, it is not simple, andit does not contain any o those usual suspects(although they might come in at No. 11, 12and 13).

Reality Check: Why

Businesses Fail


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1. Te math just doesnt work. Tere is notenough demand or the product or service at aprice that will produce a profit or the compa-

ny. Tis, or example, would include a start-uptrying to compete against Best Buy and itseconomies o scale.

2. Owners who cannot get out of their ownway. Tey may be stubborn, risk adverse, con-ict adverse meaning they need to be likedby everyone (even employees and vendors whocant do their jobs). Tey may be perectionist,greedy, sel-righteous, paranoid, indignant, orinsecure. You get the idea. Sometimes, you caneven tell these owners the problem, and theywill recognize that you are right but contin-ue to make the same mistakes over and over.

3. Out-of-control growth. Tis one mightbe the saddest o all reasons or ailure asuccessul business that is ruined by over-expansion. Tis would include moving intomarkets that are not as profitable, experiencinggrowing pains that damage the business, orborrowing too much money in an attempt tokeep growth at a particular rate. Sometimes

less is more.

4. Poor accounting. You cannot be incontrol o a business i you dont know what isgoing on. With bad numbers, or no numbers,a company is ying blind, and it happens allo the time. Why? For one thing, it is a com-mon and disastrous misconception thatan outside accounting firm hired primarily todo the taxes will keep watch over the business.In reality, that is the job o the chie financialoffi cer, one o the many hats an entrepreneur

has to wear until a real one is hired.

5. Lack of a cash cushion. I we have learnedanything rom this recession its that business iscyclical and that bad things can and will hap-pen over time the loss o an important cus-tomer or critical employee, the arrival o a newcompetitor, the filing o a lawsuit. Tese thingscan all stress the finances o a company. I thecompany is already out o cash (and borrowingpotential), it may not be able to recover.

6. Operational mediocrity. I have nevermet a business owner who described his orher operation as mediocre. But we cant all be

above average. Repeat and reerral business iscritical or most businesses, as is some degreeo marketing (depending on the business).

7. Operational ineffi ciencies. Paying toomuch or rent, labor, and materials. Now morethan ever, the lean companies are at an advan-tage. Not having the tenacity or stomach tonegotiate terms that are reective o todayseconomy may leave a company uncompetitive

8. Dysfunctional management. Tis is lacko ocus, vision, planning, standards and ev-erything else that goes into good managementTrow fighting partners or unhappy relativesinto the mix, and you have a disaster.

9. Te lack of a succession plan. Weretalking nepotism, power struggles, significantplayers being replaced by people who are inover their heads all reasons many amilybusinesses do not make it to the next genera-tion.

10. A declining market. Book stores, musicstores, printing businesses and many others aredealing with changes in technology, consumerdemand, and competition rom huge compa-nies with more buying power and advertisingdollars.

In lie, you may have orgiving riends andrelatives, but entrepreneurship is rarely orgiv-ing. Eventually, everything shows up in thesoup. I people dont like the soup, employees

stop working or you, and customers stopdoing business with you. And that is why businesses ail.

Probably some or most o the ten points youjust read struck a chord with you. It is an im-perect world, ull o imperect product, clientsand companies. By working toward positivebusiness improvement, you are in the game.Ben Stein, Economist, Actor, Author, PoliticalCommentator and Satirist once said, You can


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do what you think you can do and you cannotdo what you think you cannot. Te successulpeople o this world take lie as it comes. Tey

just go out and deal with the world as it is. Youcannot win i youre not at the table. You haveto be where the action is.

Lets start by considering a ew practicalconcepts that will help to guide us as we workthrough developing a marketing plan and mar-keting strategy or your aquaculture operation.Ten we will look at what marketing yourproduct is really all about.

Business-management guru Peter F. Druckerin his book Innovation and Entrepreneurship,Practice and Principles(Harper & Row; 1985)targeted the innovative aspect o the concept asthe cornerstone o any entrepreneurial venture.Druckers Five Principles o Innovation encap-sulate his definition o the steps that should betaken to ormulate a new idea into a workableconcept. Tis is a good starting point or de-veloping a to-do checklist to keep you engagedand on course as your personal voyage o dis-covery unolds. Although designed or writing

business plans, this also can become a checklistor creating a solid and workable marketingplan:

Begin with an analysis o theopportunity.

Analyze the opportunity to see i peoplewill be interested in using theinnovation.

o be effective, the innovation must be

simple and clearly ocused on a specificneed.

Effective innovations start small. Byappealing to a small, limited market, aproduct or service requires little moneyand ew people to produce and sell it.As the market grows, the company hastime to fine-tune its processes and stayahead o the emerging competition.

Aim at market leadership. I aninnovation does not aim at leadershipin the beginning, it is unlikely to be

innovative enough to successullyestablish itsel. Leadership here canmean dominating a small market niche.

I you noticed, Drucker sums it all up in thewords opportunity and innovation. Everybusiness venture finds its opportunity by iden-tiying its market niche. Te innovation comesin to play when the business fits its productto the needs o that market. Te effectivenesso the effort results rom clearly understand-ing what that market opportunity is (marketresearch), and then using your innovation toenter and fill that market (product quality,product presentation, implementing a market-ing plan, sales and sales support).

Work at understanding your business. Knowall o your costs. I you understand what isgoing wrong, i you understand your mis-takes, you can fix it. Just adopt a mindset thatyou will do things differently. Tere is an oldsaying, ools lef in the tool box never built

anything.


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In a later section o this tutorial we will look athow MarketMaker can be used by producers toresearch markets or aquaculture products, aswell as how distributors and end-user clientscan use MarketMaker to find producers. Inthis section, we will discuss some principleso market research. Tis is not diffi cult orcomplex. Most market research is a common-sense approach to knowing where to look orinormation and asking the right questions othe right people.

Tere also is an aspect o asking onesel theright questions and having the sense-o-selto honestly evaluate your production capabili-ties and product attributes. I you cant conveythe strengths o your product to others, thenthat is something that needs to be developed.For example, i you have problems with publicspeaking, there are local business and com-munity organizations that can help. I you

dont know why your product is better thanthat ound in the reezer case o the local oodmart, then you need to work with a commu-nications proessional to help articulate thestrengths o your product line, and criticallyexamine how it is presented to the public.Lets take a look at marketing. Marketing anyproduct deals with the 7Ps: product, pricing,place, promotion, packaging, positioning andpeople. Te most important uniying conceptis market relevance. It doesnt really matter

how unique your product or service is, unlessits value is tied to a perceived benefit, no onewill care. Your customers simply want to knowIs it going to solve my problems or make memoney? I not, it is irrelevant. For this reasonmarket relevance is a undamental dimensiono your business through which you establishand demonstrate a position within a market.Ideally, this in turn, can become a powerultool or building leadership or your product

Marketing YourProduct


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line within the market. Your vision or marketrelevance creates your products value proposi-tions.

Your vision begins simply enough with a mis-sion statement. Develop a vision or your busi-ness and product; then create a mission state-ment by encapsulating that idea in a sentenceor two. For example, an internet service maysay, Create a single place on the Internet thatconnects all people with anything or anyonethey need. A small-town dairy may say, Cre-ate direct-to-consumer supreme quality cheeserom locally pastured grass-ed cows. Te laterstatement identifies a locally-produced prod-uct that requires exceptional preparation andquality control, produced rom well-cared-oranimals. Many people discount mission state-ments as superuous. Most highly successulentrepreneurs and companies have them postedthroughout their operations. Te mission state-ment is the compass that keeps you on track.By making your mission statement relevant,and reecting it in your practices, it makes yourproduct relevant. You have articulated yourbusiness and products value propositions; you

have defined its market relevance.At the end o the day, market relevance needs tobe tied directly to return on investment (ROI).Market relevance heads off the presumptionthat your companys vision or product is ir-relevant. Te challenge is to continue tellingand adapting your story. You need to show thatyour company is the leading orce educatingand growing the market solving real problemsor real customers. Te secret to leveragingvision is staying just ar enough ahead that it

looks like your company is leading the mar-ket. I your vision is too broad you run therisk o creating a perception that the market isnot ready or your product. Once you have amission statement, you can then leverage yourcompanys vision by using communicationtools to get the relevance o your product inront o distributors and consumers. A positivemission statement and communications mes-sage also inuences your suppliers and custom-ers to believe that your company is going to be

around next week. Customers want to developrelationships with vendors whom they eel arein command o their destinies, and thus able

to standing up to competition. In an uncertainworld, people trust a eeling o order.

