What SOND Means at Freebrook Imports.

Happy SOND, everyone!

We are entering my favorite time of year in the beverage business.

September, October, November, and December. SOND.

This is also when your focus needs to change.

You spent the last eight months, presumably, chasing placements, opening accounts, getting reorders, and earning valuable real estate on shelves and back bars.

Now comes the next part.

You need to help those placements pull through.

For many brands, these next few months should represent a huge portion of annual sales. Consumers are entertaining, gifting, drinking holiday cocktails, and looking for something interesting to bring to dinner or a party.

Your job is to make sure your brand is part of that conversation.

One quick note. If you are just launching during SOND, your situation is a little different. You can skip to the section at the bottom. We wrote that one specifically for you.

For clients in Freebrook's Shared Sales Program, now is the time to talk with Brendon, our Director of Sales, about the incentives, promotions, activations, and account initiatives you want to put into market.

If you manage your own sales, use the ideas below as a roadmap for your internal team.

Either way, have a plan.

1. Know your accounts and what they need.

You should know every account carrying your product and have a plan to support them through the end of the year.

Remember, Freebrook can provide you with your current account list and historical sales data at any time. Just ask us. Use that information to understand where your product is selling, when accounts last ordered, and where you may need to reengage.

For off-premise accounts, ask the basics.

When did they last order? How much did they buy? How much is left? Do they offer in-store tastings? Would they consider a staff incentive?

A small incentive can create meaningful engagement. Maybe it is a special bottle for the associate who sells the most.

For larger accounts or buyers who have supported you throughout the year, think beyond promotions. Take the buyer and key staff to lunch. Thank them. Ask what is working. Find out what they need.

Relationships matter.

Shared Sales clients should be having these conversations with Brendon now. If you manage your own sales, go through the same exercise with your team, account by account.

2. Give your on-premises accounts something to talk about.

Start with the same questions. When did they last buy? How much is left? What can you do to help them move it?

If you do not know when an account last ordered or what their purchasing history looks like, ask us. Freebrook can pull that sales history for you.

Could you host a happy hour and pour for guests? Secure a cocktail feature? Create something seasonal?

Most importantly, have an idea ready.

Please do not show up with twelve ingredients, smoked cinnamon, homemade sugar plum syrup, and a garnish requiring an arts and crafts degree.

Keep it simple.

Think about a seasonal riff on something the account already sells well. A Negroni. Margarita. Old Fashioned. Manhattan. Moscow Mule.

Give the bartender something they can actually execute when the bar is four deep on a Friday night.

Staff incentives can work here too. For Shared Sales clients, talk with Brendon about what you are willing to support and what makes sense for each account.

3. Make your holiday social content sell something.

Create beautiful holiday content, but make it useful.

Highlight the retailer carrying your bottles. Feature the restaurant serving your cocktail. Promote the tasting. Show the bartender who created the drink. Tag the account and give them content worth reposting.

Your social strategy should connect three things.

The consumer. Your brand. The place where they can buy it.

4. Give accounts a reason to lean in.

This is where I want you talking with us.

Could we create a promotion? A special case buy? An incentive across multiple SKUs? Support an account willing to build a display or bring in additional inventory?

For Shared Sales clients, talk to Brendon before putting something into market. We can help think through the initiative and how our team can sell it.

If you manage your own sales, work through these questions internally.

The goal is not to discount your way through the holidays. It is to give the right accounts a compelling reason to lean into your brand when consumers are actively buying.

Keep it thoughtful. Keep it simple. Make it easy to understand.

5. The placement was never the finish line.

Getting the placement feels great.

Seeing your bottle on the shelf feels even better.

But a placement that never reorders is not much of a victory.

Pull-through matters.

We can help get your product into the market. Our sales team can make introductions, work with buyers, build programs, and identify opportunities. We can also give you the account and sales data you need to understand what is actually happening after that first placement.

The brand still needs to participate.

Show up. Create content. Talk to bartenders. Thank your buyers. Support your accounts. Give consumers reasons to discover your product.

Help turn the first case into the second. Then turn the second into the fifth.

SOND is not the time to admire the placements you earned this year.

It's time to activate them.

Just launching during SOND? This part is for you.

First, manage your expectations.

SOND is not the easiest time of year to launch a brand and expect a flood of new placements.

Think about what is happening around you. You may have some placements, or none at all. Meanwhile, you are entering an ecosystem preparing to sell massive amounts of alcohol to a shrinking population of drinkers.

Retailers are busy. Buyers are busy. Restaurants are busy. Everyone is focused on selling through what they already have.

That does not mean you sit on your hands until January.

It means you get targeted.

Instead of trying to open 40 or 50 accounts, find a handful of great local accounts that are still willing to meet.

Then make those accounts matter.

Personally commit to supporting them. That support can come from you, your sales representative, or our Shared Sales team.

Get to know the buyer. Get to know the staff. Show up. Pour your product. Help create an activation. Consider an incentive. Give the account content. Send consumers through their doors.

Most importantly, think about their business too.

How can your brand help this account become just a little more profitable?

You do not need to change their world overnight. You need to demonstrate that having your brand in their account creates value.

Maybe you help them sell a few more cocktails. Maybe you bring people into a tasting. Maybe the staff gets excited about recommending your bottle. Maybe your activation gives them a better Thursday night than they would have had without you.

Those little wins matter.

You are not trying to conquer the market during your first SOND.

You are trying to create a small group of accounts that know you, trust you, reorder from you, and want to keep working with you when everyone comes up for air in January.

Build those relationships now.

Then use them as the foundation for what comes next.

If you are in our Shared Sales Program, reach out to Brendon and start talking about what you want to accomplish over the remainder of the year.

If you manage sales internally, get your team together and build the plan now. Next year, maybe start a little earlier.

Have an idea and not sure how it fits into Freebrook's distribution program? Talk with us.

Need your account list or historical sales data? Ask us. We can provide both.

Need bottle shots or help managing your social media? Talk with us about that too. We are building marketing services around one very simple goal: Helping you sell more bottles!

You did the hard work getting your bottles into the market.

Now let's help people drink them.

Happy SOND!