The secrets to working well with Category Managers
When it comes to dealing with Category Managers (the ‘buyers’ and gatekeepers at large Retailers), there are a range of common mistakes that can impact your relationship. From sending endless long daily emails to just ‘keep in touch’, to lacking the basics of product and contact information, or treating your Category Manager like an outsourced part of your sales & marketing team - they all add up to a perception of you as not a strong partner. These ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ are based on personal experience as a Category Manager, conversations with wider teams at Retailers and Account Managers, and a long career working with Retailers - and while there are likely a LOT more that could be added to the list, these should give you a clear guide to get your relationship working well.
WHAT WORKS WELL:
Understand what takes up most of my time - and how you can help make dealing with you super easy.
Keep emails short, focused and with clear information
Be specific about what you need in both the SUBJECT LINE, and in the body of the email. Building our personal relationship comes through meetings and conversations. Emails are for actions as Category Managers can receive over 100 calls and emails a day.
Make sure your full contact details are included in each email to make it easier to quickly get back to you. Sometimes emails ‘turn off’ signatures when you reply. Make sure yours is ‘turned on’ so that you make communication quick and easy.
Add as much detail as possible so we can find your products easily. This means product SAP codes and barcodes so we can find your products quickly in our systems plus product descriptions, costs, promotional dates & info, screen shots etc as needed.
Show that you’ve tried to solve the problem yourself and be clear what you need THEIR help with. If you want help finding someone to solve a problem - ask that upfront.
Set a clear email trail to make it easy to understand the actions taken, conversation and people added into the email conversation. By keeping it all together, you make it easier to show the full picture.
Make sure you send emails to the correct business contact. If you do not know who the correct contact is please email: supplierhelp@foodstuffs.co.nz (Foodstuffs North Island), https://supplier.countdown.co.nz/contact-us/ (Countdown), https://help.farro.co.nz/portal/en/kb/articles/i-am-a-current-supplier-with-a-query (Farro Fresh) or through a Google search first,
Have a clear agenda for any formal meetings, and remember its a two way conversation. If all you do is talk talk talk for 30 minutes, then you’ve missed an opportunity to listen and learn.
It’s important that you are both clear on what you want to discuss and what you want to achieve from the meeting. It could be reviewing performance, discussing how the initial launch has gone, sharing insights from marketing activity or talking about ways of delivering better results. Make sure you’ve done your homework with your sales performance, any product changes, insights from the wider market and your product information (SAP product codes, pricing etc).
It’s likely that this will be a relatively short (generally 30 minutes to an hour), and in these post-Covid times, will be over Teams or online. With many meetings happening online, its important that you have files ready to go rather than wasting time (and reducing your credibility) by looking for files and trying to get technology working. Make sure your headset is working, you’re in a private quiet location (open cafe’s are NOT the ideal for often confidential conversations) and that you have good wifi. It is highly likely that there will be back-to-back meetings so sticking to time means that you can focus on what’s important upfront.
Seek to understand where are the gaps / pain points that you can help with to make their category run better. Ask them about latest consumer insights across the store or wider retail. They expect you to know YOUR category, but recognise you won’t know what is happening in the REST of their store.
Understand what the KPI (Key performance indicators) are for their role, and what is MOST important to them.
Ask what their view is on the category > growth potential, what they’re seeing with consumers, what role it plays in the business, and what their priorities are for the category.
Understand the Retailers business model, where the profit comes from and the role that your brands and product play in the wider strategy for the category.
There may be things that you’re doing that are negatively impacting retailers without you even realising (and are easy to fix). An example is a Supplier that bought in constant ‘limited editions’ and didn’t realise that the stores were semi-franchise operations so the owners of the stores had to wear the costs of stock write off if it didn’t sell - which also slowed down speed to market for new products the business wanted to launch. By providing support at store to clear through deleted or slow moving Limited Edition products, they greatly accelerated the launch of their new products and delivered better sales.
Continually do your homework to make sure that you understand people, process and ways of working. Retailers have extensive supplier portals packed full of information and guides, and its on YOU to spend your time familiarising yourself with the ways or working and the Retailers processes. If you don’t know where to go then check out our blog Checklists and contacts for dealing with supermarkets in NZ
If you are a new supplier then there will be ‘how to’ guidelines on how to approach them for new product launches.
