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Almost every time I facilitate a small group leadership discussion, I ask the team to share some of their story. Predictably, half the group jumps at the opportunity to transparently relay “who” they are and the “story” that informs their lives. It is one of the most powerful moments of any gathering because our story is the truth of where we’ve been and often the spark of our motivations. Our personal narrative is the essence of who we are and the impetus for how we engage with others.

We all have a story. It explains our past and inspires our future; it is, was, and will always be essential to who we become. As Harvard’s Dr. Howard Gardner says, “stories constitute the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal.”1 Dr. Howard Gardner quote, Howard Gardner, cited in: Richard L. Daft (2014), The Leadership Experience, p. 273 Research suggests we almost exclusively operate within a ‘story mindset.’ Leaders who are not afraid to enter someone else’s story understand the power of empathy. But leaders who are not afraid to share their own story understand the power of vulnerability. The future belongs to the storytellers.

One of the best predictors …

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7 Key Elements to Bring Food Products to Large Retail Chain Stores

Are you thinking about scaling up your food business with a major retailer? Whether you’re expanding your product line or increasing production, there are key elements you’ll need to have in place before contacting a major retailer. 

I have seen many excited food entrepreneurs get into major retail stores only to have their products removed within a year with several thousand and sometimes millions of dollars of unsold inventories. 

Here are seven elements to have in place before contacting a big-name retailer. 

1. Get the right team and the right software

When building your team, make sure:

You hire people who enjoy learning and are great team players. Your team needs to keep up with all applicable regulations and should have ongoing training opportunities. All departments need to be able to work together to maintain an efficient product delivery process.   You reach out to your network of food consultants and services. As your business grows, you will inevitably have more on your plate than you can handle yourself. A very knowledgeable consultant can help you navigate some key transition periods without having to commit to them long-term. RangeMe offers a network of service providers that can support many aspects of…
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As another tumultuous year ends, we eagerly anticipate what’s to come in the following twelve months. Here are the top CPG and retail trends we predict will be top-of-mind for retailers, brands, and consumers in 2023:

1. Direct-to-consumer

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) is a retail model where brands sell directly to new customers, eliminating the need to join forces with big retail brands and brick-and-mortar stores. Consumer expectations and preference to buy from DTC brands are at an all-time high, with 23% of shoppers claiming DTC channels offer better quality products. And 61% of consumers also believe DTC companies provide the best personalized and engaging digital experiences compared to marketplaces and third-party channels.

A DTC brand takes complete ownership over its relationship with a consumer from sales, distribution, and marketing. For brand owners, DTC channels help increase profits by cutting distributor and middle-men costs, creating strong relationships with consumers, and forming a memorable brand personality. DTC brands also have the mobility to create personalized relationships with their shoppers, follow retail trends in a timely manner, and use their consumer data to their advantage.

2. Personalized experiences

Closely connected with the rise of DTC comes the trend of personalized shopping experiences. Personalizing a …

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Retailers Focus On Customer Experience With Store Remodelling

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed as if the demise of physical retail was imminent. With stores forced to close, the popularity of e-commerce accelerated and many retailers wondered if in-store shopping would ever return. So far, such fears are proving unfounded – in the U.S., foot traffic has continued to rise, and retailers are expected to open more than 75 million square feet of new space.

However, this is not simply a return to pre-pandemic normality. Retailers are recognizing that shoppers are now looking for a different experience – and are remodeling their physical space accordingly. Walmart spent $ 3.3bn on store upgrades last year and continues to remodel its spaces. Target is investing larger sums in revamps of existing stores and new openings.

Aligning the physical with the digital

In many cases, the store remodelling programmes now underway at leading retailers worldwide reflect an attempt to bring the physical shopping experience into line with the digital one. Retailers often talk about the importance of an “omnichannel” approach, offering shoppers a means to buy their products in any way they see fit. Still, these channels will not operate independently of one another – consistency and interoperability …

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How CPG Brands are Surviving – and Thriving – Amid Increasing Costs

If there is one thing that all consumer packaged goods suppliers have learned over the past two years, it’s how interconnected our global economy is. Even a supplier that is local to its primary market is at the mercy of events happening on the other side of the planet. 

Nowhere has this been more evident than with the rising costs of doing business, whether it’s due to scarcity of raw materials, supply chain bottlenecks, or increasing fuel and labor costs. At the same time, inflationary pressures are squeezing them from the consumer side, as shoppers are more cognizant than ever of spending. 

I spoke with more than a dozen suppliers from around the world – some of them during a recent ECRM session – to get a sense of the challenges these brands are facing, and how they have adapted their businesses to accommodate them. 

What it basically comes down to is that suppliers are getting hit on all fronts: rising costs of raw materials, shipping and freight (even local freight prices have gone up due to the increased fuel price). Labor is also getting expensive and can be scarce. Added to this are shipping backlogs at the ports, which …

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Building a Customer Retention Strategy

Most CPG founders are so focused on acquiring new customers that they don’t spend enough time and energy retaining their existing ones. According to Neil Patel, “The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-80%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%.” On top of this, customer acquisition costs for new customers are much higher than for existing customers.

Are you building your strategy around retention first and acquisition second? If not, you should be as it’s the foundation to building a successful business.

Let’s break down what a retention first strategy looks like and how to build one for your business.

First, let’s look at a traditional marketing funnel.

Marketing funnel

Ideally, each potential customer moves from awareness down to advocacy. Now it’s called a funnel because at each stage you’ll have fewer and fewer people moving to the next step. Sometimes it’s because the product isn’t a fit, while other times people are simply busy and forget. As a company, your goal is to:

1) Build as many advocates and loyalists as possible, and 

2) Increase the number of people moving from one stage to the next without exiting the funnel

Why? Advocates and loyalists …

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