Philip Kotler is well known or being thepioneer o thought leadership marketing. Heis CEO o Kotler Marketing Group, and theS.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Proessor oInternational Marketing, Northwestern Univer-sity Kellogg Graduate School o Management.On his website (http://www.kotlermarketing.com/phil_questions.shtml) Dr. Kotler dis-cusses What is Marketing and where ofenoverlooked marketing opportunities exist. Heimmediately makes two important points:

Marketing is the science and art oexploring, creating, and delivering valueto satisy the needs o a target market ata profit. Marketing identifies unulfilledneeds and desires. It defines thenmeasures and quantifies the size o theidentified market and the profit potential.It pinpoints which segments the

company is capable o serving best and itdesigns and promotes the appropriateproducts and services.

Marketing is ofen perormed by adepartment within the organization.Tis is both good and bad. Its goodbecause it unites a group o trainedpeople who ocus on the marketing task.Its bad because marketing activitiesshould not be carried out in a singledepartment but they should be maniest

in all the activities o the organization.

In Kotlers 11th edition oMarketing Manage-ment (12 Edition, Prentice Hall, 2006) he de-scribes the most important concepts o market-ing in the first chapter. Tey are: Segmentation argeting Positioning Needs & wants Demand


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Offerings Brands Value & satisaction Exchange ransactions Relationships & networks Marketing channels Te supply chain Competition Te marketing environment Marketing programs

Tese terms make up the working vocabularyo the marketing proessional. Marketings keyprocesses are:

Opportunity identification New product development Customer attraction Customer retention & loyalty building Order ulfillment

Kotler says, A company that handles all othese processes well will normally enjoy suc-cess. But when a company ails at any one othese processes, it will not survive.

Marketing is too ofen conused with selling.Selling is only the tip o the marketing ice-berg. What is unseen is the extensive marketinvestigation, the research and development oappropriate products, the challenge o pricingthem right, o opening up distribution, and

o letting the market know about the product.Tus, marketing is a ar more comprehensiveprocess than selling.

Marketing and selling are almost opposites.Hard sell marketing is a contradiction. Longago I said: Marketing is not the art o findingclever ways to dispose o what you make. Mar-keting is the art o creating genuine customervalue. It is the art o helping your customersbecome better off. Te marketers watchwordsare quality, service, and value.

Selling starts only when you have a product.Marketing starts beore there is a product.Marketing is the homework the company doesto figure out what people need and what thecompany should make. Marketing determineshow to launch, price, distribute and promotethe product/service offering in the marketplaceMarketing then monitors the results and im-proves the offering over time. Marketing alsodecides when to end the offering.

All said marketing is not a short-term sellingeffort but a long-term investment effort. Whenmarketing is done well, it occurs beore thecompany makes any product or enters any mar-ket; and it continues long afer the sale.I published Lateral Marketing(with co-authorFernando rias De Bes, Wiley, 2003) whichoffers a creativity approach that differs romusing vertical marketing (i.e., segmentation) tofinding new ideas. Vertical marketing workswithin a given market; lateral marketing

instead visualizes the product in a new context.Many examples can be cited. oday we can buyood at gas stations; we can do our banking ina supermarket; we can get access to a computerat cybercas; we can take pictures with ourcell phone; we can chew medical gum to ingestcertain medicines in our body; we can eatcereal in the orm o a candy bar. I cant believethere arent opportunities. I can only believethat some marketers lack the ability to see


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opportunities. Marketing doesnt have to ailduring a recession, only marketers ail who lackan imagination. Marketings role is to sense theunulfilled needs o people and create new andattractive solutions.

Kotlers ideas are perhaps best summed up insomething he once said during one o his publicpresentations, Marketing is not the art o find-ing clever ways to dispose o what you make. Itis the art o creating genuine customer value.

By creating genuine customer value, you createyour market. You have created an innovation(your unique product) that creates its own op-portunity.

o get started in learning to market, yourmarketing and communication ideas shouldaddress what makes your product unique.Avoid the idea that yours is just better product-superiority trap. You will get nowhere with thiskind o thinking or message. Instead, think o

what you are offering and where the market isor is heading. You may also gain some insightinto ways to improve your overall business orproduct presentation by considering:

What is the fundamental business problemyour company solves? As an aquacultureproducer, this means raising fish and makingthat fish available to the public. So, how do youdo this in a way that is avorable to the public?Why is your product so avorable that the pub-lic should choose you over a competitor?

What is your distinctive competency as acompany? Simply put, this is what sets youapart rom the competition. For example, itcould be your dedication to on-time every-timedeliveries to your distributors, the ice-coldspring-ed water in which your trout are reared,or perhaps the multi-generational appeal oa amily business where parents and childrenwork together to sustainably grow the company

that has their name on the product label.

Where do I t with respect to where the mar-ket is headed? Essentially, why is my productrelevant with respect to what todays distribu-tor, ood service or consumer wants?

Once youve gured out where you t in themarket, ask yourself where you see yourself

within that segment. Are you a trend-setter,solid perormer, or unique stand-out? Areyou the biggest or the smallest producer in the

market? Are you new on the block or have youbeen at this long enough to have been throughthe school o hard knocks? No matter whereyou all within these groups, you can use whatyou are to build a case that your operation andyour product address a distinct niche in themarket. You probably cannot be all things to allpeople, but you can be someone and somethingspecial to a distinct group o loyal clients.

Get it down on paper. Tis means working

with a proessional to articulate your message,develop your image and label, and strategizeabout your print advertising needs. Someaquaculture-ventures do this work themselveswith their own staff or amily talent and are ad-equately rewarded by the outcome. Usually thisis not the case. Your visual image is critical tothe immediate perception o your product. Getsome help, or at least get some second opinions.


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Evangelize. Once you know what you are andwhere your product stands, get the word outin those terms. You are not a round peg in a

square hole; you are the perect fit or deliveryo a very-specific high-quality product. Con-sider shameless sel-promotion, i you donteel passionate enough about your businessto strongly communicate its attributes, whyshould anyone else?

Tis is where your mission statement can comein handy. Use it to develop an elevator speech.Many entrepreneurial geniuses live by the ele-vator speech. Te concept is simple, you need ashort little conversational spiel that tells every-thing about your product, that can make a saleor generate interest in your enterprise, that youcan deliver in the length o time it takes to rideup a couple o oors in an elevator. Start withyour mission statement and then expand it totalk about who you are, what you produce, whyyour product is the absolute best, and then whythe person to whom you are talking should tryit or support it. Politicians do this when theycorner potential campaign donors at cocktailparties; entrepreneurs do this when the meet a

venture capitalist in an airport waiting room;car salespeople do it to sell cars; door-to-doorsalespeople do it when they get their oot inyour ront door. You all into the entrepreneurcategory, so dont eel bad or having a ready,smooth synopsis that you can deliver to stateyour case. I it is too long, the listener will loseinterest. It should be inormative and cover keypoints, but leave the listener curiously hungryor more.

Does your company and product provide

a solution or a breakthrough? Ofentimes,in the marketing o high-technology, this isthe key question asked by a clients marketing

agency. It is key to considering the tone anddirection o your communications. Considerthat solutions enable incremental improve-

ments; breakthroughs create new markets and/or change current market orces.

For an aquaculture operation, an example o asolution could be regularly supplying productto select group o first-class restaurants andworking with their ches to continually deliverthe quality they require and develop new av-enues to present the product to the consumer.An example o a breakthrough could be cre-atively introducing the product to a group oconsumers who have not had any exposure toit, or have only misconceptions about it; thenconvincing them to try the product. Tis couldbe done through a booth at a armers marketor other venue where resh product could beexpertly prepared and served, while resh orrozen product was available or sale, perhapswith a complimentary recipe, breading mix orpreparation how-to instruction sheet. Anotherexample could be taking unsold fish-fillet prod-uct and adding a value-added processing stepto turn it into a smoked spreadable gourmet

snack ood with various applications and manynew marketing opportunities. In this scenario,one could almost equally make the case thatresulting product was a solution and a break-through.