If you’re an existing supplier, then you should have log-in access to more detailed information around processes, contact people and all the key information you need to work with them.
Keep all over the detail and spend time keeping up with your admin
There is a lot to keep on top of for both suppliers and retailers, and part of your responsibility as a supplier is to be on top of it.
Get familiar with the promotion portal, so you know how it works, that your product information and promotional activity is all
Make sure your product information is always correct and up to date. If you make changes or deletions, let us know. If change your list price, follow the process.
Ensure your new line submissions are correct. If you get it right the first time, then you give yourself the best chance of success with getting through the process quickly. There is a LOT of internal process and administration to set up new products and mistakes can really slow things down.
Get to know the Category Assistant (if they have one) for any admin follow ups and questions like ‘where are my product codes, what RRP is the promotion going out at, what quantity is being allocated’ etc. They are there to help with workload and are the masters of the detail & business process.
Set up an agreed review schedule.
For smaller suppliers this may be quarterly check in to talk through performance and work through any issues. It is on the supplier to set this up and make sure there is a clear agenda and actions to talk through. Ask your Category Manager what the key points are that they want to cover off, and make sure that you’re ready to answer these questions.
WHAT NOT TO DO:
Send endless long emails with no clear action or questions, or just to ‘chat’. There are best-practice ways to structure emails (see above) and by following this you should be able to get speedy responses.
Treat the Category Manager like your own ‘inhouse’ PA. They have a huge range of suppliers that they deal with (generally 20-40+ suppliers to juggle) PLUS all the internal teams and stores to manage.
Expect the Retailer to be your marketing department.
While they can help with instore activity through price promotions, advice on the best types of instore activation and how best to work with them - they are NOT your brand guardians and responsible for giving guidance on your wider marketing plans. Its up to suppliers to make sure that they build awareness, interest and desire for their brands and have impactful packaging & a clear value-proposition that attracts consumers to buy.
There is a mutual expectation of investment to drive sales. You can expect that a Retailer has clean stores, polite helpful staff and that their shelves are well displayed & stocked.
Repeat the retailers sales data back without offering more insight or context. Category Managers spend their days looking at performance reports and have ALL the data on their own stores and consumers, and a LOT more than suppliers can ever appreciate. As an example, at Z Energy we analysed sales by hour, by day, and by segment to understand trends to manage tactical promotional activity (plus staff resourcing for areas like coffee/ food). Reviewing major promotions in terms of margin, volume and sales uplift and performance vs previous promotions were all part of our regular weekly & monthly internal reviews.
What they do NOT have is access to the wider market information and your (supplier) insights on consumers behaviour and competitor activity.
That’s where the best suppliers came in to give insights to support or challenge category plans. Category Managers aren’t the experts in the
Interpret the Retailers company strategy. The last thing someone wants is to have their own strategies misinterpreted by someone who does NOT work inside the organisation. Instead ask how I take the company strategy and use/ apply to my category eg sustainability means different things if you’re selling food & beverages, compared to household products.
Shoot down the company strategy because it doesn’t align with your ideal category approach. If you don’t want to deal with a Retailer because of their stated approach or your perceptions of them, then make the choice NOT to engage. You won’t get far in building a partnership if you constantly question or push back against their strategy.
Ignore what THEIR goals are. It’s not all about your brand performing - its about the total category delivering the end-consumer what they want in a way that is profitable and sustainable for Retailers AND suppliers. This might mean that individual suppliers can be negatively impacted and it is up to YOU as a supplier to make sure that your brand and business supports their bigger goals.
Forget to ask what the focus for the year is (especially when kicking off category reviews).
Retailers set strategies for their business just like brand owners do, and if all you do is talk about your OWN strategy without engaging with them on theirs, then its highly likely that you’ll both annoy them greatly and (more likely) be trying to do things that don’t align with their own direction.
Remember - they are real people too… just like you! Category Managers are not superhumans, and neither are they saviours for your business or brand. They are partners who expect a mutual relationship built on trust, knowledge and a shared goal for delivering what the end-consumer wants. There are shared goals in wanting to deliver bigger, better results year after year and to have the right products, at the right price in the right place with the right promotional support. By making sure you do more of what works, and less of what doesn’t, you’ll set your brand and business up for a strong partnership.
