To Buddy, should you decide to pay attention:
Disclosure: I’m not looking for a handout. I’m not looking for anything other than that which my personal achievements have earned for me. The company has some amazing people in it and the company is capable of being a monster in east TN with a bit of self-reflection. Perhaps firing a success story that was 100% committed to realizing company success may not have been the smartest move one could make.
D&V has problems.
D&V can be a great place to work.
D&V has so much potential to be so much more than it is.
The problems:
The captain steering the ship has never steered a ship like this before. While many skills translate, there’s something unique about the Beverage Alcohol industry - specifically wine & spirits.
Admittedly, sales is sales. Whilst that is generally a rule, every rule has exceptions. This industry is at least one exception to that rule. We, as an industry, fall back on the fact that this is “a relationship business”. It is…but so is sales in general. This industry I’ve built my professional career in is definitely a relationship business.
The consumer purchases the wine/spirit from a store/employee they like/trust. The account buys the deal from the rep they like. The distributor focuses their efforts and inventory on the suppliers they like or those that are profitable in the long-term. The supplier targets the distributors they like with the brands that fit - BASED on their relationship. Suppliers don’t throw spaghetti to a wall to see what will stick when said supplier has multiple distributors in a single market in a franchise state.
I don’t know other industries through personal experience. This is the industry I’ve been in since I was 22. I’m now 44. This is the industry I accidentally fell into, but at the same time - fell in love with. This is the same industry I somehow found a way to eke out a living for at least (hopefully) half of my adult life. From a part-time job at a liquor store, it was a meager beginning. Law School was in my sights after graduating with a degree in philosophy. Fate decided otherwise. Retailer, Distributor rep, Supplier, Distributor management. This industry is what I know.
I was fortunate enough to land the one job I always wanted, had I decided to return to the middle-tier - On-Premise Manager of a family-run distributor with no intent to sell out. It wasn’t the #1 distributor in the area, it was the largest small guy, or the smallest large-guy.
A markets are all the rage for those thriving in them. A markets are treading water. The problem with being at the top is that there’s only one way to go. B Markets are the best. All the room to grow, always the dark horse. B distributors are the same way. No one expects greatness; everyone expects to tread water. The question I’ve always asked myself: Who doesn’t see a wealth of growth opportunity in the world of B’s?
I thought I’d found my forever home; room to grow with a company that wanted to grow - a chance to modernize, a chance to affect actual change and be part of the tide that lifts all ships. The opportunity to be a part of something special - there’s the chance we can trap lightning in the bottle. The opportunity existed so long as the powers that be saw the opportunity ahead of them.
The reputation locally is that D&V has Jack, and D&V doesn’t try because they have Jack. Cool - no one’s expecting D&V to try. This is a HUGE opportunity. How nobody in the market knows how stacked the portfolio is - it’s an opportunity and a tragedy. Legendary, iconic brands, cult winemakers, top tier vineyards - and no one knows outside of a few employees and a handful of accounts who are lucky enough to have this knowledge shared with them.
Bond, Harlan Estate, Rob Sinskey, Accendo, Larry/Christina Turley, Leonetti, Horsepower, Adam Lee, Andy Erikson, Littorai, Pisoni, Roar, Cayuse, Shafer, Martinelli, Selyem, Kongsgaard, Lail, Epoch, Paul Hobbs - and those are just some of the heavy hitters on the domestic side. Icons internationally - Vina Tondonia, Laurent Perrier, Duval Leroy, Ferrari, Bertani, Cesari, Planeta, Faustino, Rocca della Macie, and Dr. Loosen - these are HUGE names and the majority of the market/public has no idea.
The wine portfolio alone lends itself to being a MAJOR player in any market. Every prominent restaurant wants these names. Anyone with any clue of quality wine knows these are the top names. The only problem is - the folks that know these names don’t know D&V’s name; if they know D&V’s name, they don’t know the association. Little effort has been made to move the needle and actually grow the business in this respect. Emailing a select few customers to ask what they want for “pass-through” sales is the antithesis of operating a “relationship industry”. Relationships are built, but must be cultivated constantly. Buying a girlfriend flowers once doesn’t turn that girlfriend into a wife. .
Positions recommended:
President/Managing Partner $150k+
General Sales Manager/Director of Sales $120k+
OP Manager $100k starting ++
Sales Reps: $60-$80k (comm, incentive, fuel, bonus)
Retail Manager $100k starting ++
Sales Reps: $80-$100k (comm, incentive, fuel, bonus)
Portfolio Manager: Brown Forman $80k
Portfolio Manager: Spirits (all others) $80k
Portfolio Manager: National Chain Wine $80k
(Portfolio Manager: Estate Wine Portfolio) $80k
Sales Admin $60k
Purchasing $60k
Finance Department: AR/AP (CFO) $120k
Finance specialists $60-80k
Annual bonus structure spelled out: 5-10% of salary, based on performance/profitability BY DEPARTMENT
Expense accounts: Reps $200/mo, Sales Mgrs: $600/mo; GSM + Pres as needed
Annual raises to at least counter inflation - base 3%, max 5%, based on performance
Minimum profit margin: 25%. Take your prices up. Get your suppliers to subsidize GP, incentives, bonuses, etc.
No one at D&V has any Bev Alc supplier experience. Fix that. Stack your deck, and kick ass.
Invest in your people and watch the profit roll in.
random thought
today's theory: rush hour sucks if you have a life. Unhappy marriages lead to traffic.
allow us the opportunity.
There is a large swath of the population simply NOT living their best lives. Sometimes, the only alone time some folks get is commute time to and from their less than optimal job, supporting their less than optimal lives full of the under-educated & overly optimistic folks living with their poor financial decisions, poor relationship selections, and an overwhelming lack of impulse control.
In order to maximize their "me time", they drive slower and are often unaware of the gigantic world existing outside of their own headspace; they're committing all available mental and emotional resources to the selfish thoughts swirling around their own skulls. It's their time to crank the music up, sing as loud as they want, vent the frustrations and thoughts that might otherwise get them in trouble at home. In short - they're not giving a fuck about anyone but themselves.
Getting home is the last thing they want to do - home to a spouse who doesn't appreciate them, or whom they don't want to immediately hop in the sack with. Maybe these drivers are annoyed at how ungrateful their kids are, or maybe they have a pet that immediately needs attention, or a honey-do-list they have zero desire to complete. These shitty drivers realize the moment they arrive home, they must atone for their decisions/mistakes made earlier in their lives which led them to where they are today.
So because this clusterfuck of idiocracy can't get their shit together, everyone behind them is stuck catering to their selfish whims.
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we dare you
we double dog dare you
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provoke thought
encourage original expression
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original thought:
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