23 Sep Monon Beverage Brokers Succeeds Despite Being Told It Would Never Work
by Mark E. Lasbury for Indiana On Tap
We are quickly coming up on the 2nd anniversary of Monon Beverage Brokers (MBB), a unique Indiana craft beer company. Sean Webster has created this one of a kind company to help craft breweries in this state get their products out to retailers and craft beer fans; they act as brand representatives for craft beverage companies by making their products available to retailers and to customers and facilitating purchase of those products via the distributors. Opening MBB was a risk, one that Sean was told wouldn’t work, but here MBB is two years later, growing and establishing a foothold in the craft beer industry.
I kid you not, Sean had a meeting about topic “A” early in MBB’s life, but one of the people with whom he was meeting commandeered the floor to wax philosophic on topic “B,” with that topic being why MBB’s business model couldn’t and wouldn’t work. He drew charts, he made analogies – he called upon his power of logic and his knowledge of business history and trends. Sean took the high road and thanked him for his insights – he didn’t point out that MBB was already a success and the model was in fact working beautifully. This is how unique businesses are born and grow.
Sean’s first sales day was October 1st, 2016. He had one client – Moonlight Meadery from Londonderry, NH (by the way, try the Last Apple mead if you get the chance), and he has maintained his relationship Moonlight through several shifts and changes in focus because he appreciates their faith in MBB and he wants to be loyal to them. This may say all about MBB that you need to know.
A NH meadery was MBB’s first client, and they are still an effective team. image credit: pintrest
Sean took on more producers as clients; soon he had more work than he could handle. He says he “got too big for his britches.” So he started interviews for a second employee just six months into this adventure. He was looking for someone with integrity, someone who knew beer and who knew how to talk to producers, distributors, and retailers. But he hired Scott Hardwick instead.
It must have been the right move, because the business has done nothing but grown since Scott came on board. He and Sean have divided up the state now, Scott handling everything south of 38th St. in Indianapolis, and Sean taking the north. However, they both move throughout each other’s areas to keep up relationships – because relationships are what this business is all about. MBB doesn’t make a product, they don’t sell anything. They make connections between craft beverage producers and the people that need their products, whether they know it or not. Amongst their clients are one of Indiana most venerated breweries, Bloomington Brewing Co., and the brewery just named best in the Indianapolis area by the Indianapolis Star reader poll, Centerpoint Brewing (with the top rated IPA in the poll as well, the Blood Orange IPA).
Their paying clients are the producers in most cases, but in truth, we are all their clients. Scott and Sean work to connect producers with distributors, retailers and drinkers. Their goal is to produce a more knowledgeable drinker and promote the products of their clients in the best way possible. To do this, they move all over the state taking to people who make, sell, and consume these craft products.
A typical sales day means meeting with retailers and giving them the lowdown on what is new, available, and explaining the brands, philosophies, and products. Different retail customers have different levels of competence and interest in the brands and products, so it is up to Sean and Steve to generate the interest and help them become proponents of the brands.
Freya is the unofficial third MBB member, and is definitely the one with the most fans. image credit: Monon Beverage Brokers
Scott considers his job time to be whenever he is outside his house. Every interaction is an opportunity to learn, build relationships, and represent. He even learns about products they don’t represent – if a retailer is looking for something specific and they don’t have it, Scott wants to let him/her know where they can get something good. This way, when Scott does introduce them to a client’s product, they know it isn’t just because it’s a client product.
There are other kinds of days too, meetings with clients to pick up new information (Fridays) and helping with events (often, but not restricted to, Saturdays), days of doing homework so that they are on top of all the things going on, and there are days to network and dive into the Indiana craft beer scene. The more they know, the better they can represent their clients. Sean and Scott need to be sources of information for their producer clients. They are out and about while their clients are holed up making craft beverages. MBB has things to offer them based on what they see, hear, and intuit about the industry. This has become crucial feedback to the clients and something they rely on; even competitors.
