Increased wholesale revenue 202% for two consecutive months in a row
Before Ohanafy, TBC was accustomed to running their business the way they always had. In the brewery industry, many tricks and trades are passed along from peer to peer at other breweries and relationships within the industry. Without realizing it, problems were beginning to arise around their sales process and consistency.
Between messy journal notes, Google spreadsheets, and a ton of emails, Inez didn’t have the tools to keep track of prospects, customers, past orders, and follow-ups. With no centralized location for selling activities to be highlighted, growing sales was a daunting task.
Within the walls of TBC, responsibilities continued to pile up. It was extremely difficult to pinpoint the necessary steps to grow. TBC was already using a conversational sales and marketing method that revolved around hitting the road and visiting the bar at their wholesale customers but the hybrid approach of managing distributors’ sales reps along with direct customers became challenging quickly.
But this story has a fairytale ending. TBC worked with Ohanafy to identify sales strategies and ultimately grew their wholesale customers, increasing their wholesale revenue by 202%.
To learn how they did it, keep reading!
Like most breweries across the country, every team member at TBC wears more than one hat. In order to grow a business and stay organized, their team knew there had to be a better solution.
When she tried to bring in new people, there was no way to train them efficiently because there was no system. This is a huge issue when you try to run and scale a business. On a day that included selling, Inez would pop into wherever with no regularly scheduled day of the week or time. Without a rhyme or reason and without a route. Not only was the day-to-day misleading, but even after a win, the process of keeping everything organized needed to improve due to the sheer volume of relationships she was managing.
For example, after a big win, Inez quickly jotted down new customer information and moved on to the next deal. When you don’t have a process in hand or a system to track it properly, it’s hard to grow! Having a place to meaningfully store information was the secret to success.
Implementing and running your sales operations through the same system that provides you with the insights that you must know around production is a requirement for growth. You must manage your sales and marketing as thoughtfully as you manage your production and inventory. As you enter data, orders, and customer information into Ohanafy, you are creating a customer record and history that you can use for growing the relationship and the business.
For TBC and their team, these are the top pain points and solutions that Ohanafy solved.
Tracking revenue by month, quarter, and year makes it so you have a visual of how you’re pacing toward your goals. The best way to tackle and exceed your goals is to understand what your goals are.
To manage something you must be able to measure it. - Natalie
Knowing which customers are buying what and when gives you the clarity you need on whom to contact.
It comes up all of the time. This person hasn’t ordered, they usually place an order every week, and it’s been a month. Do you want ten target accounts in Pitt County? Having these in a central place is a game-changer because things get lost in a journal.
Relationships sell more beer. It’s TBC’s job to properly advocate for our beer. This means maintaining all the meaningful relationships associated with wholesale customers. “I love knowing where my customers and contacts are stored”, brags Inez. I also love having the confidence of knowing I can keep track of product interests and even “out of stock alerts” for my customers to ensure we give them a positive experience.
Inez’s favorite reports
Planning for deliveries was challenging for my wholesale routes and customers. Now with Ohanafy, my deliveries are easy to see, pick sheets are complete, I can generate invoices from a single screen, and they even help me keep up with my vehicle maintenance!
Ohanafy will help ensure that when their team is going out somewhere, they make the most of the day and the time best suited for the account. Concentrically selling is more efficient.
Overall, one of the most essential takeaways from Ohanafy is knowing how to track sales and not lose sight of our valued wholesale customers.
“I love that their success is dependent on our success. The use of Salesforce makes it a unique software program that helps manage where and what we are selling. The technology is second to none, and the easy-to-access customer support makes it the world's best”. Inez Ribustello.
"The Ohanafy team provides an invaluable tool for breweries. They are easy to work with and responsive to our needs. 10/10", Caty Gray Urquhart, Sales.
"Ohanafy brings resource, sales, and project management all under one roof. We track all of our production inventory, process, and finished goods, as well as various accounts and projects. It has proven to be a very efficient and flexible platform." Franklin Winslow, Head Brewer.
After utilizing Ohanafy and working with their team focusing on sales and marketing strategy, TBC grew its wholesale revenue by 202%. The most ever growth.
For TBC, the most significant “a-ha moment” came when they identified valuable accounts that were stagnant and untouched for some time. Now clearly being able to identify these inconsistent communication practices, their team was able to learn and modify their behavior.
This led to expanding target accounts, revitalizing old relationships, and creating more opportunities for a high-quality pipeline. Armed with precise data, metrics, and reporting tools, Inez and the team could nurture these high-intent accounts to bring them back to life, converting them into customers and fulfilling their orders on time!
“Ohanafy shined a big bright spotlight on my sales and selling behaviors and challenged me to think about relationships and sales activities differently.” Inez Ribustello, TBC.
In terms of what’s next, they’ll focus on expanding their use of the software and are looking forward to comparing historical data to continue making better decisions. Inez looks forward to comparing marketing events to understand how she drives the most revenue and traffic to her historic Tarboro location.
Discover how to generate more revenue, while decreasing costs,
and reaching new levels of efficiency.
