Deep Dive: Off-Premise National Accounts
What is an Off-Premise National Account?
As a member of the Heaven Hill team, you have likely heard the terms On- and Off-Premise and National Accounts and have a general understanding of what this element of our business is. National accounts are a key part of Heaven Hill’s business because they create national visibility to our brands and sips to lips for consumers across the country (and world).
Today, we’re diving deeper into what an Off-Premise National Account is, what the Off-Premise National Accounts Team does, and more.
An Off-Premise National Account is a large retail chain with locations across multiple states with a centralized buyer. Some examples of Off-Premise National Accounts are stores like Walmart, Total Wine, and Kroger, but this team also covers military package stores serving the United States Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard across the country.
What does the Off-Premise National Accounts Team do?
The Heaven Hill Off-Premise National Accounts Team, led by Mike Sporich, Vice President of Off-Premise National Accounts, is comprised of Joe Narciso, Michael Russell, Matt Dannemiller, Shane Colwell, Jeff Jones, Joe Neal, and Corey Nathan.Together, the team works with nearly 30 national accounts, each with hundreds of locations across the country and world. While the team works with fewer accounts than the On-Premise team, each team member works with upwards of 25 people for each account they call on. This means each member of the Off-Premise Team could work with nearly 100 people for the four or five accounts they call on. Each member of the Off-Premise team serves as the point person within Heaven Hill for their respective accounts, maintaining the company’s relationship with those accounts.
The key differences between the Off-Premise National Account Team’s work and the Field Sales Team’s work is that the national accounts team works with more volume for each account because their accounts are larger chains. Some of their accounts have hundreds or thousands of locations, while the Field Sales Team works with a large number of independent accounts and smaller chain stores, maintaining individual relationships with owners and buyers for each location, all of which are equally important to Heaven Hill’s business. Additionally, some national accounts such as Walmart maintain their own warehousing operation, which the national accounts team must work through the logistics for.
How Does Distribution Work?
When it comes to distribution in National Accounts, you might have noticed that some of these big chain stores have several Heaven Hill products on their shelves, while others may only have a few key brands. When the Off-Premise National Accounts Team gains a placement, it does not automatically mean all stores within that chain will carry the same products. With an account such as Kroger, that chain has thousands of stores across the country. These stores are all different sizes depending on the location, meaning some may have a smaller liquor section than others.
Due to the variation in stores, the buyer for Kroger might only stock the 750ml or 1L size of some of our key brands at their smaller stores, while others may carry all of our core products in various sizes, as well as some of our specialty brands. This is key to understanding where you might find our products across the country.
“When you look at our vision statement, how do we help with that? We’re getting this product out into these national chains that in the distilled spirits world everyone knows,” said Mike. “People in all walks of life are seeing our brands in these stores, and through the years more consumers have bought and are buying our product. This work helps us achieve this goal of becoming a major player in the distilled spirits industry.”
Making Heaven Hill Products Shine in the Off-Premise
One of the biggest keys to making an impact at retail and encouraging consumers to purchase Heaven Hill products are the innovative marketing programs the brand teams develop. The Off-Premise team utilizes these programs year-round and seasonally to make sure consumers notice our products.
These programs allow consumers to connect with our products in unique ways through showstopping displays, case cards, aisle violators, and more, keeping them coming back time and time again. The Evan Williams American-Made Heroes Program, for example, takes place each year from Memorial Day through the Fourth of July, featuring impressive American flag displays made from Bourbon barrel staves and a philanthropic program supporting American military veterans. Another example is the WOW distribution programs, which are literally meant to “WOW” the consumer through impactful displays and product volume, creating more points of distribution for our products.
In addition to regular programming, our seasonal Value Added Products (VAP) or gift sets, available during the winter months for various Heaven Hill products, allow consumers the opportunity to share our products with friends and family. Finally, a key piece of off-premise programming is promotion of our seasonal products such as Fulton’s Harvest, Evan Williams Egg Nog, and Christian Brother Egg Nog, which drive incredible volume during key selling periods.
Relationship Building
As with the On-Premise National Accounts Team, relationships are key to the work the Off-Premise National Accounts Team does. While each member of the team serves as the key Heaven Hill contact for their respective accounts, the entire National Accounts team (and even the Field Sales Team) works cross functionally with contacts at different locations, since there are so many stores nationwide. Additionally, the Off-Premise Team presents at a corporate level to gain new distribution, presenting our products, industry trends, and more. These relationships often last for years as people transition to new roles and other companies within the industry.Finally, the Off-Premise National Accounts team works closely with the Heaven Hill Field Sales Team and our distributor partners to ensure products are in stock and readily available for accounts to order.
How Has COVID-19 Affected Heaven Hill’s Off-Premise National Account Business?
While 2020 saw tremendous growth in the Off-Premise space, this success did not come without challenges. As consumers transitioned to Off-Premise shopping and pantry loading toward the beginning of the pandemic, product was selling at an alarming rate. That said, the main challenge for the Off-Premise Team was ensuring product was in stock, not only in retail locations, but available through the distributor of accounts to order. The team is extremely grateful to the entire Operations team for their continued hard work during this time, despite navigating new working conditions and health and safety protocols. Their dedication has ensured Heaven Hill has been able to keep up with this increased demand and continued to serve our customers.
“I’m very proud of my team,” said Mike. “This past year we have pulled in a lot of volume for the company, as we were cognizant of the shut down of other channels of distribution. The team worked in creative ways to get our brands featured, promoted and we are greatly appreciative of our Production team making sure we had the cases to ship and all of the Marketing team’s continued support.
