Dear Supplier,
Why hello there! It’s great to see you again, and I see you’re now working with a large distributor since leaving our company back in May. I’m happy to see someone working with your wines. Quite honestly, I really haven’t missed your brand as they were always priced much too high for their performance with very little discounting with which to gain any traction. I remember our workwith last November with… well… I wouldn’t say fondness, but I regard it with a certain nostalgia. Buyers didn’t want to see us because it was the week before Thanksgiving, but you have family here in my neck of the woods, so hey… might as well get the trip written off. If I remember correctly, we sold 1 case of wine all day but the warehouse was temporarily out of stock of the SKU and we couldn’t get it to them before the December 1st list reprint, so the order was eventually canceled… but I almost enjoyed driving you around all day just so I could subject you to the barrage of rude remarks from those very accommodating buyers that I had to beg appointments from. I see you’re using a similar tactic this year.
What’s that you say? You are having an incredibly successful day with your new sales rep? Well that’s interesting and maybe a little surprising but… oh… Looks like our buyer is ready for you two. I’ll be over here, quietly listening to your presentation while inputting my orders…
Oh here we go, this all sounds familiar… but… Wait a minute… that’s the same wine we showed last year… What the… ? OH! A library release. Yes of course. I see now. Oh, and at almost half of our original NET price? AND it discounts from there?
Yes, of course your day has been successful.
Remember last year when we were driving between accounts? And I was relaying to you some of the stumbling blocks I was finding with your wines in my territory? I believe I said something to the effect of, “People like the wines, the packaging is nice too, but I think they’re just a little bit too pricey. If they were just under the $200 mark, I could move them. Or if there was some sort of by the glass pricing or quantity discount…”
I recall your response: “There’s not enough wine to merit the discounting. This is a small premium brand, not meant for discounting or glass pours. We’re staying firm with our NET pricing.” But clearly the wine wasn’t selling. It must have been the fault of my company and all of our ineffectual sales representatives. It couldn’t have been the pricing.
And lookie here… our Dear Winebuyer is ordering 3 cases to pour by the glass at your now appropriate $176/case price…
Of course he is.
Best,
Wine Rep
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