There is a consensus among beer distributors across the country: it’s a fun time to be in the business. With this new generation of brews, there is a thirst for knowledge out there—consumers are eager to learn about craft and import beers available at their local bars, restaurants and retail locations.

So, to make sure that brands are well represented, wholesalers are making it a priority to educate retail customers, and their own salespeople, on new product offerings. Here are a few tips from distributors that have made educational efforts.

In-House Training: Knowing and teaching just the fundamentals of selling isn’t going to cut it anymore, especially in the evolving beer business, says Frank Politano, vice president of sales and marketing, Kohler Distributing Co. (Hawthorne, N.J., USA). “We have a bigger craft portfolio now and those brands require that we are a lot more educated on the brewing process and the taste profiles,” he says. On that note, Kohler plans to set up brewery tours of the craft beers in its portfolio so its employees can gain knowledge directly from the source.

Manhattan Beer Distributors (Bronx, N.Y., USA) focuses on educating its staff about beer styles. Monthly training sessions, led by its specialty divisions’ six supervisors, focus on a particular beer style. For example, May was wheat beer. Then, twice a month samplings take place with supervisors and salespeople from each of the distributor’s five branches. “We sample our beers and we sample other beers that are classic representations of the style that are available in the marketplace,” says Rob Mitchell, general sales manager of the specialty division for Manhattan Beer Distributors. Those same supervisors and salespeople work on making placements into accounts and spreading their knowledge among account decision makers. “So, it goes from the top down,” he says.

Become a Resource: “We want to have an ambassador of beer in every account,” says Jerry Glunz, general manager, Louis Glunz Beer, Inc. (Lincolnwood, Ill., USA). “I say this to our biggest chain stores and our smallest guys: ‘Become that resource. You want to be that person that customers come to talk to about these different specialty beers.’” To help facilitate becoming an ambassador of beer, Louis Glunz Beer, Inc. teamed up with the Chicago-based Seibel Institute of Technology & World Brewing Academy to create a Passport to the World of Beer, a booklet used in monthly educational training sessions for retailers and their customers.

Matt Rogers, sales manager at Union Beer Distributors (Brooklyn, N.Y., USA), says that providing what he calls “shock and awe” anecdotes on certain beer brands can help servers not only remember different beers on seasonal menus, but also to make an impression on a customer. “A lot of times servers get into conversations with customers, so we give them headlines to pull from the breweries,” says Rogers. “For example, Carol Stoudts is the first female brewmaster in the US since prohibition; Stoudts is located in Pennsylvania.”

Create Excitement: “It’s really infectious when people start getting a little bit of knowledge... and what we find is, when they do, all of sudden you see a little bump in sales,” notes Glunz.

The distributor put together the Glunz Beer Culinary Council, an advisory panel comprised of five local chefs/culinarians who pair beers with fine foods to educate customers on styles and trends in specialty brewing.

The Up-Sell: Says Mitchell, “It’s very easy for a busy server to, when asked, ‘what beer do you have?’ start with those that people are most likely to buy, which would be mass market domestics, which generally are the lowest price offerings in the account.” So, the key is to teach account staffers to up-sell by taking the time to ask customers what they are ordering, for example, and then recommending an American craft, micro or import beer that might make an interesting pairing.

To help staffers feel confident when speaking about brands, Manhattan Beer works with its on-premise accounts, scheduling samplings during staff meetings and discussing possible food pairings with chefs when introducing a new beer into an account. (Mitchell also notes that educating wait staff on using proper glassware is important because it “helps enhance the overall experience.”)

Follow Up: Mitchell advises to follow up with accounts a week after a sampling or training session to see if staffers have any questions, comments or concerns about the brands. It’s a good idea to get feedback from the staff as well. Ask owners and bartenders how certain brands are selling and how customers are liking or not liking the products being offered.

“We just want to help foster that relationship between the consumer and the better beer, and the hinge in that door is the bartenders and wait staff,” he says.

From Beverage World June 15, 2008