304. Strategic Advisory Thinking That Wins Retail

0:00To drive this home, we helped the retailer increase traffic, basket size, and profit to their category. it. Shoppers traded up to more premium products and larger packs. We also became an invaluable resource to the retailer in the process. Brands are lucky to get a few precious minutes with that retailer in a single year, and yet because they viewed us as a trusted and valued partner, we met with them almost monthly for hours at a time. They even asked for advice in other categories. They appreciated us so much that they even gave us a permanent end cap. End caps drive more sales growth than any other promotion ever, even without discounting.

0:35Our sales exploded as a result. This is the power behind these strategies. They work for the brands I've worked with, and they can work for you. Are you ready to hear more? Welcome to the Bulletproof Your Brand podcast, where we discuss the tactics and strategies you need to give your brand the unfair competitive advantage it deserves. Hello, I'm your host, Dan Lohman. Be certain to comment and subscribe to get immediate access to new brand building episodes. Please recommend it to friends and colleagues and help me raise the bar in natural. Let me know what your most pressing issues are and I'll do my best to address them on future episodes.

1:09At the end of every episode, there's a free downloadable guide to help you go deeper into the topics we discuss. Now let's roll up our sleeves and get started. How strategic advisory thinking gives you leverage. The most valuable brand on the shelf isn't the one with the best velocity. It's the one the retailers turn to for advice. Something powerful happens the moment the buyer starts asking you, What do you think about this trend? How should we merchandise this segment? What items do you recommend we discontinue? What's happening with the premium shoppers right now? How do you think about innovation in this category?

1:43That moment, more than velocity, distribution, trade spinner, packaging, is what gives you leverage. It's what transforms you from a vendor, a brand trender in space, a product competing for attention into a trusted advisor, a category partner, someone who shapes retail strategy. Most founders never experience a shift because they're stuck in a reactive mindset, responding to emails, chasing voids, submitting promotions, adjusting forecasts, fixing deductions. They're operating inside the system, the same system that secretly puts a chokehold on your growth, the same system created by big brands blindly going through the motions, doing the job as opposed to building the brand.

2:23But the brands that grow sustainably, profitably, and predictably step above the system and influence it. Today, I'm going to show you exactly how to become a strategic advisor to your retailers and why this mind shift unlocks opportunities you can't get any other way. Any brand can do this with the resources you already have. But first, let me take you back to the moment I learned just how much leverage strategic advisory thinking creates. The story, the 20-minute conversation, that double distribution. Years ago, a brand that I was working with was preparing for a category review with a national retailer.

2:59They wanted to lead with new packaging, their growth story, their social engagement, their founder mission, all important, but none of it would have changed the retailer's decision making. During our prep, we reviewed the insights from the category overview and uncovered something surprising. The retailer was undeveloped in a key attribute segment. That segment was growing three times faster than the total category. Their direct competitors were already capitalizing on the trend, but they were only focused on their brand. The retailer had a 20 % gap in the market, and the brand's core shoppers over-indexed in exactly that segment.

3:35Instead of opening the meeting with the brand's story, we led with, we found a$4.7 million growth opportunity in your category, and here's how you can capture it. We then walked through the segment trend, the market versus account gap, the retailer's contribution potential, how this could increase shopper traffic and create loyal fan base for both the retailer and the brand, the incremental role of the brand's SKUs and the gap they would fill, and the 90-day execution plan. 20 minutes later, the buyer said, this is exactly the strategic support we need. Let's double your footprint and add two additional SKUs.

4:10Nothing Everything else in their deck created that result. Not their mission, not their packaging, not their velocity. It was the moment they stopped acting like a brand and started acting like a strategic advisor. Retailers don't want products, they want partners who help them win. This episode teaches you exactly how to become that partner. Why strategic advisory thinking matters. Strategic advisory thinking is the highest level skill in the New Item Essential system. It ties together, making it easier for shoppers to find and buy your brand, your brand health, your contribution to the category, turning data into actionable insights others overlook, assortment strategies that increase sales and shopper traffic, advanced category strategies that give you an edge, market basket strategies to grow sales and delight shoppers and increase repeat buyers, how to turn retail relationships into revenue, how to maximize retail execution, the important impact to your brand and the category.

