“We were cycling lost placements and not really gaining anything.”
That’s how Joe Marcantel, COO of Daniel L. Jacob Distributing (DLJ) in Michigan, described their old approach to sales. Before adopting VXP, they were setting distribution targets, pushing brands they thought were good for the business, and tracking performance internally. But there was a problem: reps weren’t bought in—because they didn’t know why they were pushing certain products.
Joe joined us on Tapped In Sales to break down how DLJ flipped their sales strategy from distribution-focused to revenue-driven, empowering reps to make smarter decisions, drive more revenue, and sell with purpose. Here’s what we learned from their journey.
From Spinning Wheels to Driving Profit
Before VXP, DLJ was trying to push high-GP brands, but it wasn’t working. They were setting targets, tracking gross profit in Encompass, and running reports manually—but they had no way to translate that data into something reps could actually use.
“We were trying to silently guide them—giving them distribution targets for brands that had better GP. But at the end of the day, all we were doing was cycling lost placements and not really gaining anything.” – Joe Marcantel
This is a common problem in beer distribution. Leadership has all the insights, but if that information doesn’t get to the reps, it’s useless. DLJ needed a way to push that data down to the sales team in a way that made sense—and that’s where VXP came in.
The Turning Point: Understanding the Why
“If I know why I’m doing something, I’m going to give it more of an earnest effort.” – Joe Marcantel
For years, beer distributors have held onto an outdated mindset—keeping gross profit and revenue data locked up in the back office. Reps were expected to just follow orders without understanding the bigger picture. But when DLJ started sharing insights with their team, everything changed.
🔹 Reps stopped just placing product because they were told to.
🔹 They started making strategic decisions based on what would actually drive business.
🔹 Conversations in the field shifted from “this brand doesn’t move” to “what should I replace it with?”
Instead of micromanaging, DLJ gave reps the tools to make better choices—and they ran with it.
Less Effort, More Money: The Power of Visuals
One of the simplest (but most impactful) changes Joe made? A chart.
“We made a chart that showed them: If you sell 100 cases of Bud Light, how many cases of Cutwater, Nutrl, or Carbliss do you need to sell to make the same revenue? When they saw they could sell 10 cases of Cutwater and make the same money, it clicked.” – Joe Marcantel
This visual made the value of high-GP products crystal clear. Instead of treating RTDs and high-margin brands as an afterthought, reps started prioritizing them—because they understood how it impacted their paycheck.
The result? Revenue growth, even when case sales were down.
“We were down mid-single digits in volume, but we were up in GP. That’s exactly what we were looking for when we switched to VXP.” – Joe Marcantel
Sales Strategy That Adapts to Every Market
Not every sales strategy works everywhere. DLJ knew that different markets need different approaches—which is why they use VXP to tailor their sales plans by account and territory.
“Some markets are wildly different—even within the same route. In urban areas, singles like BeatBox and Cutwater make sense. In rural Michigan, where 95% of sales are Busch Light 30-packs, it doesn’t.” – Joe Marcantel
With VXP, reps aren’t just guessing what will work—they have data-driven insights to make smart, market-specific decisions.
Saving a Week of Work Every Month
Before VXP, goal setting at DLJ was a nightmare.
“We’d spend a full week every month figuring out our PFP sheet—trying to keep things fresh, not overwhelm reps, and make sure the goals made sense. With VXP? It’s an hour on a Zoom call.” – Joe Marcantel
That’s an entire week of time saved, every single month. Instead of manually creating and tracking objectives, VXP handles it—so the DLJ team can focus on execution, not administration.
“The biggest question now is… what do we do with all that free time?” – Joe Marcantel
Big Takeaways for Distributors
DLJ’s transformation wasn’t about working harder—it was about working smarter. If you’re a distributor still running your sales team the old way, here are a few lessons from Joe’s journey:
🚀 Give your reps the why – They’ll sell more when they understand the bigger picture.
📊 Make profitability visual – Show them exactly how selling fewer cases of high-GP items makes them more money.
📍 Tailor strategy to each market – A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work.
⏳ Automate what you can – Stop spending weeks on goal-setting when a system like VXP can do it in minutes.
Want to learn more? Listen to the full conversation with Joe Marcantel on Tapped In Sales.
Your reps don’t need to sell more—they need to sell smarter. Let’s talk about how VXP can help you make that happen. 💡