Do you market a product or an offering?

It has been said that successul companiesdont market products, they market offerings.Tis approach allows you to think beyond thetangible product entity and consider what theconsumer is actually buying and their reason-

ing behind that purchase. Tis is an extremelyvaluable approach or judging where you fitagainst consumers other alternatives, to betteridentiy unmet needs in the overall market-place, specific wants o your target markets, andto direct the development o your ventures newproducts and services.

An offering encompasses the benefits orsatisaction provided to your target markets,


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tangible and intangible. o successully marketyour product, you must understand its ben-efits rom the buyers perspective. Te offering

includes a tangible product or service, plusrelated services, such as delivery guarantees,warranties, and packaging. It also includesintangible benefits resulting rom uniqueness oproduct or outstanding customer service.

Your business and marketing plans should ad-dress what type o customers you seek, what thebuyers need, and how your offerings meet theirneeds. It should also describe how your offer-ing is communicated and what value it holdsor the consumer.

Most organizations sell more than one prod-uct. A multi-product offering-mix approachofen adds value in that it leverages economieso scale and expertise, and increases revenuegeneration potential. Big companies offer allsorts o products and services, retail stores offerhundreds o products to meet the breadth oneeds o their customers.

Tis offering mix should be viewed as a uid

entity when developing the companys mar-keting strategy. Some offerings may havesurprising popularity, others less so. Tis willdictate decisions on which product lines togrow, maintain, harvest, or sold or discontin-ued. Consumer demand, the cost o produc-tion, gross margin, and total sales volume arethe our basic critical actors in the decision tomanage individual product lines. Te key hereis proper invested o resources in response tochanges in the (consumer/client) market.

When communicating the relevance of yourproducts. Consider the gif o knowledge ap-proach to help reach your market. Feel ree totalk about what sets your product apart romthe pack in ways that reassure your clients. Aleading consumer-products manuacturer wasrecently evangelizing hygiene, instead o justtrying to sell bottles o soap. As a result, onebuilds the perception that you are in the marketto provide a needed service and improve your

sector; not to exploit the market or the solepurpose o garnering profit.

As you work with your product and yourclients, either buyers or retail stores or the con-sumer, remember that you are communicatingwhy your product is good or them. I it is notsuited to them it will be a hard, or impossiblesale. Woody Norris, Chairman American ech-nology Corporation, said in Popular Science,June 2007, Ask (yoursel): Is it commerciallyplausible? I you invent a novel ballpoint penthats going to cost $100,000; nobodys going tocare.

Now lets consider a brie primer on the generalprinciples o business development. Businessdevelopment involves evaluating your busi-ness and related businesses so that you can use

the inormation to reach your goals and ullpotential. Te primary activity tool set allsinto the broad areas o marketing, inormationmanagement, and customer service. In largercompanies, there are usually two unctionalareas. One is sales-oriented (client-acing); thesecond is an operational unction to supportsales and develop public-relations outreach orthe business.

Tese primary tool sets or business develop-ment can be broken down into a number o

techniques and tactics oriented toward gainingnew customers, penetrating existing marketsand developing new ones. As you can see, it isnecessary to develop a skill set that is a mix-ture o the marketing, legal, strategic plan-ning, finance, proposal management and salesexpertise.

Sel assessment o your marketingexperience, communication strengths


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and weaknesses.

Assessment o target markets and lessobvious opportunities.

Intelligence gathering o potentialcustomers and competitors.

Lead generation or sales calls. Set sales policies and accounting

practices. Write, review and revise easibility studies, business plans, proposals,

product hand-outs, and presentations. Design and rehearse a concise elevator

speech, and a more involved salespresentation.

Network or internal business- enhancement and sales leads. Create a marketing strategy action plan

o first steps and longer-term goals. Encapsulate all o the above into a

written marketing strategy that becomespart o your ongoing business plan andactive business model.

Most small- to medium-size companies do

not take the time to think about or establishsound business plans that include proceduresor business development. Tey rely on exist-ing contacts and perhaps the charisma o theentrepreneur behind the venture. Tis can bea atal aw in running the business. Successulsmall- to medium-size companies create busi-ness plans and stick with them. Big businesseseven go a step urther by developing ormalpipelines within their short-term business planswhere potential clients are assigned staff to

service their needs and develop sales. Progress

is routinely recorded and analyzed with respectto the underlying reasons or wins and losses,progress o opportunities in relation to the salesprocess, note the most successul staff workingwith the potential client and adjust the teamaccordingly, and i sales are underway, lookat the sales customer service situation. Teymay even set up and manage alliances withthird-party companies to leverage one anotherscontacts and expertise.

Te procedures and process o the big play-ers may seem out o the ballpark to the smallaquaculture producer, but this could not beurther rom the truth. Successul businesses oall sizes have universal procedures or ensur-ing success, even in tough economic times. Byresearching sound business-development prac-tices, developing a business and sales plan, andnetworking, any size operation will benefit.So, where does one start? o get an order oryour aquaculture product, you need to do aew things. First, identiy companies (restau-

rants, distributors, institutional ood services)and other potential outlets (armers markets,direct-to-consumer sales). MarketMaker willhelp a great deal making this an easy exercise(more on using MarketMaker in a later sec-tion). Once you have your businesses andoutlets targeted, you need to identiy the nameo the key person in that organization to whomyou hope to sell the product. Tis person is adecision-maker. Dont settle or anyone else.I it is a restaurant, it may be the che and not


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the owner, both may be important in your salescall.

A major challenge or any seller today is iden-tiying the decision-maker in another organi-zation. In many cases, you may need to makeyour first pitch to a designated buyer who isonly really authorized to say no. Sometimesthis can be an overly sel-important secretaryor receptionist. Te person who says yes isanother level up in the organization. Tis isthe person you are trying to locate and withwhom you want to get on a first-name basis.You need to do this by not aggravating theperson initially screening your product. Getthis person on your team, while think aboutlegitimate reasons why you need to introduceyoursel to the decision maker. Remember, youare there to introduce them to a great productthat will make them a happy customer or theircustomers happy. Never belly-crawl or simper;communicate rom a position o honesty andequality. Always make it clear to your initialcontact that you really appreciate their time andattention, and that you would really appreciatetheir taking time to introduced you to others in

that organization.

I this ails, it is time to find a way to get thenumber o the person higher up. With ooddistributors, it may work to call and say, Hithere I was at a meeting a couple o weeksback and met your main buyer or your insti-tutional ood service line. Im sorry, but I losthis card. Could you give me his name? Tenask or his phone number and E-mail address.Ten wait a day or so, call the person. Intro-duce yoursel and in a peer-to-peer tone, po-

litely ask or twenty minutes or so to inormallyintroduce your product. I you are asked howyou got the number, simply state that you calleda while back and got it rom the person withwhom you talked on the phone. Continuingin a peer-to-peer tone, reiterate that you wouldonly like a couple o minutes, know that yourcontact is busy, i it works out a little better, doit over lunch, youll be happy to pick up the bill.

Now that you have a quality contact it is ex-tremely important that you go into the meet-ing knowing everything that you possibly can

about your prospective customer (their busi-ness) and the person who is the contact. Hope-ully, when you had them on the phone you gota ew kernels o inormation about why they areat least slightly interested in your product. I itis a retailer or distributor, you need to visit theirstore or the stores to which they distribute.Are they a big distributor who handles grocerystores, local ethnic ood stores and restaurants,or just a small grocery chain with three localstores? Each represents different customerdemographics and that is knowledge that youneed or positioning your product. I possible,study the companys advertising and productliterature. Distributor or retailer, they probablyhave a corporate web site. I so, what is theirmission statement? I you have questions, callthem again and talk to a receptionist. Most areunder-challenged in their jobs, but know a lotabout the company and whos who. You may beable to get some inormation on when to timeyour sales pitch. I Mondays through Wednes-day are really hectic days at the company, get in

there Tursday or Friday so they have time tolisten to you and your message does not get lostin the shuffl e.