5:05Infective merchandising strategies that increase shopper loyalty and drive sales. And sales growth strategies. When you think like a strategic advisor, everything changes. Your meetings shift from transactional to collaborative. Retailers share more information with you. You learn about reset sooner. Your recommendations carry more weight. Your brand becomes sticky inside the retailer's organization. Brokers take you more seriously. Distributors prioritize you more. Your velocity improves because placement improves. your runway extends. And here's the biggest advantage. Advisory brands get better decisions from retailers, even with lower velocity, because they help grow the category.

5:43Let's break down the five core elements of strategic advisory thinking. Number one, advisors focus on the category, not themselves. Stop thinking like a brand. Start thinking like an advisor. The brands that grow aren't the best performers. They're the best partners. Brands say, here's why my product is great. Advisors say, here's what's happening in your category and here's how to grow it. The single shift changes how buyers perceive you. Advisors lead with category growth drivers, underserved segments, emerging shopper mission, market and account gaps, retailer-specific opportunities. Why this works?

6:21Retailers are measured in category performance, not individual skew performance. If you help them win, they help you win. Action steps this week. Create a one-page category snapshot for your top retailer. 52, 26, 12-week trends. Key attributes impacting category growth. Segment growth insights, where the puck is going next. Shopper insights, key trends to watch and support with proper product placement and merchandising. Competitive dynamics at the retailer and in their market. Use this to open your next meeting. Number two, advisors translate data and actionable retail insights. the gap buyers can't see one insight can change your entire distribution footprint most brands report data sharing the same generic report as other brands won't impact the category no matter how pretty your charts are advisors interpret data for example instead of velocities up 8 % say your premium shopper segment grew 8 % and here's how to double it instead of we gained five new stores say you're underdeveloped in the market by 42 stores.

7:26Here's how to capture that gap. Instead of promotions average a two times lift, say retention after promotions increased your baseline by 14%. Here's why and here's how we can do better on the next promotion. Retailers don't need numbers, they need meaning. Action steps this week. Pick one piece of data and answer. What does it mean? Why does it matter? What should the retailer do because of it? Why would happen happen? This is perhaps the single best, most important question you should ask when starting any project. It changes your focus and helps you more quickly find insights others overlook.

8:01This is how you become indispensable. Number three, advisors lead with shopper-centric strategy. Your shopper is your superpower. Retailers buy shopper outcomes, not product attributes. Retailers don't buy for the brand. They buy for the shopper. True advisory thinking is grounded in the shopper understanding. Who buys the brand? Why do they buy it? What problem does it solve? What mission does it fulfill? How does it increase basket size? How does it elevate the retailer shopper experience? Why this works? Better for you shoppers spend more, buy more items, shop more frequently, are less price sensitive and are far more loyal.

8:40Always consider their need state and how you help them solve the specific problem they entered the store with. Advisors show retailers how to attract and retain these shoppers action step this week build a slide called meet your most profitable shopper use your turnkey sales store strategies fundamentals this is one of your highest leverage assets number four advisors provide clear confident recommendations the recommendation slide that changes everything if you end your deck with uncertainty you lose a meeting one of the biggest differences between a vendor and advisor is this vendors ask advisors recommend Buyers want confident direction.

