In this fourth installment of Park Street University’s Third-Party Sales Agent Series, we hear from a spirits brand on its perspective. Jennifer Morgan, CEO of Chrome Horse Society Tequila, provides the vital brand operator perspective on partnering with sales agents to scale an emerging luxury brand. Jennifer pulls back the curtain on what it’s actually like to hire and manage outside commercial counsel. Partnering with advisory firm Spirited Insiders, Chrome Horse gained access to senior-level buyer relationships and frontline market intelligence without burning runway on a high-overhead W-2 executive sales payroll.
Park Street Imports is the back-office and importing solution for alcoholic beverage brands launching and scaling in the U.S. market.
Jennifer Morgan’s Presentation Transcript
I’m Jennifer Morgan, CEO of Chrome Horse Society Tequila. We’re here today to talk about working with outside sales advisors.
Chrome Horse Society had reached a point where we had a product and a brand that we believed in, and we felt ready to start scaling. However, we realized we lacked the deeper sales expertise needed to get there. There is a huge difference between having a story to tell and an appealing brand, and actually understanding the mechanics of distribution, how to interact with major retailers, and how different types of accounts make buying decisions.
So, we reached out to Spirited Insiders as an outside sales advisor because they could provide senior-level industry advice. They already possess the industry relationships that could take us years to build on our own.
They help us translate what we perceive as market opportunities into actionable sales leads, show us how to structure a deal, and guide us on how to take placements over the finish line.
We still own the brand, make the final decisions, and fund the programming, but the outside sales advisor assists us in:
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Identifying the right target accounts
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Opening key retail doors
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Navigating trade relationships
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Preparing for buyer presentations
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Gathering direct market feedback on how our product and programs are landing
We retain full ownership of our positioning, strategy, and budgets, while they bring market intelligence, access, and experience. Because decisions and opportunities arise constantly, we interact with them on a regular basis.
There is certainly a financial investment involved, but for an emerging brand, it is significantly less expensive than trying to assemble that same level of senior experience, trade relationships, and geographic coverage on our internal payroll. Part of our logic is remaining relatively lean while tapping into experts who deeply understand the industry.
We still supply the goods, samples, pricing structures, inventory, and marketing assets. But securing placements, activating those doors, and converting them into solid accounts with consistent pull-through is where the investment pays for itself rapidly.
Everyone owns a different piece of the operational process—it’s a bit of a symphony:
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Park Street provides the backend infrastructure, logistics, and complex regulatory compliance support so we don’t have to navigate it alone.
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The Retailer is a distinct entity that needs to understand what the product is, why they need it on their shelf, who is going to buy it, and how we plan to drive sell-through for them.
We do as much homework as possible before sitting down with a buyer to ensure the account is a legitimate fit for our brand. One of the things Chrome Horse does well is understanding our specific lane. Not every placement makes sense for us, so we avoid pursuing accounts that aren’t tightly aligned with our brand identity.
There is a lot more that goes into a buyer presentation beyond the retail price. It requires understanding what the retailer needs, what the distributor needs, and what specific program support we must inject into the account once listed.
We think constantly about velocity. Early on, it’s easy to assume that getting the placement is the ultimate goal, but the real work begins after you get listed:
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What does a reasonable rate of sale look like for this venue?
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Is this account a good fit?
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Are we prepared to execute whatever is necessary to generate consistent velocity in this specific door?
Having a clear brand identity serves as a helpful filter because an emerging brand cannot afford to chase every door. We only chase the doors that make strategic sense for us.
The biggest lesson we’ve learned when bringing in an outside sales advisor is that it is not a shortcut. You still have to do all the heavy lifting to build your business. The right advisor shortens the learning curve and grants access to relationships you couldn’t build internally as quickly. However, you still need a strong point of view regarding your brand, a realistic understanding of unit economics, and enough working capital to support your field activations. Internally, we must continue to intentionally own the business—the relationship is driven by us.
That has been our experience working with outside sales advisors, and I highly encourage young brands to explore this model as a way to accelerate their growth.
To learn more about Chrome Horse Society Tequila, visit us online at chromehorsesociety.com or check out our Instagram feed.