Visit a retail outlet (competing outlets can bevaluable too) and ask questions o the counterstaff, see how much they know about the prod-ucts they currently sell, ask them i customersever complain about or return them or anyreason. ake a good hard look at the way theproduct is presented in the display case. Tenget an idea o the complete product range. I

you are interested in moving resh tilapia filletsinto this venue, where do they fit within the en-tire product line and price range? Tis includesthe imported bulk product in the reezer case.I you need to compete with imported bulk fil-lets rom China or Chile, then you need to havea strategy or convincing the buyer that yourproduct is superior and will sell. In marketingterms, you are now looking at your positionin relation to industry stakeholders, including


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large standard drivers.

ake a good look at the clerks work the area,

especially i they are dedicated seaood-counterhelp. Do they have a preerence or a compet-ing product, i salmon fillets, why? I they likethe salmon fillets because they are great orsummer grilling, then you need to have one orseveral great grilled-tilapia recipes that you cantake in to your sales meeting. You now have astrategy where you intend to build on the storesstrong product line with complementary prod-uct that can appeal to people: 1.) Who grillssalmon, but may want to try something differ-ent; 2.) Who wants to grill more, but salmon isa higher priced product, so may want a cost-volume alternative; or 3.) Who is concernedabout imported or ocean-armed salmon.Consider presenting a sales strategy, like reeinormational recipes cards that discuss thebenefits o resh-local over rozen-importedproduct. I you have an inormational recipecard on the counter that touts your product asa locally-produced resh product o the highestquality, and inormation about a market yourdistributor has underserved, you are probably

going to have the total package to take intoyour meeting with the buyer.

Te goal o the effort is to enable you to in-dividualize your sales meeting and be able tospecifically address your potential clients spe-cific needs. You are not selling a fish product;you are selling a solution to a particular prod-uct need. Restaurants dont sell fish or ood;they sell complete meal experiences that are ahigh-value-added product that includes fish. Iyour fish has a story o interest to the restau-

rants customer, Locally produced by a amilyoperation a ew miles rom here; came in reshthis morning, and is o suffi cient quality to bea novel centerpiece o a fine presentation, thenyou just got the restaurant to try your productover the rozen bulk product rom the distribu-tor.

You are now using what youve learned aboutyour prospects to think about your own prod-

ucts and services and how they fit into yourprospective clients products and services. Youare now defining your unctional-product

ecosystem. Marketing people call this thevalue-chain. Meeting and sharing inormationbetween links in it is beneficial to everyonerom producer to the end user. Using inorma-tion and proactively educating and growing anemerging market is not diffi cult, it just takesattention (observation) and patience. It is notas easy, but ar more productive than simplyjumping on an established trend. Study yourcompetitors and look at where you fit againstthem.

You are a unique operation with relevance thatcan be leveraged to build brand identity. Gointo your sales meeting armed with a widerange o approaches to build relevance (aware-ness) or your product line and how it fits withyour potential clients product line and missionstatement. Always positioning your operationas dedicate to the highest product quality andquality o service, you are newcomer, but theone to watch.

Sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer in his 2003 businessbestseller Te Sales Bible: Te Ultimate Sales Re-sourcedoes a great job articulating todays saleschallenges and how you meet them by honestlycommunicating and knowing your product.We will cover many o these concepts in depthelsewhere in this tutorial, but Gitomer conciselylays them out in his 7.5 steps:

1. Say it (sell it) in terms o what thecustomer wants, needs and understands.Not in terms o what youve got to offer.

2. Gather personal inormation. Andlearn how to use it.

3. Build riendships. People want to buyrom riends, not salesmen.

4. Build a relationship shield that nocompetitor can pierce. My competitors callon my clients rom time to time. My clients


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have actually given them my number and

told the competitor to call me and get myopinion o their services. Tey say, CallJeffery Gitomer and explain it to him. I hethinks its OK, hell tell us. Will yourclients do that i your competitor callsthem? What are you doing to ensure it?

5. Establish common ground. I both likegol or have kids, issues and things incommon that will draw us closer.

6. Gain confidence. Once you motivatethem to act, youd better have built enoughconfidence to buy, or theyll buy romsomeone else.

7. Have un and be unny. Have a greattime. I you can make prospects laugh, youcan make them buy. Laughter is tacitapproval. acit approval leads tocontractual approval.

7.5 Never, get caught selling. It makes me

mad when a salesperson sounds like asalesperson. Learn the science and convertit into an art.

Gitomer is staunch advocate o asking ques-tions o others as well as yoursel in all phaseso market research, sales planning and sales.Te chapter in his book is called Te Book oQuestionsand centers around an inormed

technique o asking and answering questions.

He says this is the heart o any sales presenta-tion that establishes buyer confidence. Hepreaces it by saying, Without questions youllhave no answers; without answers youll haveno sales; without sales, youll have no moneyAny questions? He goes on to say, Questionsare to sales as breath is to lie. I you ail to askthem, you will die. I you ask them incorrectly,your death wont be immediate, but inevitable.I you ask them correctly, the answer is a sale.He says the overall approach sounds simple, butit is not. You need to do an effective job askingthe right questions and an equally effective joblistening to the clients answers and ollowingup with another question that dovetails intothe critical needs o the client. And o course,Never get caught selling, but that is not aproblem i you understand how to structureyour questions.

Gitomer built upon and credits a techniquerom Ray Leones Success Secrets o the SalesFunnel. Tere are three stages to the process.

First stage: Make a actual statement than cantbe reuted. Second stage:Make a personalobservation that reects you experience andcreates credibility. Te third stageis to ask anopen-ended question that incorporates the firsttwo stages. With this technique, you will beawkward at first, but with a little practice, per-haps in simple conversation with your riendsand amily, you can easily master it.


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For example, lets say Im selling resh trout fil-lets at a armers market; here is a very elemen-tary example o an interaction with a customer:

First stage:Fresh fish is really good or you.Respondent comments and you continue;

Second stage:I always eel great, but neverover stuffed afer a meal o these guys. Tey areso delicate. I like to lightly saut them in a panin some olive oil and a little pure butter withsome resh herbs, or perhaps with a mushroomsauce and a little resh asparagus on the side.Respondent again comments and you continue;

Tird stage(dropping Te Question):I betyou have someone you would like to wow witha great meal?

In the Second stage you can see where havinga point-o-purchase (aka. point-o sale) device,counter card with recipes, would help the sale.

It seems simple, but it is not, unless you work atit and keep the stages (steps) o the progressionin your mind. Now lets try a more complicatedscenario. In this one lets consider meeting with

a small independent grocery operator:

First stage:You know, Mr. Smith, these daysbuy-local or regionally produced produce andother products are really getting attention; andbesides, everyone knows that resh fish is reallygood or you. Respondent comments and youcontinue;

Second stage:It seems that consumers arewilling to pay a little extra or a that special

meal now and then, and these guys are about asspecial as you can get; especially i we promotethem by stressing that they are locally produced

with an emphasis on the highest quality; superresh, they were not trucked in rom the westcoast. Also, we will provide a neat little point-o-purchase counter card that shows the pondsat the arm and recipe cards to help the sale.We really like to work closely with you to giveyour customers a unique high quality product.You know, I like to lightly saut fillets in a panin some olive oil and a little pure butter withsome resh herbs, or perhaps with a mushroomsauce and a little resh asparagus on the side.Respondent again comments and you continue;

Tird stage (dropping Te Question): Whatdo you think? How about we set up and staff a

nice little in-store event here in the next coupleo weeks?

(Why would anyone say no to that?)

Te idea behind this technique is to build cred-ibility and identiy the needs o the client at thesame time. It works or any business, serviceor interpersonal communication situation. Teidea here is not to take the above examples asstand-alone templates, but to study the conceptand adapt it to your particular product and the

uniquely positive things you wish to conveythat sells your operation. Gitomer stresses thatthe object to the lesson is to compel the pros-pect to think and respond to you. Tis createsa unique relationship. It also is what compelsthe prospect to become vested in the relation-ship with you as a trusted supplier that sets youaside rom the competition. Te key is whylistening to the other person; you can see whythat would be ar more important to this pro-cess than having some kind o phony canned

response that you are throwing in someonesace.

Gitomer suggest that i you are going to suc-cessully use this technique, write out the threestages, compose different scenarios, and thenpractice to work out the rough spots. He saysthat afer about twenty-five attempts, youllown the technique.


