298. Stop Getting Rejected by Retailers—Use KPIs Instead

0:00Welcome to Day 26, How to Develop Performance Indicators for Success, KPIs. KPIs act as the guardrails that keep your brand on track. They ensure flawless execution at retail, and flawless execution where real growth happens. If you've been following along in this series, then you already know strategy matters, story managers, community managers, retail partnership matters, team alignment matters, and scorecards matter. But none of those tools will reach their full potential without one more piece. Clear, measurable, actionable KPIs, key performance indicators. competitors. These are the guardrails that keep your brand from drifting out of course.

0:38This is one of the most overlooked areas in natural CPG and one of the simplest ways to immediately out execute your competitors, even those with deeper pockets and larger teams. And if you're truly ready to level the playing field, KPIs are how you do it. Why KPIs matter so much in CPG? There's a predictable pattern I see with nearly every struggling brand. They believe that they're executing well, but they don't actually measure execution. They assume that their brokers are following instructions, but they don't verify. They think their merchandising is consistent in every store, but it's not.

1:14They believe their new item launch went smoothly, but shoppers can't find the item on store shelves. I see this in big brands as well. Let me take you behind the curtain. You cannot scale what you cannot measure, and you cannot fix what you don't track. This is where KPIs become your greatest asset. They remove assumptions, they create clarity, they drive accountability, they eliminate guesswork, they prevent costly mistakes, and more importantly, KPIs ensure shoppers can find and buy your product every time they walk into a store. This is the cornerstone of retail excellence and the advantage most every competitor overlooks.

1:51A painful real-world example. In episode 104 of the podcast, I shared a story about a brand that launched an incredible new item. They were static. The brokers sold it in widely. Their internal team celebrated the win. And then consumer complaints started rolling in. Shoppers couldn't find the product. It wasn't merchandised consistently. It was placed in the wrong department in dozens of stores. Some stores never put it out. Others placed it in the bottom shelf far away from the parent brand. The item looked like it was failing. But the problem wasn't the product, the problem was the execution.

2:26And by the time the brand realized what happened, they had already lost velocity, lost distribution, lost customer trust, lost retailer support, lost their promotional window, and lost their chance to impress shoppers with the first try. All because there were no guardrails, no KPIs, no structure, no expected communication, no verification. This is completely avoidable. KPIs are your guardrails. Think of KPIs as the instructions you'd hand to someone climbing a mountain with you. They should be clear, specific, measurable, non-negotiable, and aligned with your strategy. And they should cover every customer-facing element of your business.

3:06Here's what that looks like in practice. Examples of essential retail KPIs Number one, distribution. You might define tier one retailers equals 100 % ACV distribution. Tier two retailers equals 70 % ACV. Tier 3 retailers equal 30 % ACV. If a broker or sales rep knows the exact target, there's no ambiguity. Number 2. Merchandising Standards. Be precise. Item must be merchandised to the right of Brand X. Middle shelf placement no lower than knee level. Parent brand block must be intact. Retailers and brokers love this clarity. Number 3. Pricing Guidelines. Example. Priced always 10 % below brand X.

3:49Target shelf price$4.99 with allowable range of plus or minus 20 cents. Pricing consistency builds trust with shoppers and retailers. Number four, promotional KPIs. Instead of vague goals like promote quarterly, set four TPRs per year, each at 20 % discount. Feature ads aligned with seasonal usage require secondary displays during national promotion windows. This ensures the promotion actually drives incremental growth, not chaos. Number five, retail execution KBIs. These can include shelf takes posted correctly, display built within 24 hours of delivery, out of stocks resolved within 48 hours, planogram compliance above 90%.

4:34These are critical because execution is the number one driver of sales that you can fully control, and very few brands truly measure it. Why KPIs give you an unfair advantage. KPIs remove confusion, eliminate sloppy execution, empower brokers and sales teams, help you hold partners accountable, simplify communication, minimize retailer complaints, ensure consistency across regions, stores, and teams. And here's the big one. KPIs help you deliver a predictable, reputable, scalable brand experience. That's what retails reward. That's what shoppers respond to. That's what builds momentum. And momentum, as you've heard me say, becomes rocket fuel in the moment you start stacking wins.

5:19This is where everything changes in this series, starts coming together. Because when you combine strategic goals, NBOs, scorecards, KPIs, flawless retail execution, clean messaging, deep customer understanding, data-driven insights, you become unstoppable. You become the category leader retailers proactively reach out to. And this is in theory. These are the exact strategies I've used to push around some of the most iconic brands on the planet and helped emerging brands earn an equal seat at the table. A closing thought. If you take only one thing from this episode. Let it be this. Execution without KPIs is luck.

5:59Execution with KPIs is leadership. And leadership gets rewarded with displays, with distribution, with trust, and with opportunities other brands never see. Next, we'll talk about how to build a systemic operational discipline across your entire organization so that excellence becomes your default setting. We're getting close to the finish line in this series. This is where the real transformation begins. Let's keep going. Subscribe and share this with another founder wanting flawless retail execution. Download the free series guide to go deeper into these strategies. For additional inspiration, listen to the following podcast episodes.

6:35Episode 160, Reacher Goes Tomorrow and Beyond, Top Strategies Revealed. In the podcast episode, I talk about how to set a vision for your brand and how to start setting goals. KPIs are ideal because they help you set the guardrails so that you stay on track so that you reach your goals. Then listen to episode 84, Perseverance in Overcoming Obstacles in Retail Strategy, with David with Beatneck Foods. Explore ways of perseverance in overcoming obstacles, and disruptive branding and product distribution for better sales. And then listen to episode 218, Retail Horror Stories, How to Avoid Failures.

7:14Explore retail horror stories, how to avoid problems that derail brands, and learn from real-life marketing failures. Brands should own their own go-to-market strategy and have a robust business plan to guide growth and distribution. Tip of the day. KPIs act as guardrails that keep everything on track. They help you ensure flawless retail execution. Thank you for listening. This episode has accompanied video with illustrations and additional information that I can share in an audio podcast. You can watch it at retailsolved.com slash 30-day challenge. You can get the show notes for this episode by going to retailsolved.com slash session 298.

7:51Tomorrow's episode is master storytelling, the powerful unified voice. This episode will build on today's conversation. Want more sales? How to profitably scale a food business today, tomorrow, and beyond. Here's this week's free downloadable guide. The 30-Day to Prosperity Workbook is a companion to the 30-Day Challenge. This Retail Solve Blueprint will teach you what you need to know to confidently grow and scale your brand, build a connected community of loyal evangelists, and multiply your brand's impact, sales, and profits. Every slight improvement means more runway for sales growth, higher brand evaluations, better terms when negotiating with investors, fuel for more innovation, greater support for mission-based causes, and much more.

8:31Thanks for joining us today. Please reach out and share your most pressing questions and I'll do my best to get you the answers that you need on future episodes, including expert advice from CEOs and industry thought leaders. Comment, leave your questions, and get this week's free downloadable guide and the show notes at retailsolved.com slash session 298.