7 (Almost) Free Things You Can Do Right Now to Boost Distribution Sales
Distribution today looks a lot different from what it did five years ago. Sales teams are leaner, portfolios are more crowded, and the days of endless in-person ride-alongs just aren’t realistic anymore. Yet the need to grow placements, move product, and support your wholesalers and retail partners hasn’t changed. The good news: you don’t need to triple your overhead to drive meaningful sales growth. With the right digital tools and smart habits, you can amplify your brand, support your retail accounts, and potentially increase volume/revenue. And since most breweries today have fairly lean budgets, here are seven things you can do right now to help move more cases and kegs, most of which cost little to nothing.
1. Use Email Marketing to Keep Retailers in the Loop
Email is still one of the most effective tools for trade communication. Retail buyers don't want your customer-facing newsletter. That’s a quick way to score an Unsubscribe. Instead, they want to see clear, relevant updates about your brand that make it easier for them to do business with you.
Your B2B emails should include (but are not limited to):
Current product availability, pack sizes, and pricing
Upcoming seasonal or limited releases
Links to updated brand calendars and sales sheets
Sales contact info for your brand
Keep emails short, scannable, and mobile-friendly. Avoid large file attachments - instead, link to your digital assets or sales portal. To grow your B2B email list, add QR codes to sell sheets, keg collars, and cases that link directly to your signup form. Sales reps can also use scannable QR codes in the field to capture sign-ups during sales conversations.
2. Use Social Media as a Demand Driver And Give Retailers Content They Can Use
Retailers will Google you, look you up on Instagram, and scroll your feeds before they commit to buying. They want to know if your brand has traction with consumers and if your marketing looks professional. Your social channels should highlight what makes your product compelling for both accounts and consumers. Showcase new SKUs, brand story highlights, seasonal releases, and lifestyle product photography that reinforces your brand value.
At the same time, give your retailers the tools they need to promote your products on their own channels. Unlike suppliers, retailers have more flexibility with how they talk about brands online. The more professional content you provide, the more likely they are to put your product in front of their customers. Avoid fuzzy cell phone photos and low-res logos. Instead, provide high-quality lifestyle shots, clean packaging, and can images, as well as formatted graphics that retailers can easily integrate into their digital marketing efforts. When you make their job easier, your products move faster.
3. Keep Your Sales Collateral Digital, Organized, and Accessible
Your sell sheet shouldn’t be a static PDF buried in someone’s inbox. Sales collateral should be fully digital, always current, and easy for reps, retailers, and distributors to access. Ensure that sales sheets contain all the relevant information buyers need to purchase your products, including brand name, description, ABV, ingredients, flavor profile, aroma, color, drinking occasions, sizes, pricing, and availability.
Including (but not limited to):
Pricing sheets
Brand calendars
Core and seasonal one-pagers
POS assets (case cards, table tents, shelf talkers, strips, menu cards)
Brand decks and presentations
The best way to manage this is by creating a password-protected portal or landing page on your website. This method ensures retailers and distributors always have the most up-to-date version, eliminates clunky email attachments, and streamlines communication.
4. Use a CRM to Track Accounts and Streamline Follow-Up
Lost sales occur for a multitude of reasons, but the majority of the time, it’s because someone didn’t follow up properly after a sales conversation. That’s where a CRM comes in handy. Tools like your ERP system, HubSpot, Insightly, Outfield, or if you want something more industry-specific and best in practice - Lilypad or VIP Karma, can keep your sales pipeline organized. A CRM lets you track visits, buyer sentiment, account preferences, and follow-up tasks so that no opportunity slips through the cracks. Using a CRM to manage distribution sales is a non-negotiable tool to succeed in our modern wholesale channel. Document your distribution sales process, whether you use software or go analog with a spiral notebook.
And there’s more. When you’re on top of your account management, supervisors tend to micromanage less, and managers tend to avoid burnout. It’s proof of progress, accountability, and professionalism.
5. Prospect Online Before You Step Into the Market
Prospecting is not optional. Every business loses an average of 10 percent of its customers each year. If you’re not replenishing that pipeline, you’re constantly operating at a deficit. Before you or your reps hit the road, build smart target lists by using your account database, social media, Untappd, Google Maps, and chain store websites to identify accounts worth pursuing. Do your homework, cross-reference with sales data, and generate warm leads before setting foot out the door. This process makes your time in the market more efficient and your sales conversations more impactful. Showing up prepared with data-backed insights shortens the path to a “yes.”
6. Leverage Your Sales Data to Find Hidden Opportunities
Your sales data is one of the most valuable, and sometimes free, resources you have. By analyzing it regularly, you can uncover patterns that lead directly to sales growth.
Look for:
Your top-volume or revenue-generating accounts (and double down on them)
Gaps in shelf sets, coolers, or tap lines at existing accounts
Lost placements and lost accounts that are worth re-engaging
Non-buying accounts to target with tailored pitches for their business models
This kind of analysis doesn’t require expensive software either. A simple pull from your distributor’s reports, your ERP software, or invoicing system can reveal opportunities that are already in front of you. The difference is in whether you’re acting on the findings.
7. Know Who You’re Selling To
Not all accounts, or buyers, are created equal. The more intentional you are about knowing who you’re selling to, the more efficient your sales process becomes. Begin by identifying the types of accounts where your brand excels and those that consistently underperform. Focus on the success trends and avoid pushing your products into accounts where they’re unlikely to move.
Next, understand the personalities of retail buyers. Some will need complex numbers, some will respond to brand story, and others just want a straightforward sales sheet. Create a cheat sheet of buyer types and what each one needs to hear to make the sale.
Create a punch list of the sales materials you need for different conversations and use sampling strategically. Don’t just hand out sample cans to anyone right out of the gate (this gets expensive quickly) - use them as a tool to secure another sales conversation or deepen an account relationship.
Finally, identify which accounts are fine with remote touches and which require in-person visits. Cutting down unnecessary travel by using digital communication when appropriate will save time and resources, while keeping your strongest accounts engaged.
Final Word: Be Easier to Buy From
You don’t need a bigger sales force or a bigger budget to be a better partner to your distributors and retailers. What you need is a more intelligent, more organized system that makes your brand easy to understand, easy to sell, and easy to buy. Efficiency is the new advantage. Get these seven habits in place, and you’ll sell smarter, not harder, all while keeping your team focused on growth instead of busywork.