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Marketing and product development. Mar-keting and product development go hand-in-hand. As you work with your clients and sup-pliers, i you dont have your head completelyburied in the sand, you will notice things yourcustomers like and dislike or find awkwardabout your product. Most producers whetherthey are making aspirin, growing corn or pro-ducing shrimp continually work to perect theirproduct offering. Te best producers take thisa step urther by aggressively seeking the bestproduct and practices to produce it. Here are aew thoughts on that subject.

Best Practices. No organization can improve

all aspects o product development at once, butbig companies devote a lot o time and moneyto do just that. You as a small producer canlearn rom their efforts. For this reason, theInternet and the business section o your localbook store have volumes o inormation on bestpractices. For the small aquaculture producer,there are a ew key things that one can learn.First and oremost, it is important to under-stand that the implementation o any product-development or best-practices strategy is bestviewed as a journey. It is about continuing

process improvement rather than an immedi-ate destination that is right around the corner.Any exception to this is the operation that isreally messed up or in need o an immediatefix or you are just starting out. Perhaps, orexample, you spent most o your lie in anotherproession, retired and just purchased a troutarm as a later-in-lie second career. It is timeto develop a quality-control and product-devel-opment plan. Te best way to do that is have itrevolve around the best operational practices

or your business.

Most large manuacturers look at a number opriorities when implementing best practicesor product development. For example, thesemay include: business and product strategy;product and pipeline management; technol-ogy management; management and leadership;early involvement; product development teams;organizational environment, process manage-ment, process improvement; understanding

the customer; requirements and specificationsmanagement; product launch; product costmanagement; support technology; and knowl-edge management.So what can a small aquaculture producer takeaway rom this? I you look at the previous list,it will probably become apparent that manyo these points are important aspects o themarketing plan we developed. Tere is overallbusiness and product strategy, an understand-ing o our customers wants and needs, andthen product management. Tis is another wayo saying, quality control and best practicesrelated to it. Tis is extremely important inany ood-production operation.

Te organization must start by understandingwhat practices should be adopted. Tis is es-

sentially what is possible. Next it must considerits strategic direction. Tis means what bestpractices can help us achieve the best time-to-market, lowest production costs, and make usthe most innovative producer with the highestquality product. Our reliability as a producerand exibility to respond with new productofferings or new markets, is icing on the cake.Best practices almost ensure that you will haveagility to respond to new market opportunities.Any best practices strategy means that the orga-nization has assessed its strengths and weak-

nesses. Te weak areas constitute the mostimmediately recognizable gap between wherea company is and where it needs to be. Tis iswhat is requently called a GAP analysis, andit does not have to be involved or extensive topoint toward priorities that can be determinedor immediate improvement and positivechange.

Best practices are easily organized into a rame-


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work with five major dimensions: strategy,organization, process, design optimization andtechnology. Most big businesses, i ollowingestablished protocols, recognize twenty-eight

or more best-practice categories (or example,Process Areas in CMM erminology).Most o the ormally recognized twenty-six bestpractices are universal and apply to the devel-opment o any kind o product in any type andsize o company. At the most elementary, thereare five areas you should evaluate:

Strategy Organization Process

Design/product optimization Strategy

Remember, in this is not your marketing plan,although you could add this evaluation to yournotebook. We are not looking at what we have,but what we have with respect to quality oproduct and delivery o service. Te ocus is onensuring and improving effi ciency, ood saety,quality o the product, and service to custom-ers. Your final evaluation is your description othe characteristics o your ideal organization, its

product and how you will ensure a world-classapproach to producing it. One way to achievedirection in your ideals is to consider strategicalignment.

Strategic Alignment. No organization canbe all things to all people. Tis is as true oran accounting business with 100 employeesas it is or one producer arming tilapia witha part-time helper. Successul organizationsknow this and ocus on what they can do best

and who can help them do that. Any organiza-tion needs to strive or quality and outstandingservice to be competitive. Tere is however,another dimension to getting your product outthe door and in the hands o your customers.Tis is what big multi-national corporationscall Strategic Alignment. Tis is completelyoverlooked as an important business conceptby small aquaculture producers. In reality allproducers and anyone involved in agricultureor small business use it to some extent to save

money or ensure vital eedstock, transporta-tion or labor when they are needed. Te idea oStrategic Alignment is to look at your productor product-development effort in terms o your

suppliers and other actors that go into produc-ing that product, then evaluating your productplanning and production effort by bringingin what you can rom everyone involved inthe effort. Essentially, Strategic Alignment isworking with critical links o your value-chainto deliver the best product and service and dealwith market-impacting change.

For example, and aircraf manuacturer willwork closely with a sub-system builder on the

design o that subsystem. A beer brewer willwork with a hop-growers cooperative to makesure they get adequate supply o a specific gradeo pelletized or extracted material or theirprocess. I the brewer produces only or a chaino high-end micro-brew restaurants, the brewermay conduct ocus groups with select clienteleto test different hopped beers to get the preciseinormation to take to the hop-grower coop-erative. Te point is to vest the subcontrac-tors, retailers and perhaps the end-users in theproduct development cycle. Usually, Strategic

Alignment can improve any or all o the ollow-ing product-related competitive dimensions:

Add actual or perceived product value. Reduce production costs. Innovative approaches to product

branding, packaging or productplacement.

Better quality, reliability, ease o use,serviceability, etc.

ime-to market.

Reduce development costs. Agility to react to market changes ornew opportunities.

Strategic Alignment is a best practices strat-egy. I the practice is strongly related to one othese strategies, it is usually described as a stra-tegic lever. For example, some strategic leversrelated to time-to-market include: minimiz-ing cost and schedule ineffi ciencies; minimizechanges to orders that would require redesign


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or re-tooling; early supplier involvement toensure compatibility with process capabilitiesand timely ow o needed components; anddata management systems to control product,workow and similar inormation.

Ideally the product development process isimproved by applying a best practices outlookto those strategic levers that can be improvedor the best impact. Big companies use GAP

analysis to ocus attention on the improve-ment opportunities that will yield the highestpayoff. Categories with low importance ratingsand relatively high perormance ratings indi-cate low priority areas not deserving as muchattention. Tat is probably beyond the scope oour discussion here, but there is ample materialon GAP analysis in your public library or onthe Internet. Your local extension agriculturalbusiness-development proessional may beavailable to help with this too.

In a nutshell, you talk with as many people aspossible involved in your supplier-production-consumer supply chain, get their ideas andincorporate that input into key considerationsto keep in mind when producing or marketingyour product, or a list o to do items to im-mediately implement some o the ideas. Teoverall idea is to pick a manageable number othings to improve and on which to ocus yourattention and use individual best practices to

improve these strategic levers. You may want totry to incorporate this concept into a StrategicAlignment section o your business or market-ing plan. Big companies nail this down withwhat is called implementation planning. Tisusually takes the orm o an implementationplan that spells out the direction o the activi-ties ollowed by a project deployment plan thatis the who-what, when-where action plan. Tismore ormal approach may be applicable or

medium- to large-scale aquaculture producers,especially i they are considering a new-productdevelopment initiative or introducing productinto an entirely new market.


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Know thy selis important in where and howyou want to market your product and opera-

tion. Lets be practical, you will not be able tosell to every customer, not every potential cus-tomer is going to want your product, so dontget bogged down trying to market to everyonein every way. Focus on your best customer de-mographic; be well prepared to state your caseabout what uniquely sets your product apartrom the competition. When it comes time tomarket, concentrate on the type o marketingthat is good or you and your skill set. Ten tryto broaden your market rom there or considerdelegating to someone who really knows that

area. For example, you may experience ace-to-ace customer sales at a armers market,or going into distribution chains, you may bebetter off working through an aggregator ordistributor with large retail experience andlong-standing personal connections.

Know your capabilities; you are what you are.Be yoursel and dont try to be what you are

not. Know the rules, but you dont have to playthe same game everyone else is playing to be

successul. You are the brand and the value inyour brand is your operation and your prod-uct. Most alternative armers have no ideawhat is their true cost o production. Set aprice that covers all o your cost in the prod-uct, then market accordingly. Tis includes allo your transportation, handling and billingcosts. Knowing the true cost o your productis always extremely important to the success oyour business. It is critical i you decide to es-tablish a relationship with aggregators, brokersdistributors or grocery-store chains and price

your product accordingly.

