How easy is it to sell ale into pubs?
Jo de Mille went on the road with Deuchars and found it's like haggling in an Far Eastern bazaar
Cask-ale drinkers are a funny breed, they like to keep to the same drinking pattern and don't like change. So says licensee Tony Haywood of the Monument, Whitstable, Kent. Given this, you might wonder how an ale brand will ever get the chance to make its mark on a pub for the first time, to persuade licensees that their 'funny breed of real-ale drinkers might be tempted to try something different. After all, they're perfectly happy, thank you, with their regular tipple so what would be the point of trying something new?
Sarah Lawless is one of Caledonian's 14 UK sales reps who sells Deuchars IPA to pubs across the country. The 23 year-old joined Caledonian in April 2004, having worked for an investment management company beforehand. Her patch covers Kent and East Sussex, where she targets freehouses and the regions' bigger pub chains. She admits: 'It's tough sometimes, as you can never know for certain how something is going to fare until you've taken it on. Kent and East Sussex have also historically produced darker beers, so Deuchars being a lighter, lager-coloured beer, can be hard to push.
It's vital to target the right pub
Nevertheless, she says it is all about targeting the right pub in her case, local or village pubs, many of which sell food. While she pinpoints cask-ale orientated pubs, she acknowledges that they always have a mix of drinkers anyway. Interestingly, the Hog's Head group is one of her most successful outlets for the ale, although it tends to attract younger drinkers.
Lawless continues: 'I tend to use the snowball effect, by relying on permanent stockists as an example for new customers. I'll take a licensee to a pub which stocks the ale, so they can see how it works there. We also run beer sampling events at pubs, and get people to try the ale with their lunch. Getting involved with beer festivals is another way of getting the Deuchars name out there.
Although Lawless' area is traditionally a dark ale patch of the country, the lighter colour of Deuchars can be used to her advantage. 'People increasingly seem to be going for lighter coloured beers, and being the colour of lager, it is also starting to attract younger drinkers, she claims, hence the Hog's Head success.
Brand helps seduce younger set
As a contemporary brand, this also helps tempt younger drinkers to try it something which, Lawless says, makes it stand out from other ales. However, at the same time it still appeals to that 'funny breed of more traditional drinkers, with its historical claim of being brewed by Edinburgh's last remaining brewer, albeit now under the control of Scottish & Newcastle.
Consistent quality is also a prime concern of licensees as one dud pint and a customer might not return to ale or, worse still, bar the pub. Yet Lawless says this has never been a problem for her on the contrary, this is what her customers seem to like about the ale its consistent quality.
Despite this, it seems that maintaining a cool temperature will always be an ongoing battle when it comes to stocking cask ales. To keep tabs on this, Caledonian takes temperature checks to help feed a training programme, which the company has just launched. A Caledonian spokesperson said there was 'not a lot it could do if a pub sold its ales at a temperature over the recommended 11°C to 12°C. However, a sales rep could ask the licensee if the ale was selling well and if the response was negative, suggest that the licensee look at his dispensing equipment, which could be the cause of the problem.
Equally, if a licensee phoned up and said the ale was not selling well, Caledonian would have a record of the temperature it was sold at in the particular pub, and therefore consider whether this could be the issue.
Selling into a new pub can take a number of calls, Lawless says, to build up a relationship with the licensee and make him realise she's serious about it and that it wasn't just a fleeting call. She explains: 'I visited the Ship in Aldwick five times as I was convinced it would do well there. The licensee needed a lot of persuading, but having taken it on, it's now his top seller.
On average, Lawless visits eight pubs a day, which will be a mixture of both existing and potential customers. Some calls will be prearranged, while others will be made on the chance that a licensee might be in.
Avoiding the cold call
Lawless explains: 'I arrange as many calls as possible in advance, but it's very hard in the pub business licensees often can't guarantee when they'll be in as they never know exactly when deliveries will be made and when they'll be busy. When the Morning Advertiser accompanied her on a hard-selling day around Kent, six visits were made, yet only three licensees were there. And however good you are at selling the brand, if a licensee's not there, you haven't much hope.
Even with the licensees there, the selling isn't simple. Selling ale into a pub seems to be more like an experience at a market in the Far East. The deal doesn't just involve the rug, or the elephant hide mask other items are thrown in to make the ultimate product more appealing.
In Lawless' case, this means Deuchars umbrellas, T-shirt promotions to get the ale established in a pub, as well as the essential point-of-sale material, such as beer mats, and anything else a licensee can think of to make the deal sound more appealing. So you know what the moral of the story is here: always ask for a couple of umbrellas to be thrown in with your Turkish rug.