After all, they have clients other than those for which they represent brands. Books & Brews has MBB train sales teams, and they do short term representation while breweries get their own teams up and running. While producer clients are their primary focus, they do offer services to benefit bars, restaurants, and distributors.
They train retail and distribution client employees in beer, wine, and liquor so that they can communicate better and be stronger representatives for the craft industry. They offer line cleaning for draft clients in order to ensure that products are being presented at their best. If you’re potential client of MBB, just consider that – how hard they work to make sure your brand is buffed shiny on every side so that it gleams no matter from what direction you view it. They think of everything through the lens of your product, including how best to dress for a meeting in order to put clients at ease and get your message across.
Mono Beverage Brokers current client list. image credit: Monon Beverage Brokers
This attention to detail carries over to what clients they choose to represent. Their mission statement is as follows: Monon Beverage Brokers provides, sales, events, and distribution management for breweries, wineries, and distilleries who are ethically producing quality and consistent products. It’s always about looking for the right fit with a client. They can’t represent them well if they don’t believe in what they are doing and how they conduct their business.
This means that MBB is particular in whom they take on and whom they keep. In the last six months they have actually given up more clients than they have taken on, just to make sure that each client is getting maximum attention. Sean and Scott feel that they can solidly keep 8-10 clients in the minds of all their retail customers, with each client getting an equal seat at the table.
In the past, clients have questioned whether thy can get equal representation with so many people at the MBB table, but Sean explains that there are added benefits too. Each client benefits from having varied products from others in the portfolio and may make sales based on the fact that they have something different. They are also at the table when retailers start out looking at other clients, and they are included when MBB’s large social media presence reaches out to the industry. Finally, every client benefits at events, as many people seek out a MBB booth at a festival because they know they can try out many different tastes.
MBB looks for quality products, quality people, and people who are going to at least consider the things that Sean and Scott are suggesting to them. Clients don’t have to accept the advice, but if they dismiss information from the very people they are paying, MBB has to wonder why they are representing them. The result is that MBB has become a staple in the industry for Indiana. Trust is built over time, and the past two years have provided the time for MBB to gain the trust of retailers and producers. By now, retailers don’t have to ask MBB if a product is good enough, if MBB is representing it, it’s good enough. They might not buy it, but it won’t be for a lack of faith in what MBB shows them.
There is little Sean won’t do to bring attention to his clients’ products. image credit: Indy Craft Brew
And now MBB is two years old, but in typical Monon form Sean and Scott feel that this achievement is more about their clients than about them, so keep an eye on social media for a state tour to meet with the producer clients and celebrate with drinks and other special events. No big hoopla, just a commitment to work hard.
This next year will be dedicated to growing MBB’s footprint in Indiana for sales calls and clients, where it makes sense. They are still dabbling in the idea of multi-state representation and sales, with the different laws in each state setting different bars and hurdles. In most states, the alcohol commissions just don’t know what to make of a MBB-type business. It’s so different that every state would be anew set of landmines. For instance, in Indiana MBB is technically categorized as a producer and must conform to all the laws for producers – even though they don’t produce anything.
Scott and Sean also have ideas that are more outside the box to get their clients products in front of new and appropriate faces, including interacting with bartenders guild and holding tasting events at some more “unusual” venues. Sean has numbers to back up his ideas, based on demographics and spending tendencies, but they are still fairly avant garde. Keep and eye out for something different coming down the pike, including perhaps the beginning of a festival tour around the state of their own with a very high profile sponsor. That’s the thing about a unique business model – you constantly need to have ideas. They may not all work out, but if your not having many bad ideas, then you’re not having enough ideas.
The first two years of Monon Beverage Brokers have been full of growth and learning, with a gradual movement toward giving more information than they are getting. Sean and Scott have learned how to shift their language and focus to meet the needs of whomever in the three tier system that they are working with at that moment. Now it is time for Indiana to recognize what an asset they have in MMB and to take advantage of what they know, who they know, and the relationships they have built. The next two years aren’t going to look like the last two; they are going to be much bigger.
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