Give yoursel a good reality check once inawhile. For example, most people dont wantto give a distributor a 30% margin. However,you have to know what it costs you to do whatthe distributor will do or you. What does itcost you to do your own sales, transportation,bookkeeping, etc.? For example i it is costing

Marketing Yourself


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you 25% and the distributors margin is 20%,then you are missing the boat. Conversely,new business and rapid expansions o existingbusiness are not necessarily good business. Iit costs you too much or your organization

cannot smoothly transition into it, it may notbe the right opportunity at this time. You needto maintain product quality and customerservice. I you lose these attributes through anexpansion, how are you going to positively goorward? Sometimes, saying no is the rightcourse o action. Bad business costs you mon-ey. Focus on the point where your business ismaking money or you at a comortable levelthat gives you some room or growth and timeto enjoy your labors away rom the operation.

Te key is to increased effi ciency and profit-ability and reduce risk: diversiying your clientbase, keeps your work interesting and reducesrisk, as well as opens up new marketing venues.

Evaluate your communication skills. Ask your-sel some questions and have the sense-o-selto honestly evaluate your capabilities and at-tributes as a communicator. You must not onlyconvey the strengths o your product, but alsoo you as a manager. You may not want to bethe ront person interacing with clients, i so it

may be time to hire someone at least part time,to help you get the product out into the world.

I you decide to meet the public, then consideryour personal presentation: Are you articu-late? Do you tend to publically swear in mixedcompany? I cornered, do you have an elevatorspeech (as discussed in the previous section)that sells your business?

O course, your personal appearance goes along way toward establishing some personalcredibility. I you walked into the bank and themanager was there in old torn jeans with hisstain-covered shirt unbuttoned and his bellyhanging out, how secure would that make youeel out doing business with the bank? As anaquaculture proessional there is a given per-ception that since you work with fish you are anoutdoorsy person; that is fine. Play on it bywearing cargo pants or chinos and a nice poloor field-type outdoor shirt (like your local DNR

person). Tat will work or most meetings withthe public or your local extension proessional.For more ormal meetings with seaood distrib-utors, bankers, etc, dont hesitate about puttingon an oxord shirt, tie and chinos. I you look

like you are comortable around the businessworld you will be a lot more comortable doingbusiness. I you regularly have people visit-ing your operation, it may not be a bad idea toconsider a decent quality uniorm shirt, poloor field shirt, embroidered with your logo orat the least, the name o your operation. Tiscan be a relatively economical option sincemost local embroidery and silk-screen opera-tions have fish images in their computers, it isonly a matter o adding the text you want to

include and picking out the shirts. I you havea ee-fishing option in your operation, considernice shirts to sell as souvenirs to clients; i youhave great clients who purchase a lot o productrom you throughout the year, consider a niceshirt as a thank you at the end o the season.Also, everywhere the shirt goes it is advertisingyour operation.

Some producers, especially rom rural areas, arehesitant to talk about themselves. Tis is some-thing, or example, that really separates some

entrepreneurs rom others. Successul entre-preneurs are extremely outgoing and reelyexchange ideas and actively engage people onalmost every aspect o their business models,successes and ailures. Other entrepreneurstend to be careul not to offend, bore, or lookoolish in ront o others. As an entrepreneur,it is necessary to realize that who you are as theprivate person sometimes has to take a backseatto the business or sales person. Ideally, yourbest personal traits can be used to create theperect package.

In general, when dealing with clients or con-tacts there are a ew good rules o thumb. Firstand oremost, always be polite. Freely discussyour product or service but be sure to intentlylisten when the other person talks. Be sure tohave a business card to give to the other person,most o us have a lot o things going on in ourlives and have trouble remembering names. Itis even better to ask the other person or a card


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and i they dont have one, ask them to writedown their contact inormation on the back o

one o your cards.

Be honest in your communications. For exam-ple, i you have been having recent trouble witha production system, work that into the conver-sation, but stress the positive that you have yoursupply covered. Tis shows your client thatyou are sincere and open and also that you areon-top o potential problems and can handlewhatever may come up. Your clients will wantto work with someone who they eel can handlethe regular ups and downs o the real world.I you have problems, always predicate themwith what you are doing to solve the problem,preerable within a time rame. Sometimeswe have a shipping delay, due to our processhaving labor problems, i that happens, it is nomore than a day or so and the product is on itsway, goes a long way to assure a client that theywill have product when they need it.

Never allow communication issues, contactcorrespondence, or misunderstandings to

continue to go unresolved. Immediately takecare o any issue. It shows that you care aboutyour customer and your business. I you thinkthere is the slightest misunderstanding overany detail, delay in filling an order, or a billingproblem. Call or E-mail your client, discussthe issue and let them know that you are doingyour absolute best to resolve it to their satisac-tion and that it has your immediate attention.Never think that its probably OK since you

havent heard rom them. A burned or rus-trated customer will talk about their unhappi-ness, this is human nature; it is also not good

or the reputation o you, your product or yourbusiness.

No one likes to talk about salesmanship; ithas bad connotations that conjure up imageso twisted arms and unsavory deals. Te bestsalesmanship is honesty. Whether you areocusing on an emerging or established market,establishing your product requires some agwaving. You need to sell a problem (their lacko your product and need or it), and your greatsolution (your product). Establish the percep-tion that you are an emerging market leader bydriving conversations with respect to industrystandards and where your product occupies aunique position. I you believe in your productand are enthusiastic about your enterprise, theenergy will transer to your client.

I you have a problem meeting or presenta-tion, relax and to the best o your ability, putyour contact at ease. Be persistent, but neverbe pushy. I rejected, never take rejection

personally. Buyers simply cannot buy every-thing. Teir rejection can stem rom a numbero internal issues. Probe to find out the rightapproach to this buyer and why they perceivethat your product does not fit their needs (theirsystem). Never get angry. Now that you have asolid contact with the company it is not the endo the road, even in a worse-case scenario, youcan regroup and come back with a new pitchor revised approach to the product your aremarketing. Be patient, it takes time to cultivatea relationship. You may not want to push a

sale on your first meeting. It may be better tointroduce yoursel and your product, discussthe clients needs and then ask or a ollow-upmeeting over lunch to discuss some possibili-ties.

A great deal can be done to improve yourreception by simply being appreciative o theclients situation. Sell beore you arrive bysending a note or E-mail to confirm the meet-


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ing and thanking them or making time intheir schedule to see you. I you have productliterature, or there have been news articles or

press releases about your products or operation,attach these so the client has a personal insightinto your operation. For this reason, every timeyou have a chance to get your product profiledin a regional magazine, newspaper, or internetarticle, be sure to do so.

When you get into the meeting, hold yourhead up and remember that this is a peer-to-peer meeting. Be proud o your product andproud o the act that this client is interested inconsidering it. Always keep in mind that youare in the act o selling, selling is a vital task togenerate orders or your business. It is seriousbusiness. You cannot be arrogant or embar-rassed to be there, you are there to do the buyera avor by bringing a great product to theirattention. By considering it, both organizationsbenefit.

When in a meeting and communicating aboutyour product, stress the proprietary strength oyour operation. Tis can be your attention to

detail that carries over into quality product andreliable deliveries. Have some examples thathelp you to stress the market potential o yourproduct as well as any potential window o op-portunity or introducing it.

Arrive at your meeting prepared. (Tis is ex-tremely important when dealing with distribu-tors, brokers and large retailers; there is moreon this in later sections o this tutorial.) Havean attractive and comprehensive offer and solidsupporting inormation about your product

line, but dont present it until you are readyto close the sale. Te right time to do so willpresent itsel. I you are there to present yourproduct and your contact is strapped or time,leave the offer to a ollow up meeting.

As you communicate with your prospectivebuyer, consider his position. Dont denigratetheir existing product line, your competitionwho may currently supply them. Tey have ex-

isting relationships that serve their needs. Teyalso probably have existing personal relation-

ships with other suppliers. Your objective is topositively position yoursel and explain whyyour product avorably compares or exceeds theexisting product. Position yoursel as confi-dent, inormed positive and pleasant. A goodrule o thumb is to never say anything negativeabout the other products carried or used byyour client. Just explain why you think yoursolution (product) can get the job done.