9:17Which skews to add? Which skews to discontinue? How to segment the shelf? What pricing strategy works? What attributes drive trade-up to premium products? Where the product belongs in the category and on the shelf? How to align promotions? What merchandising improves conversion? Use fact-based reasoning to support and answer each of those questions. Decision equals confidence, and confidence equals credibility. Recommended rhythm. Every recommendation must include what the retailer should do and your commitment to support them why it matters to the retailer the shoppers and how it helps them gain a competitive advantage in their market how it impacts the category growth today and in the future what will you do to support the execution action steps this week build a final slide to your deck our recommendation for growing your category in the next 90 days buyers love clarity number five advisors build trust through false execution execution equals credibility your ability to execute determines your influence you cannot earn advisor status if you don't execute execution is clean agreements accurate forecasting proper merchandising consistent communication perfect use of the scorecard measure what matters delivering our commitments when buyers see flawless execution they trust your strategy.

10:38Your actions speak volumes. Empty promises erode trust. Why this matters? Retailers promote brands they can trust and that they can rely upon. Retailers discontinue brands that cause headaches. Brands they need to babysit. Trust is the ultimate leverage. Action steps this week. Run a floss execution audit. Are your agreements complete? Accuracy matters. This is how you avoid invalid deductions. Are your forecasts accurate, especially when you promote? Is your merchandising consistent across every store? Is your scorecard updated monthly? Revisited on a regular basis. Is your broker aligned with your strategy?

11:15How effectively do they execute your plan? Execution is your credibility. To recap, how strategic advisory thinking gives you leverage? Number one, lead with the category insights, not your brand. Number two, translate data into meaningful actions number three center everything around the shopper number four make confident retailer line recommendations number five execute flawlessly to build trust and influence when you do these consistently you get more shelf space you get better placement you win resets you win more promotions buyers come to you first you reduce risk you increase velocity you grow sustainably This is not theory.

11:57This is how I pushed around larger and more sophisticated brands throughout my career and with my clients. Here's a quick example why this works and the impact that it can make. Working with a brand recently, we developed a strategy that followed this exact playbook. We merchandise products based on shopper needs states within the same category. The result was the category at that retailer outperformed every retailer nationally, and we grew the category sales without using the pricing and promotion lever. This is what being a category advisor looks like. We delivered a creative strategy that gave the retailer significant competitive advantage by leveraging the strength of our brand.

12:35It also highlights how we use the strength of our brand to drive more traffic, larger baskets, and greater conversion than number of shoppers who converted to the category. This strategy also attracted the under-35 segment organically. This is where the future growth is across every category. Our strategy outperformed other categories even with their deep discounting. To drive this home, we helped the retailer increase traffic, basket size, and profit to their category. Shoppers traded up to more premium products and larger packs. We also became an invaluable resource to the retailer in the process.

13:09Brands are lucky to get a few precious minutes with that retailer in a single year, and yet because they viewed us as a trusted and valued partner, we met with them almost monthly for hours at a time. They even asked for advice in other categories. They appreciated us so much that they even gave us a permanent end cap for free. End caps drive more sales growth than any other promotion lever, even without discounting. Our sales exploded as a result. This is the power behind these strategies. They work for the brands I've worked with, and they can work for you. I share other examples and strategies that you can use in other podcast episodes in the free 30-day to profitability growth challenge.

13:47You can access it at retailsolve.com slash 30-day challenge. Next, we'll explore how to stop deductions before they start. Until then, follow the show. Visit retailsolve.com. Connect with me on LinkedIn. Share this episode with the founder who's presenting at retail. Being a strategic advisor isn't about having the most data. It's about seeing what others miss and then using it to help retailers win. This week's free downloadable guide is a 30 days to profitable CPG growth. The foundational system founders use to scale without burning cash. This is the exact system I've used to help founders stop burning cash, fix retail execution, and scale with confidence without deep discounts or guesswork.

14:31Identify what's killing your margin. Fix retail execution before it costs you distribution. Stop wasting trade dollars that don't grow base sales. Build a system your brokers, team, and retailers can actually execute. You can get the free downloadable guide along with the show notes on the podcast webpage. Thanks 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 RetailSolve.com size session 304.