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Tapped In Podcast Sales and Strategy for beer distributors

Tapped In – the podcast for Beverage Distributors that want to empower their sales team to drive business results

Hosted by Bud Dunn and Mike Hall of VXP

Tapped In Podcast is the ultimate resource on topics of interest to Sales Teams in the beverage distribution industry

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Episodes

Here's what a paid placement actually costs a distributor. Ten dollars a point of distribution against maybe three dollars of real net GP per case once operating expenses come out. That's seven bucks in the hole before the product ever goes out of code and comes back to you. From Episode 125 of Tapped In Sales: Placements vs. Rebuys: Why Distribution Drives Keep Failing. Full episode: https://youtu.be/XFbmgHtzHb0 Tapped In Sales is the podcast for beer distributors, by beer distributors. Brought to you by VXP. Learn more at vxptech.com. #BeerDistribution #SalesLeadership #BeerBusiness
$10 In. $3 Back.
Your product is good for 270 days. Your distribution drive measures 90. That gap is costing you more than you think. A listener emailed us asking why we're still paying for placements when the product is already on the shelf. Bud, Mike, Ross, and Alicia get into all of it. In this episode, we break down: 🎯 Why a placement that doesn't turn is just activity, not business 📉 The 270-day code vs. 90-day credit gap that punishes reps for nothing 💰 The real math: $10 a POD, $3 net GP per CE, then the FPL bill shows up 🤝 What the supplier is actually measured on, and why turns aren't their problem 🔁 The fix: stop tracking lost distribution, start incentivizing the rebuy 🗣️ How to push back without blowing up the relationship ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 NBWA 2026: Booth 400, Sunday party, Monday 8am seminar 03:27 Buddy's email: why are we still paying for placements? 06:10 Mike: a placement that doesn't turn is just activity 09:02 Alicia: distribution is the input, not the outcome 13:27 Ross puts on the supplier hat: turns aren't my problem 20:40 New brand drives vs. beating down the same door five times a year 24:44 Bud's math: $10 a POD, $3 net GP per CE, then the FPL 28:56 270 days of code, 90 days of credit 31:42 A POD tells you got in. A rebuy tells you it belongs. 33:52 How distribution drives quietly became volume quotas 37:00 Longer incentives and "are you going to be here next year?" 44:22 Alicia: incentive chaos and putting your foot down with suppliers 🎧 Listen and subscribe YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@TappedInBeveragePodcast Tapped In Sales is the podcast for beer distributors, by beer distributors. Brought to you by VXP. Learn more at vxptech.com. Drop a comment if you're seeing this in your market. #BeerDistribution #SalesLeadership #BeerBusiness
Placements vs. Rebuys: Why Distribution Drives Keep Failing
Two things actually matter on a route. Maximize your space and the turns in it, and manage the relationship. Ross makes the case that every objective and incentive you add on top is a distortion of that job, and that's fine as long as you know you're doing it on purpose. From Episode 124 of Tapped In Sales: Programmed Reps vs. Scout Reps: Are You Over-Programming Your Team? 🎧 Full episode: https://youtu.be/VfT_svdbC1c @TappedInBeveragePodcast
Everything Else Is A Distortion #beersales
Ask a rep how they make more money and most of them say incentives. That means whatever you put on the incentive becomes their top five, every account, every day. So the question isn't whether incentives work. It's whether the right things are on them. From Episode 124 of Tapped In Sales: Programmed Reps vs. Scout Reps: Are You Over-Programming Your Team? 🎧 Full episode: https://youtu.be/VfT_svdbC1c @TappedInBeveragePodcast
Your Incentives Are The Priority List #beersales
About 20% of a hive ignores the waggle dance and goes looking for the next food source. Take those bees out and the hive collapses when the old source dries up. Same math on your sales team. If every rep only runs what's on PFP, nobody is finding what's next. From Episode 124 of Tapped In Sales: Programmed Reps vs. Scout Reps: Are You Over-Programming Your Team? 🎧 Full episode: https://youtu.be/VfT_svdbC1c @TappedInBeveragePodcast
No Scouts, No Hive #beersales
One client caps sales programs at six a month. Another runs 12 to 15, and the reps there can't name half of them. That's mental load, and it's quietly eating the execution you already paid for. Bud, Mike, and Ross get into how many programs a rep can actually carry, what happens when you blow past that number, and the difference between a rep who goes looking for the opportunity and a rep who only runs what you programmed. 🧠 Why mental load, not effort, is the real ceiling on execution 📋 The ride-with that produced 40 to-dos, and why the cap became five 🎯 Ross on why every objective and incentive distorts the job you actually hired for 🐝 Programmed reps vs. scout reps, and why you need the 20% who work off the list 🧹 Cleaning the clutter vs. spoon feeding, and where team leads cross the line 🔎 The one question audit: ask your reps to name last month's programs and count 🥤 Vodka aid is scaling fast. Spike Aid, Super Light, Rally Dog, and whose volume it's taking The gut check from this one: a senior leader walks a top account, can't find his hottest brand, and the rep says it isn't on PFP this month. The rep didn't think he did anything wrong. He was right. You programmed him. CHAPTERS 00:24 Ross discusses primary objectives: space and relationship sales 02:54 The concept of mental load and program complexity 06:53 The importance of prioritization and focus in sales programs 11:27 Ross on managing incentives and distortions 14:41 The role of team leads in mental load management 19:54 Signs of spoon-feeding and babying in sales teams 25:57 The scout bee analogy and innovation in sales 32:57 The dangers of overprogramming and program overload 36:37 Industry trends: RTDs, vodka aids, and innovation 41:52 Market size, scale, and new product launches 47:52 Cannibalization versus expansion in beverage alcohol 48:41 Closing remarks and listener engagement Tapped In Sales is the podcast for beer distributors, by beer distributors, brought to you by VXP. Questions, pushback, or a topic you want covered: info@vxptech.com Drop a comment with how many programs you ran last month. We'll tell you if it's too many. #BeerDistribution #SalesLeadership #PayForPerformance
Programmed Reps vs. Scout Reps: Are You Over-Programming Your Team?
Bev alc is down, so most teams stop selling. The market didn't take your whole truck away, it took part of one segment. Mike on why non-alc and the rest of the portfolio are where GP per CE is still sitting when volume falls apart. From Episode 123 of Tapped In Sales: Three Places to Find GP When Volume Falls Apart. 🎧 Full episode: https://youtu.be/h1yfcSLlo-c @TappedInBeveragePodcast
Sell The Whole Truck #beersales
Growth covered a lot of sloppy decisions for a long time. It isn't there anymore. Ross on why the days of consistent 5% growth are probably gone, and what that means for how you run your portfolio, your margin mix, and your coverage. From Episode 123 of Tapped In Sales: Three Places to Find GP When Volume Falls Apart. 🎧 Full episode: https://youtu.be/h1yfcSLlo-c @TappedInBeveragePodcast
The Tide Just Went Out #beersales
Cutting 5% and growing 5% are two completely different numbers, and two completely different outcomes. One is painful and one is fun, and most distributors reach for the painful one first because it's the one you can do alone in a room. Bud on why you can, and should, do both. From Episode 123 of Tapped In Sales: Three Places to Find GP When Volume Falls Apart. 🎧 Full episode: https://youtu.be/h1yfcSLlo-c @TappedInBeveragePodcast
Cutting 5% vs Growing 5% #beersales
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