You are interested in your message being heard,relayed and acted upon. Dont relentlesslysmile and dont bother joking; i a natural op-portunity should arise or humor, fine; i youhave an opportunity to bring up somethinginteresting or amusing, fine. Remember to youwant to keep this meeting proessional; ocusand reocus on your presentation. Beore youleave the meeting, try to reach an understand-ing with the client about what the next step willbe. Set a concrete date or the next phone callor ace-to-ace meeting.

Ask questions and listen to answers. Most oyour time in the sales meeting should be spentactively listening and not talking. ake notes.Let the buyer tell you their problems with thistype o product. Tey will always do this. Allo us as humans want to solve our problems.We do this by gathering snippets o inormationby communicating with others. Your clientsquestions and statements also present overtacts regarding their problems and needs. Teir


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questions, statements, and body language alsopresent subtle clues that can invaluably guideyou in your dealings with this client. Remem-ber, you are not selling a product, but a solution

to your clients problem.

Follow up the meeting by comprehensivelywriting your note set. Ten prepare a simpleand proessional memo that can be sent a-ter your meeting. Your goals here are to: 1)Hi-light the major points o your proposalcovered during your presentation. 2) Avoid anymisconstrued implications (pricing, quantity,regularity o delivery). 3) Put an offer on paperand in the hands o your client who can sharethe document with other decision makers. 4)

Generate an order.

People preer to buy rom people they like, andfind reasons not to buy rom those who makethem uncomortable. Personalize the relation-ship i possible. Learn about the buyers amily(this should be in your note set). I it is a smallcustomer, treat them like a large one; greatbusinesses see every customer as an importantcustomer. Respecting their business generatesrespect or yours. Stay positive, even in badeconomic times. Your enthusiasm, i genuine,will translate into goodwill and into orders.Your enthusiasm or your area o business,delivering quality product and your buyerssituation in the value-supply-chain will be com-municated to your buyer or customer throughyour attention to their needs and delivery o thehighest-quality product. Tis goes a long waytoward making you a valued supplier.

Besides sales calls, it also is important tonetwork to grow your business. Some people

are put off by the idea o networking, becausethey think it means insincerely running abouttooting your own horn. Tis is ar rom whatgood networking implies. Networking meansgoing to events where you can interact withother entrepreneurs and business proessionals.It can be within the world o aquaculture, thelocal business community, or perhaps a state orregional business-development event.

As a good networker, you should be sincere,supportive and a good listener, ask questionsand dont be put off by rank responses. Most

o the people you meet will be interested inhelping you to succeed. Tis is more than justmeeting people. Beore you attend the event,plan to meet people and talk with people aboutspecific areas on which you need to obtain con-tacts or specific inormation. Tink about yourbusinesss image and have adequate businesscards and handouts to give to good contacts.

You may want to consider which business or-ganizations could benefit rom knowing aboutyou and your operation. Some authorities say

that you should always attend the networkingevents where your best potential contacts orcustomers may go to network and include thosemeetings in a ormal plan. Tis plan is a listo meetings, the intended type o contacts youwould like to make and a consideration o yourpotential involvement with the organization(and time commitment) as a volunteer or o-ficer. O course, consider sponsoring the eventand providing product or the luncheon. Youmay even want to host one o the meetings at

your acility or include a tour as a field-trip orlarger event. In either case, have product litera-ture on hand, product available or sampling,direct purchase, and or orders. For example,in our area where there is a regional commu-nity college with an internationally renownedches program. An invaluable networkingopportunity would be to talk with the head othe program, and become affi liated with them,either through supporting their program withsome product, or presenting about aquaculture


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and the benefits o the product to the students.A field trip to your acility would indelibly etchinto the minds o every graduate placed in a

local or regional business where they had a per-sonal contact that they could go to or qualityproduct.

o effectively network at an event, do not yieldto the temptation to hang out with riends andamiliar aces, this is fine, but you are there tobuild your business contacts and enhance thereputation o your business. Be sure to set agoal or each meeting o meeting some numbero new aces. Tis plan can be quite straightorward. For example, a given number o new

contacts, learning three key points rom thespeakers topic that really can impact your oper-ation or how you communicate, or identiyingkey industry trends. I you spend a lot o timein the home offi ce or working at different tasksdictated by the daily needs o your aquacultureoperation, your main purpose may be to get outand talk with people and find out what is hap-pening. Again, ocus on your goal or goals be-ore attending the meeting and how you intendto handle your personal presentation.

Dont make a beeline or your seat; once themeeting begins, you will not be able to network,consider strategic places to mingle near coffeeand snack areas, hallways and o course, in theevening at the bar. You dont have to be a bar-y, it is better i you rerain rom imbibing (oroverly doing so) and use the social gathering tomeet people, discuss issues important to yourbusiness goals then and collect their businesscards.

When conversing, dont spend too much timewith any one person or you deeat the purposeo attending the event. Get their contact inor-

mation and shoot them a ollow-up E-mail aferthe event and continue the conversation at thatpoint. Be sure to have plenty o business cardsand your product or business literature close athand so that they can reach you or learn moreabout your operation i you become engagedin another conversation. Be sure to give othersthe chance to talk to you. Be attentive, recep-tive and helpul, but beware o getting boggeddown in a long meaningless conversation. As abusiness person, you are part o diverse com-munity that needs to collectively work together

to help one another.

Networking is a two-way street. Be riendlyand approachable and remember the old adage,What goes around comes around. Concen-trate on your expertise and use it to creativelyhelp solve other peoples problems, this goes alot arther than repeatedly regurgitating actsand figures about your business. Rememberyour manners and avoid being negative orcomplaining about competitors, the govern-ment or suppliers. Everyone has contacts andaffi liations and you never know who is going tobe in the room.

Sharing inormation and insights that help oth-ers will eventually lead to reerrals and leads.Be sure to ollow up each meeting with anE-mail note to your best contacts; i you werediscussing a topic and you have extra inor-mation, be sure to pass it on. I you make theeffort to reach out and help others, youll soonfind people are reaching out to help you.

What constitutes a sale? So you had a goodmeeting and walked out with some kind ocommitment rom the buyer. How solid is thatcommitment? Here are a ew things to con-sider. Some o the commitments you receive ina meeting are more along the lines o tentativesupply queries than solid sales. Some o theseshould be avoided by anyone in the perishable-product aquaculture business.


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Estimate. Perhaps a good result or an intro-ductory meeting, but you will need somethingar more concrete to constitute a sale.

Projection. Tese are essentially a buyersprediction o the amount o product they couldpurchase over time. It helps them and youdetermine whether you can hang in there orthe long term as a supplier. A projection is nota sales commitment, but a planning tool romwhich the two o you can work and negoti-ate. Be sure to quiz your buyer on how theycame up the projection (existing sales history,estimate rom some other source) and howsolid they eel it is. I you are demoing a newproduct with them, you may want to develop astepped projection that is a tiered approach thatconsiders test marketing or the initial in-storeintroduction o the product, and then longer-term stock movement. Any agreement basedon projections should include your conditionalagreement. For example, a conditional agree-ment may include a statement that releasesyou rom the commitment i they dont movea given amount o product. Tese are diffi cultto get in writing, usually the best you can do is

reiterate it to them in an afer-meeting confir-mation memo.

HFC (Hold for Conrmation). Tis canpotentially be very problematic i you are newto the game. Any purchase order with HFCstamped on it or written into it should imme-diately be considered a projection and not anorder. Buyers will expect you to have productto ship; but the HFC does not necessarily meanthat they are ready to receive your product.Your next move is to immediately get back to

them and find out what the conditions are othe hold and how to get it lifed, i.e., get a con-crete purchase order you can act upon. Witha good reputable buyer, the HFC is not neces-sarily a negative impediment; it can mean thatthey already have set aside unds within theirbudget or purchasing your product.

Consignment Sale.Applicable to marketing

aquaculture products when sold in commu-nity cooperatives, armers markets and similarvenues. Tis is where you, the vendor, retain

ownership o the product within the store untilit is sold. Tis may be helpul to you should thestore go bankrupt, have limited staff or pur-chasing power, or similar issues. It may meanthat you are responsible or the ull service othe product inventory, but may result in betterdisplay and product-placement options.

