*By Anthony DeYoung, Director of Sales and Distribution, Three Chord Bourbon
In today’s competitive adult beverage industry, success is no accident—it is the result of a disciplined, repeatable process. At the heart of high-performing sales organizations is a powerful framework called the Sales Execution Cycle—a structured, 10-step approach that drives goal alignment, team performance, and marketplace execution. The 120-day approach proves most effective, requiring beverage alcohol brands to plan ahead 90 days to order all applicable support materials and make adjustments to compliance and pricing if operating in a price posting state. Additionally, analyzing the last 30 days with wholesale partners and field personnel is crucial. Everyone tends to move on instead of analyzing the “why” of what happened. What did the organization do right? What could have been done better?
When suppliers stick to a solid plan, their interactions with distributor personnel pay off. Educating the sales team on products and establishing pricing at the start is not enough. Adding value to the sales network (wholesale and retail) creates admiration for the brand.
Whether operating as a supplier, wholesaler, or brand owner, this cycle delivers a consistent roadmap for revenue growth and team accountability.
Step 1: C-Level Strategic Planning & Communication
The cycle begins with intentional planning aligned with company goals. In Leadership Strategic Planning meetings, held quarterly, beverage alcohol brands:
- Set 120-day qualitative and quantitative goals
- Review last quarter’s performance, analyzing what could have been done better and what was executed well
- Confirm this month’s “come-in” targets
- Forecast and plan for needs 60 days out, communicating with all departments
Collaboration is key. Pricing, purchasing, and promotion departments are looped in to align incentives, POS support, inventory forecasts, and pricing strategy. The central question: Do the organization’s goals support the company’s long-term vision?
Programs must be competitive. As the saying goes, “tell me the program, I’ll tell you the results.” This is why suppliers need to know their competitive products and what is happening in the marketplace.
Step 2: Training Personnel—A Process, Not an Event
Successful brands believe in training the trainer, preparing their people to train wholesale teams. Sales teams are built to:
- Outperform the competition
- Better serve accounts and distributors
- Deliver educated, consultative selling
This includes category education, sales presentation training, competitive product knowledge, merchandising execution (on/off premise), and objection handling. Every field rep is empowered with practical skills and product knowledge. Giving wholesalers and retailers plenty of reason to welcome visits builds value. As industry professionals note, “there is a positive bias to the highly credentialed.”
Step 3: Sales Leadership Pre-Plan
Before General Sales Meetings, senior leadership holds pre-plan sessions to:
- Review monthly programs by SKU, state, and channel
- Analyze tools like VIP, Park Street Navigator, and distributor dashboards
- Share best practices and reallocate resources where needed
Leadership alignment ensures every program has the support and clarity it needs to win in market. When field personnel are on video conferences, they are out of the market and not selling, so brands use this time wisely through advance preparation.
Step 4: General Sales Meeting (GSM)
Held once a month, GSMs equip field teams to hit the ground running in the next sales period. To ensure proper planning ahead, brands execute with a 4-month selling window in mind:
- Issue monthly collateral
- Share insights from leadership
- Conduct brand education and role-play scenarios
- Review top priorities by state and account type
- Bring in production and/or marketing to keep them in the loop and provide additional support
This sets the tone for seamless execution and ownership.
Step 5: Sales Plan Review (Checkpoint Meetings or Midmonth Reviews)
Once each month or as needed, lead sales team members execute reviews of plan performance with internal personnel and wholesaler personnel:
- Depletions, displays, menu placements, and staff training progress
- Readiness of POS tools: sell sheets, posters, social content
- Distribution and account-level momentum vs. goal
This ensures organizations catch any red flags early and make data-backed adjustments mid-cycle.
Step 6: One-on-One Pre-Plan Meetings
Sales Directors meet individually with their teams to review account-level plans. This includes:
- Account strategy and inventory readiness
- Distributor communication
- Pre-call planning and targeting
- Identifying reps who need support or course correction
These sessions ensure the plan doesn’t just exist—it gets executed with precision.
Step 7: Field Execution—”Feet on the Street”
Execution is where the rubber meets the road. Reps use their training and sales tools to deliver value in every call.
- Area Managers or Directors of Sales work in-field with reps 3 days per week
- NSMs work with wholesalers bi-weekly
- Real-time coaching, role-playing, and objection handling
Successful brands don’t sit behind spreadsheets—they win in accounts! Even if a sales call doesn’t succeed, brands look for opportunities for future calls, take notes, and follow up.
Step 8: Weekly Performance Reviews
Each week, managers hold structured one-on-one reviews to:
- Track KPIs vs. goals
- Share wins and learnings
- Address gaps in execution
- Adjust schedules to prioritize high-opportunity accounts
This weekly cadence maintains accountability and builds a coaching culture.
Step 9: End-of-Month (EOM) Reviews
EOM reviews are comprehensive, combining both quantitative and qualitative metrics:
- Depletions and distribution
- Display and cold box execution
- Staff training, POS installations, and menu placements
- Wholesaler contact points—what happened? Did the organization train? Did they make two-person account calls with field salespeople?
Organizations identify top performers for recognition and underperformers for additional coaching or training. Bonus programs, incentive payouts, and spend alignment are reviewed to ensure ROI.
Step 10: Wholesaler Reviews & Recap
The final step is for suppliers to meet with wholesale partners:
- What worked? What did not? Why?
- What can be refined next month?
- Share depletion dashboards, promo calendars, and program impact
Joint planning and transparent communication across all three tiers lead to stronger execution and better brand-building.
Final Thoughts
The Sales Execution Cycle is not a checklist—it is a culture. When beverage alcohol brands plan rigorously, train continuously, and review consistently, success becomes predictable.
Some of the above depends on how many layers of management organizations have: field personnel and first-line managers. Brands must consider whether they have a brand manager at their distributor and how much they can communicate with the sales personnel and the wholesalers’ first-line managers.
In an industry where velocity matters, discipline is the differentiator. By implementing this 10-step cycle, suppliers empower their teams to perform with excellence and deliver consistent results in the field.
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