Guaranteed Sale, Not necessarily applicableto marketing aquaculture products and morecommon to other retail arrangements, this iswhere the buyer holds the right to return allunsold goods and demand partial or ull crediton the return. In the most extreme types ocontract, the buyer will not pay or any o theproduct until the entire sales period has passed,returns determined and the difference calcu-lated.


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Most physical products require packaging.Your aquaculture product may not requirepackaging, but some do. Additionally, theseguidelines also apply to your signage atarmers markets, point-o-purchase materials,iers, etc. Product packaging must be appeal-ing in order to attract and hold the consum-ers eye and attention, and serve as an effi cient

and unctional shipping container. How youapproach your packaging or point-o-purchasecommunications (recipe cards, inormationon your products and aquaculture operation)can greatly increase consumer confidence andsales.

Packaging design usually involves the box orwrapper that contains the product. Te pri-mary unction is o course to hold and protect

the product, but it also is a very powerulselling tool. In a previous section we discussedvisiting a grocery store to do some invaluablemarket research. Once again, the next timeyou are in a large grocery store, take a minuteto look at the packaging and labeling systems,especially those that dont appeal (sell) to youand those that you deem exceptional. ake

special care to notice how point-o-purchasedevices (coupons, recipe cards, etc.) are usedto encourage consumers to try a product. Youwill probably come away with some good ideason product presentation and packaging.

Products can have multiple packages. Tisincludes the container itsel, such as a bottle,can, or case. Tis is ofen enclosed in a box orprotection purposes. Te product may also

Packages, Labeling &Point-of-PurchaseCommunications


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have a case or larger container to ship multipleproducts within one box. Each o these pack-ages, particularly those that the consumers seebeore their purchase, offers the opportunity tocommunicate inormation to buyers, retailersor consumers at critical points in their decisionmaking processes.

Packaging offers the opportunity to promotethe product in that the packaging can easilybe designed to compliment other promotionalactivities. It also can be used to communicate

inormation: your core benefits, why to buytestimonials, Internet addresses and toll-reetelephone numbers, or product inormation,sales support or additional direct-to-consumersales.

Packaging can also serve as a display to high-light the product and make it stand out romthe competition. In this way, proessionalmarketers and advertisers use packaging andpoint-o-purchase related materials to provideadditional value and differentiation. Tis hasbeen proven to provide increased purchasejustification and is what encourages manyconsumers to try new products. For example,or some value-added (processed) perishableaquaculture products, a consumer-convenientseal-and-reseal package may constitute a strongdecision maker between two product offerings.Tis especially holds true or products that maywork well rom a decorative jar or tube-typedispenser (anchovy paste or cooks, smoked-shrimp or smoked-trout spread, highly avored

or spiced condiments best dispensed in smallmetered portions).

O course, or some products, the package alsoshould contain consumer saety inormationand warn o any potential allergens or hazardsdue to improper storage or improper prepa-ration. Well-designed packages offer a pro-motional and communication tool, as well as

convenience value to the user. As we discussedabove, this results in product differentiationrom the competition. In the developed world,most retail products are purchased on an im-pulsive basis that heavily depends on packagingto communicate inormation and encouragethe decision to buy.


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Brokers and distributors get your product intochannels. A channel in the established ood-retail system is a business segment or group-ing. Tere are five to seven established retailmarket channels. Tere are our well-estab-lished ood channels serviced by brokers: retailstores, club stores, ood services, and C-stores.Direct-to consumer and Internet direct-mar-keting also can be considered channels. Somesee these as alternative channels, but these areproducer channels not covered by brokers.

Brokers and distributors usually take 1% to 5%o what they get paid by their clients. Tis maynot seem so onerous when one considers thatbrokers are highly proessional extensions oyour sales staff that have solid connections toimmediately market your product.

Tis is a complicated marketing area. Tereare contractual demands or your product,and there may be convoluted pricing systems.

Brokers and distributers make their money onvolume, so they tend to think in terms o vol-ume o product in the most effi ciently handledunits; the entire distribution value-chain existson very thin margins. Tey like 100% fill ratesin units that are effi cient or them to handle(no partial orders, or partial orders packedor immediate delivery bundled with otherpartial orders in effi cient units). Big brokersand distributers talk in a complex terminol-ogy. For example, when entering into con-

versations with brokers, distributors or retail(grocery store) buyers, it is good to have someunderstanding o table stakes, terms, shelteror program money, procurement money, andbill-backs.

For smaller producers, there is an emergingsegment o aggregators. Tese are specialtybrokers, mostly in the ever broadening organicand buy-local sectors. In the city o

Dealing with Brokersand Distributors


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Milwaukee, or example there is a noted chewho has developed a business and an aggre-gator or a select group o high end, what are

known in the trade as white table-cloth res-taurants wanting to buy local. Tis business istermed an RSA (Restaurant-Supported Agricul-ture) group similar to a CSA (Community-Sup-ported Agriculture). Aggregators do not playthe same game as the big brokers and distribu-tors; they develop very different relationshipswith their suppliers and clients. Te aggrega-tor/RSA usually takes 5% o the wholesale costto cover their marketing, transportation andother overhead expenses. I you are dealingwith a great aggregator and consider the old ad-age, time is money, you may see that using anaggregator is well worth the 5% additional costsince it saves you time and money well beyondthe aggregators ee.

O course, it is important to understand theirworld and the rest o the distribution system intheir business terms, so lets consider an over-view o the terminology and realities o large-scale ood distribution.

able stakes: Tis is your price list and prod-uct-specification sheets (spec sheets). Also, besure to enter into any meeting prepared witha good promotional sample kit or sales per-sonnel. I you go into a meeting armed with aquality sample kit, you communicate that youare well prepared.

I you have your ducks in a row with respect totable stakes, you will look proessional, you willbe taken seriously, and you will have a lot opoints rom which to develop a discussion that

may end with you making a deal. Here is shortlist; we will then go into greater detail on someo the more esoteric, but crucial points:

Price list FOB price (price delivered to their

warehouse or distribution center) Spec sheets Quality guarantees or statements UPC Product codes (that accurately

reect the size, volume etc.) Point-o-purchase / Point-o-sale

devices 100% fill rates (or pallets, containers,

totes or similar shipping and storageunits)

erms (net-30, net-7, net-10 days) Order confirmations (acknowledge

receipt initiate production, this willgenerate a cut order)

Cut notifications (perishable product(e.g., fish, livestock) is being processed)

Accurate invoicing (how you handlebill-back and auto-deduct marketingees; these systems allow orpromotions and incentives by

distributors, but are kept off o regularinvoices so as to not muddle clientaudits where their customers arelooking at mark-up margins overproducer price)

Spec sheetsaccompany your price list withUPC product codes and are your productdescriptions that include all o the inormationneeded by the distributor to pick-up, deliver,store, market, bill and pay or your product.Tese contain the quality guarantees or state-

ments that can be used or marketing; perishability inormation; FOB price; terms (net-30,net-7, net-10 days); invoicing or bill-backsand auto-deducts; order confirmations and cutnotifications.

ermsare critical to dealing with brokers. Youcannot afford to go into market without terms.Te most commonly used terms in the


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business are net-30, net-7, and net-10 days.Just because you moved product to a distribu-tor or retailer and they sold it out o a store to

a consumer (who gave them money) does notmean any income entered your bank account.You have an open invoice. Tat invoice will bepaid by their accounting department wheneverthey eel like it is a priority to do so. Te longerthey hang on to their money the better it is orthem. Tis is why you need to concentrate onshort-terms. A net-10 day is certainly whatyou want to try to negotiate. Net-30 may meanyou get your money 60-days or much urtherout. You may put some rosting on the cake byoffering discounted terms. Tis is where youdiscount you invoice by 1 percent, 2 percentor more to get yoursel paid. By offering thisconcession, you invoice goes to the top o thestack to get paid; i you let some buyers talkyou into a net-30, you may get paid in 100 daysand only afer you made fifeen phone calls andthreatened legal action.

O course top-o-the-stack is a descriptive term.oday

MarketMaker Pub 0034

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